Any record of how many master & high masters there have been?

I've often wondered over time how many people have attained each class. Really I'm curious how many masters and high masters there have been, I know the number of high masters must be very low just curious how low. I would also be interesting if you could see how many civilian high masters there have been versus military shooters.

look at the 2600, 2650,2670 lists

Where do you find those?

http://pistol-competition.nra.org/2600-2650-2670-clubs.aspx

also high master is a newer classification

Thats a pretty cool bunch of lists. I found my local buddy on the 2600 list, if it weren't for him I may not be in this sport aka obsession. Ive got about 80 points to go to hit the 2600 list. By quick math there appears to be about 1500 people on the 2600 list, would be pretty cool to be one of the top 1500 pistol shooters in US history.

It doesn’t take long to see how few and far between new names have been added to these lists the past decade.

Are there less BE shooters to draw from?  Or are there more BE shooters, but less that shoot at such a high level?

Where is the new blood?  Is the internet helping bring BE back and we just have to wait until the new generation of shooters get good?

Also, there is definite shortage of female names on these lists. I wonder if that will begin to change in the future as well?

Just kind of wondering out loud.

When will they start the 260 Club so I can get on a list?  

willnewton wrote:It doesn’t take long to see how few and far between new names have been added to these lists the past decade.

Are there less BE shooters to draw from?  Or are there more BE shooters, but less that shoot at such a high level?

Where is the new blood?  Is the internet helping bring BE back and we just have to wait until the new generation of shooters get good?

Also, there is definite shortage of female names on these lists.  I wonder if that will begin to change in the future as well?

Just kind of wondering out loud.

When will they start the 260 Club so I can get on a list?  

i can print you a sticker if you like

I belong to a petty busy indoor range and I am the only one shooting BE.  I get asked what is that box for.  They ask if I use my spotting scope to aim.  Why do I have my hand in my pocket don't you need two hands to shoot a 45.  Why is my target clear down range where the rifle shooters targets are?  I wish they could see the long line outdoors.  90% of these shooters can't keep all their shots on a paper plate with two hands I sure can't get them to shoot BE.  BTW Will can I join your 260 club?  Don

Here we go!
Gotta start somewhere...

Way to set the bar high lol.

No matter if it is 260 out of 300 or 2700, if you have ever turned in a score higher than a 260 you are IN.



You guys are pretty awesome BTW.

Magload wrote:I belong to a petty busy indoor range and I am the only one shooting BE.  I get asked what is that box for.  They ask if I use my spotting scope to aim.  Why do I have my hand in my pocket don't you need two hands to shoot a 45.  Why is my target clear down range where the rifle shooters targets are?  I wish they could see the long line outdoors.  90% of these shooters can't keep all their shots on a paper plate with two hands I sure can't get them to shoot BE.  BTW Will can I join your 260 club?  Don

I could have written that about myself at the club I belong to. Only thing I could add would be I get asked about the funny looking grips on my pistols.

willnewton wrote:No matter if it is 260 out of 300 or 2700, if you have ever turned in a score higher than a 260 you are IN.



You guys are pretty awesome BTW.

Able to join for shooting .22 only?  

Magload wrote:I belong to a petty busy indoor range and I am the only one shooting BE.  I get asked what is that box for.  They ask if I use my spotting scope to aim.  Why do I have my hand in my pocket don't you need two hands to shoot a 45.  Why is my target clear down range where the rifle shooters targets are?  I wish they could see the long line outdoors.  90% of these shooters can't keep all their shots on a paper plate with two hands I sure can't get them to shoot BE.  BTW Will can I join your 260 club?  Don

Got a good chuckle out of this. I’m betting that any good BE shooter that has to use a nonBE specific range has similar stories.

At my gun club the general purpose range has a 50 foot berm and a 50 yard berm. The rules allow shooters to shoot from forward of the firing line, to get closer to the 50 ft berm, if all present agree. This is where you find most of the pistol shooters. I their minds the 50 yard berm is for sighting in rifles. So when I show up to practice BE the “50 feet is too far to shoot a pistol” crowd gets miffed when I call to shoot from the firing line. Their reaction to someone shooting one-handed and hitting the black at 50 yards is always interesting. But anybody could do that at such a slow pace with such a fancy gun, right?

I’ve seen people with $2500 big name combat race guns move their paper plates to 50 yards, miss with both hands, and then benchrest their guns and still not be able to hit the plates. When practicing timed and rapid at 25 it’s comical to see people try to watch my target without me seeing them looking.
 
I’ve heard the fancy gun wisecracks and gotten out the hardball gun and the military 230FMJ. The ball gun is a parkerized 1911 that is nothing special to look at, but the most accurate (with Noslers) gun I own. The wisecrackers’ reactions are usually pricelss. On another occasion I caught some snide comments from some fellows that I had forced all the way back to 50 feet. Something about fancy gun shooters versus the practical use of a pistol. After I was done with the BE work, I went to the car and got one of my favorite “fun” guns. It’s a 4inch K-frame 357 that has had a patridge front sight dovetailed in. I put a bunch of clays from the skeet range on the berm, filled the cylinder with 158 grain LSWC, max charge of Unique handloads, held on with both hands, and proceeded to DRILL the clays, at rapid-fire cadence, with plenty of noise and smoke, from the 50 foot line. Again the reaction was priceless.

I’m not bragging about my shooting ability. It’s a pity that VERY few people who haven’t shot BE have no comprehension of how accurately a pistol can be shot. Any average BE shooter looks amazing to the typical general public pistolero.

It's even funnier to blow their minds with your ball gun/iron sight skills with a beat up looking (because the look of a 1911 really indicates accuracy) GI, getting sneered at by the Kimber crowd...
Then you explain to them in the bullseye world you are considered a mediocre shooter. Priceless!

I seem to remember in my early youth, a certain sergeant, also the RSO, at a gun club around El Toro, or Tustin, California who used to take challenges on hitting a steel gong aways (100 yd +) down range with a 1911.

Like a pool hustler, he'd clean their wallets.

One night at indoor league after my relay, as I was walking out past the front desk, I over heard a couple guys ask the clerk “who are those guys shooting while striking a pose?” as one of them imitated the typical BE stance