Cowboy action shooting
Encyclopedia
Cowboy Action Shooting also known as Western Action Shooting or Single Action Shooting, is a competitive shooting sport that originated in California
, USA, in the early 1980s. Cowboy Action Shooting is now practiced in many places with several sanctioning organizations including the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), Western Action Shootists Association (WASA), and National Congress of Old West Shooters (NCOWS), as well as others in the USA and in other countries.
s typical of the mid-to-late 19th century: single action revolver
s, lever action
rifle
s chambered in pistol calibers, and side-by-side double barrel shotgun
s (also referred to as a Coach Gun
– with or without external hammers, although automatic ejectors are not allowed) or 1897-style pump-action shotguns with external hammers. Winchester 1887
lever-action shotguns and Colt Lightning pump-action rifles are also legal. Both original and reproduction guns are equally acceptable. All CAS handguns must be "single-action", meaning that the hammer must be manually cocked before each shot can be fired.
Competition in a CAS match generally requires four guns: two period revolvers, a shotgun
, and a rifle
chambered in a centerfire revolver caliber of the type in use prior to 1899. Some CAS matches also offer side events for single-shot "buffalo rifles", derringers, etc. Replica firearms are available from companies such as Ruger, Colt
, Uberti
, Pietta and U.S. Fire Arms Mfg. Co.
One variant of CAS currently sanctioned by SASS is Wild Bunch
Action Shooting, inspired by the famous Western film. According to SASS, this form uses "firearms typical of those used in the taming of the Old West just after the turn of the 20th century". The revolvers used in normal SASS events are replaced with 1911 pistols; lever-action rifles remain in use, while only 1897-style pump action shotguns are allowed. As in traditional CAS, originals and replicas are acceptable.
In SASS Wild Bunch matches, pistols must be chambered for .45 ACP
, rifles must be chambered for pistol cartridges of .40 caliber or greater, and shotguns must be 12 gauge. All ammunition for pistols or rifles must also meet a minimum power factor of 150, calculated by multiplying the bullet weight in grains and the muzzle velocity in feet per second and then dividing the result by 1000. Additionally, maximum muzzle velocities are limited to 1000 ft/s for pistol ammunition and 1400 ft/s for rifle ammunition.
, such as Hopalong Cassidy
or a television series like Gunsmoke
. In SASS-sponsored Wild Bunch shooting, the required dress is military clothing of the early 20th century, Western clothing typical of that time (such as that worn in The Wild Bunch), or Mexican period dress.
Shooters are timed using electronic timers which record the duration for each stage to one hundredth of a second. The timer starts when the Range Officer pushes the button, which beeps to signal that the shooter may proceed. The timer has a built-in microphone and records the time when each loud noise (shot) happens. When there is no more noise, the timer continues to display the final time which is the raw score.
Each shooter's "raw" time for the stage is increased by 5 seconds for each missed target and 10 seconds for any procedural penalty incurred. The fastest adjusted time wins. Targets shot out of proper order incur a procedural penalty, though only one procedural penalty can be assessed per shooter per stage.
In "Rank Point Scoring" the winner of a match is determined by adding up each shooter's ranking for each stage, with the lowest score winning. For example, if a shooter places first in every stage in a 10 stage match the shooters score would be 10 (a 1 for each stage) and would be the lowest score possible. There is some controversy as to whether "Rank Points" or "Total Time" is a better system.
When he comes to the line, the shooter will place ("stage") his guns as required by the stage description (for instance, he may put his rifle on a hay bale to the left of the start position and his shotgun on a hay bale to the right of where he starts the stage, or perhaps his pistols on a table or countertop. When the competitor steps to the start position, the Range Officer who is conducting the stage will ask if the shooter understands the course of fire and clarify any questions the shooter may have. The Range Officer will ask if the shooter is ready, then will tell the shooter to "Stand By" and will start the timer within 2 to 5 seconds. When started, the timer gives an audible electronic tone and the shooter will begin the stage.
An example of a stage might have the shooter draw his first revolver and engage five steel targets, then holster his first revolver and move to his left to where his rifle is staged. He will retrieve his rifle and engage the rifle targets, which are set farther away than the pistol targets. These might be nine separate targets, or perhaps three targets which the shooter will "sweep" three times. He then lays his rifle back down on the hay bale, action open and chamber empty, and runs to the right where his shotgun is placed. Since shotguns are always staged open and empty, the shooter will retrieve his gun and load it with a maximum of two rounds (regardless of the type of shotgun) and engage two knock-down targets, reload and engage two more knock-down targets (which must fall to score.) The shooter will then lay his open, empty shotgun back on the hay bale, and draw his second revolver, this time engaging three revolver targets in what is known as a "Nevada Sweep" (left, center, right, center, left) for a total of five rounds.
