Count Sandor, SASS #74075

It is with heavy heart that I must report the passing of two of my cowboy friends, both members of the Illowa Irregulars. Earlier this week Captain Jake (aka Mark Mortier) left us after a long bout with illness. Today it has been announced the Preemption Judge (aka John Miller) has passed, also after dealing with several physical issues. Captain Jake was the driving force behind the beginnings of, and was the heart of the continuation of, Wild Bunch competition in Camden Mills, at the Milan Rifle club. He traveled extensively in the Midwest, doing both WB and CAS. Condolences for Captain Jake may be left at https://www.vanhoe.com/ Preemption Judge was one of the original members of the Illowa Irregulars, and was known for wearing many hats, especially around the Milan Rifle club. He is credited with pushing for and instituting many of the physical improvements at the club over the years, and at the time of his passing was serving as Vice-president, and was head of the grounds keeping crew. Condolences for Preemption Judge may be left at https://www.wheelanpressly.com/ CS

More from Illinois - Oregon, Virginia, Wyoming CS

Don't forget BIG government...wait, that IS bad! CS

Illinois City, Illinois - located 23 miles SW of the Quad Cities. Also, Iowa City, Iowa, home of the Hawkeyes! CS

Immediately after Illowa Irregulars matches, each clean shooter receives a custom poker chip noting the achievement. Category winners are then announced, with an appropriately designed poker chip going to the top shooter in any category that has more than one competitor. Traditionally, as each winner of a single-entrant category is announced, the assembled crowd calls out in unison "No Chip!" As a continued reward for achievement, once a shooter has accumulated five (5) chips, he/she may turn them in for a free match - a $10 value. The chips have been popular since we instituted them a few years ago, haven't seen anyone turn them down. CS

Thanks for the update, Billy, and for trying to get the thing going. Fighting the State of Illinois and the powers that be is a mostly thankless and frustrating task! CS

+1 Lube action parts with Ballistol after cleaning. Also, after every two stages I use a small needle oiler to place a drop of Ballistol on each of the following: Firing pin nose, extractor well, end of the lever where it enters the bolt. A 6 stage match is usually no problem, even with the blowback from full loads of Goex/Graf's in .45 Colt. On exceptionally dry days, I may have to swab the chamber with a wet-wipe after two or three stages to remove any buildup if levering starts to feels "sticky," but those days are few and far between in my neck of the woods. CS

The two clubs for which I serve as TG have gone in slightly different directions on this. The Illowa Irregulars (Milan Rifle Club) have generally moved away from long backstories, tending to do very short ones, or none at all. However, most of our stage writers still use starting lines, which we print and post in an area the shooter can see from the start position. The Illinois River City Regulators (Chillicothe, IL.) do use full backstories and start lines, which are also printed and posted. In either case, shooters are free to use "shooter ready" or some such, but most do say the appropriate line. As Seamus said, half the fun is when some of the folks come up with clever (or not!) ad-libs on the original line - we have some shooters who are quite good at it...

Hey Shark - If you happen to be up this way for a visit, the Illowa Irregulars have scheduled open CAS practices at the Milan Rifle Club on Wednesdays at 1:00 PM and Fridays at 10:00 AM. Not officially an Ol' Coots Shoot, but most of us are, in fact, just that - however, we do have a few of you younger folk show up from time to time, and all are welcome! Same general numbers and procedures as J-Bar described. We do 5 full stages on Wednesday, but then 4 on Friday so we can adjourn in time to get together for lunch...now that Illinois has partially reopened anyway. We'd be glad to have you join us - goes for anyone else from the Wire who happens to be in the area too! CS

Since the NFL already has "safe" names like Bears, Lions, Jaguars, Broncos, Seahawks, etc. - perhaps the "DC SWAMP RATS" might be appropriate...Surely someone in the Saloon could come up with an appropriate helmet logo! CS

Missouri Bullet has done well for me for several years, About any bullet you might need, including coated and a relatively new variety that are BP lubed. Discount code is "SASS." CS

I seriously doubt that more than a handful of those have occurred since December 3, 1818...this is Illinois about which we are talking! CS

My son, Colonel Kit Coyote...anyone remember the source of the alias?

Finally! The photo really I wanted to include back in Post #5 - found the thumb drive lurking in the bottom of my travel bag! Also, adding a photo of Bookworm Sandy, who passed away a few years ago.

Alias: Count Sandor SASS # 74075 From: Rock Island, IL Shooting: 10 years