1st Cowboy Shoot!! Awesome

[Evil_Ed]

Had my first experience as a competitor in a cowboy match yesterday. I have been postponing it for awhile as I don't have the guns I need but was finally talked into trying it by my buddy who is the cowboy match director at our local club. So with a piecemeal holster rig (thick leather belt, cheap holster and a borrowed cross draw holster) and 2 borrowed guns I stepped up to the line and shot something other than film for the first time at a SASS match. I competed in the modern class as one of my pistols was a Ruger Blackhawck with an adjustable sight. I was so nervous on the first stage that I had problems hitting with my shotgun and completed the stage pretty slowly with a total of 4 misses but no procedurals or safety violations. Second stage went much better and I shot it clean in a reasonable amount of time (it's amazing how well you do after the initial nervousness has passed). Totals for the match were (I think) 8 misses out of 5 stages and I managed to shoot 2 of the stages clean, I had no procedural errors and no safety violations so managed to keep from scaring the other cowboys.
All in all a very fun experience and one I will be repeating often. I'll definately need to get a full set of guns soon as this was more fun than a human has a right to have with a gun! I highly recomend the sport to any that haven't tried it out yet. All the other shooters were very friendly and helpful to a newby and I felt right at home with them. Great fun and great people made for an awesome first experience!

 

[joab]

Where in Fla are you.
I'm in the process of building my cowboy collection now

I've got a 7.5in 44/40, 2 shotguns and 1 on layaway.
I need a second handgun and a rifle.
I'm trying to work a trade with some 1911s and a Beretta now.

 

[Burt Blade]

Joab,

The Indian River Regulators are located in Palm Bay, Florida, at the Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol club. Here is our web site:
http://www.indianriverregulators.com

We shoot on the fourth Saturday of almost every month. We are not holding one on December the 25th, as we have been told that folks plan to stay home that Saturday, for some reason involving deer they plan not to shoot, and a fat man sneaking into their house that they also plan not to shoot.

Folks is strange, eh?



(Nice shooting, Ed)

 

[griz]

That's good to hear! No the bad news, once you're hooked, you will talk yourself into "needing" more and more guns. Well....maybe not so bad news

 

[joab]

I made the mistake of buying 44/40 for my first gun. You can't get good deals on 44-40 guns like you can .45 or .357.

It may simply end up as a back up.

I'm hoping to work a trade deal on a Rossi 24" Winchester rep in .45LC this week

I have an 1858 so all I would need to get started would be a conversion cylinder, unless I want to go BP or modern ( I also have a Super Black Hawk)

 

[Tom C.]

I am one of those guys who has been doing the CAS shooting for several years. I am still having tons of fun. I am even getting a little better. I started with .45 pistols and rifle. After several years, I got .357 pistols. Definitely makes a difference. My wife thought I was strange trying this, but she decided to go and see what was going on, and now she is hooked, too. It can be a great sport for the ladies. They tend to favor the dress up/socialize parts, but it gets them shooting, which they might not be doing otherwise.

 

[Evil_Ed]

Joab said:

Where in Fla are you.
I'm in the process of building my cowboy collection now

I'm in Melbourne, over in Brevard County (30-45 minutes south of Cape Canaveral in traffic). I need to get some medical bills payed off both from our recent baby and for a trip to the hospital a week or so ago for our eldest because of pnuemonia before I can get the rest of my guns.
I really want a set of stainless vaqueros and a marlin cowboy competition lever action in 45 colt to start with although I might go with 357/38 for the cost benefits on ammo/reloading, eventually I want one of the 1873 repro lever actions so I can compete in classic cowboy. I'll probably even get a set of cap and ball pistols further down the line just to play with and maybe compete in frontier cartridge.

Griz said:

once you're hooked, you will talk yourself into "needing" more and more guns.

Darn, an excuse to get more guns...that's a fate worse than death!

Joab said:

made the mistake of buying 44/40 for my first gun.

I wouldn't call it a mistake, that's an authentic caliber for a cowboy gun so I think it is worthwhile owning regardless of whether you end up using it in competition anyway. As to the Rossi, good luck, they are good guns. I had a Rossi 20 gauge coach gun while growing up, it was our snake/wild animal gun by the door of our house. I loved that gun and was heart broken when it was stolen. Recently I picked up 2 of them through gunbroker and I was very pleased with it's capabilities at the match this weekend. When I go hunting for an 1873 repro I will be looking at the Rossi's first.


Tom C said:

My wife thought I was strange trying this, but she decided to go and see what was going on, and now she is hooked, too.

I'm working on my wife for the whole shooting thing now. She asked to take a safety course recently so we will be signing her up for basic gun instruction soon. I'm hoping I can get her out to a couple of cowboy matches, I think she would like the people and the fun if I can get her out there.

 

[joab]

Have you been to Buffalo Bills yet. They are pretty much all CAS. They have more of a selection in the store and on Gunbroker than they show on the website

 

[Evil_Ed]

I'll have to take a road trip over to check them out. Sounds like they have some neat stuff there and the items on the website seemed very interesting.

 

[Tom C.]

Looks like Ruger is introducing a New Model Vaquero that is a little smaller and more Colt-like than the current Vaquero. It will be available in .45 Colt and .357 for now.
Whatever guns and caliber you decide on, take some time to decide. Having the two revolvers and rifle in 1 caliber makes things easier. And it is easier if it is a common caliber, like .45 Colt or .357. 44-40 is nice and authentic, but not very common if you need help during a match.