April, 2016 ©Thunder River Renegades, Inc The Best Cowboy

April, 2016
©Thunder River Renegades, Inc
The Best Cowboy Action Shooting Club in Grimes County, Texas
March Match: saw our election plus 56
shooters at the Saturday shoot. BPB started
out with a short list of announcements and the
day only got better. We had folks everywhere
and it was great to see some that haven’t been
able to make it in awhile; folks like Shotshell
land his child bride Shell Belle, Grum E. and
Bear Gunz, Britt, Neshannock Leo and the
Four Riders of the Purple Sage: Lucinda
Tincup, Snoot Fuller, Idaho Sue and
Ricochet Ron + Trooper Tyree on the
harmonica.
Rio Brazos Kid will be attending during
our cooler months and our normal band of
cowboys were there too: Revenoor, Senior
Deacon, Col. Mackenzie, Doc O’bay,
Butterfly Rose and her tall drink of water
Preacherman Robert. Speaking of tall trees
Fairplay John and his lovely lady Bristlecone
Jan were in the mix as were Ellie and
Rawhide, San Juan Steve and Judge Pete.
Few more: Walter Durbin, Justic Lily Kate
(her husband What’s-his-name couldn’t make
it), Pappy Miles, Fast Tracker, Lorelei
Longshot and Doc Emmitt, all having a great
time.
The fast shooters contingent were there
in force: TDJ (Shotglass also was present at
the match), Steel Shot Scott, Buckshot
Sully, Bear Gunz, Preacher Kid, Osage
Mike, Oklahoma Dee, Shotshell, Cherokee
Jones, Manassas Jack, Dealin’ Lead and
Texas Drifter.
On this distaff side were
cheyenne RO II
Kansas City Sneed, Bristlecone Jan and
Shell Belle.
Several people noticed Tombstone
Lawdawg explaining to Good Troy, Texas
CrAzY Clay and Red River Larry how he
plans to decorate the Tombstone Jail.
McCullough Cowboy has returned
from his shoulder adventures accompanied by
Prickly Rose who watched and hopes to be
shooting soon. We had one new shooter Don
Alejandro that was getting help and advice
from every corner of the range—despite that
he plans on returning down the trail. Our notso-new shooter Elder Earl showed to to shoot
bad targets and have fun.
A goodly number of others were at the
match and if I have omitted you just write your
name on this line: ______________________.
Four posses were needed and they
were quite full. We ran till about 1 p.m. so this
was one of our longer matches.
I was able to do my impression of a
dead cockroach when I tripped over a KD that
was next to the building. Drifter thought that
he might get called for pointing his gun at the
unloading table at a shooter since I feel in front
of the table. Nothing hurt but my pride and I
lost that years ago.
Given that Spring had a touch of
Summer in it we learned not to wear black
when there will be no cloud cover.
Sunday: 15 cowboys and 1 cowgirl
showed up to do battle with the mean nasty
targets at TRR. This was an experienced
1
I can’t say enough about how great the
stages were. They’re fun and challenging and
make you think.
The weather was breezy and even
better, much cooler than the day before. Other
than having mouths full of sand and lungs full
of black powder smoke it was a whale of a day.
group so even though it was a large one we
moved with a purpose thought out the course
of fire.
While many were from Saturday’s match
we did have GW Ketchum, Crash, Tanner
Wright, Indian Billy and Houston Hombre
involved. Rounding out the posse were Three
Fingered Jack, Odessa and Red River Mac.
TRR Calendar
April 2nd & 3rd
April 30th
May 7th & 8th
July 30th
Nov 5th
Black Powder Burn
Cherokee Jones
Col Mackenzie
Doc O'bay
GW Ketchum
McCullough Cowboy
April Match
Practice Day
May Match
TSRA Regional Match at TRR
Last Stand at Thunder River Match
March Clean Matches:
Oklahoma Dee (2)
Osage Mike
Red River Larry
Red River Mac (2)
Rio Brazos Kid
San Juan Steve
Senior Deacon
Shotshell
Steel Shot Scott
Texas Drifter (2)
Trooper Tyree
Cheyenne (2)
Let’s see how this figures out: 72 shooters, 21 clean matches = 29% shot clean
From Our RangeMaster: I would like to say "Thank you to the Thunder
River Renegades for allowing me to be Range Master. It has helped me to
achieve some of my goals."
