EdInk, If you have never been to a cowboy shooting match, please don't judge them.
As others have posted, it is about shooting AND period dress. It is a great way to meet others, have fun and shoot a very cool, and timed, event.
The "Dressing up" part of the event is just part of the atmosphere. Most of these folks have more than a thousand dollars invested in their guns alone (pistol, shotgun and rifle). They actually do not look silly, at least here in the Midwest where we have the Amish and mennonite farmers. You run into people all the time in the local stores dressed like they just stepped out of the wild west. Some of the period dress is very simple, some is very elaborate and some of it looks like a really bad class B movie. I guess you would have to be there to understand.
I checked them out because I had heard so much about it I wanted to see for myself. There were cowboys, doctors, bankers, bakers, miners, peace officers and their wonderful spouses. (Not all of them wore hats.
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There were people sharing guns with others who did not own a gun.
I do not like the militarize type guns. I usually refuse to shoot at the range when others are there shooting them. I do not think it is silly that they dress in camo and act like they are in the military, it is just how they want to dress when they shoot.
I do not think the zoot suiters are silly for their dress. They get together and just have a good time.
I guess what I am saying, your statement about something being childish and silly, could cause you to miss out on meeting some of the nicest people in the world.