Got to check out my first cowboy action shooting match

[arcticap]

In 2011, a THR member named Tango2 posted 2 videos about Western Action Shooting Competitions that were held in Lithuania.
They use IPSC rules.
The 24 shooters traveled there from Lithuania, Latvia and Poland to attend.
I remember it because I was so impressed.
I loved their spirit, and how they're practicing freedom that we all take for granted.
Tango2 hasn't visited us since 2o15 but his video links still work and he has posted many, many more since then on his youtube channel.
Now I'm going to subscribe to his channel when I didn't before.
America is exporting more than cowboy style clothing and shooting, we're exporting our ideals and way of life.
Let freedom ring!
Two Threads about Lithuanian Western Action Shooting
1. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/ipsc-with-bp-guns.619358/
2. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ans-are-back-at-it-again.591217/#post-7438758

Tango2 is named Stampi on Youtube and has scores of videos to enjoy watching on his youtube channel. --->>> https://www.youtube.com/user/19001122/videos

In the first video there's interesting still photos showing US gear for the first 40 seconds before live shooting begins.



In the 2nd video there's still photos displayed until the 3rd stage action begins at the 1;40 mark:





They even shoot indoors.

 

[J-Bar]

Cowboy Action Shooting is just another way to have fun shooting guns. Some folks like it. No one is forcing anyone else to shoot it. I hope we can all continue to have fun with guns the way each of us chooses.

I would not want to be around shooters who were "full of themselves" either. I suspect there are those types in any of our shooting sports. In 20 years of playing cowboy in multiple states, I've not run into many of them. I mean, how seriously can you take yourself when you are dressed like a cowboy or cowgirl?

 

[woodnbow]

Not often you see a lady in plaid pedal pushers sporting an 1860 army... it’s unusual. Everyone there seemed to be having a good time!

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I dont affiliate with them sports and never will...but thats cuz im poor and i know its an expensive sport lol

I actually dont know too much about CAS or SASS...and i only know a couple folks that do it. One is a customer of mine and i was as gitty as a school girl when he said the guns i tuned for him worked flawlessly during a CAS match. Made me feel like i was one of them fancy high dollar gun tuners. But i think if i had the funds and time i would probably do one of them sports. As much as i like cap and ball guns i prefer the "trapper" vibe and look/persona over the cowboy genre. Hopefully they would allow it.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

What baffles me is the short yardages they shoot at. I like shotguns/wingshooting/skeet, and that stuff is 23 yards (skeet at center stake) with clays flying in excess of 80 mph. Cowboy shooting is at stationary targets.

Go figure.

I shoot NCOWS and generally targets are much farther. Our pistol targets are about like SASS targets, rifle targets usually 30 to 40 yards. I like it much better but to each his own.

Meant to say pistol targets are about where SASS rifle targets are.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

Sorry double post

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

Goon, I cannot disagree more. Maybe your business depends in part upon these guys, but my interests in BP revolvers has nothing to do with those folks with their high and mighty attitudes.

Piling on?? Really?? Gimme a break, sir. Nothing even remotely like that is happening.

My interests are mostly historical insofar as repros are concerned, and all these guys are concerned about is how fast their guns can shoot.

Neither the twain shall meet.

I've met maybe a handful of those attitudes you speak of but can assure you they are the minority in any groups I've participated with.

As I mentioned NCOWS above would suit you better if you are more interested in the history and not how fast you can shoot. Guns have to be historically accurate models with limitations to any modifications and targets are generally much farther out and penalty for misses is double so there is a better balance between being slow and accurate versus fast.

Also you don't have to shoot a truck load of guns, you can shoot just a pistol and a rifle, or you can shoot three and four gun categories.

 

[dave951]

If the history thing is of interest, in the North South Skirmish Association, we compete either as individuals or as a team using Civil War arms. Main competition is the musket match. All targets are breakable, clocks are running, unbroken count against the score. At Nationals, our range can accommodate 73 eight man teams at once. And we also compete with artillery in live fire.

The first event is the “pigeon board”, 32 clays mounted on a sheet of cardboard at 50yds. A clay at 50yds has the same aspect ratio as an 8in black at 100yds. Next event is 4in hanging tiles. Next are hanging pigeons. Then the infamous “flower pots”. Last is 6in hanging tiles at 100yds.

Each “team” represents an original unit from the War and wear the appropriate uniform. My team is the Palmetto Sharpshooters, an ad hoc unit with no set uniform. So our uniform is distinguished by its lack of uniformity. Anything period is good to go.

So our flavor of historic competition is a blend of speed AND accuracy. You can’t miss fast enough to hit much. That’s the appeal for me over SASS/cowboy stuff.

 

[PowderMark]

My particular interest is the Missouri guerilla fighters during the war. Last year I went to a state championship CAS match and wore all my best stuff. Hat custom made to look just like Bill Anderson’s, authentic battle shirts from James Country Mercantile, square toe boots, Colt Dragoons, 1860 Henry, the works. Some dude wearing stuff from Tractor Supply comes up and says in all seriousness “I know what you are, you’re a pirate!”

