Cowboy Shoots

Ted has shown a great concern for my blood pressure and the election in one of his comments telling me I need to get into Cowboy Shooting to get my mind off things. . .

Thanks Ted, but I am ahead of you (at least a bit)

Cowboy Shoots for those who don’t know about them are a shooting sport where you shoot steel plates (and an occasional skeet clay) with old west style guns. You need two six shooters, a rifle in a pistol caliber, and a shotgun which are all time period appropriate to participate. That means single action revolvers and only a few types of shotguns and rifles fit the bill. . . You do a number of stages over a day (six for the two I have watched) and each stage is a set of targets (plates) you need to shoot in a set order. Normally it is something like 10 shots with the revolvers, 10 shots from the rifle, and 2 or 4 shots from the shotgun.

I am currently saving up to get me the six shooters and shotgun I will need to do this. With a bit of luck (ok, in this economy with a lot of luck) I may have the cash for these new shoot'n irons next summer.

I also have a friend from my Karate school who is pushing me to get into it so he has someone to go to the shoots with and that is helping to keep me motivated to get into this. They also do a few each year at my club so I won't have to travel far to do this unless I really get into it. . .

The down side is here in MA we have a very limited supply of guns we can get to do this. You see our Attorney General has a list of the “safe” guns he will let us buy. There are only a few (really only one, the Vaquero) that we can get. I guess they think the gang bangers use old west guns for too many drive bys so they only let the “good” ones in that they won’t use (or some such BS).

I already have a nice Marlin 1894 lever action in 45 Long Colt for the shoots. Now I just need to save up a bunch of cash to get me two Vaqueros in the same caliber and a coach gun or pump shotgun that will pass for Cowboy shoots.

With the price of ammo I will also be looking to do my own reloads since you need 120+ rounds for the shoot plus your shotgun ammo. Lucky for me the same friend that wants to get me into the Cowboy Shoots also reloads and has been nice enough to say he will teach me so we can do this. . . . I have always wanted to do reloads but have been a bit nervous about damaging a gun (or ME) if I did it wrong so I am psyched to have a teacher to show me the way. . . .

Anyway, Thanks for the concern Ted, and if anyone knows where I can get a good price on a couple of Vaqueros in .45 Long Colt in MA I would love to hear about it. . . .

Once I get set up for this I can go back to my wish list and start looking for that 1911, M1, and Springfield 1863 I eventually hope to have in my collection. . . and maybe even an evil Glock or a revolver with covered hammer for carry if I hit the loto at some point = )

The curse of the shooting sports, so many guns, so little money. . . . But at least I am not paying for a boat (that is what I tell my wife. . . .)

Cowboy Shoot

I spent Saturday down at the range observing a Cowboy Shoot. I have to say it looks like lots of fun and I think next year after I get some cash saved up I will see if I can get into it. The idea is kind of cool and I have a friend that is looking to get into it so I would not be the only new guy.

The basic idea is that you get four guns, two single action six shooters, a lever rifle and a shot gun. All must be of the kind you would find in the wild west of the late 1800’s or so. They set up different shooting stages where you have to shoot metal plates in a certain order with the guns and you are timed. Very simples idea, but a challenge when you actually see what you have to do.

To add to this you pick a western name and get dressed up in old west type outfits, complete with gun belts to play the part.

I have to say all the folks we met were really cool and had no problems answering our questions on what we needed to do to get into this. I also watched as an obviously new guy at this went through a few of the different stages. I was impressed as the range officer helped to walk him through it so he could learn the flow. We were warned that the first year you need to focus on getting the flow down, then worry about the speed later.

I think I will go for it if I can get the gear together to do it. Once again I am impressed with how nice the gun folks are to the new guy and more than willing to help him get into the sport.