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How would you make EOT more attractive?


Jackaroo, # 29989

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Great post, Jackaroo. When I first started as a Waddie at EOT my job was to post signs along the highway and the neighbors took them down about as fast as they went up. So some folks still have a hard time finding the ranch so I might recommend an app on their cell phone or a Garmin type unit if they are visiting for the first time. These things will also aid them in finding restaurants and such.

 

Motels being built in Edgewood has to, IMO, attract more shooters. If the shooter numbers were up to over 600 in 2016 that's a pretty good increase over the previous year. I encourage nearly every shooter that I talk to out here to make EOT at least once and I'm seeing more faces from out here show up at EOT. Maybe the SASS folks could come up with a way to promote EOT a little more on the club level, I don't know. I've shot at a couple of local clubs in the past and the mention of EOT was kinda like talking a different language it seemed, a lot of folks seem to have never heard about it.

 

I'm not privy to the SASS marketing budget for ABQ and surrounding areas but maybe that can be massaged somehow to make it more effective. Sure there are locals that attend but, IMHO, but not near the numbers that used to. As shooter numbers increase, which they may if gas prices stay low and more local lodging is built maybe the local attraction will not be so important.

 

From my own personal experience you can't meet a better bunch of people than those that are in that part of the state. The night time activities this year, I felt were directed at keeping the participants on site and entertained and SASS did a very good job with that. The catered meals were good and even though the elements threatened to completely wipeout one nights meal Misty and her staff were right on top of it and it probably turned out better than it would have as originally planned.

 

If more potential visitors would check into renting an RV and having it spotted at the ranch in advance of their arrival that may be the way to go. In all the years that I have been involved with EOT I don't think I've heard one complaint about the rental trailers and RV S that are brought to the ranch. Camping at the ranch in my RV is definitely one of my highlights each year.

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Thanks for the compliment Yul, and yes I agree with all what you just posted too, SASS, Misty and her crew have done a fine job, I think she does too much sometimes when I see her shuffling tables and other physical work too. Lol.

Edgewood seems to growing more now too, with a Comfort Inn going up and Walmart and Denny's down the road. The pizza joint in Edgewood would have to be one of the finest I've been too, not to mention the little Chinese place not too far away.

More motels in Moriaty are springing up too, so all augers well for the future I hope.

Off to Aussie tomorrow to keep immigration happy, back first week Feb. if no more heart attacks.LOL

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Howdy Jack

I see you will be back in Aus this week, look forward to catching up with you both.

Good question you ask, I'II let those that know better than me answer.

My input is that when I asked the wire which was the better shoot to attend WR or EOT, 90% said WR but almost everyone said you have to go to EOT at least once. So now after shooting both, for me WR is the better..but hey we will be back at EOT.

Both are great shoots & congrats to all that are involved.

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Thanks for the compliment Yul, and yes I agree with all what you just posted too, SASS, Misty and her crew have done a fine job, I think she does too much sometimes when I see her shuffling tables and other physical work too. Lol.

Edgewood seems to growing more now too, with a Comfort Inn going up and Walmart and Denny's down the road. The pizza joint in Edgewood would have to be one of the finest I've been too, not to mention the little Chinese place not too far away.

More motels in Moriaty are springing up too, so all augers well for the future I hope.

Off to Aussie tomorrow to keep immigration happy, back first week Feb. if no more heart attacks.LOL

Safe travels Jackaroo. I guess you could try immigration the new way and not care what they think, about 20 million or so don't think it's a bad thing. LOL!!!

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Am getting on this thread pretty late , but to those suggesting Memorial Day and Labor Day timeframes , would make it hard on the shooters that are still in school , and the parents of same. Plus , neither timeframe would promise better weather conditions.

I have been to FR twice , the first time was in October 2004 for "Smoke In The Valley" ; that was an experience :D . Next time was EOT 2006. Things had changed a lot in that time frame. Looking forward to going again someday , expect it is even nicer now.