I have launched my website - http://oklahomadee.com
I would like to hear from the club members if they would be interested in
having me do a clinic for shooters. Time and place is based on number of
shooters and when we could use the Thunder River Renegades range. If you are interested please
drop me an email at [email protected]
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Kansas City Sneed and I helped Old Fort Parker on Monday, getting the range ready for the SASS
Texas State Match in May.
I noticed that Plum Creek has put in for the 2017 Texas State match......I would be interested in
knowing if our club...Thunder River Renegades can see into the future and the year of 2018, as to if
we would be interested in hosting the SASS Texas State Championships. It is my opinion that we are
in the Prime location of host such a grand event. Something to chew the fat on, talk about, complain
about, cheer about, drink some soft or hard drinks on.
Oklahoma Dee
Oklahoma Dee's Shooter Improvement Clinic
Date - April 23rd, 2016
Time - starts at 9:00 a.m.
Length of Clinic 3-4 hours depending on number of shooter entrys
I would ask for the use of Stages 8,9 and 10 - Only using stage 8 as a buffer or a large number of
shooters.
Lecture - Dry and Live Fire Shooter to bring their main match guns only to this clinic.
100 rounds for Rifle - 100 rounds for Revolvers - 50 rounds for shotgun - Leather holsters/shotgun
belts and dress in costume
Shooters bring water, snacks and attitude/desire to improve
Cost is $25 per shooter
Payable to OkDee by check or cash. - Send email to Oklahoma Dee confirming entry - at
[email protected]
$5 of the $25 goes to the Club.
More information as this unfolds
TRR ver 4.0 – Project Updates
The regular crew of mice and minions continue to work
behind the scenes nonstop. As you’ll see at next
weekend’s match, most of the stage structures now have
porch awnings in place. The next phase of work will
involve putting up free standing shade structures (Ramadas – sorta like a hotel!)
on the open stages – stage coach and gallows. And then a pavilion just south of the office – we’ll just
see how far the money takes us, but we hope to have a least one section of the pavilion built before it
runs out.
3
Speaking of money for shade structures, we started a fund for folks that want to help TRR with a little
financial contribution for materials. Yes, we finally decided to pass the hat again. We avoided it as
long as possible, but got to the point we needed a little help. Folks stepped up to the tune of $1,670
at last month’s shoot. If you feel so inclined to put a small contribution in the kitty, Rawhide, Drifter,
Jose and our other minions will put it to good use.
Annual Election of Officers
As I’m sure you are aware, Osage Mike had the somewhat dubious honor of being elected to serve
as Treasurer for the band of outlaws. Red River Mac has been trying to explain the bookkeeping
system used to keep TRR afloat while warding off the government vampires from our funds. Mike
was seen with glazed eyes after his session with Mac yesterday, but we feel confident he will recover
and be ready to take over next weekend at the match. Give him a little moral support when you see
him – he really didn’t know what he was getting into!
Long Range
Just as we got the long range (Stage 10) into good shape to start using, we’ve hit a pothole.
Yesterday at practice Ricky and his neighbor (downrange of our firing line across the creek) came by
and reported that a round had come off our range and impacted one of his trees while he was sitting
on the porch. While it was undoubtedly a rare fluke event, we feel it is necessary to shut down long
range until this can be addressed.
After discussion with all parties, it was decided that Ricky will put up a berm downrange of the 300
yard line as soon as the ground dries up a little more. Once this is done, we can resume shooting
long range.
HOWEVER, at that point we’ll have to be extremely careful to prevent shooting over the berm. TRR
will have to implement a policy of imposing a Match DQ on anyone shooting over the berm on long
range. We’re sorry to have to do this, but it is necessary in order to maintain our ability to use it.
