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Have you ever fallen out of love with something that you loved doing?


Pat Riot

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1 minute ago, Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 said:

I hope it is more exciting than the 2020 season, Rye. 

What a bust of a season!! Boring as all get out! :o

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2 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

Years ago I used to love designing and building wooden boxes. My kids lived up in Wyoming and I bought an old cabin up there and restored it and was in a position to visit for a week every six weeks or so. I lined up a few gift stores and galleries along my travel route that would carry my boxes and sell them and then pay me my percentage and it worked out pretty well for many years and I was building a lot of boxes until one gallery closed down suddenly and disappeared with a number of my boxes and owed me a bunch of money from past sales. About that time I got into CAS and my box building changed over to gun cart building. I’ve got some carts to build this winter and spring and then I’m going to move back to box building primarily and a rare gun cart if I really have to.

Could you start making revolver grips for us SASS folk?

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1 minute ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Could you start making revolver grips for us SASS folk?

@Yul Lose +20 to this! I am placing my first order!

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5 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Could you start making revolver grips for us SASS folk?

 

Excellent idea!

 

This post needs a pretty please button. :D

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16 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Could you start making revolver grips for us SASS folk?

Could you picture a set of grips with that fractal burning? That wood be unique. 

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9 minutes ago, Hendo said:

Could you picture a set of grips with that fractal burning? That wood be unique. 

That would be awesome! I shoot Ruger Super Blackhawks FYI. Just getting that out there.

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37 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Could you start making revolver grips for us SASS folk?

I’d be happy with one of his beautiful boxes.

 

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19 minutes ago, Hendo said:

Could you picture a set of grips with that fractal burning? That wood be unique. 

 

5BD2C4E4-0E62-4A5E-9B80-44FF0370242C.jpeg

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In my case, I pretty much dropped out of active participation several years ago because of time conflicts - in addition to working full-time, I was spending 20+ hours a week on Scouting.  But I would turn out for a match on occasion, seldom enough that, unlike that frog in a pot of water, the changes to the game were evident to me.  Then I retired and I was set to get back into it, but that darned Covid thing happened.

 

To reflect for a moment:  When I was first introduced to Cowboy Action Shooting about twenty-five or so years ago it was the most fun activity I'd ever experienced.  Well, the most fun public activity.  The people were wonderful, but the charm of the "game" itself was the combination of marksmanship and a whimsical setting due in large part to the "action" component.  

 

The whimsey is now largely gone, the "action" component is history, and the marksmanship challenge is largely distilled to high-speed blasting at big, close targets.  No more throwing knives or tomahawks, no more shooting ketchup packet "cockroaches" while seated in a bathtub, no shooting from a rocking horse, bursting from an outhouse, carrying a bag of gold while shooting, or other "silly" stuff.  And little exercising of those pesky marksmanship skills.

 

I've heard several times that it was necessary to eliminate the superfluous activities to expedite the game - after all, they made it take too long to run a stage.  Hm.  Back when we were doing the "superfluous activities" we'd sometimes see fifty to sixty+ shooters for monthly matches, and we always managed to get through.  

 

I've also heard that we had to simplify the game because the age of the participants has increased; we need to accommodate the "old folk."  But it didn't seem to bother the "old folk" who enthusiastically participated "back when."

 

Many years ago I had a couple of opportunities to visit with the Judge.  Remember him?  He spoke at length of developing Cowboy Action Shooting and forming SASS as a fun alternative to IPSC-type shooting sports - hence the "Action."  Still competitive, but fun, even for those who who were NOT championship level shooters. 

 

But the most discouraging of all is the attitude of a really vocal few.  According to them, the earlier approach was downright stupid, and if we do not intend to be competitive we aren't welcome.  After all, the game (by their definition) should be strictly focused on shooting for speed, therefore there was no room for the "action" part of the game.  Unfortunately, these folk paint the older group who built the game as "whiners" who should go home.  And anyone who would dare disagree with them needs to be ridiculed and shouted down.  Oh - those people in the Saloon (ACS!) who may not shoot often or at all these days?  They at one time were quite active, and very much have the right to their opinions borne of those years of experience.

