Spec Pistols Website shutting down

[indianamoon]

Specialty Pistols website closing at the end of this calendar year. I will certainly miss it.

 

[DirtySteve]

Glad I did not know of that website. Because at one point I was ate up with T/C Contenders.. I would be more broke than I am now.

 

[JayHHI6818]

Sad news about SP!!!

 

[Topstrap]

Used to post there a lot back in the day. Haven't visited the site the last few years or more. We didn't seem to fit in and wasn't part of the In Crowd. Was a lot of good info for those venturing into longrange handguns. RIP

Topstrap

 

[Forum Boss]

With the anti-gun policies of all the major ad networks, it is challenging to keep Forums running. If the SP Forum founder is nearing retirement, I can see the reason to shut that Specialty Pistols site down.

 

[Adam in WI]

With the anti-gun policies of all the major ad networks, it is challenging to keep Forums running. If the SP Forum founder is nearing retirement as I can see the reason to shut that Specialty Pistols site down.

Would Accurate Shooter benefit from a specialty pistol sub-forum?

 

[JayHHI6818]

Mike the owner is SP did retire wart this year

 

[PhilKeil]

that is sad news and i understand. as i am getting deeper into that subject of speciality pistols there is a wealth of info there i would hate to lose. i hope there is some way to preserve it. or as mentioned a sub forum.

 

[JSH]

Large bunch of SP guys here, all ya gotta do is ask and they usually show up.
I like SP’s but have swung around full circle and back to rifles and wheel guns where I started.

Never could understand all of the good shooters at the SP site, yet very little support for IHMSA from them in the early hay days.

 

[TC260]

I hadn't logged in in awhile and just went over there to find they'd shut down. Bummer. There was a tremendous amount of information on there about SP's of all different sorts.

 

[boltfluter]

With the anti-gun policies of all the major ad networks, it is challenging to keep Forums running. If the SP Forum founder is nearing retirement, I can see the reason to shut that Specialty Pistols site down.

I for one would enjoy a SP section. Is that something you would consider adding? I realize you are getting close to retirement age as well. Hopefully Accurate Shooter will be around for a long time to come.
Paul

 

[mike711]

Pretty sure Jim Baker over at Savage Shooters has made a spot available for specialty pistol folks. Haven't looked into it personally, but for those here that might be interested, here's a link for further research.

Specialty Pistols forum members to join our ranks

Last week Greg (Blue_Avenger) brought it to my attention that the Specialty Pistols (SP) forum was going to be shutting down effective 1/2/2023. Having frequented that forum on occasion many moons ago when I was toying around with Savage Strikers, and knowing a lot of guys there built a lot of...

www.savageshooters.com

 

[PhilC]

Pretty sure Jim Baker over at Savage Shooters has made a spot available for specialty pistol folks. Haven't looked into it personally, but for those here that might be interested, here's a link for further research.

Specialty Pistols forum members to join our ranks

Last week Greg (Blue_Avenger) brought it to my attention that the Specialty Pistols (SP) forum was going to be shutting down effective 1/2/2023. Having frequented that forum on occasion many moons ago when I was toying around with Savage Strikers, and knowing a lot of guys there built a lot of...

www.savageshooters.com

Correct.

 

[jpx2rk]

The 204Ruger.com website is welcoming SP members into the "small caliber world", and considering a name change for the forum as well to try and broaden it's appeal.

 

[JayHHI6818]

There is hand gun hunt for the pistol hunters. Not as many forums as SP had https://members.handgunhunt.com/forums/

 

[PRR1957]

Would Accurate Shooter benefit from a specialty pistol sub-forum?

Yes ! Please !

The owner of the website threw in the towel more than likely as it never had product advertising to help fund the forum.

To post images, the images had to come from cloud type image storage such as PHOTOBUCKET. It could had been the forum was operated from a desktop computer. There were other chat rooms/sub forums that where about long guns, revolvers, NFA, ammo loading, hunting , etc..

The biggest downturn of the forum started as the scamdemic lockdown. Bay Side Custom used to post two to four customers XP100 builds per month, but the lockdowns and economic downturn put a big dent into his business.

