Getting started....

[Marshal Halloway]

Click on image for some good starting points in getting involved in the action.

[Marauder]

The Marshall has included some of the best information to help new folks get started in this fun sport!

[Big John Denny]

You're right on target yet again Marshal. I read Capt. Baylor's handbook on line before I went to my first shoot. It helped a lot.

[hawk167]

Fresh off the stage......
As a former IPSC shooter, I think I've found a new "home."
I used to build my own "flat-side .45s'" from the frame up and re-work my S&W 586s'.
I loaded all my own ammo.
It used to be fun..........."bring what 'yer shootin"....as long as it was centerfire.
Iron sights was what real men were shootin' and ladies too.
That all changed when everyone went "Luke Skywalker." Now it was custom guns at $3500 and
Aim Points and such.
Gone were the the days of the good 'ole boys and their iron sights.
KISS=Keep It Simple Stupid.
Now I need to scratch my head and figger what I'll be needin' fer shootin' irons!
Yeah.....I'm home agin'

[DarkBlack]

I remember back last March, when I had no guns, no clothes, and no surplus of cash to rush out & pick up everything I needed. I found this place while trying to put "Dark Black" together from childhood "Dodge City" dreams.

Lots of great, useful info here.

One thing I'd like to take the time to emphasize for "newbies" is to never pass a resale shop without scouting it for cowboy clothes. I've found some great shirts that are quite period correct for a song, and I've even found wool vests with lapels and bracers all for a fraction of what any cowboy vendor would ask for the same gear. What happens many times is that someone will get a piece of clothes for a gift & it looks to costumy or too cowboy for them so they donate it.

I recently found a satin vest with a fancy gambler pattern that was too small for me, but it was only $3.00!!! I bought it anyway, photographed it, posted it on eBay, sold it for $20, bought a box of bullets, two packs of primers, and still had enough left for a cup of coffee (real coffee, of course, not that $10 a mug Starmuck's Crapacino stuff)! I'm all set for the next shoot (in April!) thanks to the resale shops.

If it weren't for this single, dollar saving tip, I certainly wouldn't be able to afford to look the part . . . and my wife says I dress like a dandy! I told her she'd better smile when she says that.

Stay Good,
--DB

[Coop Trawlaine]

Well put DB, off the rack, third or fourth time around gives those duds real life character....

Coop

[Maddog]

Thanks but I am still a little leary about going to a match.  I am still looking to put a few guns together.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Was reading Dark Black's post and I thought, well maybe I should not worry so much.

After watching my 401K dwindle by about half, I finally reached that golden age of 59 & 1/2 (at that time you can pull out funds without penalties).

So I have been blessed to find a pair of EXCELLENT 7 inch Schofields, an uplands single trigger SXS Baikal uplands, a very smooth Winchester Model 94 (late model/side ejector) that cycles both .45 Colt and .45 Schofield snap caps quite well. We will see Saturday just how well it cycles with real ammo.

My one 'I pushed the fool button' is that I bought a Cap Coyote gunsmithed Model 1887. I just picked it up today, and I imagine it will be months before I get the 'muscle memory' down pat to be able to compete with it. When I do, I think the 26" barrelled Baikal will become a backup shotgun and ready for the few times I get invited for skeet or on a hunting trip....

Speaking of vests, I don't remember which company it was, but they had most of their vests at $24.95 each. So that brings me up to four outfits, brown and black boots and spurs, and a pocket watch.

By the way, Craigslist is a great resource. I click on the FOR SALE section, and put 'cowboy' on the search engine ... that way, it searches for everything under FOR SALE and keeps one from having to check multiple areas (like clothing, garage sales, etc.). So far I have bought like new cowboy boots for $30 and $60, a classic Stetson for $25, and found used spurs there through a tack dealer.

There is a bar here in Sacramento called Fat City. The bar back is mahogany and over a hundred years old ... and came from the Unsinkable Molly Brown's hometown of Leadville.

Anyway, the manager has been kind enough to let me come in early to get some pics in full cowboy clothes and weapons. A friend has a camera with a sepia tone option on it, so I hope to get some good pics .... I hope to get a full body shot to use as my photo on my profile too.

Talk to Y'all soon!