Next week is the NSCA National Championships which are held annually at the National Shooting Center in San Antonio. Except last year when participation was somewhat down due to Covid, there are usually over 2000 shooters at the event. This year almost 2300 are already signed up. It's by far the largest sporting clays event in the country. (you can see details on winscoreonline.com)
Each year, it includes a side by side event, which in the two years prior to Covid attracted just under 150 SXS shooters. This year, that number is already approaching 160 shooters, so SXS participation appears to be not only holding, but slightly growing. (BTW, there is also a pump event with similar number of people registered)
I shot the SXS event at nationals last year and there were some seriously challenging targets, as one might expect at a national championship. And on my squad there were a couple guys shooting very non-vintage Perazzi SXS shotguns, which is probably not unexpected as this is a shooting event, not a collectors event. But I also saw a number of people shooting SXS guns you might see at a vintage event.
Now comparing the SXS event at the Nationals to collector gatherings such as the Southern or Vintage Cup is certainly apples to oranges. But nonetheless, I think its interesting and encouraging to see a large and somewhat growing number of shooters shooting SXS guns at a major sporting clays event.
