dressing for cowboy action

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dalegribble

New member
A question about dressing up for cowboy action shooting. Authentic dress is required I guess but how many cowboys actually dressed in $300 hats with $500 holsters? I see far too many people dressing like dudes, gamblers and B western charactors. While sometimes fun to look at and bringing out the inner child in many people it doesn't seem very realistic to me. My idea of proper western attire is along the lines of John Wayne, James Arnes and other more simply dressed cowboys. I picture more people dressed like Festus Hagen than Bat Masterson, Lonesome Dove was a good example of what the real west was probably like. I read somewhere where most cowboys carried civil war pistol conversions for around $3 rather than spending $15 or more on a peacemaker. I do enjoy the calvery soliders, army scouts and Mt men outfits though. Anyone else think there should be more worn out hats and holsters out there?
 
I am there for the shooting, not the Easter Parade. I do not put a whole lot of effort into costuming, either fancy or "realistic", just enough to not stand out as the oddball.
 
I try to make my costumes (or cowboy drag as I call it) look authentic but not overly dressy.

Some people prefer the high society or saloon look but I just keep it simple.

cowboy.jpg
 
B Western is a SASS class unto itself. Dress how you want for the most part. As long as you've got jeans, boots, a long sleeve shirt and a hat(Shady Brady's not allowed)nobody's gonna say anything. Some classes will be a little more demanding. As for gun leather, the really cheap stuff will handicap you and your guns will drag coming out of the holster. You'll either have to tie them down or use both hands to draw.
 
I tried it because I love shooting the old time guns but the dress up left me cold. I gave it up. Also, the use of two pistols was a big turn off because real cow pokes didn't use two. I'm gradually selling all of it off, two 45 cal vaqueros 5 1/2 inch, the old models, are next. The membership to SASS is over priced for what you get. I seldom found anything in their magazine I enjoied reading.

For those of you who love it, have a ball.
 
Some of the gunfighters carried two. You don't have to belong to SASS to shoot local matches. You don't have to dress to the nines. Jeans a pair of boots, a hat and long sleeve shirt will get you by.
 
Also, the use of two pistols was a big turn off because real cow pokes didn't use two.
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Actually many of the more successful ranchers and less savory characters did carry dual sidearms. Most working class, honest cowboys did not only because (and alot of people seem to forget this) in those days a sidearm cost about a full years wages.
 
Actually it would have been closer to a months wages.
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No, cowboy wages were very meager. They were around $25-$40 a month in some cases.

Often a cowboy would start a job at $25-$40 and immediately go into debt $100-$200 to the company store just for camping, riding and clothing needs.

Then when you take into consideration a good firearm was $200 and up you were looking at nearly a years wages for one.

That is why alot were passed down.

I just saw a special about it on the outdoor channel the other day. :)
 
"Then when you take into consideration a good firearm was $200 and up you were looking at nearly a years wages for one"

200 bucks for a gun? I have 1905 catalogs and new rifles, shotguns and handguns could be had for $30 and less, which was still a healthy sum back then. 200 bucks musta been some hand engraved jewel encrusted beauty.
 
200 bucks for a gun? I have 1905 catalogs and new rifles, shotguns and handguns could be had for $30 and less, which was still a healthy sum back then. 200 bucks musta been some hand engraved jewel encrusted beauty.
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I was kind of being facetious by saying it must be true because I saw it on TV. :)

I do think the guy on the show was comparing the level of gun that most cowboy action shooters use today to what it would cost back then and not to the standard firearms used at the time.

I have seen old firearms ads that are very high priced right next to ones that were much cheaper. My old dealer had one in his shop from around 1915 that was $180 for I believe a Colt revolver. It also gave the price in ounces of gold which I thought was cool since it meant it was definately geared at the west coast. It was also a very pretty engraved one. :)
 
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I don't know exactly how much a Colt revolver sold for in 1915 but in 1863 they sold for 13.75 and that was war time. I'm pretty sure during the 1880's - 1900 Colts were selling for around 30.00-35.00 which would have been a months wages for a top cowhand. One old advertisement I remember seeing was along the lines of a Colt being cheap enough for anyone to be able to afford one.
 
I actually still had the show on Tivo. I watched that part again and what he actually said was the standard setup (I assume two sidearms, lever rifle, and shotgun) a modern day shooter uses would have cost more than a years wages to even the higher paid cowpokes and that the lesser paid ones would shell out a few months pay for a good sidearm alone...not to mention the cost of leathers and such. :)

He said good pay was $35 a month and low was $15-$20 so that adds up.

He went on to say must cowboys could only afford one because they were always so in debt to the company store and that an inherited piece was a real treasure.
 
Unfortunately I don't have the references handy any more, but several years ago I read that there was a period during the California gold rush when new Colt revolvers sold for over $100. They were very rare and some miners (darn few) had the gold, if only for a short while. A classic supply/demand spike.
 
Dressing for cowboy

Dressing up for CAS is part of the fun you do not have to spend a lot of money. My mom made my first two shirts and I still get comments on how good they look. As far as two pistols we go to these matches to shoot not to reload on the clock so two guns allow us to shoot more and reload less on the clock. Remember this is a game not reallity it is for fun and enjoyment. Gus. Ps I can put on my cowboy suit and dress to the nines or I can dress like Gus McCrae or Sam Elliot in Tombstone. I don't shoot too good but I do look good.
 
Huh, how 'bout that I don't have a single picture of me in CAS garb available.

Most of mine was heavy clothing I got from goodwill, altered with what little sewing skill I have. My boots were expensive but I've had them for almost 10 years. Got my gunbelt secondhand but I'm actually loosing a little weight so soon I may have to get a smaller one!

On the whole I think I have about $50 tied up in my costume.
 
The "dress up" is the main reason I have never participated in those games. I don't put on a German staff officer's uniform to shoot a Luger; I don't dress up like a British redcoat to fire my Enfield rifle-musket; I don't don an Italian WWII uniform to fire a Beretta 1934; I don't dress in buckskins to shoot my Bedford County "Kentucky".

Also, since I often go to the range with several guns, my costume would have to be pretty mixed - black German boots, tan buckskin shirt, red coat, green holster - I might be colorful, but I would be lucky if no one called the guys in white coats.

I have quite enough problems with just being me, so I think I will continue to pass on sports that require role playing.

Jim
 
rules

Jim as a child did you wear a blindfold to play blind mans bluff or follow the rules of any game those are the rules of the game to dress like a cowboy if you do not want to play then so be it don't play. IDPA says you will wear a garment to conceal the gun rules again. IPSC has rules also if all you want to do is go to a range and shoot have fun. Been there done that but coming together with other contestants in the game is fun and builds character. To each his own Gus
 
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