I wanna be a cowboy baby

R

rickyjames

New member
Well, I love cowboy stuff. What else do I need? I have the following.

2, 45 LC Uberti Cattleman 4 3/4" blue, case colored.
1, Cimerron Thunderer 45 LC 3 1/2" blue, case colored
1 Winchester Trapper 45 LC
1 Winchester 94 30/30
1 Marlin 1895 Cowboy in 45/70
1 Sharps 45/70
1 12 ga double barreled coach gun
1 20 double barrel shotgun
1 .22 Henry Large loop lever

What else should I add to the "cowboy collection" ?
 
Colt Lightening
Winchester 1887
Winchester 97
Spurs
gun leather
Button up pants with suspenders, no belt loops.
Collarless long sleeve shirt
oversize bandana, what the SASS boys call a wild rag.
Might want a saddle on that horse too.:D
Maybe a duster.
 
Never been a revolver fan, but...

I've always wanted a pair of Ruger Vaqueros with the 3 1/2" barrels in 45 lc. Never found any in my price range though. Plus, I'm kinda a semi snob, so.... My uncle has a ruger single six in .22 that I've loved since I first shot it. But that's about my total experience with classic sixguns.
 
You don't need anything, the sport needs a power factor
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It needs to get rid of the gamers, short stroke kits, mouse phart loads and get back to basics. Never happen tho.
 
I tried real hard to make myself shoot SASS matches .......but I`m a born in the wool one shot one kill type shooter , and the SASS sport is no more than a contest to see who can empty their guns the quickest ...the targets are so close range it is no more than a powder and lead dump to me .
On the bright side , it`s seems to attract new shooters , some who have never shot any kind of gun type matches ...there are 2 SASS clubs close to me and I`ve been to both and you won`t meet a more friendly bunch of shooters anywhere on the planet , and they seem to enjoy the sport and the cowboy dress up .
heck I`ve been dressing cowboy all my life and enjoy shooting small targets at great distances .........I own all the guns of the SASS sport in stock configuration and enjoy shooting them , my guns are tuned but not tricked out ...nothing someone with a file and a stone couldn`t have done in the 1800`s .
I wait for the day when SASS or someone else opens a cowboy shooting match where I can enjoy some shooting with out a clock and at much smaller targets at greater distances . Untill then I`ll keep reloading and shooting my black power cartridges and cowboy guns in my own style .
I guess it`s a matter of what ever trips your trigger.......:D
 
Y' gotta remember that SASS is about grown men(and women)playing cowboy. With real guns. It's about the movies, not real life. I shot CAS for several years and enjoyed it immensely. I shot black powder in all of my guns and used full loads. It was a hoot.

I have no use for the gamers who see CAS as a competition to be won at all costs. Tricking out guns for speed and using wimp loads so there is no recoil is cheating in my opinion. Shooting single action pistols with two hands is stupid. Wild Bill Elliot would have puked.

In any case, I quit it because shooting a match every weekend meant reloading all week. And the expense of keeping up authentic garb was over the top. Not to mention that the gamers spoil the flavor of the sport.

So, Riverboat Bill R.I.P.
 
i have thought about doing the cas scene, i have watched a number of matches, met a few of the people and it does seem like it would be fun for the most part. drawbacks are the expense of the period clothing and then there is the winning at all costs thing that is unattractive to me. full race guns, downloading cartridges or using 32's or 38's just seems to take away from the sport. i guess i'll just keep doing what i do, shooting when i can, wearing what i want and adding a few new guns along the way. i think i need a derringer, then there are new guns, different barrels lengths not to mention nickel vs blue and then there are the grips. ivory, stag, pearl, wood. looks like i have alot of work to do :)
 
full race guns, downloading cartridges or using 32's or 38's just seems to take away from the sport.

What the heck is a "full race gun" anyway? "Action jobs" certainly were done in the day. People seem to think that the .45 Colt or .44-40 are the only "authentic" cartridges. The .38 Long Colt cartridge dates to 1875 and the modern .38 Special's performance is so close as to be considered essentially identical. The .38 Long Colt case was 1.03" long and the .38 Special case is 1.16" long, with all other dimensional differences being negligible. The Colt round propelled a 150 grain lead bullet at 750 feet per second, while the .38 Special 158 grain lead bullet is typically around 850 fps, making the wimpy .38 Spl slightly more potent than the "authentic" cartridge. Load it with black powder and it's virtually identical, taking into consideration the .38 Long Colt's folded head case design verses the .38 Special's solid head design. How 'bout those of us shooting .36 cal 1851 or 1861 cap & ball revolvers, which are clearly much less powerful than the .38 cal cartridge guns. Is that taking away from the sport too?