After the competitor is finished shooting, the Range Officer will tell him to take his long guns and go to the unloading table, where another shooter will supervise the unloading and verify that the guns are unloaded. The shooter's time is then recorded and any misses or penalties added. Targets are scored by three observers who count misses.
At a typical Cowboy Action range, ALL guns are kept unloaded except when the shooter prepares at the loading table, shoots the stage, then proceeds to the unloading table to unload the revolvers and prove that all guns are empty. Even with empty guns, CAS is very big on safety, even with the theme of the wild west's cowboy attire; all shooters must wear safety glasses while on the firing line, in addition to other important safety rules, more than some other shooting sports have.
The Range Officer is responsible for safely conducting the shooter through the stage, so his attention is not on the targets but rather on the shooter and his firearms. One important duty of the RO is to immediately stop the shooter if the shooter's gun or ammunition is defective in any potentially unsafe way.
In 2009, The Single Action Shooting Society split the Traditional category into the following two categories:
In addition, there often are categories based on how the shooter fires his guns, such as:
All of these categories may also be shot as women's, junior, or senior categories. There is generally no men's category per se, and women may shoot in the same category as the men.
There are many other categories, especially at the local level, but the above are representative of the main types of categories one finds at cowboy action shooting events.
In addition to percussion (cap and ball) weapons, many firearms are center-fire .32 caliber or larger with revolvers and rifles chambered in .38 Special and .45 Colt
being very popular. Ammunition is generally loaded at medium to full power levels, although many junior shooters or women prefer to shoot lighter calibers (such as .32 and .38). A noted trend among some shooters is to use light loads to reduce recoil and improve their times, this tends to run contrary to the "Spirit of the Game".
. Cowboy Mounted Shooting requires that the contestant ride a horse
through a course of fire while carrying the same guns used in Cowboy Action Shooting. The rider competes in a timed event to shoot up to ten balloon targets with firearms loaded with black powder blank ammunition. (Not all black powder will burn during the ignition process and the remaining unburned black powder will travel approximately twenty feet with enough force to break a nine-inch helium balloon target.) Stages designed for Cowboy Mounted Shooting are most commonly designated as "Mounted Revolver Competition" using single-action revolvers of the pre-1900 style loaded with five blanks per gun. Less frequently there are "Mounted Rifle" stages requiring the rider to engage five "revolver targets" with a single revolver and then draw a lever-action
, pump or revolving carbine from a scabbard and engage five "rifle targets." A third type of competition requires the rider to use a single revolver and a double-barrel shotgun
to engage seven targets.
In addition to the main stages listed above, side matches such as team stages and fun stages require the riders to team up with a partner to run a course of fire while carrying a bag of "gold" or hand off a set of saddle bags, or engage helium-filled balloons that are set free to float away and may escape before the rider can shoot them.
Modern Cowboy Mounted Shooting was developed by Jim Rogers and Phil Spangenberger. Spangenberger is an American Old West
historian, researcher and writer, and as part of entertaining talks he would shoot balloons with blanks from old-west guns. Jim Rogers, a founder and former director of the C.A.S.-S.A.S.S. Single Action Shooting Society, approached Phil to develop the sport of mounted shooting.
The three primary governing bodies of International Mounted Shooting are: CMSA (Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association), SASS (the Single Action Shooting Society), and MSA (Mounted Shooters of America).
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA, in the early 1980s. Cowboy Action Shooting is now practiced in many places with several sanctioning organizations including the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), Western Action Shootists Association (WASA), and National Congress of Old West Shooters (NCOWS), as well as others in the USA and in other countries.
Firearms
CAS requires competitors to use firearmFirearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s typical of the mid-to-late 19th century: single action revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
s, lever action
Lever-action
Lever-action is a type of firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area, to load fresh cartridges into the chamber of the barrel when the lever is worked. Most lever-action firearms are rifles, but lever-action shotguns and a few pistols have also been made...
rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s chambered in pistol calibers, and side-by-side double barrel shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
s (also referred to as a Coach Gun
Coach gun
A coach gun is a double-barrel shotgun, generally with barrels approximately 18" in length placed side by side . The name comes from the use of such shotguns on stagecoaches by shotgun messengers in the American Wild West and during the Colonial period of Australia.-History:The term "Coach gun"...
