Newsletter updated
December 05 2009 21:26:37
December 2009
Flash Report from TG Meeting/Summit in Las Vegas
TG Gold Canyon Kid
There were 317 clubs represented at the convention meeting by attendance or proxies out of almost double that number of clubs. Here are some of the highlights:
The Territorial Governors voted on 5 items as part of the formal agenda. All 5 items FAILED to achieve the 2/3 yes vote. It seemed clear that the majority of shooters want to see fewer changes to the rules. The final results are as follows:
Circle of Safety on drawing/holstering of revolvers 15% yes
Shall double penalty on overloading rifle be eliminated 55% yes
Shall adjustable sights be allowed in Duelist and Gunfighter Category 51% yes
Shall Bisley hammers be allowed on all handguns 61% yes
Shall a new category for Frontiersman/Gunfighter be created 59% yes
A couple of RO Committee interpretations were proposed and approved:
If a shooter failed to knockdown a required target while shooting his string of targets and the target later falls down due to wind or whatever while he is engaging a different later set of targets with another gun what is the call? The shooter gets a miss even though the target fell down later. If said target falls down while the shooter is shooting another target in his current string, it is a hit and shooter shoots where the target was located in proper sequence.
If a shooter runs out of ammunition on his body (usually shotgun rounds) and the TO/RO provides rounds to the shooter from somewhere else, what is the call. Shooter is awarded a Procedural penalty and a miss for every target engaged with this “illegal” ammunition.
Last year the rules were amended that in certain cases the RO/TO can supervise the shooter in decocking a gun on the line. Normally a shooter must fire the gun down range if cocked. Some xamples where this supervised decocking can occur were given. They include the shooter having a squib and cocks his gun before stopped by the RO/TO, a general cease fire on the line before the shooter lays down his gun on a prop, and if shooter cocks a gun in the wrong position or the wrong gun to start a stage before a round has gone down range-no call.
Lastly a lengthy demonstration and discussion was held on the current rules on holstering/drawing of guns especially while the shooter was on the move. I guess this was done in anticipation of the circle of safety new rule failing to be approved. Here are a couple of highlights:
A shooter may move parallel to the firing line with his drawn revolver barrel exactly vertical with either his up range or down range side revolver. The shooter then has to put his revolver into his holster still vertical or move it immediately to a down range direction within the 170 degree cone to shoot. This is true for straight hang, cross draws or canted holsters. Shooters with straight hang holsters may break the 170 degree cone while drawing or holstering but when the tip of barrel is not yet in holster, the shooter can not break the 180 line. If shooter misses holster, still holds on to the gun, but the gun barrel breaks the 180 line then the shooter is penalized.
October 2009
The October 2009 Territorial Governor (TG) Bulletin contains the TG agenda for discussion and voting at the December TG Summit meeting in Vegas. The complete Territorial Governors Bulletin is attached. I think all Rio members/shooters should read this document ASAP. I would like especially to call attention to pages 3, 4 and 5. The TG agenda for Vegas is contained on Page 3 and an explanation of a proposed new rule for controlling drawing and holstering is on pages 4 and 5 which is item one on the agenda. If anyone has any questions about any of these items, see me at the November 7 shoot. I will attempt to gather comments and post a pros and cons statement on each item ASAP after the November shoot. At the Anniversary match attendees will be asked to vote on these items to provide direction to your TG-I hope to have a handout for this shoot with these pros and cons to help you with your voting.
Normally your TG would provide pros and cons to help shooters make an informed decision on each item on the agenda. This time, items 2 through 5 are pretty straight forward and we can easily/quickly discuss them verbally at the Anniversary match.
Item number one, however may need a more discussion, it has to do with how we draw and re-holster. It eliminates our existing rules and substitutes a so called "cone of safety". This is discussed in detail via the TG newsletter. Your TG strongly recommends voting against this proposed rule change. There is single frame extract from a video made by the RO committee (which is proposing this change). The original 2 part video is available on the SASS Wire. The one frame extract best shows what I personally find wrong with this rule change proposal. If this rule passes, it would allow a shooter to point his loaded or unloaded guns behind him while drawing or holstering including ON THE MOVE in any direction.
