Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Competitive Shooting Is NRA HighPower Dying? If So, Why?

When I first started shooting rifle I used an M1 Garand right out of the box except for blackening the sights.
Then I was lucky enough to find an M1A
Supermatch which got me an expert card.
I wanted to make Distinguished but never did. Then the AR-15 clones came on the scene about the same time my eyesight
got worse.
I thought about shooting match rifle but realized that they were all one of a kind custom made rifles. I could not purchase a new factory made target rifle.
whelennut

I thought they used the spotting scope set up to look at with their non-dominant eye to watch the wind. I was told by a HP power shooter that he could watch the wind using the spotting scope with his left eye and be behind the rifle so that he did not need to move his head to see the sights with his right eye and shoot. How about any-any matches.

Maybe we should just accept that sports change, as technology changes. What is allowed in service rifle competitions when most of the M$'s going out for use in the service are sporting an optic like an ACOG or similar?

Isn't grand that there are options so others can find a discipline that they like or is suitable to their physical situation. I can shoot F-class some but could never shoot sling due to some severe back and neck issues. Every year it seems we get another F-class shooter who was a sling shooter but due to eyes, back or whatever finds that they need to shoot F-class or stop shooting. The comment about wind came from one of those sling shooter convert, I never would have made the connection.

Have a good day,
wade

May be my load in that I threw together 77s with RL15 and TAC without much workup but my WOPs are definitely way more accurate, even from position shooting, than my RRAs. Maybe I am not looking hard enough, but matches in NT, where I live, and panhandle, where I frequent, seem leaner. Panhandle people seem to be traveling to Capitan, NM and maybe a few other areas for matches. Up here closest seem to be Terrel (if there still doing it), that town east of Tyler where the Jack Black movie was set and Pearland. Never shot your way nor spent much time there but much of my extended family is from High Hill near you so maybe I should get down there if there are matches.

Of course I did not know where you lived.

We are more central TX. Going from Waco, to Beaumont, to Carthage, to Lake Jackson, to San Antonio and all in between. Austin has matches, Temple, Ft Hood no longer, Pearland still does I think, as does Bayou Rifles and Lake Jackson. But its been 10 years since I fired a round in competition.

Obviously afew or more than 2 hour drives.

Loved shooting in Capitan! Just loved that range for some
reason. Likely the smell and sight of the mountains.

Obviously the WOP is going to be a better gun, but like I said, I've lost matches to folks with RRA, with nothing done to them other than re crown and tune the RRA trigger up.

High Hill is such a large town. LOL. ITs about the south end of our fire response area. I am north of town and we never ran south much even to this day, unless going to the coast. Know a few folks from that area though. Drove through last Saturday on way to and from coast on a quick duck hunt/redfish trip.

I hate shooting in a sling, so I've never got serious about highpower. If you could shoot with a combat style sandbag rest, as is actually done in combat, I might have gotten more interested. F-class looks interesting.

Highpower is not combat related so much... service rifle more so.

Slings are easy to use and much better than any field expedient rest short of an actually rest setup like on benches.

One reason I think highpower is dying though, is folks don't want to put the effort forth. Dont' want to sweat in a jacket, don't want to get rained. Don't want to learn how to use irons, adjust sights, use a sling, a glove etc....

Its the way teh US has become, more so instant gratification.

And in a way, its things moving "forward". While I don't agree that not learning the hard way is moving forward, it sure seems like the way the world is going.

My nephew, 25, and in good shape, and I did all I could to mentor him, is in teh fire dept as a volunteer with us.

We are always to put SCBA on on a fire call, regardless, and he is young enough he always asks, as does about anyone his age, as they get in, should we put it on? You heard the page.... put it on. Its really easy to take off... and if we get there and its needed, it could cost someone their life if you don't have it on ready to fight when you open the door....

Just my take on things.

BTW another great thing about irons.... unbelievable how easy a scope is if you take a few years to master irons....

Oven mitts, straight jackets and Helen Keller targets. What's not to love...

I kinda like it in a way. Makes what one accomplishes in the game a bit more meaningful, in the way that not everyone has the will to even try it...

I'm still proud of the fact that I won my first leg on Distinguished with a NM M1 in the Marine Corps Far Eastern Division Matches in Okinawa in 1965. I didn't make it to the Maine Corps Matches or the Interservice Matches or Camp Perry that year, since I, like the rest of the 3rd MarDiv, was in Vietnam.

In my first leg match, in 1963, it was M1's only, no mats allowed, but by the time I went Distinguished in 1983, the National Match M14 and the M1A were in use and the stocks were definitely plumper than the issue service stocks.