 

Ah well.  Life goes on; things change.  Just ask those politicians and their supporters who advocate "change" and "progress." 

 

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to the end of "house arrest."  This non-competitive old guy would really like to do some shooting, even if the flavor has changed.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

Interesting Topic.  Consider, of the dozen and a half contributors on the Saloon, the majority haven't shot a CAS match in years.  Yet are willing to tell all what is wrong with the organization and in general, the country.  Woe be it for those who disagree.  And it is true, the SASS forums are NOT representative of SASS.  The forums ARE representative of a few, who choose to treat the forums as their own particular Soap Box.

 

If your not playing in SASS nor CAS, seriously, consider going HOME.

 

Hello Mr. life of the party. Don't let the batwing doors hit your ass on the way out.

 

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I too haven't shot in a CAS match for many years, but I have no complaints at all about the sport, which would be ridiculous. It's a great sport that got me interested in the guns of the old West, an interest that has continued to this day.

 

I enjoy the Saloon, and have continued to participate here. One thing SASS brought me to, besides the firearms, was an interest in Western literature and classic Western movies; for a long time now a continuing interest notwithstanding not shooting matches.

 

I have kept all my cowboy guns and shoot them regularly at the range. The sport turned me into a revolver and lever-action aficianado, which has given me a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment over the years. It's all good, as far as I'm concerned.

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This Year because of COVID and a bunch of canceled Matches, I dusted off my old 1981 Suzuki GS 650 GL that I hadn't ridden on the road since my accident...

And climbed aboard and set off down the Road, my wife is once again riding on the back and we are enjoying the ride again .... 

I do find my self checking my mirrors a lot,,,,, as I ride ...

But after some rides the Boss saw the "Need" for a more comfortable seat for longer rides ,,,, So I bought a 2005 Honda Shadow Spirit 1100 which we rode as recently as last week .... Note We are in Canada ...

 

But I am planning to get out to more shoots this year, I sure miss the great bunch of folks that make up this game ...

This Year I finally got to go and Shoot a shoot I have been meaning to get to for years in the adjoining Province...

For the second time ever the SASS Canadian Nationals was again cancelled this was a very sad outcome of COVID...

The Canceling of the Palmers Gulch match was very hard to take as well ... 

I do enjoy the variety of target distances of different shoots none up here prepared me for how close the targets were at the 25th. Winter Range ...

I really enjoyed the shoot especially Clearing the folks out of the saloon with my cloud of smoke, folks caught on right fast that I wasn't one of those trying to see how little smoke I could get away with making and still shoot in FCD class ...

 

Merry Christmas to one and All ...

 

Jabez Cowboy    

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11 hours ago, Henry T Harrison said:

I guess that I should take my cancer and other health issues and just go home 

No stay right here and have a drink on my tab!;)

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There are many things I used to love to do, that I've lost interest in.  There's a half finished truck restoration sitting in the back yard.   I just can't seem to work up the enthusiasm I had for it, a few years ago.

 

Before I retired, I tried to shoot twice a month.  Now after retirement, I'm shooting 4 times a month and have become quite active in a smaller club.  Good folks.  

 

I have noticed that most of the people I come across while shooting do NOT post on any of the forums, they are SASS members, but not Wire members.  Some folks used to be Wire contributors, but got turned off by the arguing and a few keyboard commandos.  The Wire, and the Saloon (ACS), is representative of the folks that post here... not everybody in SASS.   You can look through the Wire member list and see active SASS folks who don't post here.  They signed up and moved on to "real life".  Some of them lurk, scan the Wire posts and move on, silently.  

 

Me?  I'm a flabbergums...

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Some of these things are reduced in frequency as we age, not because our love in them has been lost. Think of sex frequency when you were a newlywed and now. You likely still enjoy it, but the alley cat in you has slowed down a mite.

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On 12/13/2020 at 9:41 AM, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

It’s funny, I have been spending a little time over in the Wire recently and something has become apparent to me. I am falling out of love with Cowboy Action Shooting...or maybe I do not like what it has become...or maybe I have romanticized it in my memory and perhaps it’s not that things have changed so much, but that I have changed. 
Regardless, my love and desires regarding CAS is seriously diminished. 
 

