SASS whimp loads?

Many do shoot real loads. An example is what I shoot, black powder pushing a 250-255 soft lead bullet has both kick as well as being load. Now with that said I don't shoot SASS but do shot NCOWS though some there also like the mouse fa*t loads too, mostly the women in their 38 spls.

The choice is up to you, you can go for speed, authenticity, or fun.

Me?
I load factory equivalent smokeless .44 Special and .44-40 with 12 ga light trap loads.

And what do YOU shoot, ZVP?

ZVP said:

I have been watching some videos of the competition and it really sickens ma to see that some shooters are even shooting pipsqueak SHotgun loads! I just watched a guy fire all 3 guns with such light loads that the lever action was the loudest noise!!!
How can a shooter with full power loads fairly compete with shooters using such low recoil loads? There is no way that a shooter with full power loads can recover at the same rate.
Maybe the classes should be split into high/low recoil catagories?
I doubt such a split could be done because those crybabys would complain!
If you shoot REAL guns shoot REAL Bullets!
OK my rant is done...
ZVP

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AZP,

Maybe you should actually go out to a match before you pass judgement. What might LOOK and SOUND like a light load, might not be such in person. Cameras have some pretty impressive noise blanketing capability. Most of the top shooters are using pistol loads in the 700-800fps range. Most shooters use the same load in their rifle... it's convenient. There are an awful lot of the "wannabe" top shooters think they have to use lighter loads... but they're only fooling themselves.

The rules state that pistols must be held to under 1000fps, and rifles under 1400. Since there's no ADVANTAGE to shooting heavy loads, why subject yourself and your guns to any abuse? Although seldom do my scores indicate such, I'm probably a middle of the pack shooter, but I often stop mid-string, talk to the range officer, crack wise, and otherwise try to fill 60 seconds per stage. Sometimes my internal clock is off.

SASS is about having fun. Pure and simple. Some folks find the costuming fun, some find the simple shooting of period guns in a fashion of their own choosing fun, and others love the pure speed of competition and it becomes their idea of fun. And those have generally found that you need recoil in a single action to cut your split times between shots. It literally cuts the distance your thumb has to move in order to re-cock the hammer. Now, since it is a speed game, too much recoil will put the hammer far beyond your thumb and kick the muzzle into the stratosphere. Making it difficult AND TIME CONSUMING to put the front sight back on the next target.

Another thing to consider, many guys find that they enjoy it so much, they're spending 2 weekends a month out shooting. Some wives find that to be annoying, and tag along. And before long, they decide, like mine, that participating would be better than sitting around... that means hubby gets to buy more guns, more ammo, go to more shoots and spend more time there! Yes, the yard-work suffers... but hey! You're shooting more!

I started with one Colt SAA, a Winchester and an old double... now I have 5 doubles, 3 pump shotguns, five pistol caliber lever guns, and 10 or so single actions... I could never have justified that without the wife's cheerin' me on! Oh yeah, that doesn't count the 3 pocket pistols, 3 derringers, Shiloh Sharps, Winchester 1885, 1886 and some 24 Winchester 94s, in various configurations...

Now there's "Wild Bunch" for your 1911s... and a whole new shopping adventure!

By the way... you wanna stand in front of me when I shoot my mouse phart loads in my Colt Belt Models of 1851? I mean, really, I'm only using about 19 grains of 3F and a little, itty bitty 77 grain round ball! Yeah, that's what I thought.


(Oh yeah... some of this was in jest... You're entitled to your opinion... however WRONG it is).

Look, Big Brother is watching. This is what the land of the free has come to. Some judgemental individual on the internet expects nearly a hundred thousand people to change their behavior because he finds the sight of them enjoying themselves and their guns in their preferred manner disgusting. Thanks, ZVP. I'm sure everyone will immediately start shooting their guns your way, now that you've told us what you want to see.

Seig Heil.

Took a friend to a match who said cowboy shooting was no challenge due to light loads, targets too big and close to miss. He shot my Colts, only 3 of his first ten targets were too big to miss
Linecutter

Particularly in 45 Colt, some of those "cowboy " loads are still as dangerous as you'd like at close range... a soft 250gr lrnfp at a hair over 700fps is no 357 magnum for sure, but up close, it'd still put a big hole clean through a man as easily as it would've 130 years ago.

PS don't break into a SASS shooter's house at night... they're pretty good at hitting targets that're too big to miss

A lot of SASS shooters do shoot light loads. The better shooters aren't usually the ones shooting the extremely light loads because they get better feedback with at least some recoil. But, if you watch video's of any other action shooting, where they have much higher power factors, you will see that it doesn't appear to be much recoil when they are shooting. Good shooters can manage the recoil moving from target to target. If you shoot SASS you can decide to shoot whatever you think will be most competitive, (guns, calibers and loads) or whatever you will enjoy shooting the most.

For me the attraction of SASS was shooting single action revolvers in a big bore caliber. 44 or 45. I shoot 44 special revolvers and 44-40 rifle with full house, blackpowder ammo. I chose, first, to shoot what I would enjoy shooting, and then 2nd, try to be as competitive as possible shooting my big bore black powder loads. Mark

Griff

Thanks for your well worded reply, I was fixing to get mean mouthed.

A lot of SASS shooters do shoot light loads. The better shooters aren't usually the ones shooting the extremely light loads because they get better feedback with at least some recoil.

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I tried some 148 wadcutter loads in my Blackhawks once. They off my timing something awful. My times suffered and my accuracy just sucked. Like I said-I tried light loads ONCE!

targets too big and close to miss.

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Yup-there's a bunch of empty air around those big pieces of steel!!

Well said, Griff.

I've been shooting since I was a teen. Been shooting cowboy action for just over three years. The folks I have met in cowboy are the best folks I have been associated with, hands down.

The shooting is a blast, too.