cowboy shooting?

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shevrock

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I just saw some videos on youtube of cowboy shooting competitions, and had some questions. First is their any competitions in Tennessee. Second what are the cheapest place to get said "cowboy guns" in Tennessee or online. And which guns would qualify as a cowboy gun.
 
I have a friend who is deep into Cowboy Action, says he is writing a book entitled "How I Got Started in Cowboy Action Shooting for less than $100,000.00" ;):D
 
Besides the firearms you will need to get all of the accouterments to match. Proper fabrics, no zippers, correct period accessories.

Some have made it quite a religion, it's not just the firearms.
 
Shevrock,
Several places in Tn to shoot Cowboy Action. Check the above web site and then the sites for individual clubs.
You willneed 2 single action pistols, a lever action rifle in a pistol caliber and a double barrel or model 97 win shotgun. the lever action shotgun is also legal but not as common.
Check the web site under "Affileated Clubs", find one near you and go watch, talk to people, some will even let you try a few guns. I usually carrys spares and enough ammo to shoot the match twice.
Don't worry about clothing at first.
CF
 
Shooting the guns is fun but after a year with SASS, I let my membership lapse. Too many unsafe shooters, too many unqualified RO's, too much standing around waiting for your few moments of firing your weapons.

I also felt a bit silly dressing in costume and being forced into two sidearms rather than one kinda ticked me off. Few people carried a pair of sidearms back in the old days.

The negative said, most of the folks I met were great people and willing to share their time and knowledge and I had fun for awhile. However, unless you become a "gamer" - someone who practices A LOT and chooses mousy calibers, you will not be competitive and will never win anything. In the end, it's a competition between serious shooters just like all the other shooting sports groups.
 
cowboy shooting

It is absolutely incorrect that you have to wear period correct fabrics, clothes with no zippers and have all period correct accessories. You can wear blue jeans, boots, long sleeved work shirt and a cowboy hat. Now, of course some people do go all out, some attempting to dress more as an 1800's cowboy and some more like the silver screen heroes (Roy Rogers and the like). People shoot everything from some light loaded ammo in all allowed calibers to 45 Colt 250 gr bullets over a full case of black powder. There are a lot of older shooters but I haven't seen anything showing that the cowboy shooters have any more accidents (Very few that I've heard of) then any other shooting sports. There are a lot of people that are just having a good time and also some very excellent shooters. I love it and have started shooting IDPA also.
And yes. To be competitive you actually have to practice. What kind of competition would it be if you could be the best without practicing? That's kind of a silly complaint.
Smokin Gator
 
I"ve been to hundreds of matches and never seen an unsafe shooter at a cas match.
Yes,there is more work and dead time than shooting time,but it's all fun for me and thousands of others.
It does take some bucks to get into it,but what shooting sport doesn't?
 
cowboy shooting

It is absolutely incorrect that you have to wear period correct fabrics, clothes with no zippers and have all period correct accessories. You can wear blue jeans, boots, long sleeved work shirt and a cowboy hat. Now, of course some people do go all out, some attempting to dress more as an 1800's cowboy and some more like the silver screen heroes (Roy Rogers and the like). People shoot everything from some light loaded ammo in all allowed calibers to 45 Colt 250 gr bullets over a full case of black powder. There are a lot of older shooters but I haven't seen anything showing that the cowboy shooters have any more accidents (Very few that I've heard of) then any other shooting sports. There are a lot of people that are just having a good time and also some very excellent shooters. I love it and have started shooting IDPA also.
And yes, To be competitive you will probably have to practice. Is that unusual in a shooting sport? Smokin Gator
 
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SASS is not strict on clothing, anything that looks reasonably close to cowboy will do.

If you want to work at it, look into NCOWS, they are more authentic.

If you think any shooting sport is expensive, you don't bass fish. Those guys PAY for their fun.
 
It started as a simple game, just like NASCAR, IPSC, NHRA, or anything else....you can spend a fortune trying to keep up with the Jones' or get into the top tier of gamesmen, or you can just dress simple, shoot simple, and have a good time....as noted above, for matches, you need a minimum number of guns, but most side-matches are much more free-for-all, whether that be derringer or Mauser 1871's......
 
It's not the only expensive Cowboy sport either... I used to rodeo. If you're pretty good at it, you can break even. If you are especially talented, you can make a lot of money. But if you suck it can cost more than a bad crack habit.

Oh, and +1 on Bass fishing. I used to catch a lot of bass when I was younger, but nowadays you need at least 20 or so rods not to mention the boats. Bass are too snooty for poor folks anymore.

I don't do the Cowboy shooting, but I do like the guns they use.
 
Cowboy Action Shooting: ammunition sources?

Given the prices for ammunition these days, can anyone recommend some sources for reasonably priced .45 LC and .44 Special target ammunition? There has to be a better way than paying $28 a box. (And no, I am not yet set up for reloading.)
 
Get set up for reloading. That's your only choice if you're not rich. You expend a LOT of ammo in CAS and if you shoot .45 like I did, it gets very spendy in a hurry. Reloading lets you shoot all your weapons for a lot less money. It will pay for itself quickly if you like to shoot a lot and it's really not hard at all, especially with Dillon presses (I use the 550).
 
Yeah, reloading is the only way to go. Got to be careful about that though, once I started reloading I bought more guns in different calibers. Why not, ammo is cheap when you reload.

I've been shooting CAS for more than a year. Lot of nice people, and shooting the single actions, lever actions and double barrels is just plain fun. Go out to a match and see for yourself.
 
I am thinking of trying it also i talked to a few guys that do it and found out where the matches are . my daughter and i do cowboy mounted shooting now it is where you run a course and shoot balloons while riding on the horse.So we have most of the stuff to do it with already but i know if you are just starting out it is expensive I don't even want to start adding up how much i have spent on it especially now with diesel prices if you got to go out of town to shoot youre looking at a 500.00 fuel bill ! But there ain't nothing like riding and shooting at the same time .
 
Yes to 45acp but bullets need to be all lead. The other thing is finding guns chambered for 45acp.

The basics are any pistol caliber between 32 and 45 cal loaded with lead bullets. Rifle also needs to be pistol caliber.
 
The rule says:
"Must be a caliber commonly available in revolvers. Examples include but are not limited to .32-20, .32 Magnum, .357 Magnum, .38 Special, .44 Magnum, .44-40 and .45 Colt."

You could probably get away with it getting started on a local basis, using lead reloads in the ACP cylinder for a Ruger or Uberti .45. Big shoot, probably not. Jacketed hardball, no way. Not even the occasional 'Wild Bunch' match that allows more modern guns as shown in the movie of that name will allow jacketed bullets.

I would sure not buy a .45 ACP with the expectation of being allowed to enter with it (them.)
 
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