First Match

[Thomas O'Hawk]

It occurs to me now that may be why I see all those cartridge pouches on all the shooters gunbelts.  It makes a great place to stash a bag!

[Popa Kapoff]

Shot my first match and came in first in my catagory and it been down hill since then. That match did use shotgun. So I need shotgun pratice.

[Thomas O'Hawk]

Woo Hoo!  Very nice.  Yeah, I have to agree that there is no good substitute for practice.

I see you have an 1875 Remmy picture in your post.  I shot my last match with a pair of '75s and am well pleased.  I am still getting used to the action and front heavy weight distribution, but I think it will be a good match (and I love the way they look).

[maarty]

First match?

Ohhhhhhhhhhh no.

Actually it went pretty well, probably because I was so nervous and knew it so paid real close attention to everything, slow times but safe and no procedurals. I actually ended up coming second at the wrong end.
Got two boys here who both shot that day as well and they both did pretty well too.

Because of the stupid laws here you can't own a pistol till you've been a member of a pistol club for six months and attended 12 club events, you also can't use a holster till you've passed a test so the first match was actually about our third visit. First time we shot rifle and shotgun only, second time we shot rifle and shotgun in the morning and pistols in the afternoon, third time was loaned pistols, had my own 92 Rossi in .44-40 and an old belgian sxs that I'd picked up the week before.
That second visit was great fun, rifle went well, so did the borrowed pistols but the sxs was a shocker. First time I tried to fire it the front barrel wouldn't fire, pulled the back barrel and both went off, after that no matter what trigger you touched both barrels went off... one of the guys took it home with him and it turned out someone had made new hammers for it at some point and hadn't hardened them so the sears had worn off... he sent it off to another guy who's a fulltime gunsmith who made new hammers and firing pins, hardened them, polished the chambers and gave it a good once over. I got it back and was told how much work he'd done, having minor heart failure at the thought of how much it was going to cost only to be told he's a cowboy shooter too and only charges other cowboys for materials and hardening cause he gets that done somewhere else... total cost was $50.

All three of us are totally hooked and we've talked my 18 year old step son into having a go too, he's hooked as well now.

[Thomas O'Hawk]

Ima guessin that was quite the surprise when both barrels let go...

Its always good to hear of some others that are hopelessly hooked on this.

I know I take it for granted the ease that I can buy a firearm.  I had a buddy in Canada that related a similar tail of gun club membership and a long wait to get a handgun (not to mention a large fee).  Kudos for hanging in there through the process. 

[maarty]

Ima guessin that was quite the surprise when both barrels let go...

Its always good to hear of some others that are hopelessly hooked on this.

I know I take it for granted the ease that I can buy a firearm.  I had a buddy in Canada that related a similar tail of gun club membership and a long wait to get a handgun (not to mention a large fee).  Kudos for hanging in there through the process. 

Heavy weight pistol safe: $400+
Licence fees, pistol nz fees, club fees: $430+
Pair of 2nd hand Uberti cattleman: $800+
6 months wait and on going security checks by police: PITA


Being able to play cowboys with real guns: PRICELESS

[Griff]

Heavy weight pistol safe: $400+
Licence fees, pistol nz fees, club fees: $430+
Pair of 2nd hand Uberti cattleman: $800+
6 months wait and on going security checks by police: PITA
Being able to play cowboys with real guns: PRICELESS

Mind me asking where you're shootin'?  I'm thinkin' of moving back to NZ and sorta dread the whole process...

[maarty]

Mind me asking where you're shootin'?  I'm thinkin' of moving back to NZ and sorta dread the whole process...

I'm shooting outside Palmerston North at the RR&GC.
My mistake was paying more fees than I needed to because I signed the boys up too when I could have let them shoot on my membership, never mind we live and learn.

[Grapeshot]

My First COwboy Action match was the 1984 End of Trail Match at Coto de Casa.  I had first read about this game in January of 1984 while stationed at Fort Carson, CO.  I made up my mind to attend and called SASS to find out the particulars of the game and what kind of ammo to bring.  When I got there it was very laid back and I enjoyed myself very much.  It took thirteen more years for me to get back into CAS but I'm glad I did.  OH by the way.  Bob Mundun was out there that year and he sure impressed my with his shooting skills.