Last Stand at Thunder River 2016
I know a lot of you have been asking about plans for LSTR 2016. The BOD has had a lot of
discussions on the subject over the last several months. Given the range move and the construction
still underway, we decided last fall that it wasn’t possible to have the match in the normal spring
timeframe. After a lot of discussion, we have decided to host LSTR 2016 as a one-day event on
November 5th. Since we still have a lot of range improvement work ongoing, and likely will for most
of the year, we have decided to scale it back to a single day, but to make it a really nice gathering for
everyone.
We’ll have a match in the morning, lunch, raffle and side matches in the afternoon. We’ll keep the
cost minimal by having the club provide a main course meat and asking member to bring side dishes
and desserts. This will be like the original club picnics we held 4 or 5 years ago – easier for the
worker bees to stage, but providing a full day of fun for the members.
Stay tuned for further updates……………
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Monthly Income & Expenses: the monthly report presented by Red River Mac.
Here is the March as well as his final report:
Thunder River Renegades
Income and Expense Report for March 2016
Income
Expenses
Shoot Fees
$
1,095 Rent
$ 750.00
Membership
$
245 Insurance Accrual
Buy-a-miss
$
44 Generator Repair
$ 178.78
Donations
$
20 Construction & Maintenance
$ 432.68
Practice Day
$
80 Sales Tax
$ 110.55
Miscellaneous Expense
Sub-Total
$
1,484
Total Less Donations
$
1,464
Sub-Total
Net Loss w/o Donations
Shade Fund Balance
$
Target Fund Balance
$
1,670
(2,367) Targets & Stands
Bank balance as of March 28, 2016
$
$
74.76
$ 155.96
$ 1,546.77
$
82.77
$
-
$
-
9,315
Shade for the Summers in Texas: Folks have really enjoyed the shade at the Saddle and Tack
Shop so BPB has started a fund raising project to help pay for the remaining porches and shade
ramadas at the other stages. Summer is right around the corner and we want our members and
guests to be as comfortable as possible while enjoying The Greatest Spectacle in Shooting (sorry
Indy 500).
This drive has just started this week-end lead by BPB’s generous donation—he’s a great guy—no
pay and is willing to kick in major bucks and do the job as president.
Here is the list of members who have donated so far:
Black Powder Burn
Doc O’bay
Dealin’ Lead
G W Ketchum
Red River Mac
Houston Hombre
Odessa
At the end of our two matches the total collected was $1670!
If you are interested in helping out drop BPB a note, [email protected] or stop
by the office at the next match.

Wounded, Sickly and downright Infirmed: as best as we can tell all
members are in reasonably good health for which we are very thankful.
Do keep BPB’s Mother in your prayers as they have been working
through some of her major medical problems.
Remember we’ll work with anyone that has physical limitations; when you get down to it, it’s all about
family.
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Hydration: it’s not just for keeping your skin free of
wrinkles: It’s getting to the time of the year when we begin to lose
significant amounts of water from our bodies and this liquid is vital to
us staying on top of our game and working at our maximum
capacity.
Sweating is not all bad, it does help keep us cool as it
evaporates but our humid climate limits this positive attribute. Our
clothing can also keep us from benefiting from the full effects of the
cooling effects.
Bottom line is we need to keep ourselves drinking water or
one of the sports drinks made especially for this. For some of us a pint of liquid per stage is not too
much, other younger, healthier folks might be able to survive on less but why chance it. The club
provides cold water in the coolers and most shooters bring their own just to be safe. If you haven’t
urinated you are low on fluids; if you are thirsty you are already behind the curve. As Slashwood
tells his baseball players, “Blink, drink.” (he’s a man of few words—cause he doesn’t know many).
If you do begin to feel light headed or sick to your stomach tell someone and get out of the Sun
and heat. The office has AC, such as it is so get in there an cool off. We want to see you at the next
shoot.
Election Results: for those of you living under a rock or on another planet here are the cowboys
selected by the members:
Blackpowder Burn will continue starring in the role of President.
Taking over the Treasurer slot is Osage Mike!
