Know your gear

There’s light at the end of the barrel

Since the Firearms Licence Act limits the number of firearms an individual may own, one can safely assume that the number of firearms buyers is not going to increase any time soon, and that the rapid decline in the number of firearms sold, will continue.

During the past year, Statistics SA report a 61% drop in arms and ammunition imports from Europe, where a significant number of the arms imported into SA is made. Between May 2000 and April 2005, 38% (or 149) of the arms and ammunition specialists on Sports Trader’s mailing list, closed their doors.

Several arms and ammunition retailers, however, saw the writing on the wall and started stocking shooting sports equipment for which their clients do not need a licence.

Ridwaan Ismail, co-owner of Blades & Triggers, says he realised what the effect of the Firearms Licence Act could be and decided to head into a broader market. He says he has done particularly well with paintball gun sales. He also distributes to retailers.

Fanie Kooij, of Zeerust Boog Klub in the Northwest Province, used to specialise in gun sales, but now sells archery equipment as well. Kooij says that previously archery equipment was mainly in demand in the Witwatersrand and Johannesburg areas, but that the demand for equipment has grown in the Northwest Province as well.

Another stock option is black powder guns. "There has been a country-wide growing interest in black powder shooting since the second half of 2004 and our sales of black powder guns have increased ten fold," says George retailer Rossouw Botha, who also distributes black powder equipment through Redneck Tactical Supplies.

Black powder guns

Botha believes that the black powder shooting market has grown due to the limitations of the Firearms Licence Act. "Shooting related sports are the only kind of recreational/competitive sports that provide you with life skills … pun intended. Air-gun and black powder shooting are good alternatives".

Owners do not need a license for these antique firearms (any muzzle loading firearm manufactured before 1 January 1900, or any replica) as long as they are registered as black powder users by the Chief Inspector of Explosives.

The details of antique and other black powder firearms are required for record purposes and to support the necessity to use black powder. Muzzle-loaders do not require a licence, so registration is not an issue, but breech loading, black powder firearms require licences, says Mike Di Bona, Chairman of the Cape Town Muzzle Loaders Association (CTMLA).

According to him there has been a definite growth in interest in Black Powder shooting since muzzle-loading firearms began to be more readily available. "The biggest interest is in muzzleloaders", says Di Bona.

The CTMLA is affiliated to the Black Powder Shooting Union of SA. "The last 6 months has seen good growth," says Di Bona. There are currently about 150 active shooters in SA. Most participants are in the 40-60 year age group, but on the other end of the scale, three youths attained their National colours in June. Currently, 17 shooters in the Western Cape have their national colours.

The majority of Black Powder owners enjoy competitions. Most of the shooting events "are precision target shooting, at distances from 100m to 900m. We also cater for the hand-gunners at 25m, and also those who shoot the 50m rifle off-hand details", says Di Bona.

There are provincial, national and international shoots, which take place at least once a year. Prince Albert recently hosted a Pacific Zone international shoot and Atlantis, Cape Town, will host a long-range world shoot in April 2006. Di Bona says at a national shoot between 35-40 shooters regularly participate and at a club monthly shoot, about 25.

The sport also has a fun element. Botha says Cowboy Action Shooting is the fastest growing shooting sport in the world. Apart from obvious skills required, it also invites participants to dress the part, for example, as a Mountain Man, Frontiersman, Cowboy/Girl, Boer and Brit, etc. "Period clothing is a massive market in the US", says Botha. "Clothing for Boer/Brit enactments should prove to be the same."

The basic equipment required are period-correct firearms such as 1851/1860 Colts, Kentucky and Trade rifles, and Plains pistols. One also needs carry gear — holsters and slings — and loading equipment.

Equipment is currently not readily available and this offers a golden opportunity for retailers who are interested in supplying equipment for the sport.

The basic competition rifle is a 58 calibre military muzzle-loading rifle. There are various makes, but the most popular are the Zouave and Enfield. Once a shooter is comfortable with this rifle and masters it, he will progress to a more accurate muzzle and breech loading rifle. The competition guns for a hand gunner are the single shot pistol and a revolver. Other equipment retailers could stock are moulds, black powder solvent and percussion caps.

Archery skill

Archery is another ancient form of shooting with a growing modern following —except that archers claim that hunting with a bow and arrow poses more challenges than hunting with a rifle. One can therefore expect that limitations on the number of firearms that may be owned could encourage hunters to swop their rifles for bows.

Several archery clubs report that their membership numbers have been on the increase, but they attribute this more to people becoming more aware of the sport. According to Roy Gaylard of the Protea Archery Club in Cape Town, a few members joined due to the limitations on the number of firearms an individual is allowed, which make continued participation in target shooting difficult.

However, he believes that the growth in their membership has mostly been due to the club promoting awareness. Movies such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Arthur have also had a positive effect on the growth of the sport.

Protea Archery Club started giving lessons at schools three years ago and this has led to a sudden influx of teenagers becoming interested in the sport. This club has produced a number of national champions over the years.

