St. George, your a good pardner, it's alway a pleasure to visit with you in person, but I must respond to your open letter. Authenticity requirements are no greater today than when this organization started, in my personal view they are less. By your own admission in another post, you have not attended a NCOWS match as a shooter, and only drop by to visit occasionally . I attend matches 2 - 3 times a month during the shooting season, and hit as many NCOWS clubs as I can (four this year), finances being my only constraint. The vast majority of NCOWS members are in it for the shooting part only, I've personally tried to improve my personal level of authenticity, but others don't, does this mean I enjoy a shoot any more than them, no it doesn't. I'm not saying that we need to lower the authenticity standards, but we need to emulate for others the higher standard we wish to achieve. Slides may not be found in documentation or photographs, okay, but were a fantasy shooting game. Folks like to send alot of lead down range for fun. A few folks are vocal in their opposition to shotgun slides, my view is they have been used for so many years why make a fuss over them. KVC and GLFMC both don't like guncarts, they ban them from their events, that's a local club controling their own shoots, I have yet to hear or read that the anti-slides folks say they have banned them from their local clubs, it they are so strong in their views, this is a viable option for them, for clubs that don't care if shooters use them people still can.