Rex :D

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Am getting on this thread pretty late , but to those suggesting Memorial Day and Labor Day timeframes , would make it hard on the shooters that are still in school , and the parents of same. Plus , neither timeframe would promise better weather conditions.

I have been to FR twice , the first time was in October 2004 for "Smoke In The Valley" ; that was an experience :D . Next time was EOT 2006. Things had changed a lot in that time frame. Looking forward to going again someday , expect it is even nicer now.

Rex :D

When EOT was held in Norco it was in April, kids still made it. When it was held in April of 2005 the weather was perfect except for a little skiff of snow on one morning and you would have thought it was a blizzard. Then, it was moved to the hottest part of the year. I've had heat strokes, never had a cold stroke. :)

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Find facilities around the country that are capable of hosting the World's Championship and Lease that facility for the event. Most facilities that would meet the requirements are located in a area that can supply the the much needed population which could draw more visitors and thus, Vendors. It should be easier to get to and have a decent base of close by motels to stay at. Some decent restaurants would be nice too. Moriarty has neither IMO. Also, if lodging were closer to the range, or easier to get to the range, they might draw more attendance to their after shooting events. No one wants to drive out to the range from Albuquerque, have a few drinks and then drive back... or from a decent RV park. They could try it for a couple of years and see how it works out. If so, they might be able to reduce their overhead significantly and increase SASS's chances of a long and successful future.

 

JMHO

Snakebite

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The last time I checked the opening ceremonies for both WR and EoT was on Wednesday and the awards for both are on Sunday. So for the herd of cowboy shooters the length of both the main matches is the same.

 

Motels? Takes me the same amount of drive time for either match. And the motels in Moriarty are about half what I pay for WR.

 

Venders? I don't know about WR but the last I heard was that venders at EoT paid $1000 for their booth. You have to sell a lot to pay for the booth, motel and travel for a week.

 

Spectators? You have to invite them. Spectators create a security problem. Any unattended cart could be a target for theft. I have never lost anything at EoT but I have at WR when I parked my cart next to the spectator line.

 

Wild Bunch? Leave it alone. The WR committee has dictated that the WB match be shot more like the cowboy match; big/close targets, easy stages and 20/10/6 round count. So it has become a speed match and that favors one style of shooting. EoT on the other hand has a mixture of stages, higher round count, far/little targets and scenarios that can be shot any number of ways. The high round count and harder stages make the 12 stages over three days perfect. The difference in the two matches is like the difference between a sprint and a marathon. The format for EoT makes it harder for any one style of shooter to dominate. While Last Chance won again this year, he had a number of shooters knocking on his back door. Several of them won stages. The format closed the gap between traditional and modern shooters and Idaho Sixgun Sam (Lady Modern) shot in the top scores. I would hate for all the Wild Bunch matches to become like WR. When you shoot WB at EoT you know you have shot a world championship.

JFN

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I shot EoT in Norco 3 times and I was at the last one that was held there before it was moved to NM. I was pretty bitter about that and a few other things that I will not get into on the Wire and I dropped out of CAS...I could still kick myself for being a stubborn mule...

 

Anyway, moving on...

 

I thought about attending EoT this year but I just cannot take that much time off work. I only get 2 weeks of vacation a year.

Also, ironically I lived in Edgewood, NM for 6 months back in '88. It is HOT and dry in June. My wife and I called it "Nose Bleed Weather". Higher elevations, dry and hot reek havoc on lowlanders.

 

Maybe some day I will attend but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

 

I like the idea of moving EoT around the country but I do agree that a lot of money has been sunk into Founder's Ranch so it wouldn't make sense from the standpoint of SASS.

In addition, EoT is "The World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting". Granted the majority of CAS'rs are here in the USA but think about it, you are from Australia or Europe or where ever and every year you would have to arrange travel to another strange place. It would only make sense to have EoT in one place for people from everywhere to get to and after the first year there would be some familiarity regarding the venue and surrounding amenities.

