Dogmeat Dad, SASS #48563L

The last two weeks have been absolutely frantic! The Delaware Match was a fantastic shoot, rain be damned, and the Match Directors made a good call pushing through on Day 1. We might have needed boats for Day 2! Regardless, it was a lot of fun. Following that, I managed to get my youngest son, Pyro Dex, SASS #48566, married off this past Saturday to a great gal. No alias for her yet, but I am sure one is coming soon. So now Lil Feathers and I are "Officially" Empty Nesters, at least we will be if we can ever get their stuff out out here! But y'all didn't come here to listen to me run off at the keyboard, I'm sure all y'all want some Match Info, so here it is. As of Saturday, 19 May 2019 we have added another 14 shooters to the Mason Dixon Stampede bringing the total up to 64, and we added another state to boot bringing the match up to 13 States. Welcome to Matchlock who is joining us from New Hampshire filling in that block, so now we only need someone from Rhode Island to join the party to complete the list of the Original 13 States! Come On Rhode Island! The complete Who's Coming List is available here!

Been using the red Claybusters wads for 8-10 years with Goex Pinnacle (same as APP) without incident. Our "magic" solution is windshield washer fluid, but water works just as well. I just spray it down the barrel until everything is wet, set it aside while I wipe the rest down, then push a wet patch down the barrel and everything usually just pushes out. On a particularly heavy day, it may require a second round. It is interesting how the weather, mix of temp and humidity, will affect the amount of residue in the barrel. Somedays it will look like it was barely fired, other days like it has been filled with dirt.

With the Delaware State Match this coming weekend, I figured I would do a mid-week update of the Who's Coming List so I didn't forget. And speaking of Delaware, a big welcome to Vaquero Dan and Wyoming Schoolmarm who have joined the party bring our total so far up to 50 shooters. Still holding steady at 12 states for the moment, but I've got a sneaking feeling we will see a few more. If we can just some folks from Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Georgia and we will have the original 13 States covered, plus Texas and West Virginia but WV was part of Virginia back then. The complete Who's Coming List is available here!

Sorry for missing the update last week but I was mired in the morass of taxes! Definitely worse for wear, but at least I survived, I think. Then, just to make sure that I was completely done in, Lil Feathers and I volunteered to watch the grand-kids for the whole week of their Spring Break. Summer Breeze, who is 8 going on 12, was great but I had totally forgotten just how much energy DooHickey, a 4 year old, has. That boy was running from sun-up 'till Grandpa Down! Just hope their Pa, Doo-Dad, got caught up on some of his work 'cause I didn't get anything done! Sure hope you all had a great Easter, we sure did. Over the last two weeks we added 13 more shooters to the list, bringing the total number of shooters to 48 as of 20 April 2019, and we added three more states to the list in the process! A big welcome to Big Whiskey filling in the New Jersey slot, One Eyed Black Jack and Windjammer doing the deed for Massachusetts, and Mustang Dave from North Carolina completing the set of Carolinas! Now we just need a "Rhode Islander" to fill in the whole block! The complete Who's Coming List is available here!

Lists only count sometimes. Went to Florida for our "Spring Fling", a 948 mile journey but well worth it. Got to the range there and started unpacking and I'm looking at my rifle and something just didn't seem right. Unpacked the shotguns (mine and my wife's) still looking at my rifle thinking something just isn't right. Then I unpacked her rifle and then I'm standing there staring at mine thinking "Damn, the hole in the end of my rifle seems too dang big, what in tarnation is going on here... OH, Expletive Deleted! I manage to grabbed the wrong rifle, my 38/40 instead of the .38/357. Shared with my wife (Thank You Darlin') for the first three days of shooting, and she brought mine back with her on the plane for the match the following weekend. No question, my own dang fault, but I did check that it was my '73 and not my '92, just didn't think to check the caliber. Added another checkbox to the list.

