You want to talk about getting more participation in BR shooting, well we've been trying to do exactly that for the last three years at the Campbell River Gun Club.
Three years ago we decided to build up a BR section in the CRGC. There was a core group of guys who liked to shoot groups and thought we would like to have matches. Dennis Tipper(VP) and myself started to put on monthly "BR Fun Shoots". For prizes we gave the winner 1/2 the relay entry fee. We thought that we had to have it "FUN and CHEAP" in order to bring out new shooters.
The CRGC has a number of separate ranges so utilizing the 200m or the 600yd range for our matches did not put anyone out. We soon had interest in shooting longer range so we fixed up the 600 yd covered firing point and started to hold all our matches there. We built 10 heavy steel tube legged/plywood top benches and started to have a variety of short range and long range shoots. The idea was to have informal fun shoots so that we would attract new shooters and then get them hooked on shooting little bitty groups, and then move on to regular BR matches.
We started out with a Factory class and a Custom class, no restrictions on scopes. Factory was just that, gun bedded, trigger adjusted. Most were varmint rifles. Custom class was anything goes but rail guns. Most Custom guns were rebarreled factory actions on BR stocks & aftermarket triggers, with the occasional full custom actioned BR gun. Most guys had old Witchita, Caldwell, homemade or sandbag rests. We had between 5 to 14 guys showing up, the most at our Turkey shoots. Well, soon an unintentional arms race started, and the newest BR guns were cleaning up Custom class. So we created a third class, Custom Factory. A factory action that could have everything done to it.
We shoot 10 relays/class, all at the same time. If you shoot two guns, we put up two targets at the same time. We shoot a variety of targets, from BR group targets at 100, 200 & 300 yds, Hunter Bench score targets, Marmots for score and group at 200, 300 & 500 yds, Black Death, typewriter, circles for score, Dart board, one shot for specific position targets like gophers, crows, grouse, etc. After a couple of years, we tried easing into a 5 shot - 5 target 100 & 200 yd BR format, but guys did not like it. We had two shoots with that format, asked for suggestions and were told overwhelmingly to go back to the old multi-target format. Guys liked variety, fun, and informality. Sounds like a male sexual fantasy.
Now, most guys shoot 2 guns. There are BAT, Stiller, Swindlehurst, Nesika, Witchita, Angel, Hart actioned custom guns. Lots of Rem 700 Custom Factory guns and a whole multitude of Factory varmint rifles. Sinclar, Witchita, Caldwell, homemade and a JJ rest. No joysticks yet. We've modified targets and improved our logistics so that we can start at 10:00am and be done at 3:30pm, with a free lunch thrown in as well.
We get 9 shooters average every month with 5 being the core ones every time. I would say that of the 25 or so shooters that come out to our shoots, 5 of them would come regularly to shoot a "normal" BR format. That's out of a 370 member club and a draw area of approx 90,000 people. Also, the CRGC has a long history of International Rifle competitors. We've sent rifle shooters to the Olympics, Bisley, National and other International competitions for over 40 yrs. The BR section profited $1800 for the CRGC last year. So what does the CRGC want? 5 guys or 9 guys, average, shooting once a month? The group shooters will have to travel or shoot on another day to just shoot groups.
Some do's and don'ts-
-Do not post your best targets on the range wall for everyone to see after the shoot is over. People look at them and think, " I'm not going to bring out my Savage .223 gopher gun to shoot against these guys! I'll look stupid."
-Limit factory guns to max 24x scopes. Most people have 6-24 or so varmint scopes on their factory varmint rifles. Its not really fair to shoot a 24x against a 36x all other things equal. Make it a fair competition equipment wise, with everyone evenly exposed to the uncontrollable variables.
-Don't have boring targets. Have lots but make them challenging. Everyone likes reactionary targets. I tried bringing in some Tannerite, but got stopped at the border. Made up some BP incendiaries. After the shoot is over I put out full pop cans, water filled milk jugs, clay birds, etc, at 300-500 yds. Everyone has ammo left over, so we let them blast away for free & have fun. We're making up 120 steel gopher swingers so that we can have a Vancouver Island Gopher Shoot. Charge $20 and shoot all day at gophers out to 600yds. Maybe new shooters will come, meet some of the BR shooters and want to come and try BR.
-Have small coaching sessions during the shoot. Talk about reloading, calibers, gear, wind flags, wind switches, light changes, mirage, etc.
I'm about done. Two finger typing is a long process. The down and dirty is that there is a very, very small % of people that want to try and shoot little groups all the time. So, you have to attract the larger # of semi-precision type of shooter who shoot factory varmint rifles, identify the real accuracy junkies, let them shoot your best gun and then they're hooked.
There's always more ways to skin a cat, and that's one use this forum will be good for. Disseminating info. Thanks Rick, good job.
Cheers
Greg
