Sorry - I know this is an oldish thread, but I only just spotted it and thought I'd put my two penn'orth in. Like all the rest of you here, me being a BP enthusiast sort of goes hand in hand with other hobbies that involve making or adapting stuff, or getting off one's arse to produce your own food. Personally, I don't think BP shooting is dying out any more than vegetable growing, motorcycle mechanics, model railways - sorry, RAILROADS - or aircraft, painting military figurines etc etc, spending time cooking proper food, or knitting, tapestry or sewing. ALL of this stuff is dying out to the same degree, mostly since the onset of the digital age, instant entertainment and video games, and is a symptom of instant entertainment being available at the click of a mouse. I believe also its related to relative prosperity.
A friend of mine from Poland, back in the days of the Iron Curtain and communism, used to buy cardboard model kits - of almost anything you can think of, and all his mates were doing it. They were just about the only affordable things which kids could buy which provided entertainment. You could even buy a 1-4 scale model of an American P 51 fighter plane or a Spitfire! (they didn't hate us as much as was made out). Once they shook off Communism AND the digital era took hold, all that inventiveness and informal, technical skill disappeared. Why spend a week making a cardboard model of a Sherman tank when you could spend a week on a computer doing all kinds of colourful, whizz - bang kind of stuff?
I'm not advocating for Communism here. But, Communism in Eastern Europe did create a boring, colourless world, and people brightened it up by making stuff, and being inventive. However... A few years ago in the UK before I moved to France, I was at a railway (sorry, railroad...) station and unexpectedly a steam locomotive came into the station. All the kids - and some adults - doing mindless stuff on their phones, suddenly perked up, and within seconds all the phones were photographing or filming the loco. Old, interesting stuff draws crowds.
Fast forward to my gun club a couple of years ago. First time I turned up with my 1858 Remington .44 - in my mind, a bit 'vanilla' - all these younger shooters, with their suppository guns which cost about three times more than mine - were entranced, and all asked to handle it, or have a go with it. My Polish friend I referred to earlier, whom I met via this club, has since bought himself a Pietta Colt 1851 and says he enjoys shooting it more than his S+W 38. He calls it the 'Steam locomotive' effect. People are drawn to old stuff that takes a bit of work to use, you just need to point them in the right direction. He's also started getting into model Railways too! (Sorry... model 'Railroads'. ) I think it is up to us to go to our gun clubs, even dress up in the period gear, and make a big song and dance about what we do. If we do it enough, we will attract newcomers.
A friend of mine from Poland, back in the days of the Iron Curtain and communism, used to buy cardboard model kits - of almost anything you can think of, and all his mates were doing it. They were just about the only affordable things which kids could buy which provided entertainment. You could even buy a 1-4 scale model of an American P 51 fighter plane or a Spitfire! (they didn't hate us as much as was made out). Once they shook off Communism AND the digital era took hold, all that inventiveness and informal, technical skill disappeared. Why spend a week making a cardboard model of a Sherman tank when you could spend a week on a computer doing all kinds of colourful, whizz - bang kind of stuff?
I'm not advocating for Communism here. But, Communism in Eastern Europe did create a boring, colourless world, and people brightened it up by making stuff, and being inventive. However... A few years ago in the UK before I moved to France, I was at a railway (sorry, railroad...) station and unexpectedly a steam locomotive came into the station. All the kids - and some adults - doing mindless stuff on their phones, suddenly perked up, and within seconds all the phones were photographing or filming the loco. Old, interesting stuff draws crowds.
Fast forward to my gun club a couple of years ago. First time I turned up with my 1858 Remington .44 - in my mind, a bit 'vanilla' - all these younger shooters, with their suppository guns which cost about three times more than mine - were entranced, and all asked to handle it, or have a go with it. My Polish friend I referred to earlier, whom I met via this club, has since bought himself a Pietta Colt 1851 and says he enjoys shooting it more than his S+W 38. He calls it the 'Steam locomotive' effect. People are drawn to old stuff that takes a bit of work to use, you just need to point them in the right direction. He's also started getting into model Railways too! (Sorry... model 'Railroads'. ) I think it is up to us to go to our gun clubs, even dress up in the period gear, and make a big song and dance about what we do. If we do it enough, we will attract newcomers.
The appeal of black powder's slow and deliberate pace came to me after a half century of other things. As todays young AR15/AK47/Wonder9 shooters get older their tastes will change too.
