October 29-31, 2015
Made it to Phoenix without too much incident. Spent 2 hours at the Flying J at Eloy, AZ watching radar weather online as a thunderstorm with high winds and rain crossed in an eastward route. The last rain hit north Phoenix when we unloaded the trailer to get the car out at our final destination. Unloading the car I tripped over one of the cables holding the ramp and did a 1-1/2 gainer for zero points on landing, hitting on my left side. Bruised ribs among other things. Very uncomfortable. After that we had a gourmet dinner at In-N-Out Burger.
October 26-28, 2015
Really liked the name tags. Wiley Yankee and Lola Jane.
The refrigerator was finally fixed. The water line to the ice maker was replaced. This is a 2 man job, one very skinny guy on the outside and a strong guy on the inside, both of whom need to be experienced. These guys were. RV Sales, Huachuca City. (Now some idiot is likely to email me asking for their phone #. Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, etc.)
October 23-25, 2015 Bordertown
No big SASS match would be complete without a long awards ceremony. Judge Roy Bean was honored, and the committee gave him a check made out to the SASS Scholarship Fund
Then Katie Ferraro Justice Lily Kate was asked to speak, and she said, "A DOLLAR? YOU GAVE US A CHECK FOR A DOLLAR? POSTDATED?"
There were 320 contestants (limited by the size of the range, 6 bays=12 posses using 2 shifts), and they went to 10th place in category and had all SASS categories. So if you didn't get an award, choose your category better next year.
There is a trend to allow younger and younger contestants in SASS. It's probably reached is limit. Pocket Derringer, shown in his father's arms, won B-Western.
Frontiersmen: Now it looks like I was in a class by myselt, but, no, 8th place is out of the picture, seventh wasn't there. They didn't call 6th (Justice B Dunn) by mistake, 5th and 4th had already left leaving me. A lot of people have to get back to work and can't stay until Sunday afternoon for their award.
First and second showed up. Frontiersmen
4 of the 8 made it to the outdoor photo session. The award for 6th was later found and given to Justice B. Dunn and this photo reshot with 5 of us
I had handed the iPhone to a nice lady, and (a) I got it back, and (b) she did a great job. I usually don't have pictures of me at awards (well, aside from not winning often.)
Another double buckle hatband like mine.
Double buckle hatband (1895 Montgomery Wards Catalog)
AZ State Overall Champions Sassy Dancer and Hells Comin'
Bordertown went back to their very popular trophy style abandoned last year. The BT Tombstone is the clean match award. There were 89 clean out of 320 contestants. Last year there were 91. There were complaints online--but not at the event--that the targets are too close, proving once more that trolls post online, and shooters go to matches. Bordertown has the best course of fire I've found in 16 years of SASS shooting in several states. If you don't like close, big targets, don't come. They sell out in about 3 days and have a waiting list longer than the entry list to your match with rifle targets at 100 yards and procedural traps all over.
The only thing wrong with the trophies, in my particular situation, is that they're way too nice to throw away, but I have no place to put them. I won't throw it away. It'll go where the other Bordertown trophies go, on the corner of the workbench.
5 people did get to see the elephant. This is the award for Clean Match in Plainsman. These targets were at the far berm.
October 22, 2015 Bordertown
Bordertown Blast
The lovely and talented Sonora Blaze, shooting B-Western, of course
Smoke? What smoke? For BP shooters the first 2-3 stages in the morning shift are a make or break situation. The sun is in your eyes, and half the berm is in shadow. One shot with the shotgun, and the entire array is invisible. I shot a 42 in those conditions and 28 in "normal" conditions. The shot below was taken in good conditions after the sun was high.
Crappy Shot
But it's a dry heat!
One of my heroes in SASS, and an old friend, Wes Flowers, West Fargo, the gunsmith who popularized and perfected the short stroke modifications, primarily for Rugers. Prior to that he was a fast draw champion who was so good there's an arcade game with him on it. A Vietnam combat veteran, he demonstrated fast draw and gunhandling to his friends, and it grew to General Westmoreland sending him around the country entertaining troops.
