The Code of the West

I ran across this today and thought that with all the whining and complaining we do in modern times (I admit, I do it), its certainly refreshing to look at how persons in the Old West conducted themselves, or were at least expected to conduct themselves. Going down the list, I certainly fall short in some areas, but then, times have changed and you can't really trust people the same way you could then (I believe). Anyway, I think most of the fellas on "The Wire" should take some of these to heart, I might like it there were these principles enforced there.

I took these from Legends of America website, the code was never penned in practice, author Zane Grey chronicled it in his novel The Code of the West.

• Don't inquire into a person's past. Take the measure of
  a man for what he is today.
  
• Never steal another man's horse. A horse thief pays
  with his life.
• Defend yourself whenever necessary.
• Look out for your own.
  
• Remove your guns before sitting at the dining table.
• Never order anything weaker than whiskey.
• Don't make a threat without expecting dire
  consequences.
• Never pass anyone on the trail without saying
  "Howdy".
• When approaching someone from behind, give a loud greeting
  before you get within shooting range.
  
• Don't wave at a man on a horse, as it might spook the
  horse. A nod is the proper greeting.
  
• After you pass someone on the trail, don't look back at
  him. It implies you don't trust him.
  
• Riding another man's horse without his permission is
  nearly as bad as making love to his wife. Never even bother another man's horse.
  
• Always fill your whiskey glass to the brim.
• Do not practice ingratitude.
• A cowboy is pleasant even when out of sorts. Complaining is
  what quitters do, and cowboys hate quitters.
  
• Always be courageous. Cowards aren't tolerated in any
  outfit worth its salt.
• A cowboy always helps someone in need, even a stranger or an
  enemy.
• Never try on another man's hat.
• Be hospitable to strangers. Anyone who wanders in,
  including an enemy, is welcome at the dinner table. The same was true for
  riders who joined cowboys on the range.
  
• Give your enemy a fighting chance.
• Never wake another man by shaking or touching him, as
  he might wake suddenly and shoot you.
  
• Real cowboys are modest. A braggert who is "all gurgle
  and no guts" is not tolerated.
• A cowboy doesn't talk much; he saves his breath for breathing.
• No matter how weary and hungry you are after a long day
  in the saddle, always tend to your horse's needs before your own, and get
  your horse some feed before you eat.
  
• Cuss all you want, but only around men, horses and
  cows.
• Complain about the cooking and you become the cook.
• Always drink your whiskey with your gun hand, to show
  your friendly intentions.
• Be there for a friend when he needs you.
• Drinking on duty is grounds for instant dismissal and
  blacklisting.
• A cowboy is loyal to his "brand," to his friends, and
  those he rides with.
• Never shoot an unarmed or unwarned enemy. This was also
  known as "the rattlesnake code": always warn before you strike.
  However, if a man was being stalked, this could be ignored.
• Never shoot a woman no matter what.
• Consideration for others is central to the code, such
  as: Don't stir up dust around the chuckwagon, don't wake up the wrong man
  for herd duty, etc.
• Respect the land and the environment by not smoking in
  hazardous fire areas, disfiguring rocks, trees, or other natural areas.
• Honesty is absolute - your word is your bond, a
  handshake is more binding than a contract.
  
• Live by the Golden Rule.

IN State PICS

I copied and uploaded Copper's pictures from the Indiana State Shoot to my flickr account.

Thanks for being the Amigos photographer Copper.

Range Time

Last week I got some much needed range time. You would think that I would get plenty of trigger time being a firearms instructor, but the reality is much different. When instructing I rarely get to shoot at all and I have spent an entire week at the range without ever pulling the trigger myself. This time I got to the range about an hour early and managed to put in some solid work.

I started with the 87. Since I have decided to make the 87 my new main match shotgun I figured I better learn how to shoot it. I managed to get a 4 shoot string starting from the gun placed horizontally in 8.64 seconds. That was my fast time with times usually in the 10 – 12 second range. The drop 2 isn’t very reliable and the gun sometimes doesn’t want to feed properly. It’s still fun to shoot and I’m going to finish the year out with it so I hope to get consistent times around 6 – 7 seconds by next spring.

After going through about 50 rounds of shotgun I moved to my Glock and the 10-8 pistol test. I didn’t have an IDPA/IPSC target so I used an 8” paper plate for the body and an index card for the head. I’m not sold entirely on the test, but I did have fits shooting it in the 5 second par time. After a few practice attempts I did manage to bring the first half of the test in the 4.5 – 4.8 second range with no misses, but then the students showed up and I had to stop.

I will have to find some time to run these drills again. Lord knows I need the practice.

Little things

I had last week off from work and managed to piddle a bunch in the garage doing reloading stuff. I sure wish Grant would have posted his reloading post a week ago... ain't that always the way?

I like the cat food bullet dispenser idea of his as well as the brass storage bins. I'll have to get some of those.

Basically, I spent the week rediscovering what a pita reloading is when you do it in bulk. I like the developing loads and figuring out a better way to skin a cat, but when it comes down to cranking out a couple of thousand rounds at the 550B or processing brass, my stomach for it fails. I keep interested by trying new stuff that I don't really need to do, like new powder measures and decapping dies and tumblers... you get the picture. My favorite thing is to buy something that saves me time, like the new Thumbler's Tumbler I bought, it holds three times the brass and does the job in the same amount of time, I LOVE that.

Reloading costs, as some of you know I'm sure, are going through the roof. My component cost (bullet/primer/powder) has gone up nearly 30% this year, that's insane! Oh well, its kind of like gas, you gotta have it. I've just taken a step to mitigate it somewhat by placing a bulk order for primers and powder via Powder Valley Inc. The thing about ordering those things online is that you have to pay a hazmat fee, so you have to order a bunch to spread the cost of the fee out. I ordered enough to bring it down to around a dollar per brick of primers or 1lb of powder and PVI's prices are good enough to make it worth the while. I just have to find a place to store all that stuff!

Now if I can only find a place that sells bullets cheap, those are the real killers in this equation, going up by $15/1k this year or 31%. Anyone know of a cheap place to buy good bullets? I've got some feelers out and if I find someone, I might place a big order so I don't have to buy for a while.

Other things I did? I put a true commander hammer on my Kimber Eclipse CLE II, not one of those skeletonized jobs, the real deal. I like it. I also bought some new ammo for it, Hornady's TAP 230g hollow-points, 950fps; 461lb/f. That should do the trick.

I bought some of the Blue Wonder gun blueing kit to try and protect my S&W 19-3 from rust. It didn't go well as I got even more rust!!! I must have done something wrong, but as I followed the instructions to a "T", I don't know. I may look into getting the entire gun refinished, there's a local guy with blueing tanks, but the gun really isn't worth it.

That's it, that's how I relax on vacation.

Stampede

Some of the songs were lullabies learned as a child, some were hymns learned at church and some were made up. A good night horse was important to the night guard. Its eyes need to be sharper than those of a day horse. It needed to be calm, not inclined to shy at shadows or sudden noise. It needed to be able to gallop at night without putting a foot into a prairie-dog hole. And, it needed to be able to handle cattle boldly in case of a stampede. This was critical for on the trail nighttime was stampede time.