Here is the video frame extract which shows the shooter pointing his holster and gun behind him 2 feet-pointing at the ROs feet. Think what an AD pointing in this direction could hit, including the RO/TO, spotters and posse members. We will discuss it further before we vote. Here is that one frame extract from the RO Committee video: http://chuckaroos.com/cone.jpg
In the end, my vote at the Convention will be what you want me to do. Attend the shoot and vote!
Gold Canyon Kid can be reached at (480) 288-0861 or mickeyboat@aol.com
April 2009
On 11 April, 9 shooters took the RO I class and 7 shooters took the RO II class. One of the shooters in each class was a refresher. I would like to thank Dirty Bob from Tucson who taught the classes along with Gold Canyon Kid. Chick Brewster came by and set up steel for the "stage from hell" to help with the RO II class. All students passed. An unknown shooter showed up to be a Vanna for the RO II class on how not to dress and equip for a SASS match-see the May You Make the Call for photos. Thanks to everyone for their participation. GCK
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Starting in May shooters fees are going up.
"As a result of all the cost increases of late, including the cost of the shooters fees and the cost of the awards, the shooting fees are gonna have to go up to $12 for members and $15 for non but not for next week’s match" ... Sheriff Bill
March 2009
Here are a few of GCK's notes from the TG meeting at Winter Range:
There were approximately 50 TGs in attendance.
There was a brief discussion on changes to Wild Bunch match/category rules. The one main rule change discussed was allowing all SASS legal rifles. This did not have popular support (now a 45 caliber rifle is needed). I expect that SASS may in fact some time later this year, will release in a handbook, the WR/EOT Wild Bunch rules for EOT, Winter Range and Regional matches only and allow State Championships and local club matches to use what they want. Some of our European shooters need it to pass their governments requirements to shoot a Wild Bunch match. Hasn't happened, but seemed to be headed in that direction.
There is a new rule that goes into effect immediately-second day of Winter Range. It is not legal to disengage the locking lever on a double barrel shotgun (where the shooter would have to hold the gun closed to shoot it). This was not considered safe by SASS and one or two shooters had apparently been doing it in the last year or two.
There was considerable discussion on holstering and drawing your revolvers. I expect that a formal proposal will be put on the Dec Vegas TG agenda on this issue. This proposal would toss the existing rules and put a new set of rules in place for all types of holsters that would allow the shooter to draw and holster either stationary or moving if the shooter does not allow his muzzle to go outside a set distance from his feet in any direction, i.e. a 5 or 6 foot circle from the center of his body on the ground. This will be coupled with extreme compliance oversight with the 30 degree cross draw holster rules. I saw folks being measured at Winter Range to see if their cross draw holster was legal.
Finally there was some answers to questions about the new Montado hammer and it's use. The Montado hammer is from a Ruger revolver originally made for mounted shooting that has the approximate shape of the Super Blackhawk hammer with different checkering. This Montado hammer (or one with the same contour) can be installed on all traditional sighted and adjustable sighted large frame guns including old model Vaqueros, new model Vaqueros, AND Colt/Colt clones. The complete Montado revolver from Ruger is legal if the serations are removed from the front of the grip frame. A Bisley hammer can only be installed with a Bisley grip frame.
January 2009
Newsletter,
Howdy folks, and thank you for coming out and shooting with us! For those who are just checking in to keep up on happenings at the shoot, we hope to see you next time. The first shoot of 2009 was our first month of two warm up matches for Winter Range, as Winter Range is going to be held slightly earlier this year than last. All the stages were derived from last year’s match at Winter Range and the stage they were based on is listed at the top of the description, see the heads up page. If you are curious as to how true to the originals they are… then hit the Winter Range web site and then the results link to find them.