 

Me, personally, I like the Memorial Day time frame but I don't have kids in school but that time of year would be a little more tolerable regarding the weather in Edgewood.

 

Best Regards,

Pat Riot

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As I haven't been to EOT since 2006, I don't remember everything about awards.

 

Anyway, here is how we will do awards at CA State this year.

WB will be on the last evening of the WB two-day match.

Side match and day costume awards will be on the first day of the main match.

Main match, Posse SOG, Clean Match and evening costume awards will be on Saturday night.

Shoot off and awards for that on Sunday.

 

By moving the side match awards to their own night, there will be more time for dancing/partying on Saturday night.

 

Regards,

 

Allie Mo

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By moving the venue, from the west coast to the east coast and the midwest! Yes I know that was what the ranch was mainly purchased for but again the rest of us would like to come see the tournament, vendors and activities at night as well someplace closer. I understand there is not much chance of it happening, but the question was asked and I am answering.

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Yes. They could change how long the match is.

 

Monday - WB and Plainsman

Tuesday - WB and warm-ups

Wednesday - warm-ups and sides

Thursday, Friday & Saturday - Main match

Saturday Evening awards

 

This would give folks a weekend to get there and at least a day to get home. As it is now, I have to take 6 days vacation to go. Modified schedule would reduce it to 5.

 

I would much prefer to see EOT occur somewhere other than FR, but realize that's just dreaming. The combination of altitude and low humidity kills me.

 

Possum

Yep, the modified schedule seems mighty popular. And it would be nice if maybe every three or four years they could hold on the east coast, but understand why it's just dreaming.

 

 

The toilet facilities would be mainly for shooters down at the line. Not the campers.

 

Showers - those could be provided for campers to make it more convenient or to save limited water and sewage space in their own trailer. Probably no where near as big a "win".

 

These are done in the movie business as "self-contained" trailers. No water, sewer or power hookup required. Drag them in - drag them out. Clean, pump and resupply as needed. That's why they work for remote locations. Zero infrastructure other than a gravel spot to park them on!

 

Good luck, GJ

Yep, they make some very nice self-contained units. Years ago when hurricanes Berth and Fran hit us we didn't get running water back till Thanksgiving. FEMA brought in the units that firefighters use during wild fire season, the shower and toilet facilites are really nice and clean. They were serviced by the same type septic and water trucks found at campgrounds and NASCAR races.

 

Buy a gun from Johnny Meadows while you are there.

J.M.

Plus this :D Good Luck :)

 

Jefro :ph34r: Relax-Enjoy

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:ph34r: Just to keep things balanced, I happen to LIKE the current June time frame..... we get to go there and cool off!

 

Growing infrastructure in Edgewood and nearby are a definite plus for the future. Agree with GJ and other posts Re: portable shower facilities. A week's worth of sponge baths

CAN be tolerated, but isn't fun.

 

My posse pards were kind enough not to mention it.... :lol:

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There are truck stops in Moriarty that have showers. Some tent campers at FR have used them. However, having showers onsite would be handier. My wife and I will stay at Hidden Valley next year. That RV park is just eight miles away, has full hookups and a swimming pool. With the EOT discount it is worth staying there instead of on FR. No more hauling water or running generators.

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:ph34r: Just to keep things balanced, I happen to LIKE the current June time frame..... we get to go there and cool off!

 

Growing infrastructure in Edgewood and nearby are a definite plus for the future. Agree with GJ and other posts Re: portable shower facilities. A week's worth of sponge baths

CAN be tolerated, but isn't fun.

 

My posse pards were kind enough not to mention it.... :lol:

Probably be more fun if you sponge bathed together.

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Let's step back a bit and remember the December 2015 Convention. Misty spoke very clearly on the financial health of SASS. With only around 22,000 active dues paying members SASS has been trying to reduce cost and manage their money to make ends meet.