The Latest Who's Coming List for 06 April 2019 has been posted and, with a BIG Welcome to Scarlett Darlin' bringing with her the great state of South Carolina, we are now at 35 shooters and from 9 different States. How about someone from North Carolina? Seems like they should always travel as a set! Who's Coming List Got 5 folks signed up for camping so far, and while we have plenty at the moment, they can fill-up during the summer months, so if you are planning on camping, don't wait until the last minute. We have approximately 50 camp sites with Water and Power (mostly 30A but a couple of 50A) and with the pool open, it will be a great place to be in August. There is a small charge to help defray the cost of the Life Guards, just $5.00 per person per day, or $10.00 per person for the entire event (Awesome Deal for the Campers), or if you are there with your family, $25.00 will get you all in for the entire event! So no matter how hot the shooting may get, when it's all done and over, grab a drink from the Saloon and hit the Pool! And if you can't swim, well Never Fear, our trained professionals will be there to give you a hand! ** Scene from the restored film Hondo a 1953 Warnercolor 3D Western film directed by John Farrow and starring John Wayne ** ** and Geraldine Page.The screenplay is **based on the July 5, 1952 Collier's short story "The Gift of Cochise" by Louis L'Amour. **

Highest "Mortality" parts I can think of are the bullets. Every one I put in my '73, comes out empty!

I agree completely, wish it could be at the PA State match in May, but life is a bit complicated these days. We generally need to plan our multiday Cowboy matches a year in advance to make them possible, and sometimes even that is not enough. With the Match Director duties for the Mason Dixon Stampede passing to the very capable hands of Dutch Coroner, I am hoping that I can possibly get caught up on life's demands enough this year to have some additional "unallocated" time next year. Good luck at the match, enjoy PA, and wave when you drive through Maryland.

My pleasure. Some of the best shoots in the Country down there, not to mention some of the best shooters, and certainly the some of the nicest people. I look forward to it every year, and in fact, we already have our hotel reservations made for next year! Just wish I could figure out how to escape Maryland so I could move there permanently! We will be back this summer with the Grand-Kids to putz around Dunedin for a few days, but no shooting on that trip. Oldest, Summer Breeze, SASS 103640 will be 9, so she is about ready to start, but the youngest, DooHickey, SASS 103641 will just barely be 5, so he needs a few more years. That's when the fun will truly begin! Look forward to seeing you all yet again! Dogmeat

