Working Cowboy Question

[Okefinokee Outlaw]

How do the posses handle the one pistol class(es)?  Do you normally allow just 5 shots, or do shooters reload/recylinder on the clock?  Particularly with cap & ball, some are easier to recylinder and cap than others.  We're debating on how to proceed fairly.  Thanks.

[Ima Sure Shot]

Johnson Co Rangers just has working cowboy shoot one set of pistol targets, and the rifle targets.  They do not shoot shotgun targets either. The working cowboys are only scored against each other as NCOWS does not have an overall winner. Celeste

[Pancho Peacemaker]

How do the posses handle the one pistol class(es)?  Do you normally allow just 5 shots, or do shooters reload/recylinder on the clock?  Particularly with cap & ball, some are easier to recylinder and cap than others.  We're debating on how to proceed fairly.  Thanks.

Reloads for "working cowboy" are at the discretion of the posse and/or the match writer.   From my experience with NCOWS, WC reloads are rare.  At our posse in Greenville, we shoot two matches per month, and maybe have a reload for WC 2 or 3 times each year.  Sometimes it's a simple 1 shot reload.

Reloads give a strong mecahnical advantage to shooters with S&W No. 3 revovlers (i.e. "top breaks) and they are a mechanical dissadvantage for the C&B shooter. 

[Major 2]

Dave

At the CCC shoot in Dec. WC will be scored as it own class ( there is no overall winner, just class winners)

WC will shoot 5 pistol targets of the setup . 2 pistol classes also scored on their ownwill shoot 10 or repete the pattern or sweep...

I have completed 3 of the 5 stages to be run...
and have not installed nor antisapate pistol reloads on any of the 5 stages.

We may have a rifle reload on one, we have not decided as yet...

[Tascosa Joe]

Dave:

Basically, what Pancho said.  I have written most of the monthly stages the last 2 years for our group.  I write the stages for 4 gun shooters but just score one pistol for WC.  Sometimes I will have a one shot reload on the pistol.   We do a lot of rifle reloads.

Joe

[Trap]

  Think about this; if you were in a real fight which would you reload, pistol or rifle.

[Yuma Kid]

All,
When shooting WC with a cap & ball I have often just staged or carried a second loaded (but not capped) revolver and cap on the clock for the reload.
Yuma

[Capt. JEB Forrest]

I guess my question is how does NCOWS do it?

What does NCOWS do at regional and national matches?

Local clubs can do what they want, but does NCOWS call for five or ten rounds in one pistol catagories?

[Cliff Fendley]

From what I've seen mostly just five rounds in one pistol classes.

We did do one this year at JCR with a reload but only had four loaded and had to load the fifth on the clock. The C&B's were able to add the fifth cap so it wasn't a big deal for them either.

[J.D. Goodguy]

I don't really understand this reloading of the pistol in the Working Cowboy class.  You are only competing with others in the same class.  If people are shooting 2 pistols in another class, why should WC have to reload to shoot 10 pistol rounds?  When I write stages, they are written for 5 pistol rounds in the WC class.  I do sometimes write a reload for the rifle but not usually the pistol.  It is up to the host club on how they write stages for the Regional or National shoots.  But for those that I have written for the National and Regional, I have not had a pistol reload.    JIM

[jefff]

stages for a 4 gun class and WC omit 2nd pistol and shotgun.is this diffcult to understand?jefff

[Cliff Fendley]

I think there was just some confusion whether the WC had to shoot the same number rounds as other classes but with only one pistol.

[Ima Sure Shot]

Stage directions such as working cowboys  and originals shoot first set of pistol targets one shot each, sometimes help make it less confusing if it is a complicated stage.   However, in general it is up to the club.  Also the KISS principal comes into play.  Stages that appear to be simple can become very complicated after a few different people try to explain how it should be shot.  Working cowboy was to allow the use of one pistol, one rifle.    If the stage writer wanted to include working cowboy reload on the clock and shoot all ten pistol targets or shoot the pistol targets again, they could.  The Working cowboys time would all include a pistol reload and would be judged against working cowboys only.  Again type of gun can influence times as top breaks are at a great advantage. Sometimes a reload can be fun, but  after a while it gets tedious.Celeste

[Okefinokee Outlaw]

Ima and Cliff,  You answered my actual question.  Things kind of went off on tangents.  Thanks.

[Tascosa Joe]

Ima and Cliff,  You answered my actual question.  Things kind of went off on tangents.  Thanks.

Dave: 
We are real good about telling you how to build a clock instead of answereing the question, "what time is it".
T-Joe

[Okefinokee Outlaw]

No problem.  I enjoyed the lively discussion.

[Montana Slim]

If for some reason I decided to shoot WC using C&B...I'd always be prepared for a reload by using a second revolver.
Unless you wrote the stages (or we privy to the details), you'd not know for sure otherwise.

Besides, I never travel to a  shootin' match without a spare (or two), just in case of mechanical difficulty....or the event of a zombie outbreak.

Slim

[Cutter Carl]

I'll stick another "iron in the fire."  Let's not forgot about the safety aspect of reloads on pistols.

Unless you know the skill of every shooter you will have at your event a serious safety concern could arise.

It is 1 thing to load 5 rounds at the loading table.  It is a completely different thing reloading under the clock.

What about the shooter that has a physical impairment that limits their movement.  We have a shooter locally that
only has partial use of 1 hand.  He shoots duelist style and has a metal handle added to both rifle and shotgun that allow him
to safely handle the long guns.  He does very well and is very safe that way.  A pistol reload on the clock would be very difficult for him without a table to lay the gun on so he can load with his good hand. 

What about new shooters?  It is usally all they can do without trying to reload a pistol on the clock.

I have talked a lot to all the local stage writers and get the same answer from them on reloads of pistols.  They have all gotten away from pistol reloads for the safety aspect.  Everyone has a horror story on pistol reloads.  It is not something that
most practice unlike shotgun loading and rifle reloads mainly for when the jack out a live round by not levering properly.

[Irish Dave]

Typically, pistol reloads ave very rare in the WC class at most shoots...and becoming rarer in most places.
While WC was originally started, in part, to help new shooters get into the sport, its phenomenal growth cannot be attributed to new shooters. It represents 1) a more authentic approach to our sport than the walking arsenal approach; and 2) evidence that not everyone is the CAS/WAS world  believes in the "more rounds equals more fun" philosophy. Certainly that's not true for most of those those who choose the WC class.

Safety issues aside (not to downplay their importance in the least), for most who shoot WC -- and the majority are not "new shooters" -- it seems kind of silly to me to choose to shoot in a 1-pistol category only to find you're shooting 10 pistol rounds anyway. Might as well bring the extra revolver and select a 4-gun class.

Justa couple of centavos worth from my persective.