– with or without external hammers, although automatic ejectors are not allowed) or 1897-style pump-action shotguns with external hammers. Winchester 1887
Winchester Model 1887/1901
The Winchester Model 1887 and Winchester Model 1901 were lever-action shotguns originally designed by famed American gun designer John Browning and produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company during the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
lever-action shotguns and Colt Lightning pump-action rifles are also legal. Both original and reproduction guns are equally acceptable. All CAS handguns must be "single-action", meaning that the hammer must be manually cocked before each shot can be fired.
Competition in a CAS match generally requires four guns: two period revolvers, a shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
, and a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
chambered in a centerfire revolver caliber of the type in use prior to 1899. Some CAS matches also offer side events for single-shot "buffalo rifles", derringers, etc. Replica firearms are available from companies such as Ruger, Colt
Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
, Uberti
Uberti
A. Uberti, Srl. is an Italian manufacturer of replica American firearms.Uberti produces high quality replicas of American percussion revolvers, cartridge revolvers, single-shot, and lever-action rifles....
, Pietta and U.S. Fire Arms Mfg. Co.
U.S. Fire Arms Mfg. Co.
United States Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, Inc. is a privately-held firearms-manufacturing firm based in Hartford, Connecticut. USFA produces firearms, primarily single action revolvers, of a type associated with the late 19th Century in the United States...
One variant of CAS currently sanctioned by SASS is Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch is a 1969 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913...
Action Shooting, inspired by the famous Western film. According to SASS, this form uses "firearms typical of those used in the taming of the Old West just after the turn of the 20th century". The revolvers used in normal SASS events are replaced with 1911 pistols; lever-action rifles remain in use, while only 1897-style pump action shotguns are allowed. As in traditional CAS, originals and replicas are acceptable.
In SASS Wild Bunch matches, pistols must be chambered for .45 ACP
.45 ACP
The .45 ACP , also known as the .45 Auto by C.I.P., is a cartridge designed by John Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic .45 pistol and eventually the M1911 pistol adopted by the United States Army in 1911.-Design and history:The U.S...
, rifles must be chambered for pistol cartridges of .40 caliber or greater, and shotguns must be 12 gauge. All ammunition for pistols or rifles must also meet a minimum power factor of 150, calculated by multiplying the bullet weight in grains and the muzzle velocity in feet per second and then dividing the result by 1000. Additionally, maximum muzzle velocities are limited to 1000 ft/s for pistol ammunition and 1400 ft/s for rifle ammunition.
Costume
Competitors are required to wear an Old West costume of some sort, and safety glasses must be worn while shooting. Depending on the standards of the sanctioning organization, clothing may be historically accurate for the late 19th century or may just be suggestive of the Old West. Some might even dress like a character in a western B-movieB-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
, such as Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
or a television series like Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
. In SASS-sponsored Wild Bunch shooting, the required dress is military clothing of the early 20th century, Western clothing typical of that time (such as that worn in The Wild Bunch), or Mexican period dress.
Alias
Participants must select an alias out of the Old West or having an Old West flair, which is registered with the sanctioning body that will prohibit any other shooter from using that same alias at a sanctioned event. Many shooters get creative in selecting an alias (such as the banker who shoots under the alias "The Loan Arranger"). Registered names cannot sound the same as another registered name.Competition
Competition involves a number of separate shooting scenarios known as "stages." Stages are always different, each typically requiring ten revolver rounds (shooters generally carry two single-action revolvers), nine or ten rifle rounds, and two to eight shotgun rounds. Targets typically are steel plates that ring/clang/ding when hit. Sometimes reactive targets such as steel knockdown plates or clay birds are used. Misses add 5 seconds to your time, safety violations and other procedural violations add 10 seconds. Competition is close and contested, with the national and world championships attracting over 700 competitors.Scoring
Shooters compete one at a time, against the clock. Most matches are scored simply by "total time" minus bonuses and plus penalties. Other matches are scored by Rank Points.Shooters are timed using electronic timers which record the duration for each stage to one hundredth of a second. The timer starts when the Range Officer pushes the button, which beeps to signal that the shooter may proceed. The timer has a built-in microphone and records the time when each loud noise (shot) happens. When there is no more noise, the timer continues to display the final time which is the raw score.
Each shooter's "raw" time for the stage is increased by 5 seconds for each missed target and 10 seconds for any procedural penalty incurred. The fastest adjusted time wins. Targets shot out of proper order incur a procedural penalty, though only one procedural penalty can be assessed per shooter per stage.