 

SASS pays fees to the owners of the Ranch for using the Ranch year round. Going somewhere is else would mean having to find a location with 12 Storefronts, RV parking, toilets etc. They would have to fit it into that ranges schedule. And everyone at SASS would have to travel to work the event. So airfare, hotels, food, and vehicles to transport match related stuff. And while they are away they are still paying for a range that isn't being used.

 

Move the Ranch to adjust for the altitude and weather....not going to happen. Whatever date is chosen there will always be shooters who can't make it. June is tough because kids are graduating from school and so parents and grandparents need to hang close to home. Or run the risk of having the kids scared for life!

Hopefully SASS is monitoring this thread and will look into some of the more reasonable ideas.

 

Ike

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Let's step back a bit and remember the December 2015 Convention. Misty spoke very clearly on the financial health of SASS. With only around 22,000 active dues paying members SASS has been trying to reduce cost and manage their money to make ends meet.

 

SASS pays fees to the owners of the Ranch for using the Ranch year round. Going somewhere is else would mean having to find a location with 12 Storefronts, RV parking, toilets etc. They would have to fit it into that ranges schedule. And everyone at SASS would have to travel to work the event. So airfare, hotels, food, and vehicles to transport match related stuff. And while they are away they are still paying for a range that isn't being used.

 

Move the Ranch to adjust for the altitude and weather....not going to happen. Whatever date is chosen there will always be shooters who can't make it. June is tough because kids are graduating from school and so parents and grandparents need to hang close to home. Or run the risk of having the kids scared for life!

Hopefully SASS is monitoring this thread and will look into some of the more reasonable ideas.

 

Ike

Depending on the cost SASS pays to rent Founders Ranch for EOT, maybe you could make the props truck portable as well as the targets and move EOT around for the rent FR Owners charges EOT.

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I agree with Smokestack. EOT puts on one heck of a match. Been there the last six years and can tell you it keeps getting better. Love the stages, the people and it is obvious everyone works real hard to make this a world championship event. My only request would be a warm up bay. Thank you to Misty and her incredible crew for their hard crew. Look forward to next year. Good thread.

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The facility in N.M. Is improving each year and the attendance is growing. Keep in mind that the economy over the last few years hasn't been that great so I'm sure that it had something to do with shooter numbers at EOT. There are a large number of snowbirds in the Phoenix area for WR so right there is a pretty good draw already. Most of the snowbirds are long gone by the time EOT comes around.

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Have been to the last 2 EOTs and plan on going every year for the foreseeable future. We go on Tuesday to shoot some side matches, warmups, and the three days of competition. 2015 weather was miserable, 2016 wonderful; weather is a crapshoot. We love EOT and the only suggestion I could make is to maybe move it to the spring or fall holidays. Phoenix is too far, sorry I won't try to fly with my guns.

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Have been to the last 2 EOTs and plan on going every year for the foreseeable future. We go on Tuesday to shoot some side matches, warmups, and the three days of competition. 2015 weather was miserable, 2016 wonderful; weather is a crapshoot. We love EOT and the only suggestion I could make is to maybe move it to the spring or fall holidays. Phoenix is too far, sorry I won't try to fly with my guns.

It's only 500 miles from EOT to WR.

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I agree with Smokestack. EOT puts on one heck of a match. Been there the last six years and can tell you it keeps getting better. Love the stages, the people and it is obvious everyone works real hard to make this a world championship event. My only request would be a warm up bay. Thank you to Misty and her incredible crew for their hard crew. Look forward to next year. Good thread.

+1 and I like the warm up bay idea.

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+1 and I like the warm up bay idea.

 

There is one, has been one for many years at Founder's Ranch - the conventioneer's bay. Last year it was bay 8.

You do have to bring a buddy to act as your safety officer. That's the only restriction other than follow regular SASS rules for safety.

 

Lots of folks go test fire there, including all the gun smiths!

 

Good luck, GJ

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I never knew that and I have been attending for several years. Thank you for the obvious information that wasn't obvious to me. :-)

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Hi Folks,

 

SASS tried moving the Convention in response to many requests. At least they weren't leaving an owned/leased facility empty. I loved the facilities Misty chose, However, attendance declined to the point that it is no longer financially feasible to have a Convention. Finances are also a major consideration on where EOT is held. Refer to Ike's post 87 for some excellent points on that.