Nights of lightning and rain seemed to tighten the cattle’s nerves to the point of stampede. Then the cannon shot of prairie thunder would set them off. But even on clear, tranquil nights ordinary things, such as a coyote’s yelp, a horse’s whinny, or the flare of a match as a cowboy lit a cigarette could start a stampede. On one drive a shred from a cowboy’s pouch of tobacco lodged in a steer’s eye setting off a raging charge that resulted in the death of two riders and the loss of 400 cows. Occasionally the herd would take off for no apparent reason at all. A herd that had broken once or twice was always likely to go again and again. Joseph McCoy wrote that in a number of herds a half a dozen troublemakers might take a “chronic fright from which they never recover. They would rather run then eat, anytime. The stampeders may be seen close together at all times, as if consulting how to raise Cain and get off with a burst of speed. It is actually economy to shoot down a squad of the vicious stampeders.”

Oddly, when cattle stampeded they uttered no sound at all. A trail hand sleeping off-watch would suddenly be aware of a deep rumbling, a trembling of the sod beneath him. The longhorns ran with surprising speed. Their hooves pounding the ground and their horns clashing as they thundered along. Two or three cowboys, usually the best riders, would spur hard to get out in front of the stampede. Then depending solely on “the sureness of the horse’s feet to keep from changing hells,” they reined back to try to slow the charge. Other hands would ride at one side of the point pressing in to turn the herd. Sometimes they flailed their slickers in the faces of the leaders, or fired their six-shooters near their ears to get them to turn. The leaders might dodge and go down, trampled to death. After three of four terrifying miles the cattle usually began to circle, then mill. For the hands this was the most dangerous time with the cows jammed together so close that a trapped horseman might be jostled from his horse. At the end of one stampede near the Blue River in Nebraska, the horrified cowboys came upon the remains of a comrade who had fallen to the ground. Nothing was left but a gun butt.

Usually the only harm done on a stampede though was to the animals and the cattleman’s profits. In a four-mile run on a hot night a beef could lose up to 50 pounds and the spooky herd would arrive at the railhead looking mighty stringy and unpalatable to the buyers. Worse yet were the number of cattle lost. In the thunder of a stampede cattle bruised, crushed and gored one another. In the worst stampede in history, in July 1876, a big herd plunged into a gully near the Brazos River in Texas, the leaders crushed by those behind. When it was over 2,000 steers were either dead or missing.

Edited by Fighting Eagle

Source: The Old West by Time Life Books

Thunder Valley - September Newsletter

Howdy Cowfolks:

The September Main Match was given another excellent day of weather. The temperature was 70 degrees, low humidity, and a nice breeze passed through the range during the day. 58 shooters showed up to throw lead down range, 18 classes were represented, and 60% made the bonus rifle shot at 52 yds. Congratulations to the eight folks that had a “Clean” match: Nomore Slim, Buffalo Bud Harden, Longshot Tom, Abu, Cole Coffee, Flintlock Fields, Dingo, and Lorenzo Lain.

Folks were geared up and ready to practice for the upcoming Indiana State competition. Lead was flyin’ and smoke was rollin’ down range all day. Repeated Yeehaa ‘s and other assorted yells were heard throughout the match. We had four brand new shooters, and total of six new faces at the match. Sunset Sam, Batjack Shootist, and his wife Paulette Brown joined as club members. We thank you folks for signing up to support our club.

Reminders: (1) October is the month for our 3-way match competition at Knob Creek, on the 1st Sunday, Pleasant Valley, on the 2nd weekend, and Thunder Valley, on the 3rd Saturday. Come on down, shoot at all three locations, and see how you stack up in an 18 stage competition. Awards will be given for the main match at each club, and then final awards at Thunder Valley for the eighteen stage event. Should be interesting !!. (2) The November match at Thunder Valley will offer camping and a pitch-in dinner Saturday immediately following the match. Our shootin’ pards from Illinois, Missouri, and northern Indiana already have their bags packed, and the meals planned. These folks can only join us a few times a year, so bring your favorite covered dish and drinks, sit around the campfire to hear some tall tales with lots of braggin’, and enjoy some Kentuckiana hospitality at it’s very best. It’s a hoot !!!!

Happy September birthdays to : Baron Von Csco, Christian, Cumberland Drifter, Don’t Know Diddly, Dutchman Swart, Longshot Tom, Marshall Spencer Owen, Nomore Slim, Smiley, and Woodchuck Willy.

We have been very fortunate this year to have lots of new faces show up at our range. Some have been new shooters, and others have been experienced shooters that just came to visit and check out our facility. We try hard to make an extra effort to cause folks to feel at home and have a fun day.

I would also like to offer a few comments that may make your day at the range a little more efficient, demonstrate proper range operation for new and less experienced shooters, and improve the overall operation at any range that you may attend.

Timer Operation – Larger numbers of shooters requires a larger number of posses, and then we often find a posse shooting at the adjacent stage. It is very important for the timer operator to immediately cover the receiver of the timer, as soon as the shooter has finished, and immediately report the time to the score keeper, audibly and visually. Visually noting and immediately verbally reporting the score will reduce the chance of picking up a shot from the adjacent stage and giving the shooter an erroneous raw time. Spotters should be polled after the raw time has been reported to the score keeper. Polling spotters prior to verbally reporting the score provides a substantial risk of picking up the sound of an unwanted shot.

Score Keeper – The score keeper should be in a position near the timer operator at the conclusion of the stage. When the timer operator reports the raw time to the score keeper, he/she, should then audibly repeat the raw time and any penalties/bonuses to the timer operator. This will reduce the risk of an incorrect recording of the raw time and penalties/bonuses.

Spotters – This is one of the most important job assignments in the posse. Spotters should position themselves at different places behind, but near, the firing line. Spotters should be able to clearly see all targets while the shooter progresses through the scenario. It may require the spotter to change position in order to maintain a clear view of each target while the shooter is engaging each one. Both visual and audible skills must be used by the spotter in order to provide an accurate accounting of the target strikes. Calls made by the spotters will determine the outcome of any match, and each spotter should provide their undivided attention to the task at hand while the shooter completes the scenario. Final match results can be drastically incorrect if the spotters are not giving their full attention to the job assignment.

These comments/suggestions are intended to assist each of us in improving our general range operations skills, and will be an aide to providing more accurate accounting of the event at any CAS range that you may attend. Hope it is helpful to you. In future newsletters, other posse duties, firearms usage, ammunition reloading tips, tips on other accessories, building or improving your gun cart, costuming, and a nearly endless list of hints, tips and suggestions can be forwarded to shooters. Many times following a match we all gather at the range or at our vehicles to discuss what could have been done better. If you have any comments/suggestions that would be useful as instructional material, or general information, please sent it to me, and I’ll post it in the newsletter.

The Indiana State competition for 2007 has come and gone, and the folks at Deer Creek Conservation Club deserve a huge round of applause. This was a very well organized match that presented a challenge, with lots of fun and excitement. The scenarios offered lots of movement with a great variety of targets. The shooter books were well written, and range officials provided concise and accurate descriptions to the shooters prior to beginning each stage. Food and beverage arrangements were excellent. The camp grounds were excellent. The operation for sign-in, and all office operations were excellent. The awards presentation was excellent. Darn, I guess the whole thing was excellent . Thanks to all of you folks at Deer Creek for all of your hard work, long hours, and another G R E A T !!!, State Match.

