Hi Shorty
You are absolutely correct!!! I have some experience in this area, creating a low budget area in handgun silhouette 4 years ago for the IHMSA. The racers have now got ahold of it and will slowly kill it off growth wise. The solution is not that difficult to put in practice. It starts with the bylaws of the association and keeping a budget area of competition must be part of the goals of the association. Rules done right do not require many rule changes over long periods of time. Bylaws written correctly will only allow changes that the majority of the members actually want (as opposed to a few that want to push the game their way) and are glaring in the need for change, these may come up but will be the exception not the "rule". What I have found is there are quite a few shooters that would compete in a recreational sport where the shooters are on equal footing equipment wise and want that equipment to be what they already own for the most part. If you already own a 10/22 then all that you need to spend is the amount to join the new association. If you want to shoot silhouette in the existing games you need to make a choice of staying in the bottom classes or spending pretty big Dollars for scopes and rifles that on average make joining about a $1000 plus commitment from the start. For some this is not a problem but for others it is enough that they don't join. I for one do not believe the "class" system works for those who can't or won't spend what it takes to get to the top. They are more interested in focusing on the shooter and not so much on the equipment.
I proved conclusively that a low budget game can have very tough competition at the same time we are not spending our kids college fund or our retirement funds trying to keep up with the new toy on the block or supporting the local gun smith, only to be obsoleted a year or so later.
The major manufacturers have steered pretty much away from silhouette because of having to run head to head with customized equipment. They can't really endorse modifications to their equipment because of the liability that could result so they just keep on building what americans want for the most part. Ruger is a great example and so is TC. Both supported the handgun game with equipment offerings but of late have backed way off. Ruger revolvers can't go head to head with a $1800 Freedom Arms and TC can't do it against the custom falling block pistols.
Since Ruger and TC, Remington and Marlin etc. sell more equipment in one day than the custom houses sell in a year this is where we should base a sport if we want to see lots of participation. It is easy to create a niche sport where 4 to 10 people show up to a local "match" on average.
It is also not that difficult to create a sport that caters to the vast majority of gun owners. You do have to put that in the goals of the association from the get go and that is what I am proposing.
Long story I know but the real question is this:
Would you be interested in a sport that the rules stay very stable and your equipment is not obsoleted by constant rule changes?
For the Autoloaders you would have to shoot the gun with the barrel and action that the guns manufacturer makes. Cosmetic changes such as gold leaf in the lettering or having your initials inletted into the stock would not disqualify the gun but action trueing and aftermarket triggers etc. would. If you are short you could shorten the factory stock for length of pull or if you are tall you could add material to the butt of the factory stock, but you could not use an aftermarket stock etc.
I have already found a few fellows who are interested in helping get this off the ground but we are seeing if people who own over the counter equipment will actually support it.
This is not to take away from the current silhouette games out there they do a good job serving the group they have and will continue to do so. Realistically over the counter equipment shooters are not on their priority list and I believe these types might enjoy silhouette given the chance. Silhouette does not need to turn into an arms race and only does so because the rules allow for it.
Basically, you're wanting to go back to the begining of silhouette - the way it started out! Like most competitive games, it became an "arms race". If you were to succede in this, pretty soon you'd have to start making rules and specifications all over again. :roll:
