Cowboy Action Shooting

[BarbC]

The club I belong to is active in Cowboy Action Shooting, so I thought I'd give it a try.

To that end, I was fortunate to borrow a couple of Colt Lightnings in .38 and a Stoeger coach shotgun in 12 ga with a double trigger and a dead mule. Charlie and I took them out Saturday to try them.

We set up on the bench and the first set of shots were extraordinarily high and left. I did some major "Kentucky windage" and by the end was fairly consistently on target, as long as I held low and right down by the corner of the paper.

My thought was "No wonder the cowboy action mantra is "No target is too close or too big you can't miss it. The game is rigged with pistols that aren't sighted in!"

Then I wanted to try out the 12 gauge. I had a box of shells, loaded two, and handed it off to Charlie with "You try it first." BAM!!!!! He grinned and said, "You're not going to like this!" Great.

Turned out, he had pulled both triggers at once! One at a time was bad enough.

Afterwards, we stopped at my friend's house, who does cowboy action shooting, and said, "Geez - look at these targets!" He said, "Where were you standing?" "At the benches. How close are you supposed to be?" He said, "Seven feet!"

Well, that would make a huge difference. The shooting benches were about 35 feet from the target.

And using light trap loads in the shotgun would make a huge difference too.

Now we know. So this might be fun after all. I just need to figure out an alias.

 

[Rick in IA.]

"Badlands Barb" ??

 

[Andy Griffith]

Ah...

You fooled me. I though you were using some real Colt Lightnings! These are Uberti Lightnings. I really like theses small framed guns.

I'm always bummed out that they never let you use buckshot in the shotgun portion.

 

[Big Fred]

Barb, Just jump in with both feet. It's the most fun you can have with clothes on! Myself and my son have been shooting "cowboy" since 1999. We both have racked up some nice wins. He is a 4 time PA state champion and a 3 time regional champion.

What is your friends alias? I don't know everyone in PA but know a lot of them. I go by "Big Fred" just as I do on this wire and my son is "Slick Silver Kidd".

 

[moonclip]

....I just need to figure out an alias....

In deference to your avatar, how about "Miss Ratched"?

......moon

 

[BarbC]

The PA group is the Matamoras Mavericks. http://www.angelfire.com/matamorasrodandgunclub/CAS/schedule.pdf

There seems to be an awful lot of stuff you need to do this sport which I don't ordinarily have lying around. I'm grateful my friend lent me what he did until I see if this is going to "take off" or not.

 

[m657]

lending newbies stuff is part of the game....

wear your old dominatrix habit and "Sister Ratchet" might work....HAR!!!

Beware....first you try to fit the extra time into your schedule, the next time you notice, everything else is arranged around the cowboy match!!!

Ongoing fun for me going on 15 years now. Wouldn't have believed it...except it gives more excuses , er....reasons to get more guns!

 

[s&wchad]

I just need to figure out an alias.

Calamity Barb?

Just kidding! How's about The Moderator

 

[handejector]

Barb Wire ?? (prob taken already)

 

[Andy Griffith]

Barb...

How do you cook a cowboy once you've shot him anyway?
Probably a bit stringy and can't taste too well.

 

[handejector]

Barb...

How do you cook a cowboy once you've shot him anyway?
Probably a bit stringy and can't taste too well.

Use any good possum or armadillo recipe........

 

[Noah Zark]

. . . There seems to be an awful lot of stuff you need to do this sport which I don't ordinarily have lying around. I'm grateful my friend lent me what he did until I see if this is going to "take off" or not.

I was into CAS pretty big in the late 90s and into the new decade, but SASS's obsession with rules and what's legal and not drove me out. I'd travel two to five hours one way on weekends, and some local clubs would interpret rules differently depending on the whim of the "Territorial Governor" or whatever.

The last straw for me was driving almost three hours for a match and forgetting my leather-soled boots. I had black running shoes and a pair of leather flip-flops. One local club judge wanted to block me from shooting, another wanted to assess points off for non-reg dress for the running shoes. Other shooters said "Let him shoot!" and there raged a great debate. I went to the car and pulled off my shoes and socks and came back to the table and asked if I was now legal. They consulted the book and said I was, so I shot the match barefooted. On the way back home, I decided that CAS was too much like politics and Washington, DC to enjoy it anymore.

Now I set up some targets at the club and shoot against my own times, wearing whatever I want, and saving a pile of $$$ and headache over stupid rools and CAS bureaucrats. Life is too short.

JMO,

Noah

 

[H Richard]

Sounds like some of the same reasons I no longer shoot IPSC.

 

[Andy Griffith]

I'm going to organize a "crap shoot" at my club.

IDPA targets and course of fire, but you get to shoot whatever the crap you bring.

Whether it's a NAA in .22 Short, your race 1911, C&B revolver or T/C contender- you can shoot it in the match.

You are scored against yourself.

I've wanted to take a Contender to a IDPA match...if it only had an ejector.

 

[Big Fred]

Noah, Sorry you had a bad experience. If it was just a local match they should of let it go. I know most clubs that would have and maybe a few that wouldn't. A state level or above match that can't be done.

Really the clothing rules are pretty simple. Blue jeans, a long sleeved shirt, leather boots either pull on or lacers, and a cowboy hat. It's even more relaxed for women as they can wear short sleeves or sleevless tops.

If you don't have any of the needed guns it can be somewhat expensive to get started all at once. When we started the only single action revolver I had was a Ruger Bearcat, and it was of no use being a .22. We shared revolvers, rifle, and shotgun.

CAS has definately increased the amount of guns I own, and the quality has improved since we started.

Barb, don't let the lack of guns and or equipment stop you as there will be a ton of people at your first match wanting to lend you theirs to try out. And that is a good thing as you can find out what guns appeal to you and what doesn't.

I have had a ton of fun since becomming a cowboy shooter. I have made some GREAT friends and traveled to some great places to shoot matches.

 

[Evil Dog]

Did the SASS thing for 4 or 5 years a while back. Then one day I realized that I would be spending 6 or more hours out at a range and actually pull a trigger less than 15 minutes !!! Where is the "action" in that ???

 

[Big Fred]

Evil Dog, For a six stage monthly match I only get about 2 1/2 min. of trigger time. It's still the most fun I've had shooting competitively. There is a lot of time to BS and make new friends. That's where I find my "action".

 

[Noah Zark]

Noah, Sorry you had a bad experience. If it was just a local match they should of let it go. I know most clubs that would have and maybe a few that wouldn't. A state level or above match that can't be done.

Really the clothing rules are pretty simple. Blue jeans, a long sleeved shirt, leather boots either pull on or lacers, and a cowboy hat. It's even more relaxed for women as they can wear short sleeves or sleevless tops.

Fred:

See, that's was the problem, in my experience -- "leather boots, either pull-on or lacers" -- what exactly does that mean? Because some matches allowed rubber soles, some did not -- you had to have leather soles. A few clubs allowed Vibram soles under leather uppers, many did not. I had an old pair of slip-ons that I had resoled in leather just for CAS because depending on where I drove to shoot, the ROOLS were interpreted differently. It got so it seemed to me the sport was all about ROOLS and not having fun shooting at stuff.

But it was a lot of fun up to that point!

Noah

 

[Evil Dog]

Evil Dog, For a six stage monthly match I only get about 2 1/2 min. of trigger time. It's still the most fun I've had shooting competitively. There is a lot of time to BS and make new friends. That's where I find my "action".

I'm having a much better time playing "remote control paper punch" at the local 50' Indoor Bullseye League with my S&W Model 41. Fun is where you find it.

 

[sureshotbob]

Barb try some winchester low report low recoil loads in the shotgun you'll like them !!! After my back surgery cowboy boots were a killer for me .I do miss the fun and comeradery If only I could have got my wife involved but no luck there as she dos'nt like guns but she do'se like my second best hobbie motocycles so at least we do something together!