Deer Creek has decided to take a break from the Indiana State event and the 2008 Indiana State will be held at Cutter’s Raiders, in Etna Green, Indiana, approximately one hour north of Deer Creek. The folks organizing this event are experienced shooters and match organizers. All should look forward to attending and help promote the 2008 Indiana State at an awesome facility. Checkout their website via the SASS website, Cutter’s Raiders Paradise Pass. We will keep you posted on the specifics related to that event as they are made available.

The members and regular shooters from Thunder Valley, Pleasant Valley, and Knob Creek went to the 2007 Indiana State ready to blaze away with their cowboy firearms and equipment. The following is a summary of the awards presentations. Monthly reading, “Stampede” is attached.

Indiana State 2007 – Main Match

Results listed are for awards presented to members and regular shooters at Thunder Valley, Pleasant Valley, and Knob Creek. See the Deer Creek Conservation Club website for all detailed scores.

Indiana State Top Cowboy - Doc Molar, Indiana State Top Cowgirl - Two Sons, Top Gun – Three Gun Cole

49er: Vaquero Hayes 1st place & Indiana 49er Champion, 7th overall, Indy Kid 3rd place, Fighting Eagle 4th place

B-Western: Judge Mint Day 4th place

Duelist: M’Bogo 4th place & Indiana Duelist Champion

Ladies Duelist: Calamity Kelly 1st place & Indiana Ladies Duelist Champion

Frontiersman: Nomore Slim 2nd place & Indiana Frontiersman Champion, Smiley ( Sheep Dip) 4^th place, Pee Wee 5th place

Frontier Cartridge: Randy Atcher 3rd place

Ladies FC: Lizzy of the Valley 1st place & Indiana Ladies Front Cart Champion

Front Cart Duelist: Abu 5th place

Front Cart GF: Hardscrabble 2nd place & Indiana Front Cart Gunfighter Champion, Manatee 4th place

Gunfighter: Max Montana 1st place & Indiana Gunfighter Champion, 11th overall, Jose Gigante 4th place

Modern: Leadville Clyde 2nd place & Indiana Modern Champion, 9th overall

Ladies Modern: Short Fuse Ruby 1st place

Seniors: Redneck Rebel 4th place

Ladies Senior: Hesibah Hawke 3rd place

Silver Seniors: Drew First 1st place

Traditional: Black Tom 5th place, 8th overall

Clean Match: Nomore Slim & Lorenzo Lain

Sincerely,
Redneck Rebel

Scores are up

Padre PW has posted the Hoosier Ambush 07 Scores.

Hoosier Ambush 07

Well, the shooting has stopped and everyone got home safe and sound and had a good nights rest in the comfort of their own bed. No listening to Jose or Judge snoring and an air conditioner that works properly. Amen!

I didn't shoot my best or worse, so I guess that's a push. I'd be happier had I not had a proceedural on a stage, but then it didn't matter as far as scoring goes. To my surprise, there were only four gunfighters at the shoot and so I got fourth place since Max Montana, Lassiter and Frenchy Yukon were in the category and they're pretty good. Judge ran into the same issue with B-Western, only four competitors, it appears that people are heading towards the black-powder categories. Its funny how categories grow and shrink with each state match as people look to either new challenges or to get away from better shooters and score a victory.

I put some of the pictures I took up on my Flickr page and will add Copper's pictures when he gets them to me.

No scores yet, so I really don't have an idea of exactly how badly I was beat by Frenchy, but I figure its not close. Other members of the two clubs we are members of did well with at least two Indiana State Champs and a couple of firsts and seconds. In all, something like 40 awards, good I suppose, but getting an award for showing up isn't much to be crowing about, so I doubt you'll see me and Judge beating our chest.

It was fun and the weather was infinitely better than the previous three years, so that's good. There were plenty of stages with lots of movement on them and a challenge here or there. In all I think I had five misses on ten stages and the forementioned proceedural, not bad, like I said, I'd be happier without that proceedural because that's a severe lack of concentration.

Now on to finish unpacking and processing brass.

Sickness and the 87

Saturday was beautiful and a perfect day for CAS. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling the same. I had been struggling with a sinus infection for several days and when the alarm went off I almost called Jose and told to him to go on without me. But, no matter how attractive the thought of using a movie line in real life was I decided to tough it out and shoot anyway. I would pay for it on Sunday.

Two things made me decide to shoot. Next week was the state match and I had just picked up my 87 earlier in the week. So I took lots of medicine, packed my gear and off I went.

Overall the shooting was horrible, but I really couldn’t expect much with how I felt. On the other hand I really had a kick shooting the 87. It’s tons of fun and I really enjoyed every minute of it. I don’t know how competitive the weapon will be, but it’s just gratifying to be throwing a lever on a shotgun and watching those big ol’ shells shooting out the top. My plan was to shoot the gun and get it out of my system then use it for fun in the future, but after the match I played with the drop 2 and started to get a handle on how that worked and now I’m thinking of shooting it again. I wanted the 87 from the first time I thought about CAS and I’m glad I finally picked one up.

Of course I didn’t get out of bed on Sunday, and now I’m just praying I get better before the Hoosier Ambush this weekend, but that’s another story.

Time to make the doughnuts go bang

Apologies to the fine doughnut makers at Dunkin.

I've recently tried the relatively new gun powder specially designed for the larger cases cowboy shooters are often utilizing, .45 Colt, .44 Special/Magnum, 44/40, 38/40... Trail Boss powder is made by IMR (under Hodgdon) and is basically a fast burning powder that is more volumous due to its novel doughnut shape (see pic). Gunblast has a nice article on this powder and I won't bore you with details on its benefits. Suffice it to say is it will nearly eliminate the possibility of a double charge and offers more consistent velocities at lower load levels than a normal powder.

My experience with this powder started at my Dillon 550 in the Dillon powder measure. It metered very poorly in my opinion with the doughnuts trickling out after the casemouth of the cartridge pulled away from the expanding die resulting in little doughnuts of powder all over my press. It wasn't enough to alter the charge significantly, but it was very annoying and messy. After reading the gunblast article, I bought a Lee Pro disc powder measure and it works great on my Dillon press without throwing doughnuts everywhere. I liked it so much, I bought another since they're only $20. I've since heard advice on using the Dillon measure to change over the the larger rifle charge bar, but I won't bother since I've found something that works well.

Last weekend, I shot the trailboss loads out of my rifle and its very accurate, if I took my time, I could put a cloverleaf on one of the rifle targets, as it was, all the hits on steel were touching at CAS rifle distance, so I'm very pleased. The other thing I noticed was that it didn't seem to have as much blow-by as the other smokeless powders out there, its not a big deal to the function of the rifle, but its a bit of a bother when you're shooting to have puffs of hot gas in your face. I was hoping TB would be a little cleaner than Clays or Tightgroup, but it really isn't, at least not in my '73.

Anyway, I'll most likely start using this powder in all my CAS loads so I can have the little added reassurance of safety even though it costs more than other powders. The one other thing I want to try is the grits/clays load to see what it is like to shoot and how much trouble it is. As much as I hate cranking the handle, I'm guessing its too much trouble, but if they shoot like they are claimed to shoot, its at least worth a try. I just have to find some grits.

