After lunch on Friday, my buddy Yamil Sued and I got to talking about postal matches.

A postal match, for the uninitiated, is a match (the same course of fire) conducted at different ranges and clubs, with the scores from each posted to a central location—originally through the mail, thus the ‘postal’ moniker—so that one club could compete against another without the burden of travel.

Postal matches started around the early 20th century, but as the years went by and cross-country travel became easier and faster, the need for this type of match waned. The rise of the internet and the proliferation of smartphones further accelerated the decline of postal matches.

Postal matches are decidedly old school. They are still in use as a competition format, but when’s the last time you heard about one—let alone been encouraged to participate in one?

While advancements in travel and communications have had a massive and positive impact on the shooting sports, we may have lost something valuable along the way: the connection that comes from shooting a match—the exact same match—your buddies are shooting in another part of the country.

Through competition comes not just personal achievement but personal connection. It’s the connection derived from friendship, support, and, naturally, trash talking. Somebody has to claim bragging rights.

The concept of a postal match may seem outdated in today’s 5G-connected world, but the truth is, it’s that connection through competition that makes this a great time to stand up a nationwide postal match… or two or three.

While the old concept of a postal match relied on the U.S. Postal Service, today we can connect more competitors, much faster, through modern internet-based scoring and ranking systems.

We often view competitive shooting through the lens of pre-existing disciplines like those of the U.S. Practical Shooting Association, the International Defensive Pistol Association, the Single Action Shooting Society, and other governing bodies.

However, these are high-level shooting sports not necessarily designed for every new shooter. There is both an equipment barrier to entry and a skillset barrier to entry. New gun owners don’t pick up a pistol during the week and enter a match that weekend.

And there are a lot of new gun owners looking to do more shooting with their newly acquired firearms.

Research from the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation (OSCF), along with Southwick Associates and DJ Case & Associates, tells us there are 73 million people from non-traditional audiences who are interested in trying target shooting. Additionally, 55% to 66% of people from all major communities indicate a moderate to high level of interest in trying target shooting with a firearm.

The interest is there—especially with some 25 million-plus entry-level gun owners joining our ranks during the COVID years alone. But few of these people are particularly interested in immediately stepping into complex and expensive run-and-gun shooting disciplines.

Not yet, anyway.

This is where a postal match structure can benefit both the new gun owner and the overall shooting sports—not to mention the firearms industry.

If we can create a relatively simple but challenging competition format based around one type of firearm—such as the ubiquitous 9mm polymer striker-fired pistol—we’d have something to offer a huge percentage of those new gun owners.

It would need to be designed so that almost any outdoor range could host the match. Even better if it could be held at indoor ranges as well. The structure would need to require only a limited number of staff to run the match and a modest investment on the part of ranges.

If the course of fire is developed so that ranges can run a number of people in a short amount of time, it limits the impact on both the range and the shooters. For commercial ranges, a smooth, fast-running match has the potential to draw in more shooters—knowing a trip to the range won’t turn into a two- to three-hour affair. And any range owner will tell you: having more people in and out of the range—and shop—is a good thing.

Some of the key findings in the research show that newcomers are focused on safety, protection, skill acquisition, and fun. A well-run match designed for new and experienced shooters provides a safe shooting experience that can help test and improve shooting skills while also being enjoyable.

Imagine those new to firearms and shooting participating in this kind of local match, comparing their scores to other shooters at that range. Suddenly, they are part of a local shooting club.

Now, add in a national scoring database where that new shooter can see how they rank beyond the club—in the state, region, and nationally. Or among peer groups such as women, juniors, seniors, veterans, and even custom groups people create among friends (think fantasy football leagues).

Everybody has a competitive streak, even if it’s just competing against themselves. With so many new gun owners interested in target shooting, perhaps the old-school postal match concept is exactly what we need for these new-school shooters.

— Paul Erhardt, Managing Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network