Our set-up crew did an excellent job again this month… Cutler, Superstition Slim, Pink, and Climax Jim, Thanks to you all! My son Munchie was a great help getting all the paper work and “stat house” work done to prep for the match. And, Gold Canyon Kid has been putting in a LOT of effort to bring out new shooters and to train ‘em up on set-up nights! Much obliged to you all!
One thing sort of caught us off guard during sign up at this month’s match, and I put this out there for you all to help… by simply notifying us when you see it happening. To start off, when sign up time is about 2/3rd s through is when the “guesstimation” is made as to how many posses we will need for the match that day. So this month, when Gateslinger offered to help and put out the sign-up sheets, and board, it seemed that the numbers showed good for 3 posses. Then, darn near at the last minute, a bunch more folks came up to the stat house and signed up! Which is great that they came! But it was a whole posse full of shooters, well almost!! Not to make excuses… but I didn’t think back to the number of posse sheets put out and that one more was now needed, I was just trying to sign them up. So, Now you know a couple of things… If a bunch of you wait to sign up at the last minute, it doesn’t help! That is 1. And 2, Whenever you see the posse sheets getting that full… and there happens to be one less sheet than shooting bays… come and ask for the next posse clip board!!! It was all made up and sitting in the stat house but was not put out because, as was mentioned before, the numbers didn’t show the need for it at the time. That will help a bunch!
On this same topic, sort of… There were a couple of people saying that the match would have been finished sooner if there had been 4 posses in the match instead of 3, true – see above. There were a fair amount of folks “reminding me” that they voted, on-line, for 6 stages instead of 8… Well, if you want a smaller posse then you need to shoot on all four bays. And 4 bays means 8 stages… Note: We have tried in the past to do only 6 stages on the 4 bays, 2 double shoot bays and 2 single stage bays, and it really didn’t work well! It is very difficult to balance the match that way.
So, the plan for now is this… As the turn out should be even bigger next month, as Winter Range is getting closer, there will be 4 posse sheets put out! We will shoot two stages on all four main bays. And, the plan is that one stage, of the two per bay, will be a “quicker” stage. So one full stage and one quick one… but they are not written yet so “positive” feedback is still very welcome.
The other note is that we will make sure to have a chronograph and scale at the next match.
And, new “Rio Wild-Bunch” rules are coming soon!
Thanks again,
Sheriff Bill Murphy
New Shooter Orientation Sessions a Big Success
Our new shooter orientation sessions on Friday nights before our Saturday monthly matches are getting good attendance. Gold Canyon Kid reports that in November we had 6 new shooters, in December we had a dozen new shooters (Sheriff Bill Murphy ran the session while GCK was at the TG Summit in Las Vegas) and in Janurary we had 8 new shooters. We are allowing the attendees to set the tone and content of the sessions. Each session has included ample training in shooting a stage safely, selection of guns, leather and other gear, a little shooting introduction on proper gun handling/safety and finally a fair amount of shooting a stage several times. Come on out with whatever partial gear you have (we have loaner equipment to make up the rest) and we will have you shooting in no time.
Gold Canyon Kid
RO I and RO II Classes
We are planning a Range Officer (RO) I and Range Officer (RO) II class at the Rio Salado range activity center on 11 April 2009. Several shooters have recently requested these classes again be held. The RO I class is recommended for all shooters especially newer shooters as it covers all the SASS rules in detail. The RO II class is recommended for shooters that have been shooting for over 6 months. Neither class involves shooting but the RO II class does involve equipment review and outside stage set up and target placement exercises. The RO I class will be in the morning and the RO II class will be in the afternoon. Class fees are $10 and $25 for the two classes. Please call TG Gold Canyon Kid (480-288-0861) or send email to mickeyboat@aol.com if you are interested.
Checkout the RO I and RO II handbooks on this site for content. As we get closer to the date, more details will be provided to those that have an interest.
November 2008
Howdy again Pards
It sure was great to see so many of you out to shoot with us this month! I admit, I was figuring on a bit smaller turn out… And, I was glad to be wrong on that one! With a two day annual match going on across town and the SASS Convention being held up in Las Vegas the same weekend, I thought we would lose more folks. But then it seems I was also looking at last year’s number for the same month’s match and forgot that it had rained for two days just before it… So it was the rain last year!!