Katana vs Ma Duce

This is pretty cool, a Japanese TV show pits a katana vs an M2 .50cal machine gun.



The katana loses (of course) but its pretty impressive that it splits several bullets before breaking.

Wild Bunch Guns [update]

This is an update to part one of Wild Bunch guns.

So I'm in one of the local gunshops the other day and come across yet another 1911A1 mil-spec clone. This time from Thompson (Auto-Ordinance) and it might be the perfect Wild Bunch pistol. Its a faithful reproduction of the 1911A1 and has the added benefit of having the government markings on it. They have two parkerized models, one with wood grips, the other with plastic wood imitation (yuk!). Thompson also offers two stainless non-WWII models.

Perhaps the best thing overall about these pistols is that the example I saw at the local shop was $449 (plastic grips). That's pretty good for a 1911, not as cheap as my Rock Island, but it may be made of sturdier stuff. For those wondering about the quality, these are made by Kahr arms who bought Auto-Ordinance and are producing new guns and not assembling them from spare parts. $449 for an American made 1911 is outstanding if you ask me, I might have to look into getting one.

Buy! Buy! Buy!

So what's a single gun-head supposed to do when you don't have a car payment and just got a nice raise? Buy guns of course. Over the last month, I've picked up a couple of new guns. First of all, I traded in my SW99 that I don't carry anymore on a new Rock Island 1911. I wanted a mil-spec 1911 for the Wild Bunch matches so's I could shoot it no matter where the WB match was or the rules involved. I also wanted to have it so I could present, at some point, a Wild Bunch category to one or both of the clubs, perhaps next year.

I was going to wait for a range report on the Rock before posting, but in its first outing, the firing pin peened and stuck (CHEAP Philipino steel!). After getting a tool steel Ed Brown in it, I took it down to TVR and the damn slide stop kept engaging, grrrr... I think I have everything ironed out for this weekend, but then you never know. Anyway, it bites my hand, so I ordered a commander hammer for it and I'll try that to see how it goes, I got one of the Swenson original commander hammers since I love the look of it and want to keep it as period as I can. The other thing I want to do is experiment with the trigger to see if I can improve it. If I can, then I'll look into my Kimber's trigger as well since it's got some creep in it.

The other gun I just bought is one of the Norinco 97 pumpguns. Like Judge, I got it through our pard Vaquero Hayes who I had do an action job on it. He suggested I get the 26" model and have it cut to 20" instead of getting the 18" model. What sold it was that the distributor didn't have any 18s in stock. I just got word that it was ready and need to go pick it up along with Judge picking up his 87. My thoughts on that are having a spare 97 for the matches and a 97 with nice wood on it. I may get walnut furniture for my first 97 and work on it even further if its not as smooth as the one I get from Vaquero. We'll see.

Other things I've been working on are the brass shotshells with smokeless powder, I'll get them one day, one day... I've also loaded up some 45 Colt with Trailboss powder to see if it works any better than the others I've tried. I'd like to get a clean powder that doesn't give a lot of blowby in the rifle like I get with Clays or Tightgroup. I might try the Clays/Grits solution at some point, but I'm not a real fan of doing things that manufacturers say is unsafe.

AK’s and .45’s

I had to do a little range training today and got a special treat. One of the guys I work with is a big AK fan and even though I had never fired one before I had been bugging him for months to sell me one of his AK’s. Well we were at the range and had some space to play around and this guy brought out his AK-47 for our use.

(giggle)Fun(/giggle)

Obviously with it’s bigger bullet it was going to have more of a muzzle rise then the M4 and you could clearly feel the bigger bullet. It didn’t take me long to realize why this gun is liked the world over. Smooth, easy to use, quick on the target, and packing a nice punch. The one drawback I noticed was how quickly the gun overheated. A magazine or two on quick fire had the stock smoking and I wondered how they kept the things from burning them in battle. It made me long for an AK and a place to shoot it. I don’t think he will part with the AK but maybe I can get him to give me a deal on his MAK-90.

As for the .45, well every time I get to shoot the thing I like it more. I still have a tendency to anticipate when I lose concentration, but it’s a sweet shooting gun. I love to make a point with it at the range. Like today, after everyone was having a little difficulty with a drill I just stepped up, and nailed the shot, first time perfect. Sure maybe it was luck, but they don’t need to know that.

Real Fast

Mr. Completely has a video of "Quick Cal" at a Cowboy Fast Draw competition.

.368 is the time, which if I recall correctly is the time from when the light in the center goes on to when the "bullet" hits the target. So yeah, Cal is indeed quick.

Thunder Valley August 2007 Newsletter

Howdy Cowfolks:

Another great demonstration of Cowboy Action Shootin’ at our August Main Match. 55 shooters, 18 classes represented, and 84% earned the bonus rifle attempt. The weather provided a break in the heat wave, and we saw a sunny day, and 86 degrees. A nice breeze throughout the day cleared the smoke away for the black powder shooters.

The newly installed patio umbrellas at each loading/unloading table provided a welcomed shade from the direct sun. We had three new shooters, and several folks came to observe, take notes, learn about the sport, and plan return to begin their Cowboy Action game next month.

Congratulations to Bad Aim Girl, Jose Gigante, Cumberland Drifter, and Sully Snakekiller for their “Clean Match” for the day.

Happy August birthdays to: Border Rebel, Ellie Mae, Hardscrabble, J.P, Loco Mateo, Nickel Blue, Poker Jane, and Two Jacks.

Especially for the new folks, if you have any questions about our range, or need assistance related to Cowboy Action Shooting, please contact any of the club officers.

They may be contacted via our website, www.thundervalleycas.com.

President- Redneck Rebel, Vice-President- Graver, Range Master- Abu, Asst. Range Master- Jose Gigante, Administrative Asst- Fighting Eagle, and Match Director- Vaquero Hayes.

Our Cowboy Action video production by Firepower TV is now showing 7,877 viewings with a 4.5 out of 5.0 star rating. If you haven’t seen it yet, go to www.youtube.com, then enter, firepowertv cowboy shoot, in the search box. The full 40 minute video is also available on the youtube website. If you are on a dialup connection, it will require approximately 35 minutes to download.

The 2007 Regional competition has come and gone. Several Thunder Valley members and other regular shooters at Thunder Valley made an excellent showing at the Regional Match:

Speed Pistol - Clyde 4
Black Tom 5

Pocket Pistols - Indy Kid 2

Speed Shotgun Hammer - Black Tom 5

Speed Rifle - Clyde 14
Vaquero Hayes 13

49er - Indy Kid 1^st & 6^th Overall
Vaquero Hayes 2^nd & 22 Overall

Duelist - M’Bogo 7

Front Cart Duelist - Marshall Spencer Owen 6

Frontiersman - Nomore Slim 5

Gunfighter - Max Montana 2 & 28^th Overall
Zwing Hunt 6 & 41 Overall

Ladies Frontier Cart Duelist - Calamity Kelly

Modern - Clyde 2 & 13 Overall
Cumberland Drifter 8

Pale Rider Gunfighter - Manatee 3

Silver Senior - Drew First 3

The 2007 Indiana State competition is just around the corner, September 21-23. There will be a lot to see at this match, so even if you aren’t planning to shoot this event, head on up to Deer Creek and check it out. Mark your calendars for our September 15 Main Match at Thunder Valley. This will be your last chance to practice & get ready for the Indiana State. All side matches, and long distance will be available for practice at this match.