In "Rank Point Scoring" the winner of a match is determined by adding up each shooter's ranking for each stage, with the lowest score winning. For example, if a shooter places first in every stage in a 10 stage match the shooters score would be 10 (a 1 for each stage) and would be the lowest score possible. There is some controversy as to whether "Rank Points" or "Total Time" is a better system.
Events
Every stage at a match is intended to be different. Sometimes only two types of gun are used, or perhaps even only one. Occasionally a shooter is required to reload a firearm "on the clock".When he comes to the line, the shooter will place ("stage") his guns as required by the stage description (for instance, he may put his rifle on a hay bale to the left of the start position and his shotgun on a hay bale to the right of where he starts the stage, or perhaps his pistols on a table or countertop. When the competitor steps to the start position, the Range Officer who is conducting the stage will ask if the shooter understands the course of fire and clarify any questions the shooter may have. The Range Officer will ask if the shooter is ready, then will tell the shooter to "Stand By" and will start the timer within 2 to 5 seconds. When started, the timer gives an audible electronic tone and the shooter will begin the stage.
An example of a stage might have the shooter draw his first revolver and engage five steel targets, then holster his first revolver and move to his left to where his rifle is staged. He will retrieve his rifle and engage the rifle targets, which are set farther away than the pistol targets. These might be nine separate targets, or perhaps three targets which the shooter will "sweep" three times. He then lays his rifle back down on the hay bale, action open and chamber empty, and runs to the right where his shotgun is placed. Since shotguns are always staged open and empty, the shooter will retrieve his gun and load it with a maximum of two rounds (regardless of the type of shotgun) and engage two knock-down targets, reload and engage two more knock-down targets (which must fall to score.) The shooter will then lay his open, empty shotgun back on the hay bale, and draw his second revolver, this time engaging three revolver targets in what is known as a "Nevada Sweep" (left, center, right, center, left) for a total of five rounds.
After the competitor is finished shooting, the Range Officer will tell him to take his long guns and go to the unloading table, where another shooter will supervise the unloading and verify that the guns are unloaded. The shooter's time is then recorded and any misses or penalties added. Targets are scored by three observers who count misses.
Safety
Foremost, safety glasses (shooting glasses) must be worn at all times. In a typical stage the shooter who is next in line to compete will load his guns at a loading table under the supervision of another shooter. Western-style "six-shooters" are always loaded with only five rounds with the empty chamber under the hammer. The shooter's rifle also will be loaded with the requisite number of rounds with the hammer down on an empty chamber. Shotguns are always left unloaded, then loaded "on the clock".At a typical Cowboy Action range, ALL guns are kept unloaded except when the shooter prepares at the loading table, shoots the stage, then proceeds to the unloading table to unload the revolvers and prove that all guns are empty. Even with empty guns, CAS is very big on safety, even with the theme of the wild west's cowboy attire; all shooters must wear safety glasses while on the firing line, in addition to other important safety rules, more than some other shooting sports have.
The Range Officer is responsible for safely conducting the shooter through the stage, so his attention is not on the targets but rather on the shooter and his firearms. One important duty of the RO is to immediately stop the shooter if the shooter's gun or ammunition is defective in any potentially unsafe way.
Flavor
In addition to requiring shooters to wear Old West attire, the western flavor of the matches is enhanced by having suitable targets and props for the stages. For example, a stage may be set in a bank and the shooter will be required to shoot through a barred "teller" window, then perhaps retrieve a sack of gold from a safe and carry it in one hand while shooting with his other hand. Another stage may have a shooter rescuing a baby (doll) and having to carry the "child" through the entire stage while engaging the targets. Other props may include buckboards, chuck wagons, stagecoaches, and "horses" as well as jail cells, oak barrels, hitching posts, swinging saloon doors, etc.Prizes
No money or merchandise prizes are offered in CAS, but often there are drawings and prizes for people who do not win, ensuring a more family-oriented sport.Categories
While various sanctioning organizations have differing categories, typically such categories would include the following:- Traditional - Shooters use only revolvers with fixed sights.
In 2009, The Single Action Shooting Society split the Traditional category into the following two categories:
- CowboyCowboyA cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
- for shooters of all ages. - Wrangler - for shooters 36 years of age or older.
- Forty-Niner - for shooters 49 years of age or older.
- Modern - This equipment-based category was eliminated in 2009.
- Frontier Cartridge - Shooters use black powder rather than smokeless powderSmokeless powderSmokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
in all their guns. - Frontiersman - Shooter uses cap and ball revolvers, shot duelist style, and side-by-side double-barrel or lever-action shotguns.