The Board again wants thank Ellie, Dealin’ Lead and Rooster as well as Nile City Slick for being
key parts of this election. We thank everyone for stepping up and being a vital part of the club.
Phase II at Thunder River City
Click HERE to see this list of projects (see which ones have been addressed.)
Feel free to jump in and pick something that tickles you fancy and have at it. Rawhide is the
man to see about this. [email protected]
We will keep a running list of those who have contributed to Phase II.
Minions:
Blackpowder Burn
Doc O’bay
Emery Goodner
Cherokee Jones
Don Alejandro
Fairplay John
Crash
Dusty Bottoms
G W Ketchum
Dealin’ Lead
Ellie Mae
Grump E. Gunz
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Houston Hombre
Osage Mike
Tombstone Lawdawg
José
Rawhide
Tricky Red
Manassas Jack
Red River Mac
Walter Durbin
Nile City Slick
Rooster
cheyenne
Odessa
Texas Drifter
Oklahoma Dee
Texas Ghost
Please note Don Alejandro’s name on the list. He’s not a member yet but stepped up at practice
day and lent a hand with several projects. He plans on being at the Porch Raising 2 tomorrow also.

Wisdom of the Masters:
 “Take big steps between shooting positions, it saves time”;
 “Count your steps between positions on the walk-through so you can work out your foot
position when you arrive at the next firing location,”
Oklahoma Dee

Club’s “New” mower: the mower we have been using up to this point is a 17.5 HP Troy-Bilt riding
mower that Chance ‘gifted’ to the club. It has served us well and we in return have worn it out. As an
example you can turn the steering wheel in either direction about 45º before the front wheels will
move. All the other moving parts have similar wear properties on them. It does cut and is holding
together with spit and bailing wire but it is only a matter of time till it gives out. We did do an oil
change with new air filter and spark plug just last week as we are trying to get the maximum use out
of it.
The plan has always been to find a better mower at a reasonable price as a replacement.
BPB has offered to split the cost of our replacement machine—a big thank you goes to him—if he
keeps it up we might just elect him as our club president. Along with his
offer he has been scouting out possible replacements. Last week he hit pay
dirt; a 2010 300 Series 42 inch John Deere riding mower with, get ready for
this, 95 total hours on it! The previous owner must have only driven it to the
end of the driveway to get the mail. To say it is in super shape is an
understatement.
Since it’s a John Deere we were searching for something a bit easier to call it than John Deere
300 Series Riding Lawnmower, serial number K8459012-06; after much careful consideration we
settled on the name “Bob.”
We have it in locked storage when not in use and will be building a secure hermitically sealed
enclosure for it in the very near future. Additionally it will be chained to the building…and we might
turn spiders loose inside just to be safe.
7
Found Primers: Happy Surprise or Pure Evil: everyone who has spent
any time in the reloading room has spilled primers. You get on your hands and
knees and spend hours searching but you never quite get all of them back; figure
that’s payment to the reloading gods and call it ‘close enough.’
Then, oh lucky day, you find one. It’s been stepped on a few times and is
a bit worse for wear but the anvil is still in place and it’s still round—mostly. Be careful pilgrim for
trouble is just around the corner. This so-called stroke of luck will most likely jam up in the primer
tube and now you have to figure out a way to clear the tube without using a rod and hammer and how
much pressure can you really push with before the boom occurs. Or if it makes it out then it get
mashed when you try to prime a case with it jamming up the press and adding time and frustration to
the task.
Finally there is the chance that the primer won’t detonate if you successfully get in a case.
You have quite a few hurtles to jump for a 3¢ item so think and think some more before using it; me:
I’m cheap and will keep using them because “kids in Europe are starving;” the seniors among us
remember that phrase all too well.

Powder to the People! Everyone over a certain age remembers this slogan from the ‘60s. And
like things from back in the day powder does have a life expectancy but there are things that you can
do to extend that life.
Storage in a non-climate controlled garage doesn’t help longevity; a better
place would be inside an air conditioned building away from sunlight in its original
container. If you transfer the powder to another container you don’t what or if any
reaction could result.
