Handlebar Bob shows off his period correct 1880 Tennie
Lamas. With the range surface being small grey gravel, this was an excellent
choice of footwear. Too much authenticity on the footwear will get you a
lot of pain as I discovered. I switched to period correct 1880 Wellingtons
(ropers) with treaded rubber soles for the rest of the week after starting
with 1876 pattern US Cavalry officers boots (which turned out to be too
small anyway).
Captain Baylor tries shooting duelist.
But he shoots a lot better with both hands.
And he's best at standing around. (These 3 photos don't do much to show the Pre-1900 class, but they do allow Capt. Baylor to show off his cowboy duds.)
Bill McClennan demonstrates the 5 part presentation.
Rob Rathburn briefs Capt. Baylor as he starts through
The Terminator. Note the trigger finger is straight.
Capt. Baylor has successfully cleared this room. The unarmed
good guy target is still standing. Actually, he's lying on the floor with
his hands over his head in compliance with Baylor's orders. But there's
still a bad guy in another room threatening to do nasty things go Baylor,
so he has go go in the next room and get him.
Here Baylor is clearing a corner and confronting someone
on the far side of the room. Before shooting he has challenged the person
and gotten a response, either something like ,"Don't shoot, I'm just
the piano player!" or "@#&*$&! you!" If guy saying
the latter is armed, he gets a .45 Long Colt slug and falls to the floor.
One target, on a worn out target stand, didn't fall with two .45 cal. hits
in the chest, 2 in the head, and 2 in the pelvic girdle. At that point the
instructor declared him dead on his feet.
At Thunderville, Pastor Tom leaves his heavenly duties
to confront a jailbreak, a bank robbery, and a gang terrorizing the town
all at once.
The Thunder Stage Line was the most dangerous stage line
in the West. Every run was attacked by outlaws and Indians, too. So the
entire passenger list went heavily armed, returning from runs with much
ammunition expended and huge grins on their faces. John McClure is driving,
Hoppy is "shotgun," and Handlebar Bob is on the roof.
The best, most fun position was the "Hondo"
position on the roof of the bouncing, swerving stage coach. Amazingly, using
Clint's "Negative lead" techniques, you could expect to hit most
of the targets despite being on a VERY unstable platform.
For example Capt. Baylor got both of these varmits with
two quick shots as the stage coach went past at full gallop speed.
Villa Tormenta had several sticky situations requiring
all four weapons, both pistols, the shotgun, and the rifle. It was a very
dangerous Villa. Do note the use of cover. The nearby pistol targets have
already been neutralized, and Capt. Baylor is engaging the rifle targets
in a tactical manner, not as they're done in CAS matches.
Clint and Heidi Smith, aka John McClure and Emzy Ann Lakin.
John McClure was Clint's great grandfather, and Emzy Ann was Heidi's great
grandmother.
Lady Larabee. Neat outfit.
The
Class Photo. (Click on the thumbnail to see it fullsized) And it was a Class
Class. I've been to Thunder Ranch 4 times, and this was the best class.
I've heard Clint's very angry "Someone screwed up" lecture on
safety 3 times, but I didn't hear it here. This was the safest group of
them all. Thunder Ranch has a perfect safety record, and the slightest safety
infraction gets the entire class Clint's lecture. No one screwed up. This
was a safe group, also a fun group.