End of Trail for Aussie shooters

Damion Faith reviews Australia’s 25-person pilgrimage to Single Action’s world-stage event.

Just what is this magnet called Single Action shooting that attracts participants from all over the globe to the master End of Trail event each year? In reality, no-one in the past 25 years has been able to adequately explain this modern-day phenomenon, but one thing is for sure: it is a phenomenon that grows from strength to strength each year.

Even with difficult handgun legislation, Australia has not been immune from the infectious growth of this great shooting competition, promulgated by the world governing body, the Single Action Shooting Society. Each year for many years, the largest international contingent of shooters participating at the world championships, End of Trail, has been drawn from this continent on the other side of the world. Again, the question may be asked, why would folk from the other side of the globe spend so much time, effort and money to participate in End of Trail? After all, there are no oil wells or sheep stations to be won - only bragging rights for the winners.

In the eyes of the 25 Australians who participated at the 25th Anniversary End of Trail in June 2006 this is not necessarily true. To simply be a part of this premier event provides great bragging rights that will be told and retold at SAS events back home for years to come.

To give just a little insight into what it takes to travel and participate at End of Trail perhaps we can look at the preparation these hardy Aussies undertake many months beforehand.

Firstly, there is documentation and permits to be obtained from various authorities. Contrary to popular belief in the US, not all handguns are banned in Australia; however, there is necessary paperwork required to export then re-import them into Australia and there are permits required to allow foreigners to take firearms into the US.

After nominating for End of Trail, application is made to the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in the US for the issuance of documents to allow firearms to be imported into the country. This process is not difficult, but can take up to 12 weeks depending on the workload of the ATF personnel.

Next, documents are obtained from Australian authorities to allow export then re-import of personal firearms and ammunition. Lastly, there is Customs documentation to allow export. It sounds difficult, but it is nothing more than a little time-consuming. With bookings made and documents obtained, thoughts can be turned to honing your skills and getting costumes together.

Australia is about the same geographical size as the mainland of the US. The Australians who travelled to End of Trail 2006 came from Victoria in the south and Queensland in the north - that’s about 1500km apart - and South Australia to the west, which is nearly the same distance from Queensland. The New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory posse were smack dab in the middle.

The tyranny of distance is something Australians are used to overcoming and the SSAA Single Action Shooting Australia fraternity is not daunted by travel to obtain match practice on weekends or travelling the internet to coordinate their plans on week nights. After months of preparation it was time to saddle up and head out to End of Trail at long last.

Driving into Founders Ranch in New Mexico and leaving the ‘real’ world behind, the 25 Aussies - one for each year End of Trail has been a reality - gaped in awe at the row after row of mobile homes and campers parked in readiness for a week of competition and socialising. The vehicles and their occupants were on one side of the road and further down on the other side were buffalo and long-horn cattle grazing quietly, totally oblivious to the activity around them.

Into the shooters’ parking lot and even the End of Trail hardened veterans, such as Constable Nelson, Rooster Cockburn and Virgil and Allie Earp, took a double take at the improvements since the 2005 event. For the new folk, it was something they had waited so long to see and they weren’t disappointed. However, their expectations had not prepared them for the spectacle of full-size buildings and a veritable tent city that had sprung up on Main Street, turning part of the ranch into an Old West town of proportions only dreamed about by most dedicated Single Action Shooters Down Under. For the Aussies, the sheer size and scale of everything was something that would be indelibly imprinted on their minds for years to come - and they hadn’t yet seen the ranch completely full with spectators and competitors yet as this was only Monday!

The following day, with clear skies and the mercury hovering just below the century mark (in US terms of course), did nothing to daunt the wonderment and enthusiasm that had embraced the Australians as they brought a whole new meaning to the term ‘shop until you drop’. The chance encounters with notables such as Joe Bowman, who played his usual tricks on the unsuspecting by pulling playing cards ‘out of nowhere’, or Judge Roy Bean himself, who never missed an opportunity to say “Howdy” as he sucked on that trademark big cigar, brought these famous (or infamous) figures to life for those who, up until now, had only dreamed of meeting such folks.

