Jedi Gunfighter!

Well I’m not really all that good at this game yet, just don’t have the time necessary to either practice or shoot every weekend. So imagine my surprise when my name appeared in a thread on the SASS Wire.

You see, a fine gunfighter and world record holder, Widowmaker started a thread about forming a new SASS group called Jedi Gunfighters. First he put in the criteria for becoming a Jedi gunfighter which included winning a match as a gunfighter, shooting clean as a gunfighter, being a great guy and being a gunfighter…stuff like that. He then went on to list those people whom he made honorary members. And of course the big surprise happened when I found myself listed at number 11! (and you must pronounce “eleven” with a British accent)

I shot the Kentucky State Match with Widowmaker and found him to be a great guy. I managed to have my first ever clean shoot that weekend, and he must have remembered it. So I’m number 11 on the Jedi Gunfighter list and I love it. Jose aint gonna hear the end of it.

Cowboy .45 Special

What's that you say?  Haven't ever heard of such a round?  Well now you have.  Do to the constant lust to go faster and reduce recoil, some enterprising folks have created a new custom round called the Cowboy .45Special.

What is it?
It is a .45 caliber rimmed case with the overall length of .895 which is the same as the ubiqutous .45ACP and the same diameter and rim as the .45Colt.

Why's that so darned good?
Well, if you know anything about powder and case volume, you know that at lower velocity cowboy loads, the large .45Colt volume cause inconsistency and loss of accuracy, the Cowboy .45Special's smaller volume means less inconsistency and greater accuracy with lower recoil.

Will it work with Black Powder and Subs and the new "smoke rule"?
Heh he, this is the best.  15g of black powder will just fit under a 200g bullet.  No fillers.  This'll greatly simplify loading of BP and subs and allow you to use progressive loaders.

Will it work in my rifle?
Not in most.  A Marlin can be modified to work with this ammo though, just a modificatio to the carrier.

OK, this thing's got to cost me an arm and leg, right?
Well, it does cost more because the round is new and not widely used.  But it only costs $20-$30 more per 1,000 than the .45Colt.

Ah! but I have to buy new dies, right?
Maybe, do you have a .45Colt sizer/shellplate and .45ACP expander & seat/crimp?  If you do, then you're set.

When you buyin' a bunch?
Well, that's a good question, I don't really NEED this new case and Schofields work mighty fine right now.  But I sure would like to see everyone's face when I pulled out ACP sized rounds to shoot :)

This comparison is a .45Colt on the left, a 250g bullet and the new Cowboy .45Special on the right.  Case volume is cut in half.

Pyle Lovett

Well Jose and I headed on down to Thunder Valley last weekend for the August Main Match. A buddy of ours was in town so we talked him into going. I managed to fix him up with clothes, leather, boots, and a hat. Jose provided him the guns and a shooting we did go.

We tried to think of a name and Jose convinced him to go with Rick O’Shea, but of course there are like 4 Rick O’Shea’s in SASS. After the shoot we were sitting around the garage as usual and our two clown princes Vaquero Hayes and Smiley (AKA Sheepdip) came up with an alias for him. Pyle Lovett. It’s good, I like it, and I think it will stick. So if he ever shoots again I think it’ll be as Pyle Lovett.

On a side note the shoot was downright miserable. It was very hot and humid and we got stuck with the Posse from hell. We had five new shooters, Lorenzo Lain, and Chief Old Timer. That’s 7 out of 14 that didn’t really do a damn thing. I managed to shanghi Randy Atcher and Lizzy of the Valley for help and Redneck Rebel busted his but as usual, but we barely made it and we finished almost 45 minutes later then everyone else. But, a bad day shooting is better then most anything else.

Cheats!

It seams like if you write a rule someone will try and circumvent it. From my limited experience overseas and with people from other cultures it seems like that is an American trait.

Now before you go and bash me I guess I should explain myself better. As Americans we tend to try and find the better, smarter, faster, and easier way to accomplish a task. When people tell us we can’t do it that way we try anyway. When kept in check and devoted towards good causes that is an admirable trait, but when unchecked and applied in inappropriate situations….well that’s when at lot of us get pissed.

We start with little or no rules, everybody knows what we are trying to accomplish and therefore things run smoothly. Then along comes the cheat. This guy doesn’t like the way things are going because he isn’t getting ahead fast enough. So to win, he does something we didn’t think about; therefore we have to write a rule. The truly evil bastards just keep breaking the rule until they are punished, but the cheat tries something else, hence another rule and the cycle goes on and on.

CAS is about testing our skill against the next guy or gal. It’s about stepping up to the plate and swinging away hoping to knock one out of the park. It’s about your candle burning brighter then the next guys because you have practiced more, or are more gifted, or are just a little smarter. That’s the essence of competition, it’s not if you win or lose, but how you play the game.

And then there are cheats. They aren’t as devoted, they don’t have natural ability, but they are usually smart in a sly kinda way. They are looking for edges, loopholes, and chinks in the armor, whatever it takes to win and it don’t matter how they got there. They prefer to make their candle brighter by blowing your candle out.

Maybe you’re one of these guys. Hell, maybe these aren’t bad traits and maybe there is a place for the cheats, but not on my team. You see at the end of the day I could never look at myself in the mirror if it wasn’t a fair fight, and once I figure out who the cheats are I usually make them my number one targets and damn the game. I usually don’t care if I win or lose as long as the cheats lose.