Dress Right for the Part with a Low-Cost Cowboy Action Shooting Costume

If you’re just starting out in Cowboy Action Shooting, you’ll need a few more things apart from your shooting irons and leather. While guns and leather are a pricey but essential part of your collection, looking the part by having the right wardrobe is just as important in any CAS event. If you’re still saving (or have already spent) your money on firearms and leather, then you probably want to spend a little less on your costume, for the time being at least.

This cowboy shooting sport is a blend of historical re-enactment and a Hollywood western film set. Participants may wear any style of costume they prefer, as long as it is typical of the late 1800’s, a cowboy TV series, and a classic B-western movie. Much emphasis is given to the use of costume as it adds to the uniqueness of the sport, and helps generate a cordial and relaxed atmosphere that reinforces the intimate camaraderie advocated among competitors.

All participants must be in costume and, if possible, invited family and guests should also be in western attires. Levi, Lee, and Wrangler denims are allowed but modern designer jeans with embroideries and colored piping are not.

Assembling Your Basic Cowboy Action Shooting Wardrobe

You will also want to get a cowboy hat, boots, and long-sleeved work shirt. If your budget allows, you can purchase a bandanna and cut off the jeans’ belt loops and add suspenders. For most clubs and in most cases, these are all you’ll need for your basic costume and many members are satisfied with that. However, if you wish to take your Cowboy Action Shooting apparel above the basic, you can still do so without breaking the bank.

You can search for western-style cotton work shirts with button fronts and banded collar at the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and other thrift stores. They are also sold at K-Mart, J.C. Penney, Sears, and Wal-Mart stores. They sell anywhere from $3 to $5. If banded collar shirts are not available, then regular dress shirts can be altered by cutting off its collar at the seam.

Sneakers and tennis shoes are not tolerated. If you’re still saving up for a pair of cowboy boots, then leather work boots will work at the moment. Baseball caps are likewise not allowed.

Where to Get the Best Idea for a Cowboy Action Shooting Clothing

To know your costume, you need to spend some time digging cowboy photos and watching western movies. However, to give you a clearer idea of how you must dress, you should visit a few matches. Most shooters eventually come up with terrific period costumes and you’ll see them at the shooting events. As a new shooter, you’ll be allowed some time to assemble your wardrobe until you have shot for at least a couple of months.

Watching an actual CAS shooting competition will give you a better idea of the rules of the sport and what you’ll need in order to participate. Introduce yourself to the members and ask them what you need to know. You’ll find that cowboy shooting participants are some of the most sociable people around and will be more than willing to give their advice.

The goal here is to have a clear picture of what the right Cowboy Action Shooting clothing should look like.

A Short Introduction to Cowboy Action Shooting Matches

Cowboy Action Shooting competitions are divided into different shooting areas or stages with various western action scenarios that range from simple scripts to complicated shooting routines. Some local CAS clubs that are just starting out have targets but not too many bells and whistles. However, shoots have been exciting and has elicited a lot of interest.

Well-established cowboy shooting groups that sponsor an event spend much time, money and imagination to put all the props and sets in place. These include facades of saloons, banks, and stables, stagecoaches, and even mock-up horses that “move.” Organizing these type of events keep things entertaining for spectators as well as the participants.

The Main Match Guns in Cowboy Action Shooting Competitions

The firearms used in CAS matches are restricted to originals or their replicas, of the type that were around before 1900. Revolvers must be single-action models. Rifles can be either of the lever-action or the slide-action type, but both should be in pistol calibers and have exposed hammers.

Shotguns can either be double barreled with external hammers or slide action with a hammer of the kinds manufactured during the 19th century. Shotguns should be 10-gauge or smaller, with barrels not shorter than 18 inches. Handgun and rifle ammo are restricted to lead bullets with medium velocities. Only low brass lead shots loaded with #4 buckshot or smaller are allowed.

Experience the Spirit of the Game

The main match generally consists of four to eight stages, depending on the number of participants, in which they will shoot at steel targets. Their speed and accuracy will determine their final score. Contestants are timed on each scenario and misses are counted against them. Each miss is equivalent to a five-second penalty.

As a beginner, don’t feel bad if you’ve garnered a lot of misses. Even the pros can actually miss even close targets at times. Just bear in mind that it’s alright for you to miss a target, so long as you don’t look bad while you do it.

The fun part of the event is that participants are required to adopt a cowboy name or alias and to dress up in Old West-style apparel. Some associations are more exact in this aspect than others, particularly on the National level. Local groups generally encourage their members to dress in western clothing, but if you’re just starting in the sport, jeans, boots and a cowboy hat will do for a while.

Many people find Cowboy Action Shooting as the type of shooting sport that allows you to have fun, mingle with folks that share your interest, and really enjoy yourself. The sport is not limited to adult males, but is family-friendly, which means ladies and children can join as well.