For those of you like us, who live through the cold, dark, winter months in the northern (or Yankee ) part of the country, taking a break in the middle of winter to travel to the warmer climate of Florida to escape winters onslaught is downright fantastic, but how about adding in three matches during a single 11 day stretch? Well, doing just that has become an annual tradition for my wife and I, and one that you should definitely put on your calendar for 2020. It all started for us back in January 2007 when, prompted by my good pard Chuckaroo, my wife and I traveled to Florida for a winter Cowboy Break to The Last Stand back when it was hosted by the Weewahootee Vigilance Committee at the Central Florida Rifle & Pistol club. We continued that tradition through The "Last" Last Stand in 2013 when the Florida State Championship was relocated to St. Augustine, FL. We returned to attend the Florida State Championship match, now renamed The Siege at St. Augustine, and hosted by the Ghost Town Gunslingers, in January 2014 and that is where we first heard about the Florida State Black Powder Championship. A Dark Day on the Santa Fe, hosted by the Fort White Gun Club in Fort White, Florida and run by Confederate Colt, is a match designed to celebrate those of us who like to try and hit our targets through billowing clouds of BP smoke and we immediately wanted to attend. Sadly, we were unable to adjust our personal schedules to attend that match, but we immediately put the Dark Day on the Santa Fe on our 2015 match schedule. We returned to the Siege in 2015, went back home for a few months of snow and ice, and returned to Florida in March for a Dark Day, and what an awesome time we had! Good folks, great stages, and warm, sunny skies. We could hardly wait for 2016 when we repeated the journey, and again had an absolutely fantastic time. We where already making plans for 2017 when we learned that the Ghost Town Gunslingers had decided that 2016 was to be the last year for the Siege and they would not be holding the match in 2017. Great sadness ensued. Then, in what can only be called a "Flash Of Marketing Genius!" , Confederate Colt shifted the date for the 2017 Dark Day on the Santa Fe match, the South East Territorial Black Powder Championship since 2016, so that it was the weekend just before the Ides of March, hosted by the Lake County Pistoleeros! I first learned of the Ides of March match from an article in the long gone, but greatly missed, newspaper version of the Cowboy Chronicle. I had recently read that article, just happened to be in Florida in March 2007, near the club on one of the two match days, so I made the detour to check out their range. It was definitely worth the trip, and the match had been on my "To-Shoot" list since then. So now in 2017, ten years later, I finally got my chance. I could make a single 10 day trip to Florida, in the winter, and attend two BIG matches, and to top it off for 2017 the Ides of March would also be the Florida State Championship! What more could anyone possibly want? Well, how about expanding Dark Day on the Santa Fe into a 2-Day, 10 Stage Match, and making it the Inter-National Black Powder Championship? That is exactly what Confederate Colt did for the 2018 Dark Day on the Santa Fe! So now that same 10 day trip got you 4-Days of Shooting plus a side match day, in Florida, In The Winter, where there is no snow or ice or cold! It was like a dream come true. "But" (just like in the old Ronco TV commercials) "Wait, There's More!" Recognizing the absence of the South East Territorial Black Powder Championship from the line up, in 2019 Confederate Colt added yet another shooting day to the lineup, Darkness Falls, a 6 stage match held the Day Before Dark Day on the Santa Fe! So now, there are 3 shooting days, then a 5 day break, followed by side match day at the Ides of March and then the 2 Day Ides of March match. 6 shooting Days over an 11 day period, in FLORIDA, in the WINTER, where it's WARM and SUNNY! What A Country! Now, for those of you who don't experience the same feelings of joy shooting BP that those of us on Dark Side experience, both of the BP matches, Darkness Falls and Dark Day on the Santa Fe, offer a smokeless category just for you. While I have no doubt that if asked, one of your BP Pards would be happy to help you out, you can still enjoy these matches using the new fangled smokeless stuff, but that stuff is just a passing fad. Besides, you should really clean your guns at least once a year anyway, so let this be your excuse! Finally, for those of you like us, who need to plan your calendar a year in advance, make sure to leave a gap in your schedule in March of next year and plan your trip to enjoy the Fantastic Florida Spring Fling! My wife and I will be there (hopefully that won't dissuade you from going ) as well as a lot of other great folks. Over the years, we have had the pleasure of shooting with Santa Fe River Stan, Delta Glen, Rocky Creek Shooter, Cassalong Hopidy, Chance Ramsey, T-Bone Dooley, Ol' #4, and so many others from all over the country, it's impossible to name them all. I know I am already counting the days until Darkness Falls..... Darkness Falls - March 12, 2020 Dark Day on the Santa Fe - March 13&14, 2020 Ides Of March - March 20, 2020 (Side Matches) (Still showing 2019 information as of 04/02/19) Ides Of March - March 21&22, 2020 (Still showing 2019 information as of 04/02/19) Hope to see you all next year! Dogmeat Dad & Lil Feathers P.S. I would be remiss if I didn't offer a HUGE THANK YOU to all of those who work so hard to put on these matches, much of it behind the scenes where their efforts go unseen. Please forgive me, because I am 100% sure I am going to miss more than just a few folks, but here goes... Confederate Colt - For making this happen! Jane Deere - For being Colt's right hand woman! Greta Dee - For Everything, especially the HUGS! Brucester Diamond - Gone but never forgotten! Smart* - For his "Enlightenment" Rocky Creek Shooter - Patience of a Saint & Posse Leader Extraordinaire! Yadkin Hawks - The Man Who Is Everywhere, Doing Everything! Delta Glenn - Hardest Working Cowboy I've Ever Met! Santa Fe River Stan - The Man, The Legend, Mr. Speeeeeed Demonnnnn! And to all of those who put in their time for Registration, Setup, Teardown, Building Props, and Dragging Steel.... THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL, & SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

The Latest Who's Coming List for 31 March 2019 has been posted. Inching our way up and now at 34 Shooters, but still only from 8 different States. Come On Ohio, cause I'm about to give up on New Jersey! Who's Coming List Don't for get that we have approximately 50 camp sites with Water and Power (mostly 30A but a couple of 50A) and with the pool open, it will be a great place to be in August.