Our October 20 Main Match will be the 3^rd leg of a combined 18 stage competition with Pleasant Valley, and Knob Creek. Knob Creek will host the 1^st segment on October 7, and Pleasant Valley will host the 2^nd segment on October 13th and 14th.

See Ya at the Firin’ Line

Redneck Rebel

Wagon Crossing

A home in the West was an appealing idea. The news of successful crossings of the Rockies spawned great excitement in the Northern and Eastern states. Late each spring the emigrants gathered at prearranged spots along the Missouri and moved out in caravans of anywhere from a few wagons to several hundred. For six months they would drag along at 15 to 20 miles a day until the survivors reached an unfamiliar destination some 2,000 miles away.

Although the favored time of departure from staging points along the Missouri was late April or early May, it was already June in 1849 when Josiah Royce, his wife Sarah and their two-year old, Mary, left Council Bluffs with a wagon train of strangers. Near the end of August they reached Salt Lake City. Snow could block the passes through the Sierra Nevada range anytime after mid-October, so the company broke up, each man making his own arrangement to get to the mountains as quickly as possible. On August 30, their solitary wagon drawn by a three-yoke team of six oxen pulled out. They followed directions to the lower end of the Humboldt River, known as the Sink, hoping to meet a band of Mormons returning from a summer gold hunt in California and get further directions. They had traveled only a few days across the Great Salt Desert when they met two young men traveling with only a horse and mule. The new members of the party had very little food and, although they hunted every day, food was scarce in the desert.

In mid-September, the Royces met the band of Mormons and their leader carefully explained how to get to the Carson River. But the Royce party traveling at night missed the turn and had wandered miles into the desert. To keep their oxen alive they fed them the straw from their mattress. They had to turn back. “Turn back,” Sarah wrote in her memoirs, “What a chill those words sent through one. Turn back, on a journey like that; in which every mile had been gained with most earnest labor. And now for miles we were to go back.” With only a few sips of water left, they found a grassy meadow with water. They packed the wagon with water and hay and resumed their trek across the sea of sand, “this time to cross or die.” Two days out, two oxen died. They traveled though the night with the remaining oxen, as dawn approached the animals drank the last of the water. They traveled on. For several miles, as the sun rose higher, not a word was spoken. Then finally a low, dark line appeared on the horizon. It was the Carson River. The desert had been conquered, but they still faced the Sierra Nevada range.

Progress toward the foothills was dishearteningly slow. On October 12, the travelers gazed up the steep incline and wondered how they could possibly ascend it. Then in a cloud of dust two “heaven-sent messengers” came cantering down a mountain trail toward them. They were from the Relief Company “sent out by order of the United States Government to help the late emigrants over the mountains.” The two men gave them clear instructions for the safest route and helped repack the party’s gear on the animals. Abandoning the wagon, the Royces needed to make all possible speed while the spell of clear weather lasted. A week later they crossed the summit and began their descent down the western slope. Exultantly, Sarah looked down, “down far over the constantly descending hills, to where a soft haze sent up a warm, rosy glow that seemed to me a smile of welcome. She was gazing down on the Sacramento Valley

Fighting Eagle

Source: The Old West by Time Life Books

$1.83 + $9.95

I lost the ejector housing screw from one of my Rugers on Saturday. Last night I placed an order for the screw from Brownells. $1.83 for the screw and $9.95 for shipping....The term screw just took on a whole new meaning!

Randomness

Work has picked up to the point that I don't have the motivation to post a coherent topic, so I thought a few quick notes a la Grant Cunningham would suffice.

I ran my first match last weekend, I think things went well overall. The scoring system gave me fits until I restarted the software. Helluva way to run a "Cowboy" match. The stages were quick because of the heat, I didn't want to keep people out or confuse them any more than need be. I did find that an a ascending sweep is heap bad mojo, it looked great on paper, but in practice ended up being a turd (yes I proceedured on it). All in all, it was a good experience and with Judge, Smiley and Sadie/Kentucky helping, everything went well and fast. We were wrapped up and on the road by 4pm.

I bought a new gun last week, in anticipation of shooting a Wild Bunch category, I bought a Rock Island 1911A1. I shot it while at PVR on Friday and it promptly failed. Seems the firing pin was soft and peened. Back home, I had the pullout from Judge's Rock and it'll run again, but I think I'll pick up a tool steel variety pin to be sure. I added black rubber grips to be period and get away from the awful stocks that come with it.

My 1873 Uberti rifle is running now after changing the carrier. I still like Marlins better, but hope to speed up with the '73.

A little progress has been made on getting smokeless to work in the brass shotshells. I got 4 of 10 to light using Clays powder and opening up the flash hole to 3/32. I bought some different powder (Green Dot) to see if that helps and opened the flash holes to 7/64" more on a couple of extra. TVR will provide the next test. I WILL get this working, I've spent too much money on it now for it not to work. Over $300 so far not including powder, primers and shot. That's a lot of AA, I know.

That's enough for now...

PVR Cabins

When PVR opened they made the decision to allow members to put up cabins or period correct tents on the range. I love the look and feel of Hooten Old Town and I’ve always wanted to have a place to go and camp and play cowboy. So I’ve occasionally brought it up to Copper and Jose about chipping in on a cabin, and of course the wife isn’t all that keen on the idea…not the camping part, but the having it at a cowboy range part.

So, it’s always bounced around in the back of my mind, but that’s been about it. Recently me and the misses have been talking about family camping as our daughter gets older so I’ve been looking at tents. Today I stumbled on Davis Tent and Awning and they gave me an idea.

We could put up a semi permanent tent at PVR. We could throw down decking and a quick frame then stretch a tent across it for that miner camp look. A 10’x12’ wall tent runs about 416 dollars. Another 300 bucks for the decking and framing and you’ve got yourself a campsite. Now I just have to get Jose and Copper to cough up 250 dollars each and a couple of days of hard labor. Go to the Davis Tent and Awning site and check out some of the photo's in the photo gallery and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Thunder Valley Newsletter – July 2007

Howdy Cowfolks,

Our July 21 Main Match was blessed with one of the best weather conditions for this year. An unbelievable day for the middle of July. It was 83 degrees, sunny to partly cloudy, very low humidity, and a slight breeze for the entire day. 54 shooters attended the match, and 83% of them achieved their rifle bonus shot at 50 yards. Sixteen classes were represented. Several new shooters and faces were present, and all had a great experience in the CAS family for the day.

Congratulations to Black Tom for his awesome total time of 99.85. He has broken the previous club total time record of 110.00 set by Vaquero Hayes. Congratulations to Black Tom, Nomore Slim, Buffalo Bud Harden, and Redneck Rebel for their “Clean Match” for the day.

Happy July Birthdays to High Sierra Rose, Indy Kid, Pee Wee, Redneck Rebel, Rosedale Kid, and Sadie Jo.