I have heard many times over “The Wire is not SASS.” Or “The Wire is not Cowboy Action Shooting.” But I do not believe that. The Wire is a reflection of CAS and that reflection is a facade of what Cowboy Action shooting once was for me. 
 

Don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with you all and I love my interactions with folks in SASS and at matches. Perhaps I just need to go to matches and hang in the Saloon  and stay off the Wire...

 

The SASS Discussion Board is not SASS shooting, I rarely see the people I shoot with in the Saloon or the Wire.  I've been shooting SASS since 1997 and SASS has certainly changed a lot in the past 23 years, not all of it for the better. I spent the beginning years trying to be a top shooter, shooting 3 or 4 times a month and going to multiple annual matches.  After a combination of things occurred: the introduction of the "race" guns into SASS, which I couldn't afford at the time, the transition to lots of movement on stages from stand and deliver stages and I started taking things too seriously so I was no longer having fun.  So I stopped trying to win, I shot gunfighter for a couple of years and then switched frontiersman and of late, frontier cartridge gun fighter which I still enjoy.

 

I now shoot maybe once a month depending on the weather (and Covid) and shoot two annual matches.  I'm having fun again and in the end, I stay because of the people.  I don't remember running into shooters who are critical about how I shoot or that I often sit at the unloading table and I don't much care what they think anyway.

 

I encourage everyone to shoot SASS in a way they makes them comfortable and if they need to sit, we'll find a job where they can sit, if they can't work at all due to health issues, then we'll find a way for them to shoot and have fun while getting the posse chores done with fewer people.

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Thanks I finish my treatments in February and I will have it beat but the side effects from the treatments will be around for awhile. My shooting days will be limited but I’m staying for the people they are the greatest asset SASS has 

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And here I thought it was just me.  I've only been shooting CAS for 3 years, but two things made me "pause" this year and the charm to return just hasn't reappeared yet.  Between Covid and building a new house, I haven't shot a match in about 9 months.  We are finally in the new house, but the lure to return to CAS just hasn't materialized like I thought it would.  You all know the drill of moving into a new house, the unpacking and settling in to where everything is in its place and the pictures are all hung and the barn is all arranged will take several months to accomplish.  I hope by then that the call of the wild will return, and I'll feel the old draw to return to CAS with vigor.  I hope so, anyway.

 

To be brutally honest, with no disrespect to my home club intended, the same old 6 stages with varying order of fire is getting old and boring.  We're shooting basically the same things that we did 3 years ago when I started.  My times/scores have not seen any significant change for the better, and the joy of just dressing up and shooting cowboy guns has started to wane.  The emphasis on speed and close targets is starting to take its toll.  I'm hoping that something changes in the near future to keep my interest up where it used to be.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

To be brutally honest, with no disrespect to my home club intended, the same old 6 stages with varying order of fire is getting old and boring.  We're shooting basically the same things that we did 3 years ago when I started.  My times/scores have not seen any significant change for the better, and the joy of just dressing up and shooting cowboy guns has started to wane.  The emphasis on speed and close targets is starting to take its toll.  I'm hoping that something changes in the near future to keep my interest up where it used to be.

 

 

 

Marshal,

You might need to sit back a spell and figure out, "What would make SASS fun, for me?"  Personally, fun for me turned out to be cap n' ball pistols, black powder, and the challenge of smoke obscured targets.   Close targets don't matter if I can't see them.  Sometimes when I'm feeling lazy I'll use cartridge pistols, but still smokin' and boomin'.  No, I'll never win a match that way, but so what?

There are all sorts of ways to play this game.   Gunfighter?  Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter?  Big Bore with Stout loads like "King of Kaboom"?  You just have to find that niche that feels "right" for you.

 

Another way might be to volunteer to write some stages.  Write them the way that you'd like to see them.   If your berms aren't very deep, as some of ours are space-challenged, you can substitute small targets, just to raise the difficulty factor.   For instance, we don't use this bay often, because it's so shallow, but add a bunch of small targets and the difficulty goes way up... 

