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SO YOU WANT TO GET STARTED IN
COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING (CAS)
By
Paleface
The first thing to do is go to a CAS match.
If you know someone who is into CAS he will be glad to take you to the next
shoot. If you don't know anyone who is involved in CAS then find out where and
when the next match will be held (see the list on the next page) and plan to
attend; bring a friend who may also be interested just so you will have someone
there to pal around with although the CAS Posse members are friendly and helpful
and most would love to help and give more advise than you'll ever need.
SAFETY is the most important item in CAS.
There is a safety meeting before each match where the Match Director or Range
Officer will review safety requirements. You will need eye protection and ear
protection. All guns must be unloaded and long guns must have the actions open
until it's your turn to shoot. Guns will be loaded only at the loading table and
revolvers will never be loaded with more than five rounds so the hammer rests on
an empty chamber. When at the firing line the muzzle must never break the 170
degree plane and point away from the target. Scoring will usually be by elapsed
time with a five
second penalty for each miss and a ten
second penalty for procedural lapses. After shooting the guns will be
immediately unloaded at the unloading table. The rules are covered in detail in
the SASS Rule book or on the Internet at
www.sassnet.com,
the SASS web site.
DRESS is important to CAS. Some join in
mostly to dress up and shoot the bull, with the shooting only secondary. You can
spend several hundred dollars or nothing, depending on what clothing you already
have. You have the option of being "Period Correct" or "Movie Cowboy" and either
leaves a lot of leeway to improvise. You don't have to be a "Cowboy" at all, you
can be a banker, gambler, gunfighter, soldier, farmer, town drunk or whatever
you desire. You might pick an "Alias" and dress to suit, for instance, "Paladin"
would be all
in black with a Buscadero holster rig or
"Butch Cassidy" would surely wear a
Derby hat. Most clubs are
affiliated with the Single Action Shooting Society
(SASS) and enforce their Rules and
Guidelines. SASS rules say you must wear a correct hat, not a ball cap and no
"Richard Petty" feathers. You must wear long
sleeves but you can roll them up.
Absolutely no tennis shoes or crepe soles or waffle stompers. Almost any high
top leather shoe would be OK and fancy cowboy boots would be "movie correct".
GUNS must also follow SASS Rules: All guns
to be originals or copies of a design made prior to 1900. Handguns = Single
action only, .32 caliber or larger. Rifles = any lever or slide action with
exposed hammer in a "pistol caliber" .25 or larger. Shotguns = Side by Side or
exposed hammer pump of 20 Gauge or larger. "Frontier" class will use percussion
revolvers and must use double shotguns. All CAS Main Match guns must
fire only lead bullets, no jackets or gas
checks. Pistol ammo must be under 1000 fps velocity and rifle ammo under 1400
fps, most Pards load between 650 and 800fps. Shotgun ammo is to be low brass
field or target loads, number 4 shot or smaller - NO high brass or magnum loads.
DON'T RUN OUT AND BUY GUNS UNTIL YOU HAVE BEEN TO A MATCH! Many people do and
then wish they had bought something else. If you already have one or more
appropriate guns use them to start with and if not some fine CAS shooter will be
glad to let you use his until you decide what you want or can afford. Your guns
will also determine the class in which you will compete. Those with adjustable
sights shoot in the Modern class while fixed sights shoot Traditional (two
handed) or Duelist (one handed).
There may be additional classes such as
Junior, Senior and Ladies.
ALIAS is what you will be known by. Like a
trucker has a handle, all CAS
shooters have an alias. The alias may be an
actual historical person, a movie or TV character or just something you make up.
You may use any alias you choose so long as nobody else has the same alias. When
you decide to join SASS they will make sure your alias is not a duplicate, and
with over 50,000 members you have to be pretty inventive. For instance, you
couldn't get the alias "Tex"
as
it is taken but you might get "Tex Smith"
or "Tex Ryder" and just use "Tex"
locally but have to use the full name at
regional matches. Some of the aliases used in Utah are: From the Movies:
Desperate Ambrose, Lt. John Dunbar and Paleface; From Books & TV: C.J. Conagher,
J.O. Sackett; from real life: Porter
Rockwell, J.B. Stetson, J.W. Powell; Based
on their Profession: Doc Freud, Psychiatrist; Dog Woman, raises seeing-eye dogs;
or just for fun, Crazy Ivan and Shameless Hussey.
UTAH currently has several
Single Action Shooting Society affiliated Cowboy
Action Shooting clubs. Deseret Historical
Shootists Society and the Wahsatch Desperadoes both shoot at the Kaysville
range. The Hobble Creek Wranglers are based in
Utah
County. The Crow Seeps Cattle Company is based in
Sanpete
County.
The Wasatch Summit Regulators shoot in
Parley's Canyon (the only
Utah club
that shoots on Sunday). The Diamond Mtn.
Rustlers are in the Vernal area. The Castlegate Posse is at Price. The Roller
Mill Hill Gunslingers at Panguitch. The North Rim Regulators at Kanab.
The
Dixie Desperados at St. George.
Many
of the Pards are members of two or more
clubs and attend all the shoots they
can.
For more information about SASS & CAS go to
www.sassnet.com on
the internet.If you wish to get e-mail CAS notices send your name & alias to
PALEFACE,
paleface_sass@yahoo.com
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