Waimea, my good pard, Figuring I would try to help you out, I did a quick search on the internet for outlaw masks with a mouth hole. Boy Was That A Mistake! There may not be enough eye bleach in the known universe to wash some of those residual images away! But, I was able to find you a historically correct mask that just might do the trick. Meet Outlaw William "Brazen Bill" Brazelton Wearing A Mask, circa 1878. He's dead now, so I doubt he will mind if you copy his costume! Enjoy the match. I hear it's a good one, but I have been unable to attend as it is the same weekend as my home club's monthly match, and I'm supposed to be running them! Safe Travels my friend, Dogmeat Dad

The requirement for the Chronicle Ad was for SASS Sanctioned Matches, i.e. State & Above. Club Annual are not required to be held, and the matches do not have any specific requirements for advertisement. in general, clubs put a lot more effort into their annual match in terms of better props, better stage setups, additional activities, and they usually have more shooters than their monthly matches. They typically draw shooters from farther away and, at least in my experience, provide an opportunity to experience Cowboy Action Shooting with a different flavor than what you get at your home club or clubs. It is also a chance to shoot with people you might otherwise never meet in person, only online. This year, at match in Florida, my wife and I had the opportunity to shoot with Ol' #4, T-Bone Dooley, Ellie Gant, and others from other parts of the country. Some we had met before, others for the first time. When we go to these away matches, we rarely ask to shoot with anyone but ourselves just so we get the chance to meet others. It is the best way to make new friends with folks who all share a common interest. State Championships and above are usually just a further extension of that, all the way up to Winter Range and EOT. My advise is "Don't look for a reason to go to an annual, look for an annual you want to attend, and just go. You won't be sorry!"

They tend to focus the sound, so as long as you don't have close neighbors (Not Texas close i.e 15 miles away, but like under a mile) you shouldn't have issues although folks may want to upgrade their hearing protection. In addition to extending the lifespan of the walls, a wood covering helps to deaden the sound AND reduces bounce back of shotgun and bullet splatter. Great shooting with you and Ellie at Dark Day in Florida!

Find a cheap hotel with HBO and go for it. Rumor is some hotels rent by the hour, but I'd be afraid to sit on anything in one of those places!

Looking forward to it. In fact, the Maryland State Championship is being based on the series (well, a PG13 version of it anyway ) in recognition of the movie coming out. Been waiting a long time for this to happen, and to be honest, I had pretty much given up hope. Glad they are finally doing it.

The Latest Who's Coming List for 17 March 2019 has been posted. We are now at 31 Shooters but still only from 8 different States. Where are the New Jersey Shooters, or how about Ohio, be a good warm up for GoA? I know you're out there! Who's Coming List Don't for get that we have approximately 50 camp sites with Water and Power (mostly 30A but a couple of 50A) and with the pool open, it will be a great place to be in August.

I'm just impressed that he remembered the shooting sequence! BTW, the Idea of March was a great match with great stages, great folks, and near perfect weather. Can't wait for 2020!

The Latest Who's Coming List has been posted. We are now at 28 Shooters, from 8 different States. So where are the New Jersey Shooters? We need you to fill in the coloring blocks on the State Map! Who's Coming List

You would have to book one of the sites with hookups in order to get power. Of course if you had a pard in one of those slots, and an extension cord, no one would know. Unless you tried to run AC in your tent, that would probably pop the breaker! In all seriousness, we will do what we can to accommodate your needs, but the power is only run to the camper sites and tent camping is pretty much open to anywhere there is space where we don't already have plans for it's use during the match.

Latest Who's Coming List was just posted. We are now up to 24 Shooters, but still only 8 States. Will you be the first for State Number 9?

My wife shoots Ruger Single Six's using 32 H&R cases with 3F Goex Pinnacle (same as APP) and 115gr 32-20 bullets. Case is filled to the point where there is about 1/8" compression of the powder when the bullet is seated. She has no trouble making the smoke standard and can easily run 6 stages without cleaning and plenty of knockdown power.

I'd love to. WR has been on my to-do list for years, I just haven't been able to get things to line up right. Someday...

You stopped digging too soon, the owner is probably still in there under the mud!

Then we need to get you back on the Black Powder Band Wagon. If you would have shot BP back in October, by this point you wouldn't need to clean them ever again, just sweep the rust piles into the trash can! Gonna miss seeing you at the match this year. I will do my best to not embarrass the State of Maryland (anymore than it Deserves)!