COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING

My wife and I are avid Cowboy Action Shooters. Of course I am the first to admit that we are not exactly at the top of the game, but unlike many sports, that really does not matter in Cowboy Action Shooting. It is one of the few shooting sports in which the game itself is the main goal. Of course we all want to do well and my wife and I could certainly do better if we would spend more time practicing. I generally go shooting once a month and my wife goes once a month when the weather is good. This coming season we may shoot more often. She got crazy last year and decided we were going to train for and run a marathon. We completed the Seattle Marathon on November 18, 2004 and I informed her that I had given up a year of Sundays training for her run so this year she gets to go Cowboy Shooting with me every Sunday!

Cowboy Action Shooting is a game of speed and accuracy. Targets are generally steel but sometimes paper, clay birds or other types of targets. Competitors must shoot guns of the type used in the old west: single action pistols, lever action rifles and double barrel shotguns (and some types of pump and lever action shotguns). Pistols must be .32 caliber or larger, Rifles must be chambered in a pistol cartridge and shotguns must be 20 through 10 gauge.

Competitors are also required to dress in authentic old west attire and to shoot under an assumed name or alias out of the old west. This is a unique requirement among the shooting sports. Although competitors in games such as Practical Pistol Shooting quite often dress in the appropriate uniform (i.e. the same clothes and sunglasses the current national or world champion wears) there is no requirement for them to do so.

Cowboy Action Shooters compete in one of several classes based on gender, age and type of guns and or propellants used. For example a Traditional Class shooter would shoot single action pistols with fixed sights using smokeless powder where as a Modern Class shooter would use pistols with adjustable sights. A shooter in the Black Powder Class would use nothing but black powder or an approved black powder substitute in all of their guns. While there are no classes specifically for men (i.e. most any class men can shoot in, women can and do shoot in also) there are classes limited to women. A woman who shoots modern class pistols can shoot in either Womens Modern Class or if she wishes to compete against the men she can simply enter the Modern Class. There are also classes for juniors and seniors. In Cowboy Action Shooting there is a class for just about anyone!

At Cowboy Action Shooting matches the shooters are assigned to a group called a "posse" and they will shoot with that posse all day. The match is divided up into a number of separate shooting stages and each posse will start on a different stage. When all members of that posse have finished shooting that stage, they move as a group to the next stage. If the posse ahead of them is still shooting they will wait until that posse is done and has moved on then they will shoot that stage. The match proceeds like this all day until each posse has shot all stages.

A typical stage will be based on some sort of scenario such as a gun fight out of a movie, or perhaps one based on an historical event or even based on a simple story the stage designer has made up. For example a stage might say that you are a farmer living during a range war with the cattlemen and while guarding your ranch a bunch of cowboys set upon you to kill you and your family. The stage description could have you start sitting on a stump with two loaded pistols (for a total of 10 pistol shots) and your rifle loaded with 9 rounds leaning against the barn next to your shotgun. At the start signal, you jump up and draw your first pistol then shoot 5 steel targets as fast as you can. Each time you miss a target you will have 5 seconds added to your total time so it pays to shoot accurately. You then holster your first pistol, run to the barn and grab your rifle and use it to engage 3 steel targets 3 times each. You set the rifle down open and empty then grab your shotgun and load two rounds which you use to knock down some steel targets, reload and engage two more steel targets which must fall to score. Often, but not always, if you miss with your shotgun you can reload and make up the shots. You may even be required to make up missed shots. After shooting your shotgun, you set it down open and empty draw your second pistol and do a "Nevada Sweep" on three targets.

All of this is timed using an electronic timer. When the range officer conducting the shooter through the stage presses the start button the timer beeps to tell the shooter to begin shooting. It records the sound of each gun shot to within a hundredth of a second. Your final time has added to it 5 seconds for each missed shot and 10 seconds if your incurred any procedural penalties. The fastest time wins the stage. Although there are a number of ways to score matches the most common is stage rank scoring. For each stage your score is compared to all the other shooters scores. The fastest time is given a 1 for first place, the second fastest shooter gets a 2 for second place and so on for each shooter. After shooting all stages your rank for each stage is added together and the lowest score wins. For example at a 6 stage match you might come in 4th on the first stage followed by a 12th place, a 2nd place, a 6th place a 1st place, and another 4th place on the final stage. Your total score would be 29 (simply the sum of all your stage rankings). Your score for the match would put you behind all shooters with a lower score and ahead of all shooters with a higher score. The best possible score in this example would be 6 (a first place in each of the six stages).

The stage description will specify the guns which must be used, the order they are to be used in, the specific targets that are to be shot with each gun and the shooting order of those targets. For instance you may be told to sweep your rifle targets three times from left to right. In this case you would shoot the targets in the following order: left, center, right, left, center, right, left, center, right.