Kalahari Archers in Gauteng also promotes archery in the schools on the West Rand, which they hope will encourage new members to join clubs. They started a club to meet the demand for products and to give people a place to shoot.

Rowan Swales of Tingela Archery & Bowhunting Pro Shop (TABPS) and Kalahari Archers, believes that the growing number of people buying bows could initially have been attributed to the implementation of the new Firearms Licence Act, but "now I feel that more bows are out there and more people are discovering how much fun a bow is and a much greater skill is required to hunt with a bow".

There are 38 archery clubs registered with the Council of Archery Sport, of which 20 are in Gauteng, 7 in Mpumulanga, 4 in the Eastern Cape, 4 in the Western Cape, 3 in the Free State and 1 in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

There are ample opportunities for the ambitious archer to receive their provincial and national colours via participation in the numerous competitions — indoor, field and bowhunter — organised by archery clubs affiliated to national bodies.

In June Madrid, Spain, hosted the Outdoor Target World Championships and, locally, Loskop hosted the Bowhunting World Championships in July.

"World Championships are shot every two years and SA has been represented at every one since 1993, when SA sportsmen and women were re-admitted to world sport. The archer who is prepared to put in the required effort can compete at the highest international level" says Konrad van Warmelo of Marks Park Sports Club. He was the SA archers’ coach at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and SA coach at the 2003 World Championships in the US as well as the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

But, despite all the opportunities there has been little to no real growth in the registered number of participants in the sport, says JP de Villiers, president of CAS (Council of Archery Sport) and SANIFAA (South African National Indoor and Field Archery Association). Many people have been buying equipment and joined clubs; but according to him about 80% of the new members will drop out within a year. He also says that there are about the same number of people joining clubs as there are leaving.

Stan Gordon of the Cutlery Distributing Group (CDG), who has been promoting archery for several years, agrees with him. While he sells many bows, not many end up being used on archery ranges.

"People often buy them for use at home and they rarely, if ever, go to an archery range. Archery is a great family sport, but families are not likely to participate for longer than a year or two. It is usually only the dedicated sportsman who participates long-term."

Even though there is not much growth in archery as a sport, there is definitely an interest in the sport and numerous people buy entry level equipment every year, which is good news for retailers. Stocking entry level products for beginners is a good investment.

Another reason for stocking archery is that some archery clubs point out that their members have difficulty in finding places to buy new equipment. These problems seem to be area specific. Gaylard says that they experience problems in Cape Town when attempting to buy equipment and they often find it more convenient, and less expensive, to import from the UK and the USA themselves. This is also not ideal as archery equipment and archers’ needs are specialised and prospective clients have no opportunity to try the equipment before buying.

"In our experience, most traders specialise in hunting equipment and have very little understanding of the needs of target archery, or how to assess the needs of individual archers. They will sell what is available instead of what is suitable," says Gaylard.

Sakkie van der Westhuizen, Kings Park Archery in Durban, has the same problem. He says that club members can help dealers with the selection of stock and bemoans the fact that "there are no fully stocked archery shops in Durban". His members normally purchase from bow shops in other parts of the country.

The Eastern Cape clubs, however, do not seem to have many problems in obtaining equipment. Elizabeth Cochrane, instructor at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Archery Club, reckons that archery equipment is more readily available now than it was in the past.

Gordon maintains that not too many archery dealers succeed, because it is a major commitment. "They have to stock a broad spectrum of products, ranging from entry level products, to more complicated products for the professional."

He believes that dealers who open their own archery ranges, or who are themselves active participants, are most likely to succeed in selling archery equipment.

Van Warmelo is concerned that dealers who are more interested in selling the equipment they have in their shops, irrespective of its suitability or merits, will equip "uninformed buyers who walk out of shops with equipment costing several thousands, which is, at best inappropriate, or worse definitely harmful."

The fact that this often leads to bows being used in backyards, with the potential of hitting someone in an adjoining property, or to shoot animals that are often left to die agonisingly for fun, angers and frightens him. It can also lead to the purchase of bows that are beyond the capability of the user to control and eventually chronic injury to shoulders and elbows ensues.

"A modern bow is no toy and the requisite skills take time to master," says Van Warmelo, who strongly believes that anyone wishing to take up archery as a sport should find a competent coach and join a club. "Archery looks so easy when done well — what is not realised, is that at the Olympics the target is 70m away and the centre spot is only 122mm in diameter. To hit this consistently, takes more than chance."

One problem affecting archery, in common with so many other sporting codes, is the absence of sponsorship, says Van Warmelo.

"Travel becomes imperative for the ambitious athlete and travel is not cheap. The lack of sponsorship also leads to clubs having to fund their own publicity and development. Without publicity the general public does not know about the sport, does not try it, with the result that there is no growth. With no support, there can be no development, without development there can be no medals, and without medals there is no support. How are South African athletes supposed to compete on equal footing with overseas athletes who have everything supplied to them?" he asks.