...using wimp loads so there is no recoil is cheating in my opinion.

As I previously stated... using a .36 cal 1851 or 1861 with a full charge of BP is as authentic as it gets, but recoil is akin to shooting .22 magnums. It worked well for one of the west's most famous wimps, Wild Bill Hickock. I guess I'll just keep on cheating...
 
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I'm pretty sure that i'v read that Hickok had went to carrying a 45 long before he was murdered. not that it has any thing to do with the original post. I'm with rickyjames on this one. nothing worse than seeing one of them big old 73's being whipped out and it being all flash and no dash. but that's just me.
 
Hickock carried Colt 1851 Navies to the end, although he may have had them converted to .38 Colt rimfire when he went to Deadwood.
 
full race guns, downloading cartridges or using 32's or 38's just seems to take away from the sport.

What the heck is a "full race gun" anyway? "Action jobs" certainly were done in the day. People seem to think that the .45 Colt or .44-40 are the only "authentic" cartridges. The .38 Long Colt cartridge dates to 1875 and the modern .38 Special's performance is so close as to be considered essentially identical. The .38 Long Colt case was 1.03" long and the .38 Special case is 1.16" long, with all other dimensional differences being negligible. The Colt round propelled a 150 grain lead bullet at 750 feet per second, while the .38 Special 158 grain lead bullet is typically around 850 fps, making the wimpy .38 Spl slightly more potent than the "authentic" cartridge. Load it with black powder and it's virtually identical, taking into consideration the .38 Long Colt's folded head case design verses the .38 Special's solid head design. How 'bout those of us shooting .36 cal 1851 or 1861 cap & ball revolvers, which are clearly much less powerful than the .38 cal cartridge guns. Is that taking away from the sport too?

...using wimp loads so there is no recoil is cheating in my opinion.

As I previously stated... using a .36 cal 1851 or 1861 with a full charge of BP is as authentic as it gets, but recoil is akin to shooting .22 magnums. It worked well for one of the west's most famous wimps, Wild Bill Hickock. I guess I'll just keep on cheating...
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+1 I'll keep on using my '61 Navies, full case loaded 44-40s in the '66 carbine or '73 rifle; and smokey 12 ga rounds in a hammered double.

FM
 
you may be right.but i would be mighty surprised if that was the case. I'll have to do a little digging around and try to remember where i read he carried a 45. pretty interesting to me.
 
Hickock was an extremely good shot. Drawing his Colt while a man was shooting at him and killed him with one well placed shot at 75 yards!

I do believe Bill would laugh at the ranges CAS is shot at and a Colt navy sends a bullet faster than the ridiculous 400fps loads the gamers use!
 
My .375" round balls weigh in at 79 grains, and have to be shot at ~770 fps to meet the minimum power factor.

There is a VERY simple solution to folks' dislike of "gamer loads"... LOAD 'EM HEAVIER, and play the game the way YOU want. There is an overabundance of categories to chose from - pick one and shoot the game your way. There's not another shooting sport out there that allows such a wide variety of guns, ammo, and shooting styles to choose from.
Cowboy Action Shooting isn't meant to be all that serious; it's a social event and an alternative to playing Bingo down at the Legion Hall on Saturdays or a round of golf or whatever. There's no Cadillac at the end of the day.
 
you may be right.but i would be mighty surprised if that was the case. I'll have to do a little digging around and try to remember where i read he carried a 45. pretty interesting to me.
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I'm no expert on Wild Bill and he may have owned a .45 at the time of his death but he always favored/carried the .36 Navies. There are even stories that he used a .44 Dragoon or a .32 S&W in 1865 to kill Tutt but WB knew he was going into a gunfight. I don't see him using a heavy Dragoon or a .32 that probably wouldn't have reached Tutt let alone killed him. He would have carried what he was most comfortable with. He was presented with a matched pair of engraved .36 C&B Navies with Ivory grips in 1869. He always carried them.
 
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