Getting Involved in the Sport

This type of sport has a lot of women shooters competing in matches. Women who previously were uncomfortable with firearms end up seriously immersed in the cowboy shooting arena. Much of the womenfolk’s involvement in the sport has to be credited to the congenial attitude of most of the shooters in the event. Add to that the fun factor of  “playing” cowboy or cowgirl.

There are certain shooting categories where women and kids can participate. Most Cowboy Action Shooting groups have categories in modern, traditional, duelist, gunfighter, black powder, ladies, seniors, boys, and girls. CAS clubs can be found in every state all over the country. There’s a category for nearly everyone to join. No matter what state you live in, you’ll certainly find a CAS organization in your locality that will be more than happy to welcome you.

Bring the equipment you have, even if you don’t have all the guns and gears. If you’re just there to look around, come on out and do some shooting anyway. You’ll be provided with guns and ammo. Some groups will even walk you through a shooting scenario or two so you’ll discover what the sport is all about and learn how it’s done.

A word of warning though, Cowboy Action Shooting can be a fun and addictive sport.

The Firearm Require­ments of Cow­boy Action Shooting

Cow­boy Action Shoot­ing (CAS) is a phe­nom­e­nal fast-growing shoot­ing sport that has gained a lot of mem­ber­ships in the US and other coun­tries. It is family-friendly and cen­tered on sports­man­ship and firearm safety. CAS is sanc­tioned by sev­eral orga­ni­za­tions, each hav­ing their own rules regard­ing the types of guns allowed. The rec­om­men­da­tions on this web­site specif­i­cally relate to the firearm rules adopted by the Sin­gle Action Shoot­ing Soci­ety (SASS), the first and largest of the sanc­tion­ing organizations.

The SASS allows both mounted-shooting com­pe­ti­tions and unmounted-shooting com­pe­ti­tions, which have sep­a­rate rules and require­ments on firearms. Only unmounted-shooting require­ments will be dis­cussed in this article.

Choos­ing your first CAS firearms may look intim­i­dat­ing once you’ve learn all the options open to you. This arti­cle will offer some rec­om­men­da­tions on choos­ing your first firearms. With expe­ri­ence, your taste in guns will evolve and change, and you may go through sev­eral sets of guns. Or, like many CAS mem­bers, you may start col­lect­ing them.

All SASS-sanctioned firearms must be of the 1800’s design, and revolvers should be the single-action types. A single-action revolver needs to be cocked each time before fir­ing. Both orig­i­nal firearms and repli­cas are accepted. Vin­tage period firearms can be quite expen­sive, and their safety may not be assured. Var­i­ous repli­cas are avail­able as well. Though not exactly repli­cas in the true sense, the Vaquero and Ruger Black­hawk are much sought after for their supe­rior con­struc­tion and afford­able price.

Select­ing Cow­boy Action Shoot­ing Revolvers

You need to have two revolvers, and most com­peti­tors pre­fer matched pairs. While the most pop­u­lar cal­ibers are the .45 Colt and .38 Spe­cial, most 1800’s-type cal­ibers are allow­able. Revolvers with 7½” bar­rels are eye-catching and easy to sight, but they can be weari­some to use in long com­pe­ti­tions. 5½” and 4¾” bar­rels require less effort to han­dle through extended matches.

Cow­boy Action Shoot­ing revolvers are deter­mined by their sights and the type of pro­pel­lant involved. In the Mod­ern cat­e­gory, shoot­ers can use Ruger Black­hawks or other single-action revolvers of the period that have adjustable sights. Firearms in the Tra­di­tional cat­e­gories, which includes Tra­di­tional, Gun­fighter, Duelist, and Black Pow­der, should have tra­di­tional non-adjustable sights.

Black Pow­der revolvers may either be the muzzle-loading type like the Colt 1851 Navy, or cartridge-type revolvers that use black pow­der rounds. When choos­ing revolvers, visit a gun store and test their firearms. Rugers are ter­rific guns but they are too sophis­ti­cated and can be rather heavy for some people.

Ladies and some men with smaller hands pre­fer to use Bis­ley grips or birds-head grips. Men with very large hands may choose older Rugers which are slightly big­ger than the con­ven­tional Colts. The Colt Dra­goon replica is an extremely large revolver that can also be used by peo­ple with larger hands

Select­ing a CAS Main Match Rifle

The main match rifles in CAS are lever-action, and repli­cas in the same cal­ibers as main-match revolvers are avail­able. Your main match rifle should be of pre-20th cen­tury design and hold 10 rounds in the magazine.