Paintball growing

Paintball is a shooting sport that is growing rapidly. It is currently played in more than 60 countries by millions of people of different ages and lifestyles. In the US, paintball is considered to be one of the fastest-growing sports, with participation numbers increasing from 5.9-m in 1998 to 9.8-m in 2003 — a surge of 66% in five years. There paintball is not just a sport, it is a culture, with telephone directory-thick magazines dedicated to the sport.

The main event for paintball in Europe this year was the 7-Man World Cup, which took place in Paris in July. Over 200 teams competed and there was also a large tradeshow area at the event.

The comprehensive SA paintball site www.sapaintball.co.za lists 69 paintball clubs in most SA provinces and 175 teams playing at these clubs. Most clubs (29) and teams (81) are from Gauteng, followed by the Western Cape with 13 clubs, and the third most teams, namely 12.

Although Gauteng is the strong arm when it comes to numbers, places such as Durban and Bloemfontein, who have small participation numbers, also have ranges and do host their own tournaments. According to Bryce Thompson, editor of PLAY, the SA paintball magazine, there are paintball ranges in almost every province in SA. Paintballers travel great distances when they can to participate in tournaments.

Thompson says the interest in paintball in SA has been growing at a phenomenal rate during the past three years — over the last year that rate has doubled.

"Where there used to be only a handful of tournament teams, there is now an impressive array of teams and players. Teams are now also getting sponsorships, improving the sport in general and raising the level of play, across the board," adds Terance Trim, captain of Team AWSIM, ranked 5th in the A-division.

"SA teams are competing in the international circuit and this year two pro players from an overseas team came to participate in one of our events for the first time. There are now more formats than before, meaning that teams are no longer restricted to one type, but can choose the style of play that best suits them e.g. AFRI-ball etc.

"The recent introduction of the South African National Paintball Association (SANPA) will help in building the future of competitive paintball but it can only work with the support of the paintball community," he says.

Paintball teams are ranked in two divisions — the A-division, for pro teams, and the B-division, for the teams starting to compete.

Only the most dedicated players, who usually buy their own equipment, will join teams and clubs. Most paintball players are still casual participants who enjoy a game as part of a corporate teambuilding or school outing, or groups of friends looking for an afternoon’s adventurous entertainment. They usually rent the necessary equipment from the ranges where they play. The sport therefore has a big potential for growth and future equipment sales.

Dirk Botha of Dye-Hard Paintball, who runs a paintball range in Cape Town, attributes their increased bookings to their efforts in marketing the sport. The majority of the players at Dye-Hard are adults; however the numbers of children and teenagers playing on their fields are slowly increasing.

Botha believes the biggest obstacle for people without a stable income is the high costs involved. However, he has seen a definite increase in the number of people who own their own markers.

"As the sport becomes more affordable, and as the price of lower-end markers decrease, there will be more people who own paintball markers. Whether or not they actually play the sport, is another question entirely."

Paintball is usually played in wooded outdoor areas with sufficient cover to ambush opponents, but indoor ranges are becoming more common, usually in urban areas. Arenaball (also called speedball) is paintball played in an arena (indoors or outdoors) where spectators can enjoy the excitement. Standard tournaments are usually played in 3, 5, 7 and 10-man formats.

Paintball offers the retailer multiple options for stock — a paintballer does not only need his marker. The actual paintballs offer the most lucrative stock option for retailers, because even players who do not have their own markers might want to stock up on paintballs at a more affordable rate than sold by the ranges. They are sold in different quality ranges.

Paintball markers (paintguns, although paintballers never refer to the paintball launchers as guns) come in a variety of shapes and styles, ranging from simple to sophisticated. With a pumpgun, the player must first cock the marker by using a pump and then squeeze the trigger, each time he wants to shoot a paintball. Pumpguns are usually powered by refillable CO2 or compressed air cylinders.

Semi-automatic paintball markers are generally powered by refillable cylinders. With a semi-auto, the player must cock the paintgun to shoot the first paintball, after that the marker will recock automatically.

Paintball’s superb safety record compared with other sports is mostly due to addressing safety concerns at the very beginnings of the game. Goggles and head-protection systems — designed specifically for paintball and meeting specified standards — are always a requirement on any field, as are the use of barrel plugs and chronographs.

Paintball goggles are the player’s most important piece of protection. They are made to offer protection in worst case scenarios – multiple paintballs shot at close range. Other goggles or eyewear, other than those specifically designed and made for paintball, do not provide sufficient enough protection.

A visor for the goggles is very useful. Not only do they keep the sun out of the player’s eyes, but they also protect the goggles if the goggles fall. They prevent the goggles from hitting the ground and from the lenses getting scratched.

Barrel plugs are standard fare at all commercial fields. Once a player leaves the field of play, they are required to insert a barrel plug into the end of their barrel as a safety device to prevent injury if the marker is accidentally discharged in the neutral area.

Clothing wise, one needs padded gloves (for protecting the back of your hands from painful impacts and splinters); shin, knee and elbow pads; strong footwear (preferable leather) with good ankle support and a deep tread; a throat guard; a hat or bandanna for protection from impact and from the sun (to prevent sunstroke).