I have had a bit of time on my hands lately and have been kickin the tin along havin a think about all things rimfire and I want to put a few ideas out there to see what others think.
Rimfire has progressed very rapidly in the last ten years here in Australia and as a result the equipment ,namely rifles has really come of age,the days of seeing stock standard factory rifles at the peak of the sport is almost at an end, today its all about custom barrels, custom actions,benchrest stocks to suit, these are usually topped with some of the best optics money can buy and triggers that would discharge in a strong wind.
Not to mention the adjustable front rests and rear bags that can and do run into the $1000 plus mark.
We as competitive shooters will basically chase ammo to the end of the earth if we think it will give us an edge over our competitior.
Has this sport really become a $$$ game and have we really out priced the little guy who for reasons unbeknown cannot afford to chase that ammo or practice as much as they would like or the biggie, spend pretty much an 1/8 of their yearly income on a single rifle.??
It seems to be the wealthy and the dead is where we are heading, turn up to a major shoot anywhere and see how many shooters there are under 40 yr old, I bet its no more than around 20% of the field if that.!!
The younger generation are just not interested in spending dollars to be constantly beatin by some of the older generation who have lots of time and usually a healthier bank balance.
Finally I come to a subject that will get some hackles up no doubt.
To be selected to be on an australian team you have to attend the shoots to qualify and if your serious about the sport then you put the time in and attend to hopefully do well and gain a spot in a representative team, thats all good and well if you have the $$$ and the time to attend, geographics of this country prevent alot of people doing that and this leads to a team that is basically picked on the available talent at these shoots at the time, not the best we could have, to represent our country.
Look at the WRABF shoot at the states this year, the americans ran all over our ozzy teams as they have a bigger population, a bigger economy with gear cheaper at their disposal and have more than two shoots in two years to qualify,they get the best of the best, not the ones that had the money or time to turn up.
Theres no real answer to any of this post apart from save ya dollars if ya think ya good enough and get to the shoots.!!
PS-Please dont fry me
.!!! LOLRegards
Native
Curan,I need a rest.!!