 

Regards,

 

Allie

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Better side matches: A plethora of speed this, speed that, and speed the other thing is just not interesting to me. More things where you use multiple guns, but different ones from what are normally used in the main match. Something like pairing a derringer with a single shot rifle, or who knows what else.

 

Wild Bunch: X/X/6 is downright annoying when then shotguns used are designed to hold 5 rounds in their magazines. To have a convention that requires a shooter to either be lucky to have one that holds six or to modify their guns from the way they came from the factory is not wise. The fact that NOBODY was able to shoot the WB match clean also suggests to me that it was not quite right. I had a lot of fun, yes, but shooting the match clean should be a possibility. For those who will never win on speed, shooting clean is what you try for. If I go back to EoT again, I don't know if I'd bother with WB next time for these reasons.

 

Long Range Matches: I thought the distance to the targets was fine, but that the targets were a bit small and hard to see.

 

Main Match: Well, I shot it clean (my first ever!) so it'd be hard for me to say there was anything wrong with it. A couple of the stages had moving targets. I liked that. I like it when a stage deviates from 10-10-4 once in a while. Some simple actions on the clock would be a welcome variation on 1 or 2 stages. Nothing fancy. Things as simple as "take prop from shooting position 1 to position 2 and drop it in the barrel" would be a good way to mix it up. But, overall, the Main Match was fine and does not really need any changing.

 

The Town was very nice, about the only way I could think it was better was if there was more of it!

 

Food at the range: Well, this, I think, could have been better. I don't mind paying a little more for better quality food and/or a larger variety of it. With as many people on hand every day as were there, I'd think it would be able to support 3 or 4 vendors selling hot food and cold drinks. While I did get some food from the main vendor once or twice, I did not make a habit out of it because it wasn't very good, in my opinion. If there were more options...

 

Cowboy Chapel: Anyone care to donate an old piano? Yes, I know we'd need someone to play it as well, but just having one there would be nice. I really liked that old pumper organ, but that is a very difficult instrument to play. Even if there had been an organist at EOT we'd probably would have still not used it since it is so hard to do so.

 

Cowboy Trap/Shotgun events: These were very well done, and I had no problems with them, other than figuring out where they heck they were! Some sort of signage or clearer instructions in the program book would be nice. Especially for people who have never been to the place before.

 

 

 

That's about all I can think of.

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Better side matches: A plethora of speed this, speed that, and speed the other thing is just not interesting to me. More things where you use multiple guns, but different ones from what are normally used in the main match. Something like pairing a derringer with a single shot rifle, or who knows what else.

 

At the California State Match, we had a master gunfighter side match. It consisted of shooting a pocket pistol, one pistol caliber rifle, one rifle caliber lever action, one single shot rifle, two cartridge pistols, two cap and ball pistols, one SxS, and either a 97 or 87. It was a really fun match, though quite grueling. For me, that side match alone was worth going to the event.

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Better side matches: A plethora of speed this, speed that, and speed the other thing is just not interesting to me. More things where you use multiple guns, but different ones from what are normally used in the main match. Something like pairing a derringer with a single shot rifle, or who knows what else.

 

Wild Bunch: X/X/6 is downright annoying when then shotguns used are designed to hold 5 rounds in their magazines. To have a convention that requires a shooter to either be lucky to have one that holds six or to modify their guns from the way they came from the factory is not wise. The fact that NOBODY was able to shoot the WB match clean also suggests to me that it was not quite right. I had a lot of fun, yes, but shooting the match clean should be a possibility. For those who will never win on speed, shooting clean is what you try for. If I go back to EoT again, I don't know if I'd bother with WB next time for these reasons.

 

Long Range Matches: I thought the distance to the targets was fine, but that the targets were a bit small and hard to see.