As an alternative patten you may be directed to triple tap the three targets left to right. In this case you would shoot the targets as follows: left, left, left, center, center, center, right, right, right.

Since single action "six shooters" are always loaded with only five rounds a common pattern is called a "Nevada Sweep." In this pattern the shooter would engage three targets as follows: Left, center, right, center, left. Since steel targets are expensive, this pattern is popular with many clubs as it allows a 5 shot string using only 3 targets

Shooters always carry their long guns open and empty and their pistols holstered and empty when not shooting. The order in which shooters are to shoot each stage is determined by the posse leader and when a shooter is next on the list to shoot, he will go to the loading table and under the supervision of the shooter who follows him in the line up, he will load his pistols and rifle. The shotgun will be staged empty and will be loaded on the clock unless the stage description has the shooter starting with his shotgun in hand in which case it may be loaded before the timer is started. Once he is ready, the Range Officer is who is conducting the shooter through the stage of fire will call him to the starting place and the shooter will stage his long guns as specified in the stage description. When he is in the starting position the Range Officer will ask if he understands the course of fire and if so he will ask if the shooter is ready. If so he will say "Stand By" and will then start the timer within 2 to 5 seconds. The shooter will then shoot the stage. The Range Officer will follow him closely through the stage. His primary job is safety and he can stop the shooter or correct any unsafe situations. He will also assess penalties. There are also at least two and preferably three scoring officals who will watch the targets for hits. Once the shooter has finished shooting the stage, the Range officer will have him holster his pistols and take his long guns to the unloading table where the previous shooter in the line up is waiting to supervise the unloading and clearing of the shooters guns. The Range Officer will call out the time for the stage from the electronic timer timer and will poll the scorers to determine how many if any misses the shooter had. The chief scoring official will enter this info on the score sheet and turn it in to the match director. The scores are entered into a computer program and the match winner is determined.

The shooting stages quite often make use of props such as stage coaches, buck boards, windows to shoot through, double swinging saloon doors to shoot and move through, safes to open and bags of gold to carry through the rest of the stage. The types and numbers and uses of props is limited only by the imagination of the stage designers. The game is fast, exciting, loads of fun and very safe.

Visitors are always welcome at clubs throughout the world. If you live in the United States there are several clubs within an easy drive of where ever you live and you can go to a match to watch or join in this weekend.

For more information check out the Single Action Shooting Society which is the international sanctioning body for the largest Cowboy Action Shooting style and if you want to check out a local club try visiting the Rattlesnake Gulch Rangers.

NO MORE SPAM!

The problem of SPAM is really an easy one to solve. It requires only a change to the way e-mail addresses are structured and a bit of effort on the part of users. Therefore I suggest the following strategy for controlling unwanted e-mail.

Under the current system an e-mail address is structured like this: iverj@charter.com

This is a standard form for e-mail addresses. I propose modifying the address to add an extension after the final part. The extension would be ignored by the internet routing system and would simply send it to the address that precedes it. The extension would be anything a user wanted it to be as the routers would ignore anything following the ".com" portion of the address.
However, once it got to a users computer, the extension would be considered and if it passes muster, the e-mail message would get passed on to be read. If it does not pass muster, it would be deleted or better yet returned to the sender.
In order for this to work, each user would have an e-mail program, such as "MS Outlook" which would allow the user to add any desired extension to a given message. Thus when I give my sister my e-mail address I might put something like "sistersue" after the e-mail address. I would tell her to e-mail me at iverj@charter.com.sistersue and when I do this I automatically add this extension to a list on my Outlook Express. Now when ever I get a message with that extension it gets through and I get to read it. If she gives it to her daughter, her daughter can e-mail me also. I wouldn’t care but I would know where my niece got my e-mail address. Of course if my sister were to give my e-mail address to an insurance salesman who contacted me using that e-mail address, I could simply remove it from the system. I would contact my sister and tell her "don’t ever give my e-mail address to a salesman again." I could then give her a new e-mail address such as iverj@charter.com.donotgivethisoutagain!

Note that I can give each person I want to have my e-mail address a different extension. If they give it to friends, fine. If they give it to someone they should not give it to I can chew them out and change their extension. Simple.