Leaving the top off the bottle while you’re reloading allows O 2 and moisture
to get to the granules, not a good thing, either; be sure you have the top on the
powder measure for the same reason. You want to keep exposure to the
elements to a minimum.
Don’t leave powder in the powder measure when you are not
actively reloading for the same reasons as the paragraph above. Powder is
expensive and sometimes hard to find so do what you can to keep yours
viable for as long as possible.
The picture shows some that is way past being usable.
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→
Lead for the Pots of China: gone are the days where you could go down
to the local tire store and get 5 gallon buckets of used wheel weights. Now
lead is considered hazardous material and wheel weights are made of zinc
which can mess up a casting pot mix quicker than a one-eyed dog can end up
in a country-western song.
Some
can
find
lead
at
salvage
yards,
on
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ or ebay but in each case you are
going to have to PAY for it. Unless you have your own lead mine in
the back yard free lead is mostly a thing of the past.
So now the trick is to find the cheapest lead that will serve your
needs; notice I didn’t say ‘cheapest lead, period’ as different folks
have different requirements for what they mold into bullets. For
precision shooters like Osage Mike, Welch Rifleman and Nile City Slick, only certain
blends will do for them. This is where a place like http://www.rotometals.com/ come in. You
can get the exact alloys to fit your every need and you will pay a price for these guaranteed
blends. For many of our sharpshooters this is the path they take.
For the rest of us considering how light we load our cowboy cartridges almost any
lead mix will work. I’ve used COWW (clip on wheel weights), SOWW (stick on wheel
weights), sheet lead, shielding lead, plumber’s lead, I’ve even bought some for Alaskan
fishermen who have a lead smelting business—if it melts around 400-500º it has traveled
down my barrel.
Right now the best price of lead is $1.10 per pound usually with shipping added to
that. As with all commodities it fluctuates but is holding just over a
dollar. What this means is if you are shooting 200 grain bullets for
example you can get 35 bullets from a pound at a cost of about 3¢ each.
If you use 158 grain bullets the cost would be 2½¢ each or 100 for
$2.50, that’s like, FREE!
The Thunder River Mercantile
Oklahoma Dee Vendor/Services/Products Company is now on line and open
for business. Dee has been working on this for some time and is proud to announce
the start of this business as well as his operational website.
Take a few moments to check out this new and exciting venture.
http://oklahomadee.com/ or [email protected]
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Looking for some .308 Brass
Howdy.
Wondering if any of you folks might have a little .308 brass you could part with. Not particular about
what kind, long as it's reloadable.
Couple hundred would be more than enough.
Thanks in advance.
Big John Wyatt (if you can help email me and I’ll let BJW know or contact him on our forum—ed.)
Manassas Jack’s Gun Emporium for the Discriminating Cowboy
Shooter: As most of the membership knows, MJ is assisting Lorelei in
selling Laz’s cowboy guns and accessories. While many have already been
sold there still are a great many super deals to be made.
Click here to see what is available: http://thunderriverrenegades.com/phpBB3.0.8/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1424
th
On Dec 26 he had a great pair of Old Model Ruger Vaqueros + a pair of
AWA’s at great prices. You owe it to yourself to check it out.
You will need to PM him on the forum as his email is down; you can
also email me and I’ll get info to him ( [email protected] )
For Sale: One slightly used Troy-Bilt riding lawnmower. This is the club’s old mower in
working(?) condition. New air filter, fresh oil and spark plug. It’s fully operational and can be
demonstrated at the range. No serious offer ignored and funny offers will also be entertained. See
BPB or Osage Mike as they control the purse strings around here.