I had to quit high power a few years ago after almost 50 years of uninterrupted participation. I can't take the heat, and my arthritis won't allow me to get into position, but the memories remain. We real high power shooters always looked down on the small bore competitors with their covered firing points, wind flags and grotesque single purpose rifles. Cleaning a target at 300 rapid or 600 slow fire is an accomplishment to be truly proud of.

Then there's the camaraderie of the team matches, the "rattle battle", and the pride of accomplishing something as a group, not just as an individual. F Class will never replace that.

But if I was still shooting, IE wanted to, and could no longer shoot position, I'd sure grab an F Class like JJ Conway did. I think I've almost more respect for JJ than almost any other shooter out there and like you, I know a few of the "bigger" names in the game.

I did like cleaning 300 and 600. For some reason 200 rapid was harder for me to clean than 300 or 600 often. Just never could get a great position there. And never did clean 200 standing. Just was not in the cards I guess, though when wife and I quit shooting, I was getting closer to the ability.... 99-97 in strings at times...

Yep, shooting in the rain...I remember when I first started and was amazed that they only stopped matches to save targets, not competitors...

Yep, thats no squat.... I bet you were there a few times with the 2x4 carrier boards snapped off in the wind, had to use extra ties to hold em in, I got to the point that i carried 3M adhesive spray in my pack, and extra baling twine for those bad days... that pail of glue sometimes really sucked...

Been looking for my 3 inch spotter from a 600 yard string that has 17 holes in it... really hope I can find that... wasn't important at the time, but for some reason sure would like to find it now....

Rain... where we learned goretex sucked. Where we found that huts flooded, don't leave ANYTHING on the floor. Especially the mini fridge... LOL.

I think High Power is slowing down for multiple reasons.

1) Attitude. Moreover that of the older participants. I've many clients in my shop mention this. Turns people off FAST.

2) Technology. Let's face it rifles,OPTICS and ammunition have come a long way in a relatively short time. A bit of "laziness" involved as well here. For most optics are "easier" and in general bear more fruit for less time involved.

3) Dynamics. High power is as square range and square COF as it gets. IMO, the newer generation competitive crowd thrives on "added dynamics" stress, short par times, themed stages, complex shooting scenarios.

Imo, this is why 3 Gun, and precision rifle competition such as the the Precision Rifle Series are growing leaps and bounds.

I shot from 92 through 2000. Went to Perry every year but one. It was strange watching people drive in from all over the country on their big pilgrimage, while it was a 90 minute drive for us and we went home on off days (Whistler).

going home on Whistler... yeah, bla bla... 26 hour drive one way for us average.

Shot from 91 to 2004 as I recall. Sure were some different years... the tornado year was nuts too...

RE teh older participants attitude, unless its changed in the last 10 years since we quit, teh top folks were always more than willing to help you out and let you learn.
They didn't even care if you ended up outshooting them.

I doubt thats seen in many other sports..... but the advice was liberal and free.

I even recall Alonda Roy watching my wife be so upset shooting 69s at 600 in a really bad wind match, that the next day Alonda and Arch walked up and handed us an M1A and federal match ammo. Wife was much happier, I learned she could handle a bigger gun easily, and it cost me about 2000 bucks that day... but she had a Mc stocked M1A in a few months... and neither Arch or Alonda would even accept money for the ammo. Alonda did very well at mentoring me when I started, as she did with Carolyn.

And I've sat and had fun chats, questions answered and such by Tubb, Tompkins, Gallagher, etc.... over the years.

I remember when I first started, I had an alibi at 300 in the NTI. There were only a couple of us on the alibi relay and I mentioned to my scorer, a Marine Team Gunny, that I was anxious because the whole line would be watching me. He immediately calmed me by saying "no they won't, they'll just be happy to get a few extra minutes to get their equipment back to the 600yd line".

yep, that was no chit too... very little time compared to home ranges... alwyas lucky if you got your brass back too.

I had a double alibi NTI once.... so first round was maybe a few of us.

My first round was before the rules change... 10 rounds fired, all in 10 ring actually.. can't find but 9... ok... next round, first alibi, same thing, 10 rounds fired all in 10 ring....9 found... next round, second alibi ONLY one on the line, Viale.... fired 10... its like they were waiting... as a lowly expert, I shot a 99, with a 9... fug... well it was still a good score but took 30 shots to get there. I loved doing that with the M1A. Took a lot of work for me to figure out how to shoot rapids decent with the recoil involved.

The recoil of the M1A didn't bother me in sitting, but I sometimes had problems with my right elbow moving in prone. The AR solved all that.

Bro, you’re the LAST person that should say you sucked at HP. You were one of the best and quit at your peak, all it would have taken was a little more “luck” at the critical time.

I'm really proud that I got to 'cut the heart' out of it when I did!