The Rebirth of Leadville

Thanks to the efforts of two Jefferson Rifle Club members who do not (yet) shoot cowboy, several of their friends who are not even JRC members, and a handful of diligent cowboys and cowgirls, Leadville has been reborn.

If you've shot a match here, you know the troubles we've had with erosion and mud. Between runoff from uphill of Leadville and a bunch of underground springs, it has often been difficult and messy to negotiate the range. NO MORE!

We were fortunate to have two (non-cowboy) JRC members who know how to operate earth-moving equipment and volunteered to run the machines. Special thanks to Scott and Allen Glace, two JRC members who move earth for a living, and to Chuck Fogle and Rodney Glace, who pitched in, even though they are not club members.

After four grueling days' work, from July 22 through 25, the bays have been widened and lengthened, the berms have been made taller, 550 feet of drainage ditch has been dug and 550 feet of drainage pipe has been buried. This should mark the end of our chronic drainage problems and, with the addition of some new shotgun targets, the end of our lead splatter problem.

These are the generous folks who made this possible:

The concrete was delivered by Rodney Glace, at a discounted price.
Scott Glace donated 100 feet of 15-inch steel drainage pipe, and the connecting bands.
Tanner and Butch Pepper donated the filter cloth.
Allen Glace's boss lent the bobcat with bucket, forklift and jack hammer, a trailer, fuel tank, tamper, generator, two trucks, and countless other tools.
Scott arranged for the backhoe rental and the delivery of concrete and gravel.
Scott and Allen worked about six hours on Friday, July 22, 13 hours on Saturday, and 12 on Sunday. Scott worked another four hours on Monday.
Outlaws volunteers were Dice, Marshal Fagan Shalako, Pinetree, Misty Kitten, Tanner and Oracle Jones.

The higher berms should alleviate the lead splatter from stage to stage, and once we've acquired our new shotgun targets, things will be even better. The widened bays will allow more room for loading and unloading tables.

A big drain was installed at the top end of Main Street, connected to a 15-inch pipe. Each bay has its own drainage system with buried 4-inch pipe (no more tripping over drain pipes!) This should solve the mud and erosion problems caused by runoff and underground springs on the site.

Have a look at the work in progress. The photos are by Marshal Fagan Shalako (Blair Photography).

Remember those ruts and gulleys in Main Street? ALL GONE!	This drain, at the top of Main Street, connects to a 15-inch pipe
Targets and loading tables lie in a heap, to the left, to make room to work.	They've started to lay the big drain pipe. Scott, Tanner & Pinetree are working down at Stage 3.

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