[Capt. Jack McQuesten]

I have been a SASS member for several years and today I finally joined the Lincoln County Regulators here in NM and shot my first match. First off, I have never met a friendlier and more helpful bunch of folks! Out of the blue, one of the guys just up and gave me a nice leather wrap for lever of my rifle.  I am not sure where I placed as yet, but it was nowhere near the top, that's for sure.....A couple of the shooters were FAST and I mean FAST! There was one shooter that emptied his 73 lever action so fast that I think he had 10 empty casings in the air at one time....Did I mention these guys were FAST???

There were lots of beautiful guns being used. Most were shooting .45LC's, several were shooting .38 specials (The uber fast guys) and then me shooting .44 specials out of my .44 magnums. One guy was shooting a Kirst converted Uberti 1858 New Army with an 8" barrel in .45LC. His other revolver was a Uberti copy of an 1860 Colt Open Top also in .45LC. Out of the bunch, there was one guy shooting all .45LC black powder loads. It took a bit for the range to clear after his run.....

I learned that I need to tune up my shooting irons. My brand new Rossi 92 in .44 magnum failed miserably right out of the gate. I had shot one time before to get it sighted in and had no problems at all. However in the rifle stage of my first match, I had several failures to extract. It definitely needs the Steve's Gunz tune up kit with a new extractor/ejector spring. Lucky for me, I had brought along my Winchester 94 in .44 magnum as a back up. The 94 did fine, but I had two occasions where I threw a live round out as I worked the action. This is apparently a common problem with the 94 action being too long for the pistol length cartridge.

My shotgun is an old 12 gauge double barrel Rossi "Overland Coach Gun" that I have had for many years. I think I need to have the chambers polished out a bit as the empties were sticking in them after firing. I did have one stage where I had some misfires, but a second strike set them off. I think that was due to cheap shotgun ammo (USA ammo from Big 5)..... Having to cock the hammers was time consuming compared to the hammerless double barrel shotguns. The shooters with the Norinco pump action 97's did not seem to have any advantage as they were limited to two rounds at a time....After the first two rounds, all of them utilized the "Combat load" technique of throwing the round into the open action, so effectively they were shooting a pump action single shot. One shooter had a reproduction 1887 lever action shotgun and he seemed to smoke pretty much everyone with it....  

Both of my old Ruger Vaqueros worked great and I am very happy with them. I am running a 7-1/2" in a crossdraw rig and a 4-5/8" in my strong side rig. I never missed with my 7-1/2", but I did have a couple of misses with my 4-5/8". The longer barrels seem to just reach right out and tag those targets pretty easily. I have Bisley Vaquero with a 7-1/2" barrel that I had made up a couple years ago. I may end up using that instead of my 4-5/8" in future matches....

All in all, I had a great day and I am looking forward to my next shoot........

[El Jefe]

Shot my first match with the Thunder River Renegades in Magnolia, Texas this weekend. Many thanks to John Ross (aka Johnny Morris) for the loan of his daughter's Marlin carbine!

How the Heck Did I Get Here?
I've been searching high and low for a cowboy shooting gun belt that would help me transition from IDPA shooting to cowboy action shooting, with very little luck. Last week I was trawling the Internet, searching through dozens of site and happened upon simple web page from JM Leather in Alvin, Texas right down the road from Sugar Land. I try to buy in Texas if at all possible and the leatherwork displayed on this site was top notch, so I thought, "what the heck?" and sent Johnny Morris an email.

I had an idea in my head for a gun belt with three double shotshell loops on the left, just forward of my left holster (exactly where my spare magazines would be in IDPA) and five single cartridge loops on the right, just forward of my right holster. I really hate the thought of wearing a gun belt and separate shotshell belt and just wanted something simple, clean and light-weight. Johnny's All-In-One Belt was the closest thing I'd seen but I wanted the buckle facing forward.

After a few emails back & forth, I asked Johnny if we could get together to discuss the project and he suggested I come and shoot this weekend with the Thunder River Renegades in Magnolia. Talk about "customer service". Not only had I found someone local that did high-quality leatherwork, I'd also found someone to shoot with. Johnny even loaned me his daughter's Marlin since my Rossi 92 is still being worked on. I don't remember anything like this ever happening in IDPA.

A Case of Nerves
There's nothing quote as nerve racking as your first time out in a new shooting sport. You walk up to that line. I remember vividly the first time I shot IDPA and darn near dropped my magazine on the first reload. The buzzer goes off and all those months of dry-fire & live practice got right out the window. Adrenaline kicks in and your once nimble fingers feel like you're wearing a catcher's mitt. You silently pray "Oh Lord, Don't Let Me Drop This Gun".

