Have Gun, Will Engrave - The Shooting Wire

Aspen Filly, as she is known in the Cowboy Action Shooting community, may have been one of, if not the busiest woman at End of Trail, and for good reason. Photo: P. Erhardt

Jane Nelson-Rudd, whose SASS alias is Aspen Filly, had a lot of late nights and early mornings during the 2026 End of Trail.

She’s an engraver, and an on-site engraver at the World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting is an extremely popular person.

Nelson-Rudd told me she would probably engrave anywhere from two to three dozen guns during the match, which took place Feb. 22–March 1 at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in northern Phoenix, Arizona.

That, of course, depends on how elaborate a shooter wants his or her firearm engraved. For those she can’t get to, Nelson-Rudd holds a Federal Firearms License (FFL), allowing customers to ship their firearms to her for engraving work.

A matched pair of engraved six-shooters takes a bit of time to complete, but is well worth it to SASS members who want to stand out on the range. Courtesy Aspen Filly

She got her start in engraving in 2004 and has been at it ever since.

She’s also a Cowboy Action Shooter, so when she’s not eating, sleeping, or engraving, she’s out on the range competing.

Apsen Filly isn’t fooling around when it comes to her on-site engraving setup. Here she is working on one of the many guns she engraved at End of Trail. It’s a slow, and careful process but as you would expect that gets you the best results. Photos: P. Erhardt

During End of Trail, the work is almost non-stop as she tries to get guns turned around and back to their owners before the match ends. Back home at her shop, the process takes a little longer.

“What I like to do is book you in when you call and then have you ship the gun when I’m getting close to the design stage. Depending on the project—if it’s a full gun—it can take anywhere from two weeks to a month to turn it back around,” Nelson-Rudd said.

“If it’s just a partial engraving, it can be quicker than that. I try not to keep customers’ guns for too long.”

Besides End of Trail, where else can you find Aspen Filly?

“I usually do some shoots in Texas, and I also attend Land Run, which is the SASS Nationals out in Oklahoma. It kind of depends on what my schedule looks like,” she explained.

“I'm getting a little older now, so I don't do a dozen or more shows a year, but I get out and make sure people know that I'm still alive.”

Apsen Filly is based out of Arvada, Colorado, but you can find her at major matches she’s attending. She’s also active on Facebook.

– Paul Erhardt, Managing Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network