With shopping done and new friends made, the time had come for the adrenalin levels to ratchet up a notch as the End of Trail Silver Anniversary Opening Ceremony stirred the emotions in even the hardest characters. There is no doubt that the trooping of the colors and the pledge of allegiance stirred long forgotten emotions in the Aussies. One was overheard to say in a quiet tone, “Why have we lost our national identity? This is what makes a nation great.”

Day one of competition dawned like any other day, cool with clear skies and a rapidly climbing temperature. Strapping on leather and preparing for that first stage at any End of Trail is always an adrenalin rush; just ask those who have returned to the event year after year.

For the Australian first-timers, the adrenalin flow started to escalate as Cole Younger set the tone for the day with his Mandatory Shooters Meeting address. The Aussies were easily spotted in the crowd. Constable Nelson was most conspicuous in his B-Western gear and shotgun painted with the Australian boxing kangaroo motif. Trigga Mortus and Diamond Kate possibly stood out the most in their best American Indian outfits.

It was then time to get down to business. Gun carts rumbled down to the shooting bays and the first shots were fired. Somewhere in between the stages Trigga Mortus, sporting an ear-to-ear grin, organised a rain dance. Amazingly, that afternoon the skies opened up and the rain came. Now surely an Aussie can’t bring on the rain, can he?

With four stages completed for the day, it was off to the Silhouette Bay for some to spend a little quality time and more than a few dollars with the Gatling guns. For others, it was another shopping spree and for others still, it was time for socialising down at the Tijeras Corral while taking in the melodic tones of Belinda Gail and Curly Musgrave. Was this a shooting, socialising or shopping competition? Frankly, no-one cared; they were just having so much fun.

Dragging on the dusty cowboy boots for another day the weariness started to set in. Ironrunner and Marsupial, however, soon snapped to attention, as Hopalong Cassidy strolled by, closely followed by the Lone Ranger. Poor Ironrunner thought he was hallucinating due to lack of sleep. “I have never seen anything like this in my life,” he said. “I can’t wait to get back Down Under with all my stories. No-one will believe what I have seen and done.” Australians Ringer and Trapper, being cowboys in real life, couldn’t disguise their delight in travelling back to another cowboy time. They also demonstrated that they could mix it with the top guns as well.

Now it wouldn’t be fair to overlook the main game - the 12 stages of unbridled competition. All participants were catered for more than adequately, no matter if they were serious competitors, there to have fun or to try out their skills in a new category. For this 25th Anniversary match, the stages were, without doubt, the best written and laid-out courses yet. There was something for everyone. The speedsters had the opportunity to ‘go for broke’ on some stages, while other competitors could strive for a ‘clean’ match.

Clever target placement caught many a speedster with the pistol sweep. On stage nine, the shooter was asked to sweep the target array twice from the same direction with two pistols. No big deal here except that the stage procedure called for the shooter to engage two shotgun targets first, then a moving ore cart with 10 rounds of rifle, before engaging the pistol targets. By the time the shooter started the pistol sweep, all caution had been thrown to the wind and some of those ore carts simply refused to be hit. This was certainly a clever stage design.

As the 25th Anniversary End of Trail awards ceremony drew to a close, a number of Aussies clutched their winner’s buckles and the rain set in. Sore feet and weary bones trudged through the mud to their modern-day conveyances that would take them back into the real world. That familiar feeling of sadness set in as it always does after such a crackerjack event. Guns were cleaned and packed away along with the memories of End of Trail 2006 and preparations were made to head back home until next time. The Aussies had acquitted themselves well both in competition and as cowboy ambassadors for their country. For those who may not return to End of Trail for some years to come, the experiences and new friendships were burned into their memories as surely as if with a hot branding iron.

Once again, in a few months’ time the Australian contingent will start to prepare for the 26th World Championships End of Trail 2007. All performances being equal, the Australians will again bring home their share of those winners’ buckles and awards.