SASS folks ?

[Camille Eonich]

Besides,  I'm trying to improve myself so how would it be improving my skills if I have to make the gun do most of the work for me?  

How can an inanimate object do half the work for you?

Part of the fun of shooting is mastering the gun,  not cutting corners to get to the finish line.

After reading posts like this I always find myself wondering why some people feel the need to attempt to deride the people who finish ahead of them in this sport.  Knowing many of the top shooters in SASS I know that they do not cut any corners at all.  In fact they practice constantly both dry firing and with live ammo at the range.  They make up scenarios and shoot them time after time after time in until the can execute it flawlessly.  The video them self shooting stages so that they can watch them and see where they did anything wrong and where they can improve. 

Those people truly do master not only their weapons but their interactions with those weapons.  It's like watching poetry in motion to watch them shoot, usually.  Yes. all of them have bad days ever now and then and are all thumbs at the range.  Almost all of them have days where they push them self and shoot faster than they have trained to shoot and have several misses on a stage.  But they know how to laugh at them self too.


I think that many people mistake want to be winners with the real winners.  We shouldn't deride the people that finish at the top in this game.  We should recognize that they put a ton of hard work into excelling at it.  Far more than I have the inclination to put into it.



Now having said all of that I go to have fun and I certainly don't go to lose.  I usually finish somewhere near the top of the middle of the pack or the bottom of the top of the pack.  Given what it would take for me to improve my scoring, read above, I'm happy with that.  Practice just seems too much like work for me.

[PJ Hardtack]

Well said, Camille!

You get out of the sport what you put into it. Practice does pay off. We all have different standards of 'excellence', depending upon our needs, resources and egos.

I shot my way into IPSC 'A' class twice - once with a brace of 9mms, the second time with 1911s. That was back in the days when it actually had a claim of practicality. When I got bored with that, I went to a 4" .357 and shot into the top of 'B' class with magnum loads.
I was constantly practicing, dry firing and burning up several hundred rounds a week, shooting from 7 to 50 yards. I paid my dues and after a while, you get good .... ;>)
When IPSC became 'impractical', I was happy to switch to CAS when it was one gun - usually a .45 or .44 with real Cowboy loads. You were regarded as 'light in your Lamas' if you shot a .38/.357 and I took a lot of ribbing for my Marlin .357 carbine. I soon acquired a .44 B-92!
My wife got into CAS with .38/.357s and now has stepped up to .44 with a pair of Ruger Blackhawk Flat Tops, her own B-92 and a .44 Remington cap & ball.
We are fortunate in that our group doesn't have any 'speed merchants', no one has a short stroke or tricked out revolvers and we hold an annual BP/cap& ball match.
We regard 'winning' as shooting a clean stage and the most coveted award is "Spirit of the Game".

[Stu Kettle]

My primary goal is to have fun, but it is a competition, and it's more fun when you do well.  I know I would be faster if I had "race guns' in a puny caliber shooting puny loads, but that wouldn't be as much fun.  Part of the fun is the "bang & clang."

[bowiemaker]

I have no problem with people who want to practice and shoot as fast as they can. If it were a level playing field with unmodified guns that would be one thing. But the fact is that a lot of guns in SASS are modified race guns with short strokes, etc. People have chosen to buy and edge and it becomes $$ vs. $$. That's where I lose interest.

Even if the guns weren't modified, some of us do not have the time or resources to shoot "several hundred rounds a week" and thus would never be on par with those who do.

The other big difference between NCOWS and SASS (besides NCOWS being more historically accurate in firearms and dress) is the distance of the targets. From the SASS matches that I have observed, the rifle targets were about where we would put our pistol targets for a NCOWS match. The SASS pistol targets were so large and so close that one hardly had to aim the gun. Hitting the target was not much of an issue, it was all about speed. At the last SASS match I attended EVERYONE near the firing line was getting sprayed with lead. That's too close. Personally, I like the challenge of having to aim the gun to hit a target at some distance with an unmodified period correct gun.

I have no problem with SASS or the people who do want to shoot for speed. SASS is a larger organization than NCOWS so it is obvious that a lot of shooters prefer it. I am just glad that there is an alternative with NCOWS and it suits me better.