My first experience in cowboy action shooting was somewhat similar but with a really big difference, the people! The folks at the Thunder River Renegades couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. Johnny hooked me up with Rawhide (in cowboy shooting, you are your alias) who ran me through the basics and checked me out on range safety, course etiquette and sweep definitions (we'll cover these in detail later). He had me load each firearm (rifle, pistols & shotgun) and let me get my first taste of shooting steel plates. This type of immediate feedback sure beats trying to see a hit on an 8″ perforated circle in IDPA, let me tell you!

Once the stage began I waited my turn at the loading table and tried not to let the butterflies in my stomach carry me off. What's to worry about? It's just two pistols (single-action), a lever-action rifle I'd borrowed and a coach gun that I'd slicked up myself. The Timer said "Next Shooter" and I thought to myself, "Oh Lord, What Have I Gone and Done?".  I stepped up to the platform, staged my rifle and shotgun and waited for the Timer to say "Shooter Ready".

The buzzer sounded and I grabbed my rifle, brought it to my shoulder, levered a round into the chamber and squeezed off my first shot in cowboy action shooting. A clean miss! The Posse Marshal calls out "High" as I send another shot over the second steel target. I adjust my aim almost 8″ lover and am finally rewarded with that most beautiful sound in cowboy shooting, "Clang". I continue shooting each target: "Clang", "Clang", "Clang" until the rifle is empty. I set it down and move quickly to the pistol targets, drawing my left revolver as I move towards the second position. "Clang", "clang", "clang", "clang", "Miss". I draw my right revolver and cleanly sweep the same group of targets. I move toward the third position while holstering my revolver with my right hand and grab two shotshells in left hand.

I grab the shotgun just as I've practiced and load two shotshells, bring it to my shoulder and fire off my right barrel. I hear the "Clang" and the Timer says "Down" (shotgun targets have to "fall", not just get hit). I quickly let go with my left barrel and hear that beautiful "clang" once again. I break open the coach gun, dump the spent shells just as I've practiced and grab another two from my belt. That's when my nerves kick into high gear! I bring the two new shotshells toward the open barrels and miss both openings. After what seems an eternity, I load the two shotshells and open fire on the last two targets. "Clang", "Clang", Done!

I grab my rifle & coach gun and walk to the uploading table with a big grin on my face and a sense of wonder. What took these seven paragraphs to write happened in less than forty seconds of "real time". The next four stages went just as fast and I shot one of them "clean" and with a decent time.

Some Great Shooting
Cowboy action shooting events bring out the best in people and bring out the best shooters. This young lady, "Hey You" is a Ladies Traditional Texas State and Southwest Regional Champion. Watching her run that lever-action rifle with nary a miss was a joy to witness. Like all the folks I've met in this shooting sport, this young lady was enthusiastic, polite and friendly to everyone in the match. Unlike some other shooting sports, folks that come to a cowboy match seem to leave their ego's at home. I've honestly never met such a warm and friendly group of folks before.

My thanks to Johnny, Rawhide, Miss Ellie and all the rest of the Thunder River Renegades for making this a weekend to remember. See you next month!

[Camille Eonich]

Love the stories!

[John Smith]

These are great stories, I just want all you new shooters to know, I've been shooting SASS for 15 yrs, and you can't possibly do anything that embarases you or causes a "P", "SDQ" or "MDQ" that I haven't already done.

[Tall Dark Slim]

Today I went to my first official match. It was just a fun match with the cowboy crowd and man it was cool. There were guns coming at me from every angle with a here try this and here try that...I learned from a great friend how to do it right with the single action as some months ago I had showed him how to run a double action. The rifle is not something I am afraid of anymore or wanting to avoid by shooting four pistols. Let me tell you what a pain in the rear that is to load, carry, and stage. I've got to do the four holsters next time I try that. I've got a lightning lined up later on this week and life is great. I couldn't believe how fast I was with the rifle at first try. I can slam fire the rifle really well, but the shotgun was extremely weak. I had the 97 tilted the wrong way at first and it jammed the first empty in the port. I started off with a Savage 311D and it was a nightmare trying to hit tiny shotgun targets with the full choke up close. I found out that the schofield is incredibly fast on pistol targets, faster than either vaquero I own....something's wrong with that one, give me time. The bisley is a great stand in for a rifle and pretty darn accurate on a plate rack. I learned some very cool techniques on operating the rifles and shotguns. Apparently I was strong with the pistols once I committed to cocking with the off thumb. The fastest guy there apparently saw some promise in my shooting as he told me I'd soon be joining him at the top of the score sheet. I'm fairly certain he's just a nice guy. I've got a lot of work to do with the slow gun. After the match I got to try an 1887 and it was pretty cool also. There are way too many equipment choices in this 3 gun match. Hehe awesome! This beats AR's, Benellis, and 1911's single and double stack. I'll keep them for a rainy day. Some day I'll get an awesome shotgun to match my other stuff, but that's down the road.