Our newly completed parking area, behind the Long Distance lane, at range level was welcomed, and provided a much easier exit for those individuals that parked there. We were able to get 16 full size vehicles in the lot. Several folks parked their gun carts at Long Distance at the end of the day, and then drove down to the new parking area, loaded their equipment, and then attended the awards presentation. Our recently implemented scoring sheet procedure has greatly reduced the time required to provide scores at the end of the day, and has made collection of scores at lunch a much easier task.

Upcoming events are the Regional Match, at Big Irons, Middletown, Ohio on August 9, 10, 11, & 12, and the Indian State Match, at Deer Creek, Marion, In, September 21, 22, 23. Even if you don’t shoot one of these matches, it is an educational and fun experience to simply observe. One can learn a great deal about equipment, accessories, gun cart styles, shooting techniques, and all related CAS issues just by watching. Lots of good deals on firearms, equipment, etc.

The September 15 match at Thunder Valley will provide our regular six stage main match, and will also have long distance & all side matches available, before & after the match, for practice and preparation for the Indiana State.

A big “Thank You” to everyone for showing up to shoot each month. Each match this year has exceeded 50 shooters, and our April match had 68 Cowfolks present. Looks like we are well on the way to setting a new record for attendance this year. We’ve implemented several improvements this year. Some new targets and stands have been installed, the storage shed for range equipment has been erected, and the new parking area is complete. The old mower for the range died last month, and has been replaced with a new John Deere. Your continued participation each month and membership support will provide the funds to continue making improvements and offer a well maintained and efficient shooting facility. If you have any suggestions for improvements or changes to our operation, please do not hesitate to bring them to our attention. All suggestions will be considered, and any reasonable/workable suggestion will be implemented.

The season standings for Top Cowboy, Top Cowgirl, and Top Shooter in each class will be posted at each match for the remainder of the year. We will also send those standings out by email each month. It will be interesting to see how the rankings change as folks are able to drop their lower scores after the completion of six matches. If you are planning on competing for one of the Top Shooter positions, you must complete six matches in the same category, and then you can drop the lowest scores of the year for your final average time per stage. All Top Shooter awards will be presented at our December 1^st Main Match.

The monthly Cowboy Reading, “Women Who Lived as they Pleased,” provided by Fighting Eagle, is attached to this newsletter.

See ya at the firing line

Redneck Rebel

Look out Arnold!

When I first started CAS I wanted a lever action shotgun. Just like the one Arnold used in T2. I searched and searched, but they were just not available. So I settled on a double barrel and I've been happy...sort of.

Well now finally the 1887 lever action reproductions are available and for decent prices, and at last I'm going to get my 87.

I sold my 92 the other day for a fair price (It helped that they became legal to hunt deer with this year in Indiana) so I'm putting that money right back into CAS. I'm ordering an 1887 from my friend Vaquero Hayes at Thunder and Lightning Action Works. He's going to order the gun for me and then do the drop 2 modification and an action job. When I get it it will be CAS ready...I can't wait!

Call Me Snake

I like the idea of taking modern movie lines and putting them in as start lines for CAS stages. How about a little Snake Plissken from Escape from New York!

• "Call me Snake."

• "Why are we talking?"

• "President of what?"

• "When I get back I'm going to kill you."

• "I want to meet this Duke."

• "Where you been, Harold? It's been a long time."

• "Yeah. A man should remember his past."

• "You, me, and Fresno Bob. You know what they did to Bob?"

• "You want to see him sprayed all over that map, baby?"

• "Yeah, you and everybody else."

• "You shouldn't have double-crossed me again, Brain."

• "The name's Plissken."

Standby

Top Cowboy

At TVR they do a little thing called Top Cowboy. You have to shoot at 6 matches to qualify and then the top average stage time takes the award. It’s a nice competition for the regular club members. Redneck Rebel sent the current standings out today and of course I was looking through them. There are 5 more matches this year so things can change, but here is what it looks like as of today.

The contenders for Top Cowboy are Indy Kid with an AST of 21.56, followed closely by Vaquero Hayes with an AST of 22.14 and then Redneck Rebel with an AST of 22.32. These three are fierce competitors and it’s going to get very interesting down the stretch.

As for us Amigos well I currently have an AST of 30.438, followed much too closely by Copper Quincy who has a 31.918, and then Jose is trailing the pack at 34.096. Of course this is a little misleading because after you have your six matches under your belt you get to start dropping your lowest scores. I am a very consistent shooter and my match scores do not change drastically. Jose on the other hand is either very good or very bad and he managed to place higher then me overall last year because he got to drop those very bad scores.

Shooter Ready?

I find myself putting everyday things in SASS context. I see a neat box that looks sorta old-timey, I'll think about putting it on a gun cart. This extends to even the most modern of conventions and today I was watching part of one of my favorite movies Sin City and thought that one of the main characters Marv, had some pretty good one liners that I immediately thought would be good for start lines for stages.

These are the ones I liked best:

“No reason at all to play it quiet”
“I’ll be right out”
“They know they been in a fight, that’s for damn sure”
“There ain’t no squarin’ it this time”
“This is the old days, the bad days, the all or nothin’ days”
“This is blood for blood and by the gallons”
“A shot and a brew shelly and keep ‘em coming”
“That’s one fine lookin’ coat your wearin’ there”
“I guess when I shot you in the belly, I aimed to high”
“I’ve been killing my way to the truth every since”
“Sometimes I ask pretty hard”
“Its almost killing time”
“Kill him good”
“I won’t let you down Goldie”
“I got you you little bastard, lets see you hop around now”
“It really gets my goat when guys rough up dames”
“I’ll die laughing if I know I did one thing right”
“What’s left of him anyways”
“I know its pretty damn weird to eat people”
“You can scream now if you want to”
“I got him for you good didn’t I Goldie?”

Standby...

More Westerns

Well it looks like Hollywood has decided to try its hand at westerns again. Every few years they dust off the genre and come up with a few
major motion pictures. I have found that when Hollywood dumps a lot of money into a western the end result is pretty entertaining. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s the storylines, maybe the quality of actors that jump on board, maybe it’s production qualities, but no matter what it is they are usually worth checking out. This year’s 2 big budget westerns come out in September which starts off on the 7^th with 3:10 to Yuma.

“3:10 to Yuma” is a remake. The original was released in 1957 and starred Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. The dialogue is fantastic in this film which isn’t surprising since much of it is taken from Elmore Leonard’s novel. The remake intrigues me because of the actors involved. Russell Crow and Christian Bale are very good actors and can really chew up a scene. If they keep most of Leonard’s narrative this could be a fantastic film, on the flip side if they make this all about action then…oh well watch the trailer and decide.

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” also has a strong group of actors and might be very good if done right. The problem seems to be that audiences didn’t like the first 3+ hour action-less drama so the troubled picture is being re-cut by Brad Pitt himself. This quickly reminds me of how Sharon Stone ruined a good Sam Rami picture when she edited “The Quick and the Dead.” Anyway, here is the trailer.

One way or the other I say get out to the theater and see the movies. The more money they make the more westerns Hollywood will produce and that earns more for us to enjoy.

Black Rifles

NBC on black rifles (aka AR-15s).

