Bob "Pilgrim" Taylor, a founding club member and owner of Traditional Effects Co., was diagnosed with cancer in November 2002. His son Robert and Martin Brummett have taken over the business. The Travis County Regulators, the Tejas Caballeros, and the Alamo Area Moderators all had benefit shoots for the Taylors. Bob and JoAnn wanted their gratitude for you all to be known. Bob passed away May 29, 2003. The following was sent to the Cowboy Chronicle:

Bob and JoAnn, Robert Jr. and wife Melissa at a get-together at the shop after the December benefit shoot of the Travis County Regulators.

Cancer has taken from us another fine cowboy and friend, Bob Taylor, who died at home in Red Rock, Texas, on May 29, 2003. Bob was born on December 15, 1946, in Waco, Texas. He went to school in San Antonio and graduated from St. Edwards High School. He then went to the University of Texas, but before getting a degree he went into the U. S. Army where he was a helicopter electronics repairman during the Vietnam War. He was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas.

After the army, Bob lived in Austin until 1997 when he moved to Red Rock, TX. He started selling guns in 1994 after having stayed up until 3 AM many a morning teaching himself how to do the "Bob Taylor Action Job". Bob and Jo Ann bought their first Cimarron and fought over the use of it. This inspired Bob to sell Cimarron firearms. No one in Austin was stocking these cowboy guns and Bob had to special order them from an Austin dealer, so in 1994 he got his FFL and started Traditional Effects Company so he could stock the guns. He set up at an Austin gun show for the first time in 1994 with five guns, and he thought he was "kicking a wild hog" when he sold one.

Bob worked as a facility manager at the Austin Diagnostic Clinic for twelve years and then four more at Tokyo Electron Texas. However, cowboy action shooting called his name. Many newcomers to Cowboy Action Shooting learned about the sport from talking to Bob and his helper, Greg "Montana Greg" Lazar at the gunshows. In fact, that is how I learned about the Travis County Regulators, where I shot my first match. I learned a lot about cowboy guns in general from Bob, because that man really liked to talk guns! It was common to read comments from folks across the country on the SASS Wire about how friendly and helpful Bob was to deal with. He worked with Cimarron to help promote cowboy action shooting.

In 2001 Bob retired from Tokyo Electron and remodeled a quaint old log building in downtown Red Rock to be the new home for Traditional Effects Co. As a testament to his success at selling guns, Traditional Effects is the largest select stocking Cimarron dealer in the country, and that is the only brand he stocked.

In the mid-90's he worked on a few movies, providing guns and doing some work as an extra, including True Women, and Once Upon a Time in China plus several modern "B" movies. Then in about 1997 he founded the first Cowboy Action Shooting club in Austin, the Travis County Regulators. He also helped to start the Texican Rangers, a club near Fredericksburg. For the last few years Bob was always working at gunshows on the weekends so he didn't get to shoot CAS as much as he would have liked, but when he did he was a very talented competitor and usually placed near the top.

Bob leaves behind his wife, Jo Ann, of Red Rock, and children: Nicki Taylor, 22, of Austin, TX; Robert Sean Taylor, 24, of Austin, TX; and Lance Taylor, 32, currently in England with the U.S. Air Force; Lance Payne, 24, of San Marcos, TX: and Rory Payne, 21, of Midland, TX.

Bob's son Robert, "Cimarron Gunrunner" SASS # 52317, and Martin "Loose Cannon Lou" Brummett were Bob's apprentices and know the secrets to the "Bob Taylor Action Job".

After Bob found out he had terminal cancer, he told Robert, "I've got it figured out; God needs a salesman, and I'm the best there ever was." That may be true, as the cowboy guns I shoot the most all came from Bob.

Bronco Birnbaum, SASS # 1320 Life, knew Bob for a long time. I would like to conclude with his words to the SASS Wire: "Bob's death makes this a very sad day for all those who knew him. For the people who will read this note that never met Bob I would tell you that he was the kindest and most generous man that you might ever encounter. He had an infectious smile and a hearty laugh. He had a love for talking to people and his personality was truly magnetic. He was the founding godfather of cowboy shooting in the Austin Texas area. When I will forever think of him, I will remember the way he greeted me whenever I saw him: He would swell up in a great smile, and with his wonderful Texas twang accent he would holler at me "Scotty Birnbaum...How are you my friend..." I am just one of the many that will miss Bob, and I will miss him from deep down in my heart. He was a great friend."

Happy Trails to you, Bob.

Bob and Jo Ann at Commancheria Days 2000.

The following appeared in the Austin American Statesman

OBITUARY:
ROBERT C. TAYLOR
1946-2003

Robert Clair Taylor (Bob) was born December 15, 1946 in Waco, Texas to
Robert and Paula Taylor. Bob departed this earth May 29, 2003. He
lived in San Antonio in his early childhood before moving to Austin. He
graduated from St. Edwards High School. Bob attended UT before serving
in the U. S. Army during the Viet Nam conflict and became a father in
his early adult years. After being an apprentice electrician he became
a master electrician at the IBEW local 520. Later Bob built the first
steel frame house in the area and worked as the Facility Manager at the
Austin Diagnostic Clinic and Tokyo Electron Texas. Bob and Jo Ann moved
to Red Rock, TX in 1997 where Bob fulfilled his dream of opening his own
cowboy shop in downtown Red Rock.

Bob began cowboy action shooting in the early 90's. He drove to
Columbus, TX in the early days of the sport before there were clubs in
the Austin area. Bob taught himself to increase the level of competition
with the "Bob Taylor action job" and helped to start local clubs in the
Austin area.

Bob sold "cowboy guns" and spun yarns to many cowboy shooters and
developed lifetime friends through this sport and his business.

Bob is survived by his wife Jo Ann Taylor of Red Rock, sons Lance Henry
Taylor of Lackenhealth Air force Base, England, Robert Sean Taylor of
Austin, Lance Darrell Payne of San Marcos, Rory Michael Payne of Midland
and daughter Jessica Nicole Taylor of Austin.
Bob's mother Paula Taylor survives him as do his siblings; Gary Taylor
of Dallas, Kevin Taylor of Austin and Susan Fairall of Marshalltown,
Iowa.

Bob is preceded in death by his father Robert George Taylor in 2001 and
son John Dawson Springer 1996.

Visitation will be at the Marrs-Jones-Newby funeral home in Bastrop,
Texas at 507 Old Austin Hwy. Phone: 512.321.2576. Rosary at 7:00 PM on
Monday will also be held at the funeral home
in Bastrop. Funeral services will be Tuesday, 10:00 AM at the Sacred
Heart Catholic Church (Rockne), 4045 FM 535 (off Hwy 20 south of
Bastrop) and burial will follow at the Sacred Heart Cemetery.

The family asks that Memorials be made to the "Amado & J. B. Pena Art
Has Heart Foundation" Please mail your tax deductible contributions to
"Art Has Heart", P. O. Box 91013, Austin, TX 78709-1013. The "Art Has
Heart" foundation has established an annual engineering scholarship in
Bob's name.

The family also wishes to thank friends and relatives for the tremendous
giving of time and energies in support of Bob and Jo Ann during his
illness.