 

Main Match: Well, I shot it clean (my first ever!) so it'd be hard for me to say there was anything wrong with it. A couple of the stages had moving targets. I liked that. I like it when a stage deviates from 10-10-4 once in a while. Some simple actions on the clock would be a welcome variation on 1 or 2 stages. Nothing fancy. Things as simple as "take prop from shooting position 1 to position 2 and drop it in the barrel" would be a good way to mix it up. But, overall, the Main Match was fine and does not really need any changing.

 

The Town was very nice, about the only way I could think it was better was if there was more of it!

 

Food at the range: Well, this, I think, could have been better. I don't mind paying a little more for better quality food and/or a larger variety of it. With as many people on hand every day as were there, I'd think it would be able to support 3 or 4 vendors selling hot food and cold drinks. While I did get some food from the main vendor once or twice, I did not make a habit out of it because it wasn't very good, in my opinion. If there were more options...

 

Cowboy Chapel: Anyone care to donate an old piano? Yes, I know we'd need someone to play it as well, but just having one there would be nice. I really liked that old pumper organ, but that is a very difficult instrument to play. Even if there had been an organist at EOT we'd probably would have still not used it since it is so hard to do so.

 

Cowboy Trap/Shotgun events: These were very well done, and I had no problems with them, other than figuring out where they heck they were! Some sort of signage or clearer instructions in the program book would be nice. Especially for people who have never been to the place before.

 

 

 

That's about all I can think of.

More food vendors would be nice but then you'd probably have more food vendors not making any money. Years ago there used to be quite a few food vendors but with the remoteness of the ranch it's tough for SASS to get consistent food vendors. El Comador, Handle Bar Hanks, Baskin Robbins, the Chinese food folks, Holy Crepes, Mini Donuts, Pinky's and on and on used to serve pretty good stuff.

SASS having meals catered in the evening is a nice touch, I'm sure it doesn't come cheap but I think most everyone enjoyed that stayed for the meals last EOT. I know it was a welcome break from coming back to camp and having to rustle up grub.

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+1 on the Shower Trailers GJ spoke of. Horse Trailer living for a week is getting to be a little more Spartan than I care for anymore. LOL

 

Improvement > Long Range Side Match: I hate shooting paper, to me it's boring.

FR has a wonderful Long Range set-up on the north side of the property.

It's not used during EoT because of the Mounted Shooters so I'm told.

This scheduling conflict should be corrected. If need be, shorten the window for LR Shooting down to 8 to Noon or 8 to 2.

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+1 on the Shower Trailers GJ spoke of. Horse Trailer living for a week is getting to be a little more Spartan than I care for anymore. LOL

 

Improvement > Long Range Side Match: I hate shooting paper, to me it's boring.

FR has a wonderful Long Range set-up on the north side of the property.

It's not used during EoT because of the Mounted Shooters so I'm told.

This scheduling conflict should be corrected. If need be, shorten the window for LR Shooting down to 8 to Noon or 8 to 2.

I think SASS has listened to the long range shooters and is deepening bays 16 and 17. It was in an email concerning berm work.

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At the California State Match, we had a master gunfighter side match. It consisted of shooting a pocket pistol, one pistol caliber rifle, one rifle caliber lever action, one single shot rifle, two cartridge pistols, two cap and ball pistols, one SxS, and either a 97 or 87. It was a really fun match, though quite grueling. For me, that side match alone was worth going to the event.

 

That is the kind of a sidematch I would love to try.

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Hopefully SASS is monitoring this thread and will look into some of the more reasonable ideas.

 

Ike

 

 

 

 

I sure am! Thanks to everyone for the feedback here. Some great suggestions; keep 'em coming!

 

Misty

 

Thanks Misty, I thought for a moment I may have stirred up a hornets nest starting this post, but it's turned about to be quite interesting.

I'm sure something positive will come of it.

Long as we stick to ...it ain't moving or going anywhere else, lets fine tune it to something spectacular.

 

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