To each their own, most are “recreating” Hollywood’s version of the old west from the old TV shows.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Lol a prirate eh?

 

[drobs]

If the history thing is of interest, in the North South Skirmish Association, we compete either as individuals or as a team using Civil War arms. Main competition is the musket match. All targets are breakable, clocks are running, unbroken count against the score. At Nationals, our range can accommodate 73 eight man teams at once. And we also compete with artillery in live fire.

The first event is the “pigeon board”, 32 clays mounted on a sheet of cardboard at 50yds. A clay at 50yds has the same aspect ratio as an 8in black at 100yds. Next event is 4in hanging tiles. Next are hanging pigeons. Then the infamous “flower pots”. Last is 6in hanging tiles at 100yds.

Each “team” represents an original unit from the War and wear the appropriate uniform. My team is the Palmetto Sharpshooters, an ad hoc unit with no set uniform. So our uniform is distinguished by its lack of uniformity. Anything period is good to go.

So our flavor of historic competition is a blend of speed AND accuracy. You can’t miss fast enough to hit much. That’s the appeal for me over SASS/cowboy stuff.

Only problem with the NSSA is there are no shoots west of the Mississippi River.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I have been shooting CAS for about 20 years now. No, it is not for everybody. If you don't like it that's fine. But I can really do without snarky remarks about us using carts to carry our stuff around all day. You try carrying two pistols, a rifle and a shotgun, plus ammo and whatever supplies you might need for the day sometime and you will see why we use carts. I built my cart when I first started, and I am still using it today.





As I said, I have been doing this for about 20 years now. Yes, there are a few jerks. Show me a sport that does not have a few jerks. I have made a lot of good friends over the years at CAS events. Many of us only know each other by our aliases, I don't even know the real names of a lot of my Cowboy friends.

Cowboy Action Shooting, as set out by the Single Action Shooting Society is not meant to be accurate historical recreation. It is just a shooting sport using old fashioned guns that is a combination of the Old West and Saturday afternoon matinees at the movies, if anybody remembers that.

Yes, it is often dominated by the really fast shooters, but a few of us march to a different drummer and don't care how fast we shoot.

 

[Sim Carstairs]

My particular interest is the Missouri guerilla fighters during the war. Last year I went to a state championship CAS match and wore all my best stuff. Hat custom made to look just like Bill Anderson’s, authentic battle shirts from James Country Mercantile, square toe boots, Colt Dragoons, 1860 Henry, the works. Some dude wearing stuff from Tractor Supply comes up and says in all seriousness “I know what you are, you’re a pirate!”

To each their own, most are “recreating” Hollywood’s version of the old west from the old TV shows.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

My particular interest is the Missouri guerilla fighters during the war. Last year I went to a state championship CAS match and wore all my best stuff. Hat custom made to look just like Bill Anderson’s, authentic battle shirts from James Country Mercantile, square toe boots, Colt Dragoons, 1860 Henry, the works. Some dude wearing stuff from Tractor Supply comes up and says in all seriousness “I know what you are, you’re a pirate!”

As I said before, CAS is not meant to be historical re-enactment. It is a combination of the Old West and Saturday afternoon at the Bijou. That is what it is. If you want to look as historically accurate as you can, that is fine. But it is not required.

By the way, if you look closely at my video you will see my rifle is my 1860 Henry. You may even be able to see the follower tab moving backwards every time I lever it. Sorry, nobody makes one chambered for the original 44 Henry Rimfire cartridge, and that ammo would not be available anyway. Mine is chambered for 44-40, which holds a little bit more powder than the original Henry cartridge did.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

By the way,

I just took a look at the videos posted of the European shooting. One of the strictest rules in CAS is pistols are ALWAYS only loaded with five rounds, with the hammer down on an empty chamber. ALWAYS. Even if you are shooting Rugers, which are perfectly safe to fully load all six chambers, everybody only loads five, with an empty chamber under the hammer. We always only load five, whether shooting cartridges or Cap & Ball, because the old Colt style lockwork is not safe with a live round under the hammer. Drop it on the hammer and you may shoot yourself. The Ruger guys are not allowed to load all six, because that would give them an unfair advantage, so everybody only loads five. I had to stop and count, but everybody I saw in the European videos was firing six rounds from their pistols. That kind of detail jumps right out at an old CAS shooter.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

My particular interest is the Missouri guerilla fighters during the war. Last year I went to a state championship CAS match and wore all my best stuff. Hat custom made to look just like Bill Anderson’s, authentic battle shirts from James Country Mercantile, square toe boots, Colt Dragoons, 1860 Henry, the works. Some dude wearing stuff from Tractor Supply comes up and says in all seriousness “I know what you are, you’re a pirate!”

To each their own, most are “recreating” Hollywood’s version of the old west from the old TV shows.

That is a ton of fun! We have a category in NCOWS just for that. Cap and ball revolvers and Henry or 66 rifle. Some of the posses have an unofficial category of all pistols. We were doing it a few years ago in our posse with four cap and ball pistols. Use two pistols to shoot the pistol targets and the other two to shoot rifle targets. We called it Guerilla. Sass groups call it Josey Wales.