The pop­u­lar selec­tions for CAS are the Win­ches­ter 1866 and 1873, while the Win­ches­ter 1892 and 1894 are the less pop­u­lar choices due to their extra weight and longer lever throw. Shoot­ers also pre­fer the replica pump-action Colt Light­ning rifle. These mod­els are prone to mechan­i­cal issues and may need some expert work by a gunsmith

Select­ing a Cow­boy Action Shoot­ing Shotgun

CAS shot­guns can be double-barreled mod­els with exter­nal and con­cealed ham­mers. Win­ches­ter 1887 and 1900 lever-action shot­guns, as well as Win­ches­ter 1895 pump-action shot­guns are also accept­able. Double-barreled mod­els are, with expe­ri­ence, fairly quick and eas­ier to use. Most sea­soned Cow­boy Action Shoot­ing com­peti­tors, how­ever, use the Win­ches­ter 1895 pump-action mod­els which require a lot of prac­tice to han­dle skillfully.

Cowboy Action Shooting.com.

Enter the fun and exciting world of Cowboy Action Shooting.

This website aims to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date information for just about everything you need to know about the fun and fast-growing shooting sport of Cowboy Action Shooting that’s gaining a lot of members and following not only in America but all over the world.

This website was created to showcase the various aspects of cowboy shooting, the rules of the sport, and its aim to rekindle the Spirit of the Old West and its honorable code of conduct, The Cowboy Way.

For those who just heard about the sport and are interested to know more, this website offers a wealth of articles and information which include topics on:

• how to become a member of a Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) affiliated organization

• how to get started on the sport

• how to choose an Old West personality as your character model

• how to choose a unique and great-sounding character name or alias

• how to dress yourself up in an authentic attention-grabbing western costume

• the rules of the sport and the types of shooting competitions involved

• how to choose the right Cowboy Action Shooting firearms and ammo that’s allowed in the sport and where to get them

• how to purchase shooters leather and other accessories

• practical shooting tips and training guides to improve your game

• and a lot of other information and news about Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS).

If you are looking for anything regarding cowboy sports shooting, from cowboy-style costumes and leather holsters, gun carts to hearing protection, to gun safety and responsible firearm ownership, this website’s got it all covered for you. And we’ll show you how and where to find them without costing you an arm and a leg.

We aim to do all the heavy work of information-gathering on Cowboy Action Shooting - SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO.

So instead of just watching new moon vampires or shooting zombies on your PC’s, dust off your cowboy hats and get involved in the real thing. Cowboy Action Shooting is a sport that also allows women and children to participate, so you can enjoy it with the entire family.

You can find everything you need to get started on right here, from signing up, local shooting events, to training tips. We’ll even provide you a listing of every SASS-accredited Cowboy Action Shooting organizations in your locality so you don’t have to go running around looking for them.

Barely thirty years in existence, Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) has become the fastest growing shooting sport not only in the United States, but even in countries where procuring and owning firearms can be difficult and costly, like the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria and New Zealand. This activity involves target shooting in locations (or stages in CAS lingo) that resemble a typical Old West town. All the guns and costumes used are what you would expect to find during the mid to late 1800’s.

Cowboy Action Shooting Members

Men are primarily attracted to this shooting sport, but you can also find a lot of women as well as children who participate in matches. It is not a rare sight to see a whole family at a CAS event, all of them garbed like they were auditioning for a role in The High Chaparral or Wagon Train.

Women can compete against men, but there are various age divisions so participants can enter a match against people who’s nearer their age.

Apart from the prescribed costume, you must register an alias by which you will be known at the shooting event. It’s fun and you can’t get into a fight by addressing someone as Dead-Eye Dick. Your alias should be unique and reflect a lot about your disposition or profession. You can also take off from or paraphrase the name of a Wild West personality.

Cowboy Action Shooting Guns

The firearms used in Cowboy Action Shooting are the types which would have been found in the days of the Old West, whether they are faithful reproductions or genuine period pieces. The rifles are lever-action, and the shotguns can be the double-barreled type or the 1897 external hammer pump model. The pistols used are single-action, meaning they need to be cocked every time before firing.

Safety is of utmost importance in CAS matches. No firearm should be loaded with ammo unless it is a participant’s turn to compete. Unloaded rifles must have their lever left open, and shotguns must rest in the “broken open” position.

Cowboy Action Shooting Clothes and Gears

You need to be dressed for the part if you want to participate in the competition. Some CAS groups require costumes to be historically correct, down to the last detail like horn buttons. Other organizations allow Western-style cowboy outfits such as those found in classic western television shows like Rawhide and Bonanza.

Cowboy Action Shooting Matches

Most events are held in a simulated western town, complete with a livery stable, a bank, or a saloon. Participants take turns in shooting at a set of targets and are timed from start to finish. More time is added to their score every time they miss a target.

The rules may require a participant to use a pistol (or a pair, depending on the rules) to shoot targets through a saloon window, then replace it with a rifle to shoot at another series of targets. Then they switch to a shotgun, run over to the stable and shoot at four different targets.

If you are interested in this type of activity, be sure to watch out for events near your area and drop by to meet people who are involved in the sport. You just might discover a new Cowboy Action Shooting hobby or sport to get involved in.