In addition to friends, however, it is also convenient to give out my e-mail to businesses so they can provide me with information I want and request. It would work the same way except the system would allow a set of rules to be applied. These rules would allow an extension to be passed through an unlimited number of times, such as when I give an address to my sister, or it would allow a given extension to be passed through once (or a specified number of times) then would be deleted, or would allow a given extension to be passed through for a specified period of time, say three months. This way when I e-mail a company and ask for info, I would allow a single response. If I am interested in getting updates from the company I might allow a given extension to pass through for several months or for any period of time I specify.
To make the system work easily it would need to be a part of the e-mail program. When I compose an e-mail one of the boxes at the top along with the TO box and the SUBJECT box would be an EXTENSION box. When I put an extension in, it will ask what rules apply. I would simply click UNLIMITED if it were a message to my sister, or click NUMBER OF RESPONSES then enter a number if it is a request for info from a business, or perhaps click UNTIL then input a date if I want to receive e-mail from the recipient for a period of time. The e-mail program would then add the extension to my return address and add the extension to the list of acceptable extensions together with the applicable rules I specified.

The extension is out in the open. Anyone can see it. It could be anything. Any word or number or combination of numbers and letters or symbols and of any length. If a SPAMer figures out a working extension, I can simply remove that extension and they can’t get through again. Of course I the user would have the option of simply turning the extension filter off and allowing any e-mail to get through. It would be my choice and I would control who can contact me and who can’t.

SIDECAR PROJECT

Many years ago, when my wife and I were newly weds, we took our honeymoon to Edmonton, Alberta, on a motorcycle sidecar outfit. The rig was a Yamaha XS650D with a Velorex 652 sidecar mounted on the right hand side as is typical in the USA. It was my new brides first real experience with motorcycling. Only weeks before we took off on our honeymoon, I taught her to ride a solo bike so she could get an endorsement on her drivers license. In those days, Washington State had a three tier system with endorsements for bikes up to 125cc, bikes up to 500cc or unlimited displacement. She got her unlimited endorsement so she could pilot the sidecar outfit on our trip. She fell in love with motorcycling on that trip and we spent many years riding with friends all over the country. The XS650/Velorex was one of five sidecar outfits I have had in my life. Since my wife and I have been married we have also had a KZ1100 with a Motervation Spyder and a CB900C with the same Motorvation sidecar on it. In addition I had previously had an SR500/Velorex rig and an SR500/Spyder outfit.

Over the years the XS650D/Velorex rig has held a special place in our heart and has been rebuilt on a couple of occasions. It currently is in our storage locker in a pretty bad state of disuse. We sold most of our other bikes a few years back but held on to this rig out of sentamentality. Unfortunately we have just not done much riding over the last few years. lately, many of my friends have been getting into biking and three friends have recently purchased Harleys. Of course I would like one too, but being a humble retiree on fixed income it is out of the question. None the less I have gotten enthused about riding again and have decided to once again rebuild our sidecar outfit. This time however, I plan to go about it differently. I am going to build it up as a dedicated sidecar outfit rather than simply a motorcycle with a sidecar attached.

The first thing to do will be to completely disassemble the bike. The motor will get set aside and will be the last thing I work on. The first order of business will be to replace the existing running gear with sidecar specific running gear. Sidecar outfits do not have the same requirements of tires as motorcycles. Since the sidecar outfit does not lean and hence does not drive on its sidewalls, it does not need tires designed for that purpose. Motorcycle tires are very soft to provide the traction necessary for control while cornering. As a result, motorcycle tires, which are much more expensive than car tires will wear out in 10 to 20 thousand miles under normal conditions. On a sidecar rig they will wear out in only 3 to 5 thousand miles! Thus the desire to instal a set of automotive radial ply tires.

In order to make this conversion I will need to build a new front end and a new swing arm. The front end will probably be a leading link type with adjustable trail to allow fine tuning the steering. I am also looking into hub center steering for this outfit. The Swing arm will need to be somewhat wider towards the front and so will need to be a custom built unit to allow the wider car tire to be used. It may also require a bit of an offset to the right to allow the drive chain to clear the tire. Replacing the sidecar tire and wheel will be the easiest part of this project. I hope to be able to use the same wheel and tire combination in all three positions on the outfit so as to allow carrying a spare when traveling.

As far as brakes go I plan to install disc brakes on all three wheels and perhaps connect them all to the foot brake. If I put a second disc on the front wheel, I may connect it seperately to a handbrake, but if the brakes are properly proportioned there is no reason not to have a single actuator.

As this motorcycle was designed and manufactured in an age when there was no requirement in the law for having the headlight and tail lights on constantly it is not really designed for that continuous load. Thus I plan to replace all the lights with LED units. I will also provide for a much larger battery to assure more reliable starting. (XS650s are notorious for having a marginal electric starter.)

During one of the previous rebuiilds of this unit, I purchased a new OEM exhaust system, hoping for a good quiet set of mufflers to make all day touring more comfrotable for both the driver and passenger. The exhaust system was not cheap. Nor, as it turned out, was it quiet. Not only was the machine manufactured before constant on headlights were mandated, it was built before stringent noise laws were in effect... My plan is to build a two-into-one header with the pipe running across the front lower sidecar mount to an automotive muffler istalled under the sidecar. I plan to make this unit as quiet as possible.