Ernie Bishop is a big promoter of single shot long range hand-gunning. The forum would host a once a year long shooting event in Wyoming called the Wyshoot (sic ?). One of Bishop’s custom XP100 is chambered in 300 SAUM, which to control the recoil had muzzle brake big enough to make a Barrette 50 cal. rifle “cry foul”.

The forum,
longrangehunting.com
has a Specialty Handgun Hunting section as a alternative.

I will miss specialtypistols as I and a late friend of mine were both enthusiasts about long range handguns with the T/C Contender and the XP100. These types of firearms gave both of us a new challenge over rifles. There isn’t a butt stock to steady your head behind the long eye relief scopes. Plus there are other factors regarding the ability to shoot them as accurately as a rifle.

 

[PRR1957]

Large bunch of SP guys here, all ya gotta do is ask and they usually show up.
I like SP’s but have swung around full circle and back to rifles and wheel guns where I started.

Never could understand all of the good shooters at the SP site, yet very little support for IHMSA from them in the early hay days.

IHMSA has there own website forum. There was IHMSA talk, but it was mostly in the competition section.

And yes, I was big into IHMSA, until the local to me gun club lost its lease and moved to less accommodating land for the club as they didn’t have the ability to build a 200 yards range. The two nearest gun clubs to us are 300 miles away.

IHMSA, I believe is a fad replaced by another type of firearm action type competition. USPSA, ICORE, and IDPA have eclipsed IPSC which was the rage from 1980s-2000s.

 

[JSH]

IHMSA has there own website forum. There was IHMSA talk, but it was mostly in the competition section.

And yes, I was big into IHMSA, until the local to me gun club lost its lease and moved to less accommodating land for the club as they didn’t have the ability to build a 200 yards range. The two nearest gun clubs to us are 300 miles away.

IHMSA, I believe is a fad replaced by another type of firearm action type competition. USPSA, ICORE, and IDPA have eclipsed IPSC which was the rage from 1980s-2000s.

My point was there was maybe a dozen guys that belonged to and shot IHMSA. With a site the size of SP at its peak, there were a few that came and tried it, none I am aware of ever jumped and got involved. Yet you would hear of and see pics of some exceptional shooting.

IHMSA is its own enemy , much as many disciplines. Become an equipment race and see where it goes. I see it already in all of the new rifle games.

 

[TC260]

IHMSA is its own enemy , much as many disciplines. Become an equipment race and see where it goes. I see it already in all of the new rifle games.

That seems to hold true not just in shooting but other sports as well. It seems to me that a lot of the attraction to new sports is the adventure of discovering new things, pushing the boundaries into unknown areas. At the beginning there's lots of innovation and excitement as new equipment and techniques are developed. Costs rise, innovation slows down as people figure out the best ways to do things. Eventually it gets to a point where a new person shows up, sees the many thousands of dollars of equipment involved, the 20 year head start everybody has on them and the result is it being less appealing to start into than it was at the beginning when it was still the wild west. There's nothing inherently wrong with the sport, it's just the natural ebb and flow of interest.

 

[PRR1957]

My point was there was maybe a dozen guys that belonged to and shot IHMSA. With a site the size of SP at its peak, there were a few that came and tried it, none I am aware of ever jumped and got involved. Yet you would hear of and see pics of some exceptional shooting.

IHMSA is its own enemy , much as many disciplines. Become an equipment race and see where it goes. I see it already in all of the new rifle games.

At least for me it wasn’t a expensive equipment race. My last Unlimited rig was a T/C Contender with a factory 7mm T/CU 14” barrel with the T/C Silhouette rear with a Ken Light rear cantilever sight base and KL front sight. I had about $700 invested including loading dies and brass. I and the gun shot consistent 40x40 scores with winning a number of tie shoot offs.

Some years ago IHMSA did finally approve the usage of optical sights for the Unlimited Class.

I believe the biggest problem with gun clubs who would consider hosting IHMSA events is prohibitive cost of all the steel targets and the target stand supports. AR 400/450/500 steel is rather expensive, plus too have them cut out to regulation size.