2018 Parker vs LC Smith 16 ga and 20 ga Challenge Events

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by George M. Purtill

I shoot at both venues.
Eric-Last year I shot Thursday with you and Daryl at The Drake and had a blast. This year I had to come early to work on the Hall of Fame dinner so I Shot at the Drake on Wednesday and only Buddy Marson was there.
Frankly Dr. Truitt's additional events made the Southern much more interesting.
I too will never make the team and that's good for our team!! But I shoot and support our teammates. The PGCA has a big presence at the Southern and it's important to the PGCA. We have a lot of hardworking members there: Mills, Tom Wooden, Ed Morgan and lots more.
Nobody wants to discourage anyone from shooting the Drake. I love both places for different reasons. But I think every able bodied Parker shooter should be at the Southern. We are outnumbered 3-1 by lcsmith.
I'll shoot with you on Wednesday every year but by Thursday I will be waving the PGCA flag at the Southern.

I agree with George. We need to be changing that 3-1 ratio of LCS-Parker. Guys like Tom P and Daryl C (among others) would be very useful in swinging that ratio to our favor and adding some good numbers to the qualifier boards.

[C.O.B.]

Here's my take on the challenge and there are others who agree. I said this to Mark Conrad 15 years ago so if you want more shooters you might want to consider adopting a Lewis class system. Lets say you want a squad of 10 shooters then make it two or three of the caliber of say John Truit, then a couple more that aren't A or AA class shooters then the final third your class C or D shooters. This would give more people a chance to make "The team" therefore increasing the number of participants. It should also be limited to original guns, no choke tubes non original barrels etc.

IMHO (and I have NO stake in this it's just an observation) that this has become more about winning and less about the guns and the organizations behind them. I looked at team Parker's winning squad and didn't recognize half of the names. The web site listed them as Forum Members so how fortunate that they signed up as members at Deep River for Parker. A team shooter should have to have been a member of their respective organization for at least 6 months prior to the shoot. You want more shooters what will it hurt to give it a try?

[George M. Purtill Member #28]

Very good points Rich
Mills is in charge of the rules on our side.
I think its all about winning and has been for years.
Question:
What the hell is an original Parker? I'm not sure I own one.