October 21, 2015 Bordertown
Plainsman in the morning
Wild Bunch in the Afternoon
October 12-20, 2015
10-20
Everything THEORETICALLY ready for tomorrow. Plainsman in the AM for sure. 3 ROAs, 2 H & R Buffalo Classics, 2 SKB shotguns, .38-55 ammo, 12 ga. ammo, powder, balls, wads, caps, loading stand, gun cart (washed today), stool, umbrella, leather gear. Considering 50% chance of rain tomorrow, full rain gear.
The plan in the afternoon was for me to instruct at the RO class, so I didn't sign up for WB. We got no students, so I'm available--if they'll let me sign up for it tomorrow. You never know. Anyway, 3-1911s, 2-97s, 2-73s, .45 ACP, .45 Colt, and 12 ga. ammo, leather gear, and 12 magazines. And a 1911 screwknife.
Big Nose Kate's 10-19 excellent Reuben sandwiches and best $5 Margaritas around.
10-19 run
Yes, while still incredibly slow, it is 0.2 MPH faster than Friday's
10-18 The rattlesnake crossed the road in front of the bus, noticed by a little old lady and her dog. I was out front working on the coach. I knew the park would be pissed if I shot it,* so we called in the workampers. Someone is probably making a hatband out of it now. 2-3 ft. long, big row of rattles. I switched to video but didn't post it. It didn't end well for the snake, and someone would be offended by the gratuitous violence against the innocent reptile-American who wasn't hurting anyone.
*And the last time I shot a snake the ARVN Dai-Uy insisted I join him in the celebratory dinner. There are a lot of things the Vietnamese consider edible in a cobra.
Los Vaqueros 2 one day matches 10-17 & 18. 2 clean matches, first FT. 21 clean shooters out of 45 Sat. 19 out of 55 Sunday. Out of towners arriving for Bordertown. A little rain Saturday. Used full rain gear and kept percussion pistols running.
New New Balance running shoes arrived 10-16. These were at the high end pricewise, unicorn suede, unobtainium soles, laces made from Cecil the Lion's mane.
Run 10-16
Went to Tombstone
Tricycle in trailer on the run
Running 10-14
October 11, 2015
To practice at Tombstone Livery you have to have 2 people. We had 3 this morning. I was concentrating on shooting the Plainsman rifle with the new cartridge slide. I can grab 5, even 6 rounds from it. I need a lot more practice before I can control 5 without any fumbling, but it works like a charm. I even grabbed 6 at times.
October 10, 2015
OPSA match at Tombstone Livery. Close Bordertown style targets. Shot clean 199 sec. Should have been closer to 180 goal, but one cap didn't fire first time, and one shotgun target had to be re-engaged. I have those targets down now. Small circles. Aim just below the base. Fun group. Great, simple stages by Mean Dawg.
Blaze Kinkaid's rare .38/.22 Over/Under Winchester '66.
October 9, 2015
Jogging
October 8, 2015
Jogging
Mernickle HP Rig
The article for the January Cowboy Chronicle, the PRINTED ONE is off. I just got the last part of the rig. Works very well. Note the double curve on the top of the holster where it attached to the belt. It holds the holster at an unique double angle, meaning forward and away from the body but angled more vertically, so the mouth of the holster is a little away from the body and at a natural angle for your wrist. Drawing and returning is painless. Those of you with old wrists will get that statement.
On top is the new belt, with double shot shell loops made of military grade elastic. The cartridge slide is the first to use military grade elastic. In both cases it means you can grab the rounds from almost any direction and get them out with no binding. New color, Gunfighter brown.
The middle rig is the one I tested last year with single loops. I like the double better for a double. The single is probably the way to go for '97s.
