Lash La Rue played the villain in the film, and was not involved in any of the sex scenes. When he discovered that he had contributed to a hardcore pornographic film, he turned to missionary work in repentance.
It may have been the writer/director who released this film via mail-order back in the VHS days of the mid-late 1980's. There were some softcore skin scenes, but nothing scandalous. The shorter version was entitled HARD TRAIL, and the longer version was titled HARD ON THE TRAIL to reflect the more explicit content. Although cast member Monica Gayle had a long career in softcore films, she may not have done any of the nudity for the HARD ON THE TRAIL cut of the film. She appeared briefly as a saloon girl.
Most sources claim that Lash Larue had no idea that this would be a skin flick. However, one of the film's stuntmen has claimed online that Larue was told that the film would be a softcore "nudie cutie" romp. Larue was okay with that, but was shocked when the film turned out to be a "roughie" with scenes of rape and torture.