- B-Western - Shooters wear clothing inspired by the B-Western films of the '30s and '40s, starring Roy RogersRoy RogersRoy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
, William "Hopalong CassidyHopalong CassidyHopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
" Boyd, and others. "Buscadero" type gunbelt/holster rigs are required, and the shooter must wear spurs. - Wild Bunch - based on popular Western film "The Wild BunchThe Wild BunchThe Wild Bunch is a 1969 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913...
" ,shooters use Colt 1911 pistol instead of revolvers,use lever action rifles,and use Winchester Model 1897Winchester Model 1897The Winchester Model 1897, also known as the Model 97, M97, or Trench Gun, was a pump-action shotgunwith an external hammer and tube magazine manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The Model 1897 was an evolution of the Winchester Model 1893 designed by John Browning. From 1897...
shotgun instead of double-barreled shotgun.
In addition, there often are categories based on how the shooter fires his guns, such as:
- Duelist - Shooter uses only one hand to fire revolvers.
- Gunfighter - Shooter uses two revolvers at once when the stage allows, otherwise shoots right-side revolver with right hand only and left-side revolver with left hand only.
All of these categories may also be shot as women's, junior, or senior categories. There is generally no men's category per se, and women may shoot in the same category as the men.
There are many other categories, especially at the local level, but the above are representative of the main types of categories one finds at cowboy action shooting events.
In addition to percussion (cap and ball) weapons, many firearms are center-fire .32 caliber or larger with revolvers and rifles chambered in .38 Special and .45 Colt
.45 Colt
The .45 Colt cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It began as a black powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver, but is offered as a magnum level handgun hunting round in modern usage. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as the...
being very popular. Ammunition is generally loaded at medium to full power levels, although many junior shooters or women prefer to shoot lighter calibers (such as .32 and .38). A noted trend among some shooters is to use light loads to reduce recoil and improve their times, this tends to run contrary to the "Spirit of the Game".
Cowboy Mounted Shooting
An offshoot of Cowboy Action Shooting is called Cowboy Mounted ShootingCowboy Mounted Shooting
Cowboy Mounted Shooting is a competitive equestrian sport regulated by several national organizations such as CMSA, SASS, MSA, etc. that requires the riding of a horse to negotiate a shooting pattern where targets are engaged with theatrical-stage-blank ammunition that is certified to break a...
. Cowboy Mounted Shooting requires that the contestant ride a horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
through a course of fire while carrying the same guns used in Cowboy Action Shooting. The rider competes in a timed event to shoot up to ten balloon targets with firearms loaded with black powder blank ammunition. (Not all black powder will burn during the ignition process and the remaining unburned black powder will travel approximately twenty feet with enough force to break a nine-inch helium balloon target.) Stages designed for Cowboy Mounted Shooting are most commonly designated as "Mounted Revolver Competition" using single-action revolvers of the pre-1900 style loaded with five blanks per gun. Less frequently there are "Mounted Rifle" stages requiring the rider to engage five "revolver targets" with a single revolver and then draw a lever-action
Lever-action
Lever-action is a type of firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area, to load fresh cartridges into the chamber of the barrel when the lever is worked. Most lever-action firearms are rifles, but lever-action shotguns and a few pistols have also been made...
, pump or revolving carbine from a scabbard and engage five "rifle targets." A third type of competition requires the rider to use a single revolver and a double-barrel shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
to engage seven targets.
In addition to the main stages listed above, side matches such as team stages and fun stages require the riders to team up with a partner to run a course of fire while carrying a bag of "gold" or hand off a set of saddle bags, or engage helium-filled balloons that are set free to float away and may escape before the rider can shoot them.
Modern Cowboy Mounted Shooting was developed by Jim Rogers and Phil Spangenberger. Spangenberger is an American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
historian, researcher and writer, and as part of entertaining talks he would shoot balloons with blanks from old-west guns. Jim Rogers, a founder and former director of the C.A.S.-S.A.S.S. Single Action Shooting Society, approached Phil to develop the sport of mounted shooting.
The three primary governing bodies of International Mounted Shooting are: CMSA (Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association), SASS (the Single Action Shooting Society), and MSA (Mounted Shooters of America).
External links
- CowboyActionShooting.Net
- SASS Single Action Shooting Society
- CAS City
- Cowboy Mounted Shooting
- Mounted Shooters of America
- CAS Europe
- BDS-Westernschiessen, a division of the Bund Deutscher Sportschützen in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...