 

[Sim Carstairs]

My particular interest is the Missouri guerilla fighters during the war. Last year I went to a state championship CAS match and wore all my best stuff. Hat custom made to look just like Bill Anderson’s, authentic battle shirts from James Country Mercantile, square toe boots, Colt Dragoons, 1860 Henry, the works. Some dude wearing stuff from Tractor Supply comes up and says in all seriousness “I know what you are, you’re a pirate!”

To each their own, most are “recreating” Hollywood’s version of the old west from the old TV shows.

If you could please, I would be very interested in seeing a pic of your Bloody Bill hat and shirt.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I think the high and mighty attitude thing is a misinterpretation of a bunch of people dressing up, shooting guns, and having a good old time. Some of the truly nicest people I have ever met was a husband, wife, and their boy at a SASS event in KY.

Some people think the Parrot Head Club in town are full of themselves. They are definitely full of something (alcohol) but just because they are having fun and don’t seem to be paying much mind to you doesn’t mean they are full of themselves.

 

[drobs]

By the way,

I just took a look at the videos posted of the European shooting. One of the strictest rules in CAS is pistols are ALWAYS only loaded with five rounds, with the hammer down on an empty chamber. ALWAYS. Even if you are shooting Rugers, which are perfectly safe to fully load all six chambers, everybody only loads five, with an empty chamber under the hammer. We always only load five, whether shooting cartridges or Cap & Ball, because the old Colt style lockwork is not safe with a live round under the hammer. Drop it on the hammer and you may shoot yourself. The Ruger guys are not allowed to load all six, because that would give them an unfair advantage, so everybody only loads five. I had to stop and count, but everybody I saw in the European videos was firing six rounds from their pistols. That kind of detail jumps right out at an old CAS shooter.

Different country different rules.

I imagine not being able to own cartridge handguns, rifles, and shotguns and only loading 5 made little sense to them.

 

[arcticap]

Different country different rules.

I imagine not being able to own cartridge handguns, rifles, and shotguns and only loading 5 made little sense to them.

It's interesting that Lithuania does allow gun ownership, with 13.6 civilian firearms per 100 people it's the 58th most armed country in the world.
Wikipedia has a Lithuanian gun ownership chart showing that the number of firearms owned there has more than doubled since 2010, from 80K to 180K. --->>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Lithuania
There's a video from 2019 showing a single longer range shot from a lever action rifle was part of that competition, and they were still taking 6 shots with C&B revolvers.

 

[drobs]

It's interesting that Lithuania does allow gun ownership, with 13.6 civilian firearms per 100 people it's the 58th most armed country in the world.
Wikipedia has a Lithuanian gun ownership chart showing that the number of firearms owned there has more than doubled since 2010, from 80K to 180K. --->>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Lithuania
There's a video from 2019 showing a single longer range shot from a lever action rifle was part of that competition, and they were still taking 6 shots with C&B revolvers.

There's a path to firearms ownership in most European countries. Seems black powder is easier to obtain for some of them.

 

[PowderMark]

I guess I was just trying to say, it doesn’t matter what you wear, just come out and shoot

 

[Jim Watson]

We had a guy who appeared in moccasins, breechclout and leggings, beaded vest and feather in his hair. Too bad he is blonde.
Another had persona as a farmer in bib overalls and brogans, straw hat.

I thought about pinstriped overalls and cap, with a red lantern as prop. I am, after all, an engineer.
But I went conventional westerner. I sure miss that Resistol hat.

 

[.455_Hunter]

By the way,

I just took a look at the videos posted of the European shooting. One of the strictest rules in CAS is pistols are ALWAYS only loaded with five rounds, with the hammer down on an empty chamber. ALWAYS. Even if you are shooting Rugers, which are perfectly safe to fully load all six chambers, everybody only loads five, with an empty chamber under the hammer. We always only load five, whether shooting cartridges or Cap & Ball, because the old Colt style lockwork is not safe with a live round under the hammer. Drop it on the hammer and you may shoot yourself. The Ruger guys are not allowed to load all six, because that would give them an unfair advantage, so everybody only loads five. I had to stop and count, but everybody I saw in the European videos was firing six rounds from their pistols. That kind of detail jumps right out at an old CAS shooter.

Driftwood- What type of loads do competitors use in your matches?

During this past year, I was surprised to see Sportsman's Warehouse offering CAS oriented factory ammo featuring a .45 Colt loading with a 180 gr bullet launched in the upper 400 fps range.

That seems to be a bit "gun gamey" to me.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

I thought about pinstriped overalls and cap, with a red lantern as prop. I am, after all, an engineer.
But I went conventional westerner. I sure miss that Resistol hat.

Pinstriped overalls for railroad engineers are pretty much a 20th Century thing. Most railroad employees, including the engineer, wore clothes no different than everybody else in the Old West. If they wore overalls, they were usually a solid dark color, not pinstriped.






Here is Casey Jones at the throttle. Notice his overalls are a solid dark color.