The piece starts out well enough, but certainly turns ugly when the loon at the Violence Policy Center (funded by George Soros) starts with her lies and Ms. Myers points out the features of an AR-15 which make it particularly effective evil. You know, like the 30 round magazine and pistol-grip (so the gun can be easily fired from the hip? whatever). The DC sniper case was brought up as an example of how these guns can be used for evil purposes, like if they ban them, nobody can go pickup a proper sniper rifle like a Remington 700 and kill people. Newsflash! the DC sniper didn't need 30 rounds, a collapsable stock, flash supressor, bayonet lug or pistol grip. All he needed was an accurate rifle and scope, period. Banning scopes would sooner prevent another sniper case than banning the AR and scopes don't require a background check! Gasp!

I was sort of surprised that they use images from Oleg Volk who's firearm photography is very good (check this one out). I've always wondered whether some of his content, especially the captioned photos with women in danger, are doing more harm or good to 2nd amendment rights. I don't think its exploited to the point of harming the cause, but I do think some of his stuff is pandering to the point of fear-mongering. I like his stuff, but he should tone it down a little.

BTW, I've seen other pieces that Lisa Myers has done that were actually pretty good, she takes a class at Front-Sight IIRC and does a decent job, but that was a few years ago.

Hat tip David Hardy

Wild Bunch Costuming

Since we have been talking so much lately about a Wild Bunch Category lets take a real quick look at some of the costuming requirements.

First, you’ve got to know a little bit about the movie that inspires the Wild Bunch category. The movie starts with Pike and his gang impersonating a group of pre WWI soldiers and robbing a bank. The gang’s troubles start there and culminate in a shootout with members of the Mexican Army south of the border. If you are thinking about shooting this category by all means watch the movie first!

So, in true Wild Bunch spirit a full WWI uniform for an American infantryman would be a great costume. Wool Trousers, Tunic, Pullover Shirt are the basics followed by M1898 khaki leggings, a 1911 military belt, a M1911 “Pershing Model” or M1917 S&W holster, a M1918 campaign hat or an officer’s visor should seal the deal and make you the envy of the shoot.

Of course as you watch the movie you see that they quickly start losing pieces of their costume so not only would it be acceptable, but very much in the spirit of the Old vs. New West to have a mix of clothing. Take “Pike” for example. He changes into a classic movie western outfit with black jeans, white shirt, black vest and cowboy boots and hat, except he carries a 1911 pistol throughout the film and a Winchester rifle…a mixture of old and new. “Lyle” also sports a classic look. Jeans, white shirt un-tucked with a military style pistol belt and cartridge pouch worn over the shirt…perfect.

So when thinking about Wild Bunch costuming think about mixing elements from the WWI uniform with parts of classic Old West dress and viola! The cloths should express the conflict of the times in the same manner that the automobile mixed with the horse and buggy and the auto-loader competed with the revolver.

Grips Make The Gun

Its often said that clothes make the man, well, I wouldn't know about but I would extend that to grips and guns. Since I purchased the S&W M19, I've been wanting to get wood grips to dress it up, those rubbers are ugly.

Last week, I got my new Eagle Grips Secret Service grips for it in rosewood. They are comprable to the Hogue Bantam grips, however, I didn't have to wait 90 days for them and they look and fit great. I know Judge is a big fan of the Eagles he has on his Rugers for matches and now I'm a big fan.

The wood grips are smaller than the rubber monogrips, yet I don't think I'll give up much control because of the nicely contoured finger grooves, excellent fit and while my pinkie finger isn't fully on the grip, it can support the base of the grip to help with recoil. We'll see as soon as I can get to a range and try some practice and carry ammo through the little snubbie. The big bonus, other than looks, is the gun is a better concealment carry piece now. The rubber grips were indeed too grippy and hung onto clothing making draw a problem and heaven forbid I drop the gun in a pocket!

Yep, grips make the gun and in this case I've got what I want in a carry snubbie.

Reason #10 for having a safe

So the freakin' plumber doesn't report you to the police and over-reactionary glory hounds raid your house to kiss the mayor's ass. The story from Brian at Snapped Shot. Interestingly enough, Brian fell for it too, at least he has the guts to admit it, unlike almost any new organization. My favorite part is how the author of this article and the police can't figure out why anyone would want some AK47s, a grenade launcher and 500 rounds of ammo, hint go shoot them and you'll know.

My advice to this "gun collector" (as if any self-respecting "collector" would be caught without at least 1,000 rounds of ammo), get a safe and put your guns in there before the plumber comes.

Yes, this guy could be a complete dirtbag if the suspected child porn holds true, but with the stellar policing by Dallas PD (who admittedly don't know whether some of the stuff is illegal), I wouldn't put money on it. Probably just some midget porn.

Hat Tip: Instapundit

One for Jose

Jose has talked about this before and I thought I would share this excellent article by Chris Byrne over at the AnarchAngel.

Hat tip to Grant Cunningham for the link.

Wild Bunch Category

Jose said he was pushing for one of the clubs we shoot at to offer a "Wild Bunch Category" to shoot . Now I think this is a great idea and the clubs already have a precedent with offering different non-SASS-based categories such as Pale Rider and Outlaw. So while this is Jose's puppy I offer a quick little write up of my idea for a Wild Bunch Category. Jose will take what he likes and leave the rest dead on the floor.

This category is based on the 1969 Movie “The Wild Bunch” directed by Sam Peckinpah. Outlaws on the Mexican-U.S. frontier face the march of progress, the Mexican army and a gang of bounty hunters led by a former member while they plan a robbery of a U.S. army train. No one is innocent in this gritty tale of desperation against changing times. Pump shotguns, machine guns and automobiles mix with horses and Winchesters in this ultra violent western. The goal of this category is to mix the flavor of the Old West with the changing technology of the 20^th century.

Wild Bunch Category:

• Pistols: 1911 GI Style firearm typical in appearance to one commonly found just prior to WWI. Any contemporary semi-automatic pistol to the Colt 1911 GI found just prior to WWI and chambered in a caliber equal to or greater then 9mm and capable of holding 5 or more rounds in a detachable magazine.
  

• Pistol will be shot using any SASS legal shooting style. Instead of utilizing 2 pistols for this category the shooter will reload the weapon using the detachable magazine.
  

• Rifles: Any SASS legal rifle of 1884 or later design or a replica thereof (i.e., 1892, 1894, Lightning Rifle or Marlin)
  

• Shotguns: Any SASS legal Lever or Pump Action Shotgun. Double Barrel Shotguns are not allowed.
  

• May use any SASS legal ammunition
  

• Costuming: Pants must be jeans, ranch pants, or pants with flap over the rear pocket. Pants must be worn with belt. Suspenders are not allowed. Felt hats only. Straw hats are not allowed. You must choose at least one of the following items; Mills Belt with US insignia, M1916 Holster, US Enlisted or Officers Wool Trousers, Enlisted or Officers Wool Pullover Shirt, WWI Bayonet, M1898 Khaki Leggings, WWI Leather Ammo Pouch, Leather or Canvas 1911 Double Clip Pouch, Bandoleer, Musset Bag.

So long Cirillo

I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Cirillo once. It was quick and I just shook his hand. It was enough for me and I'll not forget meeting him. If you don't know Jim Cirillo then shame on you and go to Xavier's site to read a nice little write-up.

God bless you Jim

Being safe, period

One of the things in cowboy shooting that "breaks the reality" is the shooting glasses. You can get the most period clothing and leather, guns and ammo, but if you're wearing a pair of Oakleys, what does it matter? Should it matter?