[Tornado]

Well I shot my first match today and it was a blast(pun intended   )  It was at the inaguaral Andersonville GA Providence Spring Rangers, so there were plenty of other newbies.  I was a little nervous at first, but that disaperared after a couple rounds.  I had two pistols and an old single shot 20ga and I was lent a 1894 Marlin.  I talked my brother into going and I got him hooked and probably my Dad too.  Now I am saving for a lever gun and then upgrade to a two holer shotgun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0plyg0OpqtY&list=UUKAJALyTuFJhRlMLOGM4r4Q&index=2&feature=plcp

[HogDoc Olliday]

My wife (Pistol Puddin') and I shot our first CAS match together on Saturday (3/24). We had a blast. I have been a member of SASS for over a year, but never got around to shooting a match. We shot out of Cherokee Cowboys in Gainesville, GA. We were both nervous and excited! We signed up as Greenhorns and lo and behold, I took 2nd place and Puddin' took 3rd place in that division. Geez, were weren't even trying to do such. (Probably only 3 of us in that division, LOL). We were just trying to have fun and be safe. I think we will continue to have fun and be safe. We also loved meeting all the wonderful people. We have made many new friends and we have found an activity we both love and can do together. We are looking forward to many more shoots together with our new friends. You know..."The couple who shoots together, stays together!"

[MUD MARINE]

Having been shooting revolvers and pistols since I was 5 and bullseye since 12, my nervousness was simply because of that thrill competition always brings, the desire to shoot well !   :-)

I firmly believe that anyone not even a little nervous before a match of any kind probably won't do well!

[Six Gun Saint]

Right, so.  Had my first OFFICIAL match Saturday, with the Old North State Posse.

The important things first:

IT WAS AMAZING.  I loved it, I can't wait for the April Match!

Anyway, so I went back in February to the match they had then, just to see what was what, get a feel for the stuff what'd be being used, all that good stuff.  Got to shoot a couple of stage type things (not the actual stages, was at the end of all things-since I didn't even have my own leather at the time), got to see the difference between Colt/Clones and Rugers (I'm a Colt/Clone man, for the record), and try out a couple of different rifles (the 1873 is BEYOND AMAZING, ended up getting a steal on a '92 Rifle though, so went with that-more on that later).  So, the guys were great, the game is beyond great, and I decided to gear up.

And gear up I did, boy HOWDY I tell ya what-got a Matched Pair of Uberti Cattlemen in .45 Colt, a Stoeger Coach Gun Supreme in 12 ga, and a Rossi R92 in .44 Mag/Special...  All for $1200. 

My leather (well, most of it-I STILL don't have a shotgun belt/slide yet) arrived the day before the match.

Anyway, day of, I've got the jitters, on account of I've seen the times a lot of them fellas put up-we're talking QUICK.  Right, sorry...  Anyway, I end up on Posse 1, I think it was (we started on the first berm anyway, so yeah), and I'm second from last on the list.  That's good, as I was am new to the whole thing.  They paired me up with a fella what goes by Layden, showed me the ropes right proper, even let my borrow his shotgun belt when he wasn't on the line.

Moving right along-first stage comes up, and uh, yeah...  I uh...  Including the misses from my pistols (OK, I had no idea there was such a difference between handload recoil and factory recoil-I was shooting Remington 250 Gr FACTORY loads-the ones in the yellow and green box-those things KICK LIKE A MULE), the miss from my rifle throwing out a round, and the time it took to clear the multiple stovepipes my rifle gave me (see?  I told you I'd come back to that!), I wrapped up with 101.77.  Not great.  Not great at ALL. 

