Camille,
I stand corrected (as far as my spelling goes), it appears I have been having A.D.s, I can’t seem to spell anymore. Once I get something in my mind I seem to continue to make the same mistake.
Before I go any further I want to thank you for illustrating exactly why I approached this subject using “Plainsman” Side matches as a starting point. In your last paragraph you state,
“As far as the Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter goes, more power to you. There are plenty interested and you would get more input on the subject if you approached it from the angle of getting a new category created rather than from the Plainsman side match angle that you originally approached from. The subject has been beat to death on the SASS wire.” EXACTLY right!!! Your very last sentence is why I used my approach. Gunfighter in Frontier Cartridge has been “beaten to death” in online discussions as you put it. That is not entirely true, it hasn’t been killed, but it has been hotly debated and widely discussed. The debate and the continued inclusion of the category by reputable SASS clubs and sanctioned matches prove that it is not dead, but is in fact coming into its own. I simply chose a different door knob to rattle, I asked the question to see if I could instigate debate about Gunfighter in a percussion class or a side match. I don’t believe I could have gotten more input or a spirited discussion going back to the tired YES/NO discussions that as you say have been beaten to death about the FCG subject. You provided exactly the sounding board I was looking for. I thank you for that, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart and in the kindest fashion.
However, you still seem to think I am trying to find some way to wiggle in some legal way of redefining Gunfighter using the existing rules. You also seem to think I want to sneak Gunfighters into the Duelist categories, I do not. I merely pointed out some matches don’t differentiate them when participation is too low for separate classes. My whole appeal has not been to allow Gunfighters into the Duelist Categories but to create two new categories in the Black Powder genre. I also said that because of the plethora of categories smaller matches and clubs would probably just bunch the people shooting one handed together unless there was sufficient participation in a particular class to break it out. I also used the examples such as the Frontier Cowboy category as an example of just that.
I am thrilled to death that Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter as a sanctioned category appears to be just around the corner. In your replies you give a lot of weight to official SASS clubs and matches, so let’s go with that and I have a few questions. Do you deny that the Midwest Classic 2008
http://www.randolphcountyruckus.com/QUMidwestClassic2008.pdf or the 2008 SASS Illinois State Shoot
http://www.ilspringroundup.com/RegForm_2008_final.pdf are sanctioned matches? I mention those two because I posted them earlier. I will say it once again… Both of those matches (and both are SASS sanctioned) have “non-sanctioned” categories in there with the rest of the standard categories. Those specifically being “Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter,” and in the case of the state match there is also a ladies class. I’m not talking about side matches, I am talking about categories one declares themselves to be in. My point is this and only this… Gunfighter in classes outside of the two currently sanctioned categories (Gunfighter and B-Western) is not coming, IT IS ALREADY HERE! And, I will say once again we saw the same trend right before The Duelist sub-class was added to Frontier Cartridge.
My whole motive has been to open the debate trying a different door than that which has already been opened. I am campaigning for a Percussion class that allows Gunfighter. We are already at a disadvantage to those using cartridge guns, I will continue to compete against them until the day I can do so on a more level playing field. If the FCG class is sanctioned first then I hope I will be allowed to participate in that class using Percussion Revolvers without penalty. That will get me one step closer to what I really want and partially level the field by taking away the advantage of Smokeless Powder.
So once again the reason I used the Plainsman Side Matches as a starting point was because I hoped I could get the support or interest from the multiple Classes that currently participate in the Side Matches in our quest to get some relief for Percussion Gunfighters. As you have aptly pointed out it takes clubs like Mulecamp and those trying to meet the needs and wishes of the Cowboy Action Shooting community to effect change. Those are also the clubs which create the varied side matches we now enjoy.
So until the day I am allowed to compete in the coming Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter class or until that great day I will finally have a class that recognizes Percussion Gunfighters, when I pull both pistols I am not deluding myself that I not am not technically competing in the current Gunfighter class as SASS defines it.
Once again thank you for the comments, I only wish more people were reading the thread because that was my original goal.
Best Regards,
Mako