Thank You to the NRA Foundation

As many of you are aware, our cowboy club at Heartland Public Shooting Park has had some struggles over the last few years. Attendance was way down, and our props had seen better days. Even our wagon was on three wheels and was falling apart. However, I was not willing to give up on the club, and the park was willing to invest a limited amount into prop repair. We were able to rebuild the wagon from the ground up, and put a fresh coat of paint on the buildings and perform some minor repairs, but new props were out of the question until attendance got back up.

We took a chance and explained our situation to the NRA Foundation, requesting a grant to be able to add a new hotel for the cowboy venue. Luckily, they were very generous and gave us the entire grant we requested, which gave us enough money to cover most of the materials cost, with the labor being supplied by park volunteers. This new hotel is going to get a lot of use in the coming years, not only for the cowboys, but for the other venues as well, including USPSA and 3Gun. Later we will add a balcony over the porch.

Thank you again to the NRA Foundation, and for the support that you give to all the shooting sports. You made a lot of happy cowboys with this generous gift. Pictures of the building so far are below.

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2016 Iron Hero Match

As we mentioned at the Iron Duke match earlier this month, in 2016 we plan to continue the Iron Hero tradition with an eight stage, one day match to push everyone’s skills and stamina in a fun, different cowboy action shooting match. The theme for this year is:

Randolph Scott

All eight stages will be based on Randolph Scott movies, and each stage will be based on a different scene from a different movie, complete with a starting line being a movie line from that scene.

The movies chosen for the 2016 match are:

  • Jesse James
  • Comanche Station
  • Decision at Sundown
  • Colt .45
  • Rage at Dawn
  • 7th Cavalry
  • Ride Lonesome
  • Wagon Wheels

Preparations have already begun. We are planning on using even more buildigns and props, and we are also planning on using the new hotel that we built as well. 

The tentative date has been set for October 15, 2016, and as last year, in order to get everyone through the match in a day, the limit is set at 75 shooters. As a thank you to new members of SASS, we are offering a $5 discount on the match fees to anyone that is a new member of SASS in 2015 or 2016. By the end of November, once the park schedule is finalized for 2016, we will have entry forms and the discount coupons available. Get your entries in early. You don’t want to miss this match. It will be bigger and better than the Iron Duke!

Cost for the match is $50, and that includes lunch and a day with smiles. Entries after September 1 will be $10 more

Let’s Ride!

Old West History Come Alive

If you are like most SASS members, one of the major appeals for you was the historical feel of our sport. We all love the shooting, but there is nothing like taking a step back in time for a day to dress up like our heroes from the past to battle evil doers for a day alongside some good friends.

As we read through the Chronicle, on top of the news on the various shoots and new equipment, we were also drawn to a regular column about little known people from the old west. SASS member Joe Fasthorse, #48769, has released a book chronicling some of the unknown gunfighters that lived and traveled across the old west, and it makes for an interesting read. We get a chance to peek into a part of the west that was ignored by dime novels and Hollywood to get a taste of the reality that was the gunfighter during those days.

SASS members can pick up a copy of this book from the following link for only $12.50, and with the chill of Winter approaching, I can’t think of a better way to spend the time waiting until it is time for cowboy action shooting to return:

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Famous-Gunfighters-Fasthorse-Harrill/dp/1593441517

New SASS Ad 3 SASS Clubs

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Thank You to the Iron Duke Sponsors

On behalf of the Platte Valley Gunslingers and Heartland Public Shooting Park, we would like to recognize two of the major sponsors for the Iron Duke cowboy action match that was held over the weekend. Without their assistance, we would have not been able to give the gifts to our shooters, and there were a lot of smiles on the shooters’ faces this past weekend.

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Hornady was very generous in providing enough hats and coffee cups to allow us to present each of the shooters with one of each when they checked in to receive their shooter packets. We received a lot of positive responses from the shooters when they checked in, and on a chilly Sunday morning in October, I saw more than a few in use on the line in the morning. After the shoot, I also saw a lot of cowboy hats swapped out for Hornady caps as people prepared to go home or back to their hotel rooms. Hornady also provided some metal signs for the random giveaways. Thank you for your generosity, and you made quite a few cowboys and cowgirls smile.

cabelas

Cabelas was another generous sponsor for our shoot. They provided a large number of gift cards, enough to give almost every shooter a gift card to take to their local Cabelas or use online. Everyone that received one of these cards had a wide grin on their face. A couple of the shooters that received a gift card in the random drawing said to me afterward that they loved the gift cards because it allowed them to get what they wanted instead of just some trading stock for the closet. Your generosity was greatly appreciated.

We really appreciated the way these sponsors came out to support the cowboy club, along with all the other shooting sports they support at this venue, and we are lucky to have two local companies that are as supportive of Heartland Public Shooting Park as they are. Thank you again, and we look forward to partnering with you again next year if possible.

We would encourage all those that appreciate the generosity of these two fine companies to thank them by purchasing their products and services

Iron Duke Match is in the Books

On behalf of the Platte Valley Gunslingers, I would like to thank all of you that took the time to come out to our first annual in several years, and we hope the keep the hero theme going each year. With this being my first year as match director, and with limited help, we sincerely hope that you had fun. Our goal was to put on a fun and different shoot that had something for all skill levels and shooting styles. I saw a lot of grins on the range today, so I hope we succeeded.

I felt like I had a lot to learn going into the match, but I tried to learn what to do (and not to do) from other annuals that I have attended, and I hope you all return and bring friends next year as we try to make the match even better. Please don’t forget about the coupons I put in your shooter packets. One is for you, a $10 discount on next year’s match entry for any shooter registered for this year, and the other is a $5 coupon to pass on to a new shooter who registered for SASS in 2015 or 2016. I wanted to give new shooters a little incentive to maybe try an annual without committing the expense and nervousness of a multi-day for their beginning SASS experience.

It was great to also get to spend some time with friends that geography typically makes it difficult to do, as well as to meet some new friends along the way. Also, I wanted to give a special thank you to the shooters. Having the shooters vote to give me the Spirit of the Duke award meant the world to me.

We did not have a ton of shooters, but it was great to see the variety of shooters that did come. We hosted shooters from the following states:

  • Nebraska
  • Kansas
  • Colorado
  • Iowa
  • Wyoming

The final results were as follows:

Iron Duke Match Details

Iron Duke Category Results

Our park superintendent’s wife thought the cowboy targets needed some bandannas:

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A view of some shooters on The Alamo stage:

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Gathering the shooters together for a photo after the awards:

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Thanks again for coming! The shooters were all fantastic and thanks to their hard work and stepping up to keep the posses running smoothly, we actually finished over two hours ahead of schedule