The NEXT round was even worse-somewhere along the line, still not sure if it was loading my rifle (very sharp edges 'round the loading gate), or from hammer bite, but I ended up bleeding all over my vest (OK, OK, a major splotch between the buttons, and some near the pocket I was carrying extra shells in, on account of I figured I may miss SOMETHING), my rifle, and well, pretty much everything else.  Wasn't even a bad cut-just a little ol' triangle jobbie on my thumb.  Even missed a shotgun target and had to do a FOURTH reload on it (6 shotgun targets).  110.86.  Also had a round thrown out, AND started off with 9 instead of 10, since I only had 18 rounds of .44 Special with me (I was in such a hurry to get out the door, and had taken a pain pill the night before [bad back, shoulders, yadda yadda], I forgot nearly my ENTIRE box of ammo-only had what was on my gun belt, on account of I'd stuffed it with .44 for pictures that never got taken)!  So several misses on that stage...

ON TO THE NEXT BERM, I'm out of ammo for my rifle, but Layden lets me use his 1873 for the remainder of the day (again, when he wasn't using it himself!), and suddenly my times start dropping quite a bit.  Stage 3 had some misses (them darn factory loads, having never shot ANYTHING that powerful from a handgun...  Yeah, threw me off a bit), but I shaved more'n 40 seconds off my previous time.  Clocked in at 67.72

Stage 4, I had two misses with the pistol, and a procedural (double tap Nevada Sweeps, I only hit the first target ONCE and then moved on), so I ended it with 57.58-IF I'd been shooting straight, and REMEMBERED the proper order, I'd have ended up with my fastest time of the day.  Shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't.  Still, more'n 10 seconds faster'n my PREVIOUS time.  As y'all can see, the trend for the day was, I was getting faster.

Unfortunately, that went to my head a goodly bit.  Was shooting so well on the rifle, Hubris caught up with me, and for the first time with a levergun, I had not ONE miss, but two.  That's never happened before.  So there was 10 extra seconds right there.  ON THE POSITIVE side, Layden hooked me up with some handloads for my .45, and for the rest of the day, I didn't have a miss with my pistols!  Final time was 53.53.  So again, getting faster.

FINAL stage...

38.28.

CLEAN.

Everyone clapped, cheered, or hooted/hollered.  It was one of the most amazing feelings.  Sure, I was shooting against all of these people, and yet when it all came together for me, we were all on the same team.  Ya don't see that in other sports!

After it was all said and done, I helped 'em break down the stages, pack 'em and headed back up to the clubhouse for the awards, and was stopped by a fella who's name I cannot (to my everlasting shame) remember, who up and gave me a made BY HIM leather brass pouch!

I get back to the clubhouse, and have reserved myself to dead last, dead last, and DEAD LAST (Match, Category, and Clean).

And what should happen, but I placed THIRD in my Category!  Sure, it was a technicality, as there were only three of us shooting Cowboy, but STILL!  So I ended up with a Poker Chip to toss in my brass pouch until I get home.  I also came in 40th out of 42!

Needless to say, I WILL be back!

And one day sometime either this fall or next spring, I'll have myself an 1873 Uberti Rifle.

[Camille Eonich]

ONSP was the first place that we shot too and a '92 was my first "all mine" CAS rifle.  I really tried to make it work but Red kept loaning me one of his 73's and the '92 just couldn't compete.

If the picture in your profile is you how in the world did Layden's shotgun belt fit you?   

[Six Gun Saint]

ONSP was the first place that we shot too and a '92 was my first "all mine" CAS rifle.  I really tried to make it work but Red kept loaning me one of his 73's and the '92 just couldn't compete.

If the picture in your profile is you how in the world did Layden's shotgun belt fit you?   

The '92's got NOTHING on the '73, and come probably next spring (would have been this fall, but I want a truck more than I want another rifle), I'll have one.  I mean, I've got the kinks worked out of the '92 at this point, but she ain't no speed gun.  It'll be around a second and a half for each shot, which's slow as hell, sure, but beats the hell out of getting a jam, having to clear it, and BAM!  There went ten seconds.  Or a five second miss...  Can't outrun a miss!

Yeah, the picture is me (albeit a couple of years old-I don't have the hair now, that's about the only difference)-and it fit me like a glove.   I was HOPING I'd be able to snag me my own by the next meet, but probably not.  As is, I'm not even sure I'll make the April meet.

Life comes at'cha FAST.