Osage Mike’s: I'm a one man shop building custom leather
goods for cowboy action shooters. I build holsters, cartridge
belts, shotgun belts and cowboy shooter accessories one at a
time. TRR member Osage Mike, [email protected] Phone:
281.785.2397
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J M Leather: is a small leather shop where leather items are crafted one at
a time to provide long service to the cowboy shooter. Johnny and his wife
Montana Hannah are cowboy shooters as well and understand getting what
you paid for and being treated fair. The promise is a simple one, if you are
not happy with your gear, let us make it right. We want you to be proud of
the gear you wear, and proud that you got it from us. We are not
but we will put our reputation and gear up against anyone. TRR
Morris, [email protected] website:
http://www.jm-
a big name maker,
member
Johnny
leather.com
Down South Leather, Custom Leather Goods for the
Cowboy Life Style by Rusty Reb is proud to announce the
opening of its Houston branch. Contact Rusty and discuss
your needs and wants; he’s only an email or phone call away:
[email protected] or 281-435-9984
John Powers of Powers Metal Works LLC. He is off
FM 1488 near FM 2978 about 8 miles east of the
range entrance. Phone: 291.513.3438
His website is www.powersmetalworks.com
Shootin’ once a month not enough?
Our Practice Day Match, a full 6-stage affair with awards and all. 4th Saturday of each month at
our range
Oakwood Outlaws
2nd Sat. & Sun. every month and the Monday following the 2nd weekend.www.oakwoodoutlaws.org/
Willow Hole Cowboys 3rd Weekend of the month http://www.willowholecowboys.com/
11
TRR Officers 2015
El Jefe: Blackpowder Burn (BPB)
[email protected]
Vice-Pres: Rawhide (RH)
[email protected]
Secretary: Cheyenne
[email protected]
Treasurer: Osage Mike (Osage)
[email protected]
Range Master: Oklahoma Dee (OkD)
[email protected]
TG: Texas Jack Daniels (TJD)
[email protected]
♥♠♦♣♦
From the Lighter Side of the Bunkhouse (that’s on the East side in the morning)…
Would you like some
eggs with your pepper?
12
Dusty Bottoms doing electrical work
13
TRR Project List (Up Dated)
Projects Requiring Little or No Money for Completion
1.
2.
3.
4.




Reinstall porch awning on Leather Company
Reinstall shade for Cattle Company
Fill all holes, trenches, etc. around stages, boardwalks and main street
Leach field bulkhead facing restroom
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4a.
5. 
6.
7.
8.
9. 
10.
11.
a.
b.
c.
13. 
14.
Leach field leveling for mowing
Stage 1 completion
Cut down rear brackets on 16x16 targets to 2” long to make the ring better.
Boardwalk completion between Jail and Saloon
New TRR signs at Oakwood & 1774, at water crossing and entry to range road
Completion of Stage 10 operational but want to do more there as time permits
Reinstall external firing position at Leather Company
Clean up storage/junkyard area
Sort through material & separate what is to be kept
burn anything not kept
Sell those not kept to members or haul off
Rake up shotgun wads on Main Street.
Landscaping plan for long term
Projects Requiring Funding
1.  Porch awnings for below. Use surplus fence panels. Some expense for support framing
a. Saloon
b. General Store
c. Hotel
d. Freight & Powder
2.
Extend shade 12 feet toward Main Street from each building awning. Use remaining fence
panels. Use any remaining fence panels, plus new materials.
3.
Shade area adjacent to office
4.
Poster, brochures & magnets – PBJ
5.
Build office entry porch to bottom of office door with steps to ground level
6 .  One “emergency” outhouse at one end of the range in case the “flushers” fail
7.
Covered firing line for Long Range (Stage 10)
8.
Additional targets – 20” and larger. One or 2 sheets of steel
9.
Open shed for shelter of lumber, tractor, etc.
10.
Targets and designs for targets on long range (full size silhouettes, swingers, etc.) – see OKD
11.  Heavy duty lawn mower
12.
Parking lot fence
13.
New enclosure for generator
14.
New western storefronts or buildings on Main Street opposite firing line. For vendors, gun
carts, eating weather protection for shooters, etc.
15.
Brass catcher panels on all stages like at Tombstone test panels have been set up in jail
16.
Plant trees for shade. May be able to get saplings from Ricky
17.
New 12x16 office building
18.
Treat standing water for mosquito larvae as needed
19.
Plant grass in common areas
15
20.
21.
22.
Pipe water in from pond for irrigation
Elevate boardwalk onto bricks
Widen office window.
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