Practical 22 games

[pikid89]

as fun as that looks, it seems that pretty much all of the olympic shooting sports have become at least in some aspects, gear races once again (the shooters are obviously immensely skilled regardless)
nobody at any high level of olympic style shooting is using the same guns you and i use
they're using hammerli or walther target pistols, not rugers or buck marks
they're using parker or high end beretta shotguns, not remingtons or winchester

 

[TenMillimaster]

OP, I think 22 shooting games are a great idea. Any shooting practice(andfun!) is still practice- which is definitely conducive to "practical" shooting, whatever that is.

 

[M-Cameron]

I see little utility in the concept of "racing for pinks" in the shooting sports.

Most competitions solve the issues of advantages arising from equipment disparity by incorporating rules that put various configurations of guns into different classifications. That way, the guy who's shooting an iron-sighted rifle doesn't have to compete against the guy with a 20x scope and a bipod.

Overall, equipment divisions works satisfactorily enough that I see no reason to try to force someone to sell a gun just because they won a match.

i was thinking more along the lines that people would compete with a gun they dont really care about, wouldnt mind selling/ trading or are somewhat looking to get rid of.......

this would be( in my mind) a very relaxed and informal atmosphere..

this certainty wouldnt be something youd shoot with your primary match gun, that youve spent countless hours and thousands of dollars building....

im thinking youd use that 10/22 you picked up at a pawn shop for $100.

 

[1KPerDay]

I don't see the big deal, myself. Our local club lets you run rimfire at any match if you like, you're just not scored with the "real shooters". And once a year there's a dedicated rimfire only match. Tons of fun.

I don't personally see how adding a .22 division would affect/harm USPSA/IPSC at all, other than maybe getting more people involved in the sport. Are they worried everyone will just switch to rimfire and nobody will shoot 'real' guns anymore? In my experience that has not been the case. It's rare to see a rimfire shooter (other than younger kids, perhaps) at our local 'practical' matches.

 

[Justin]

as fun as that looks, it seems that pretty much all of the olympic shooting sports have become at least in some aspects, gear races once again (the shooters are obviously immensely skilled regardless)
nobody at any high level of olympic style shooting is using the same guns you and i use
they're using hammerli or walther target pistols, not rugers or buck marks
they're using parker or high end beretta shotguns, not remingtons or winchester

Actually, the equipment for most of the Olympic shooting sports has pretty well matured. It's not that the games are "equipment races", but that the equipment used for the games at a certain level of competitiveness represents a certain barrier to entry.

If you're truly serious about shooting International Rapid Fire, or International 25 Meter Pistol, or Free Pistol, you will be willing to spend the money on the equipment used to operate at the highest levels. However, there's nothing stopping you from attending local matches and shooting them with your box-stock gun. For the first year that I shot Bullseye, I used a box-stock Ruger Mk II before graduating to a hand-me-down SW Mod. 46, and then finally stepping up to a GSP. No one ever talked down to me because of my equipment choices, but it became clear that certain competitive advantages became apparent with each successive iteration of gun.


When it comes to Practical Shooting Sports, the equipment costs for the average shooter are practically nil. You've already got a handgun. You've already got magazines. You've already got a holster. In short, you've already got a competition setup, and given that USPSA Production Division, and IDPA as an overall sport focus on those sorts of setups, there really isn't any sort of "equipment race" in any way that offers a tremendous advantage.

 

[Justin]

i was thinking more along the lines that people would compete with a gun they dont really care about, wouldnt mind selling/ trading or are somewhat looking to get rid of.......

this would be( in my mind) a very relaxed and informal atmosphere..

this certainty wouldnt be something youd shoot with your primary match gun, that youve spent countless hours and thousands of dollars building....

im thinking youd use that 10/22 you picked up at a pawn shop for $100.

Eh. I still don't see the appeal. In my experience, local-level Steel Challenge matches are incredibly laid back affairs, people shoot whatever gun they please without getting wrapped around the axle about it.

For instance, the rimfire pistol I run for Steel Challenge is a nearly box-stock Ruger 22/45 that (until it recently crapped out) was topped with an ADCO red dot scope. I can't say as I was particularly perturbed that I was competing against other shooters with differently configured open-class .22s, including a Beretta with an Aimpoint Micro and a fully-blown rimfire racegun with a Volquartsen trigger group and a Tactical Solutions top end.

That said, if you think a match like the one you've proposed would be fun, you ought to get it set up and run it at your local range.