The wife is looking at paint schemes and knowing her it will not be anything understated. I am expecting some very bright colors and contrasting colors for the bodywork, frame and wheels.

The engine may get a two in to one manifold for the intake side of things and a single carb for simplicity and reliability sake.

So there is the basic plan. I need to finish a couple of projects on the house first before I really get started but I have been doing some design work and hope to start on some parts soon. This will be updated as time goes on. Some interesting links are found at the World Wide Sidecar Links and Pictures and there are some pictures here of an interesting project called the Blackbird with hub center steering. There is lots if information about Yamaha XS650s at the 650 Central Page.

A MODEST PROPOSAL

I have many relatives who are union members. They are mostly in the construction arena, but some are also in manufacturing. All are upset at the idea of American jobs going overseas to take advantage of cheap labor.

To be honest about it, I am also upset about the use of cheap overseas labor. I have given this some thought and have a modest proposal that would create a win-win situation for everyone.

The United States government has the power to lay taxes and duties on imports. This power should be used in the following manner: Anyone wishing to import a product to the USA would be required to provide data regarding the amount workers are paid to produce the item and the percentage of the cost of the item that labor represents. (Included with this data would be certification requirements and authorization for USA verification of the data.) An import duty would then be established which would bring the price of the product up to what it would be if the manufacturer were paying its workers US Minimum Wage. The duty collected would go to the United States government general fund.

An overseas manufacturer could avoid paying this duty by simply paying its employees the US minimum wage. By doing so they would still sell their product at the same price in the USA and would still make the same profit margin. The advantage to US workers is that, due to their superior productivity, they would be able to compete with products imported under this scheme. Perhaps even more importantly, those off shore workers who would be receiving US minimum wage would suddenly have a much higher standard of living and would be able to buy more products of all sorts including more products produced in the USA!

The best way to make the worlds economy stronger for everyone is to raise the standard of living for everyone, not to try to hold down some segment of the worlds population for the benifit of a few.

This proposal would place no mandate on any company or any government to pay higher wages to their employees. They could simply opt to pay the import duty, in which case, US workers would recieve the benefit of my proposal. Of course, most manufacturers would see the wisdom of paying the money at home rather than paying it to Uncle Sam.

Please feel free to forward this proposal to you congressional delegation in both the House and the Senate.

Social Security v2.0

The current social security program is literaly criminal in nature. If I were to set up a private pension plan that operated in the way social security does I'd be thrown in the slammer and the key would be tossed away. Congress gets away with it of course because they make the rules. Because of this congressional control there is really no hope of any meaningful improvements. None-the-less, here are my thoughts on the matter:

The only way to make social security work is to make it into a true investment program. Of course this can't be done overnight. And I don't propose to let people make their own choices as to how best to invest for their retirement. The liberal establishment would never allow anything so remarkable as the citizens of the United States actually having to be responsible for themselves.

No, I am proposing that the government invest the money taken from workers in such a manner as to actually, over time, make the social security program self sustaining.

The first year of implementation of my plan, 1% of the money taken from workers would be invested. The actual type of investment is certainly open to debate, but even putting it into simple pass book acounts would be better than what we have now! Ofcourse it would be better to put the money into stocks with a caveat that only prefered stock could be bought for the program. This would assure that the government would have no vote in the businesses invested in and would assure that the government would get dividends whenever the companies invested in paid dividends. A second, and very important rule would be that the government could not invest in any sort of government bond or other investment. The money could only be invested in productive enterprises. The third rule is that once invested, neither the government, nor anyone else, would be able to touch the principal either to take it out to spend or even to re-invest it. Rule four would be that the government would be ahead of all other creditors and other stock holders in the event of liquidation of company assets for any reason.

Once the program is established, the amount taken out would increase by 1% every year so that in 100 years all money taken from workers for social security would go into investments. The beauty of this plan is that as retirees die, their investment does not! It continues to earn money for ever or at least as long as we have a functioning economic system. Eventually the amount invested could allow everyone to retire early and never have to pay into social security. On the other hand it could prove worthwhile to continue to have a social security tax of some amount in order to assure adequate funds to make up for those years in which investments do not pay enough to cover those pensions currently being paid. When the invested funds do earn enough to meet obligations, the amount taxed would continue to be invested to reduce and perhaps eliminate the possibility of having to pay out non-invested funds taken from workers to meet current obligations.

Of ocurse this is a long term plan and would have to stand up to every congress to come over the next hundred years but the plan would work. If you think so just pass the idea on to your Representative and Senators.