The bottom is the older style all leather rig with built in cartridge loops. Excellent, but the new one is better.
When Bob showed me the new rig at EOT I told him I needed a cartridge slide for 12 .38-55 rounds for Plainsman. He got an envelope out of his trailer and sketched this. I wanted to be able to grab 4 rounds at once. I can get 5 from this one.
The Plainsman slide will, of course, hold .38 Special rounds, so I don't have to change slides between events. With the pistol, if you can grab the rim, the round will come out whether you're pulling up or out.
October 6-7, 2015
This Email came from American Pioneer Powder today:
Thank you for having ordered our products in the past.
If you are running low on powder or want to stock up at a great price, we are offering an early end of year special - an additional 5% discount off the already low, special promotional prices we offered this year for orders placed by 10/20/15.
ALL ORDERS PLACED ON OCTOBER 7TH OR 8TH WILL RECEIVE
AN EXTRA $5.00 PER CASE DISCOUNT IN ADDITION TO THE EARLY PURCHASE DISCOUNT.
The sales code is Year End 2015 (offer expires 10/20/15) - Toll Free Number 888-423-2310. Please feel free to share this special with your friends. The pricing for this promotion including the extra $5.00 per case discount for purchases by Thursday 10/8/15 is listed below. The pricing is delivered pricing to any location in the continental United States.
1 Case (12 bottles) at $19.75 per bottle = $237.00 less $16.85 additional discount = $220.15
2 Case (24 bottles) at $17.75 per bottle = $426.00 less $31.30 additional discount = $394.70
4 Case (48 bottles) at $16.75 per bottle = $804.00 less $60.20 additional discount = $743.80
8 Case (96 bottles) at $15.75 per bottle = $1,512.00 less $115.60 additional discount = $1,396.40
Note: This pricing is good for either our standard grade or premium grade American Pioneer Powder.
The special discounted pricing we will be offering for Winter Range 2016 (2/15/15 to 3/15/16) under the sales code Range 16 is listed below. By ordering now and not waiting until the next Winter Range Special, you will save approximately 10% or more by not only purchasing prior to the 3-4% annual price increase, but you also will receive the additional early purchase discount of 5% and the extra $5.00 per case discount.
1 Case (12 bottles) at $20.50 per bottle delivered = $246.00
2 Case (24 bottles) at $18.25 per bottle delivered = $438.00
4 Case (48 bottles) at $17.25 per bottle delivered = $828.00
8 Case (96 bottles) at $16.25 per bottle delivered = $1,560.00
If you are interest in the year end special, please call (Toll Free 888-423-2310) or e-mail us as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Brett
Toll Free 888-423-2310 - Seven Days a Week
Jogging Oct. 7
Jogging Oct. 6
October 5, 2015
70th birthday, one of many I never expected to reach. I feel amazingly good for 70. Yes, the eyes and ears have gone to hell, but I'm ambulatory, and everything else works pretty well. The Redhead made 3 fantastic meals and the world's best Italian Cream Cake. There are no candles because the local fire department refused to come and stand by the coach if all those candles caught anything on fire.
Lots of birthday wishes on Facebook. Thanks everybody. Overwhelming.
I picked several of the photos received t random:
Chickaroo embroidered my alias on my Winter Range gun cases. I like it. She does good work. Might have gotten it done earlier if I hadn't misplaced one for several months.
Oct 4, 2015
Old Pueblo Shootists Association monthly match, 2 posses. Good match. Fun group. Had a couple of misses, so I put more powder in the pistols. (Frontiersmen understand this logic.) Clean after that.
October 1-3, 2015
One of the things I like about Tombstone Territories is I can go walking/ jogging/running without being run over by a Peterbilt.
October 3, 2015
Went to Tombstone Livery for the Tombstone Shootists Society's monthly Wild Bunch match. Good match. Great group. Like a lot of WB clubs, not many shooters. In their defense a couple were at the Nevada State match.