 

IMG_20201024_093748598.thumb.jpg.aee7949fca0d6eeb3dd953008f73f95b.jpg

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I've had fun switching guns and/or categories, sometimes experimenting with loads or modifications. I also discovered that gunfighter is definitely not my category. :blink: I've had a ball with some bone stock guns and those with only a spring change. 

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1 hour ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

 

To be brutally honest, with no disrespect to my home club intended, the same old 6 stages with varying order of fire is getting old and boring.  We're shooting basically the same things that we did 3 years ago when I started.


Time to visit another club.  There must be one within a reasonable drive’s distance.  Maybe spend Friday night in a nearby hotel  and shoot Saturday morning.  Make it an adventure!!

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20 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Society for Creative Anachronism

Those guys are insane.  Had an attorney friend who was a member and didn't see him even once in eight years without him having something cut, broken, or bruised.

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23 hours ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

Interesting Topic.  Consider, of the dozen and a half contributors on the Saloon, the majority haven't shot a CAS match in years.  Yet are willing to tell all what is wrong with the organization and in general, the country.  Woe be it for those who disagree.  And it is true, the SASS forums are NOT representative of SASS.  The forums ARE representative of a few, who choose to treat the forums as their own particular Soap Box.

 

If your not playing in SASS nor CAS, seriously, consider going HOME.

So, you don't want anyone telling you how to enjoy the sport, but you want to dictate to the rest of us how we should enjoy it.

 

Pucker up, pal.  You know where you can kiss me.

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17 hours ago, Henry T Harrison said:

I guess that I should take my cancer and other health issues and just go home 

NO!

 

I don't agree with you on a lot of things, but hang in there so I can enjoy disagreeing with some one intelligent.

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13 hours ago, Whiskey Business said:

 

Hello Mr. life of the party. Don't let the batwing doors hit your ass on the way out.

 

Why, Whiskey darlin', how refreshingly un-lady-like.  :D

 

Bottles, put some really good stuff on my tab for this one.

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It's not surprising, and in some way a relief to have peer confirmation. 

 

I've taken a hiatus for the last 7 years, between living overseas for years, and then returning to retire, sell house and move. 

 

I have to agree with the issue of standing around an hour for a 25 second shoot, rinse and repeat.  Now that I'm 3-4 hours

away from my old haunts, the new local club does SASS/CAS, but due to COVID this year has been put on hold.  I'm looking

forward to going to a match wen they restart - I wonder If I still have the fire (or at least the glowing coals) in my gut.

 

If not, I have some fine Colt SAA's, a good shotgun for occasional upland game birds, and a hell-for-stout model 92 for varmints,

so the guns will still get air time, and I'll enjoy shooting them.

 

I've developed an interest in Steel challenge, and Long Range rifle, as well as helping teach rifle marksmanship in the

Appleseed Project. It's great to see first time rifle shooters learn to shoot well, to teach them American history and to

get the next generation started in good skills and safety practices.

 

Some of you folks might want to look into this as well, and put your knowledge and skills to benefit others:

https://appleseedinfo.org

 

They're a good outfit, and they can use the help. 

 

Shadow Catcher

 

 

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SASS is my outlet to the world, but I do approach it with cautious enthusiasm.

I have spent most of my life personally and professionally in the hotrod, muscle car and restoration industry, and I burned out on it big time. I went from all in, magazine cover and award winners to the point where I just couldn't be bothered with it. I actually went out of my way to avoid car shows. My saying towards the end was "love the work, but hate the job".

 

And then I didn't love the work anymore. 

 

I was introduced to cowboy shooting a little over a year ago and I enjoy it immensely. I really look forward to my next match, although I will not obsess over it. I've missed a match or two since the ranges reopened and am bummed by that and I know I'm not gonna win any big prizes, but I'm having fun.

The best for me is the people. Y'all need to light and set for a moment to think about how special the people in sport are. I'm still a bit reclusive (yeah, you can read that as shy) and am constantly amazed at how friendly folks are. Yeah, I like the guns, the gear and cowboying up, but it's y'all that make SASS what it is.

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2 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Those guys are insane.  Had an attorney friend who was a member and didn't see him even once in eight years without him having something cut, broken, or bruised.

 

Yeah, but it's a good kind of crazy.   

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