The first picture I've posted shows a genuine pair of period correct sharpshooter glasses. See anything wrong with them? There are several things "wrong" with them, first, if they are truly from the period, the glass won't be up to the task of stopping much and could fragment causing more damage. Not good. Next up is the lenses are too small to fully protect the eyes and finally, there is no side protection to prevent a fragment from damaging the eye when you're looking away from the action. Additionallly, these glasses don't have nose pads and the lenses are frosted except at the center of the lens. No, these clearly won't do.

So what are we to do then?

First, I don't know of anyone who makes a set of period glasses with enough protection for shooting. So assume you'll be shooting with something that's less than perfect because you should NEVER compromise your eyes for looking the part, NEVER. If you're willing to do that, you probably aren't reading this blog, because, well you can't.

Well, you can minimize the effect your eyewear has on your appearance by purchasing some glasses that approximate the old look. I've been using a pair of the Peltor XF5 glasses for a while and they look more period than a modern wrap-around uni-lens type pair. No, they aren't really even close if you look carefully, but at a distance, they'll do. I just wish they came in something other than smoke or blue.

Another thing a motivated shooter could do is to find a pair of wire frames with sufficient lens surface and have safety lenses installed. This would allow you to have a prescription put in them as well. Any optometrist can do this or even Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. The only thing you'd have to do then is worry about the sides, the optometrist should have plastic side shields available, but they may not fit the frames, especially the thin wire frames. There are leather side shields available for purchase that will slip on, providing the protection and period look. You could also find some "glacier" sunglasses, they usually have the leather side shields to totally block light and either get or make sure they have safety lenses or rob them of the leather shield.

What Type are You!

I'm a Type 1. Go here to find your type.

It's About Time

SASS finally got of their lazy butts and put an online searchable database of aliases. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better then the old version...guess and pray! They call it Alias Lookup and it's on the SASS homepage.

UPDATE: Just click here

Cowboy Rock Star!

When I first started CAS I searched the Web for every scrape of info I could find. I finally came upon this little article at Captain Baylor's Ranger Camp. I not only read it 3 or 4 times, but I printed off a copy to refer to when needed. It was the most helpful piece of writing on the subject I had found, and still is for that matter.

Well, the Captain has kept adding excellent articles on his website and he has even made an appearance on Tequila's "Cowboys" TV show. So he has become a celebrity in our little world of CAS. The other day I decided to check his page out again since I hadn't been over their in a while and what do you know, but the Captain has gone and bought himself a little prairie schooner. Now that's what I call traveling like a cowboy rock star!

Wild Bunch Shotguns pt2

I guess it has been a while since I posted part 1, sorry to all you one or two people who read this blog.

Second only to the semi-auto pistols that you shoot in a Wild Bunch side match is the shotgun. Why? Because you get to use some non-SASS shotguns and you get to stoke them full and use the pumps and leverguns as they were intended and that's very appealing to most of us who own them. I don't care how old or experienced I get, picking up a loaded pumpgun and blasting away fast and furiously is still gonna be fun!

First on the list is the venerable Winchester model 1897 pump, an extremely popular shotgun that brought pumpguns to where they are today, feared, revered and respected. The 97 is also a very popular gun in SASS competition because its fast, sure it's more complicated and more prone to failure, but when they work well, there's nothing faster. The standard model 97 will hold 5 rounds in the tube magazine and that's what most every Wild Bunch match will require, 5 in the tube and five knockdowns.

The model 97 was build up until 1957 and there are millions of them out there. The only problem is that with SASS being so darned popular, the originals are wearing out. At this point, I wouldn't buy one unless I knew that it was a good, functioning gun. What does that leave us? Well, fortunately, there are reproductions that are getting better and better. IAC has been importing them since 1999 and like I said, are getting better. EMF is importing one now and is reportedly good as well as TTN's replica that supposedly is an exact replica, that is the parts from originals are supposed to fit it. With all the originals and several new replica importers, there's no shortage of the 97 for the foreseeable future.

Note that the 97 is followup gun from Winchester/Browning of the model 93 which tended to be a dangerous firearm and thus banned in SASS competition and as far as I'm concerned, banned, period. While on banned shotguns, the Marlin 1898 pump is also a period pump that's banned and should stay that way, you want to take your life in your hands with nobody else around, fine, but don't ask me to stand next to you.

Another SASS legal gun available in Wild Bunch matches is the model 1887 lever-action shotgun. This original gun wasn't as popular as the 97 and so there are fewer originals out there. It also should really only be shot with black powder as the metal in the originals isn't up to snuff for modern smokeless. Again, due to demand created by SASS shooters, copies are being imported. IAC again is brining in some good reproductions and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Coyote Cap as being key in bringing this gun to market by lending his expertise to the Chinese. The new gun is a stout shooter of good manufacturer and should hold five in the tube for a Wild Bunch match.

Now on to the non-SASS guns. First up is the Winchester model 1912, the hammerless followup to the famously popular 97. There's not much to say about this one, it was a very popular shotgun from its introduction until it was finally done in by the mighty Remington 870. Since its not SASS legal and there isn't much call for it in any other competition, the only way to get one is to have an original.

The other post 1899 model that I'll touch on is the Winchester model 1901 lever action shotgun. These are for all intents and purposes identical to the 1887 model and like the model 12, the only way to have one is to obtain an original.

Those are the pumps I know about, there may be others, if so, I'd certainly let them in play if they were manufactured pre-1920. There should be some consideration maybe for the semi-auto shotguns of the era, I know there have to be a bunch of guys and gals with Browning A5's, Remington and Winchester model 11s that are just itching to bring them out of the gun safe and play. Nobody has brought them up yet and until they do or I buy a Browning, I won't worry about it.

The get to know you meme:

• What is your favorite color? Green
  
• What is your favorite Book? The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
  
• What is your favorite Band? AC/DC
  
• What is your favorite Movie? The Maltese Falcon
  
• Mary Anne or Ginger? Mary Anne
  
• What is your favorite Smoke? Davidoff Millennium
  
• What is your favorite Gun you own? S&W Model 66-2 4” barrel
  
• What is your favorite Beer? Smithwicks
  
• What is your favorite TV Show? Rockford Files
  
• What is your favorite Sport? Football
  
• What is your favorite Car? 1968 Mustang GT500

Your turn.

Only 44!

We've only got 44 posts so far in 2007. at this rate we will have 88 for the year and that will fall 11 short of the 2006 total. I guess I'll need to start adding more and stop waiting for the Wild Bunch Guns Pt. 2.

Bad advice

“Give them the money and give them the keys,” Sheriff Harry Lee said.
“You make an insurance payment on your car, and nobody gets shot.”

That is the advice of Sheriff Harry Lee of Metairie, LA regarding what to do in the case of a car jacking. Unlike the easy victim that Lee would like us all to be, the young man in this story possibly saved his and his mother's life by wresting a firearm away from a car jacker and shot the villain with it. I have what I believe is better advice. arm yourself and if anyone tries to car jack you, you won't have to either fight for control of the gun as this young man did or be at the complete mercy of someone who's willing to commit multiple felonies.

I'm not a roll over a take it type of guy I guess.

hat tip David Hardy