Time for the much needed thanks to the dedicated crew that comes out for set-up! Cutler, Superstition Slim, and Fuzzy Joe were out there again at 12:30 and doing their best to have things set up and ready in time for the new shooters orientation, and the match as a whole. Thanks Guys! Couldn’t do it without you…
The new shooters orientation seems to be growing! I believe that Gold Canyon Kid’s efforts have been well placed on this… that was the largest group of new folks that I can remember for quite a while now. The heads up I received was that about 6 or 7 were coming, and there were 10, 12 if you count the spectators. I sure hope they all had fun and learned a few things. I worried that I was jumping around too much from topic to topic as I went through. Not knowing where the groups experience level was, I was trying to make sure that I hit all the essential topics of range rules, gun handling, and SASS rules. I thought to get in as many tips as I could that would help you avoid developing bad habits that you would later have to fight to stop doing… There sure is a lot to this game.
One quick note for you new shooters, I happen to be friends with one of the best shooting instructors in SASS, and if you ask… I’ll put you in touch. (Rattler John,,, but I didn’t exactly ask if I could put his name on here…)
There were a couple of things that I did in the stages this month to help folks learn how “not” to read things into the stages when they are reading them. I even got AZ Lightning Jack on it once… ;-> I’ve seen that folks have fallen into a bad habit while reading stages when they see the word “repeat” in the description.
For instance:
“With rifle, engage the rifle/pistol targets with a 1-3-1 sweep that starts on either
side, then repeat.” From stage 6.
I thought I worded that one pretty carefully with… “then repeat” following the phrase of “that starts on either Side” Yup, this was done on purpose. Too often folks see the word “repeat” and they think they have to re-engage the targets with the same exact sequence as before… not the case here. The “repeat” part here refers to all of the rifle instructions that precede the “repeat” statement which means that the “start on either side” part applies to that half of the run as well! The fact that the statement “no double taps on the end target” was missing… was also a clue. The very clue that I hinted at in the shooters meeting.
Hope you all had fun,
Sheriff Bill Murphy
Hi again…
Well folks… The holiday season is upon us, the Anniversary match is behind us, and our last match of year is just ahead of us. So don’t forget that this Saturday, December 6th, is the first Saturday of the month and our regular monthly match date. I have to admit that the upcoming match will likely be a small one based on the number of our regular shooters who are still out of town for the holidays along with the number of folks that are going to the SASS convention, not to mention the match going on out at Cowtown… We hope to see you out at the range.
The Anniversary match went off without a hitch! I can’t tell you how happy I was to see folks helping out in so many ways! Folks pitched in to help finish the match set up that morning and some other folks really helped out by moving the “practical” props out from under the covered area that we used for dinner and awards… That is the Cowboy Way! A special Thanks You goes out to our own AZ Lightning Jack for handling the arrangements with Big Apple! The dinner was great, and their cooperation on the “minimum” order allowed us to have the match! I wish to also point out to you folks how much effort Claudia Feathers puts into arranging the Anniversary match with all of its pre-registering and bookwork “documenting” that the main range requires, Thank You! No Horse Charlie, Goodness Grace, and AZ Lightning Jack were all a big help on coming up with the stages, with me, that seemed to flow the match as well as we could have hoped for. Considering we tried something new this year… that was a relief! I should also admit, that if it wasn’t for Gateslinger keeping me on track… there might have been a few of them “hitches” that we avoided.
The folks told me that they had a good time, they liked the stages, and they liked the dinner! I hope they weren’t just saying that to make me feel good… but I did appreciate it!
The steel got put away in time to give out the awards as the crew from Big Apple was setting up to serve dinner, what timing. (Just a little luck) And then folks were able to have dinner and get home in time to be able to make it to work the next morning.
I Thank You all for coming and hope to see you next time!
Sheriff Bill Murphy
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