[Camille Eonich]

People have chosen to buy and edge and it becomes $$ vs. $$. That's where I lose interest.

All this is really off topic but I feel it needs to be addressed. Really the only edge that is acquired through the gun modifications is reliability.  A gun that isn't short stoked won't slow these people down more than a fraction of a second.  Malfunctions unless completely jammed don't slow them down the amount of time that it takes an average person to reload a rifle round that has been ejected.


Also off topic but since part of this fantasy game that we play is the acting out of being in gun fights, why would you not prepare yourself as best as you can and go into that fight with the most reliable equipment that you can get?  If I knew that someone was coming gunning for me I would look every area that I moved into over and look for any advantage that I could get.  I wouldn't take my old gun in that I knew that I sometimes short stroked or that sometimes stove piped a round.  If that's all that I had I would be getting it fixed.

Of course if someone were gunning for me now I would have a much higher capacity weapon that my cowboy guns out of the gun safe and by my side too.   

[PJ Hardtack]

Camille

In the real world of "No Second Place Winner" gun fights, it's the first round that finds the intended mark that wins, not the number of rounds fired. That's the first rule of applied firepower - ya gotta hit 'im ta git 'im!

One hit centre of mass with your Cowboy pistol and the matter is settled.

[Camille Eonich]

Camille

In the real world of "No Second Place Winner" gun fights, it's the first round that finds the intended mark that wins, not the number of rounds fired. That's the first rule of applied firepower - ya gotta hit 'im ta git 'im!

One hit centre of mass with your Cowboy pistol and the matter is settled.

When it's 24 against 1 you have to shoot fast and accurate.  10 pistol targets - 10 rifle targets - 4 shotgun targets.   

[Forty Rod]

My primary goal is to have fun, but it is a competition, and it's more fun when you do well.  I know I would be faster if I had "race guns' in a puny caliber shooting puny loads, but that wouldn't be as much fun.  Part of the fun is the "bang & clang."

It's only a competition if YOU want to compete.  I don't!

[Mad Dog Jack]

Oh Larsen! That is great!
Heck I've shot with you and Sacramento Johnson.... You both are a lot faster than me. Now I know what I need to do before Winter Range......get a new gun!(or 2)

[El Jefe]

Cowboy Action Shooting is where we can all dress up like John Wayne in Rio Bravo without feeling the least bit embarrassed. We get to shoot historic single action revolvers, lever action rifles and double barrel shotguns all afternoon and hang out with some of the nicest folks in the world.

How cool is that?

[Buckshot McAllister]

I'm a newbe to the sport/game and have only shot for a little over a year now. It started for me as just being a fun alternative to shooting at paper targets. Then I got to know the people and established some great friendships. This has been the most important aspect of Cowboy Action Shooting for me.

That being said, I found out that the competition aspect has brought out the "gamer" in me. I've steadily gotten faster and more accurate over the past year and really enjoy trying to shoot for the top times. I've got a log way to go before I'll be considered any threat to the fast guys but I really like trying. I've also had my guns raced up over the winter and am looking forward to seeing if there is any difference in times.

I've also started reloading my own ammo over the past couple of months and I never thought I would get pleasure from that process but experimenting with the different power and bullet recipes has been enjoyable as well.

Oh, I almost forgot, I really get a kick out of the expressions of the people at McDonalds when I pull through the drive-thru in my cowboy outfit. 

[buckshot dan]

i started shooting for fun but now i realise  that it's the people that i meet that keeps me coming back each month. some of the nicest and helpfull  folks  out there

[Shotgun Franklin]

Gamers rule SASS with heavily modified guns shooting butterfly loads but that's just the way it is. I shoot guns that you could have carried in the late 1800s and I shoot full powered loads. I have actually carried my guns and felt well armed. I let the Gamers primp and beat themselves on the back, who cares.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi,

I just had to put my $.02 in ... *S*

*I am retired on a very VERY limitied retirement ... and I get to spend the tank full of gas to shoot about five or six times a year .... and the 120 rounds of rifle/pistol and 60 rounds of shotgun per match is all that I can come up with ... so there is no money for 'practice rounds' or any such thing ... and I should practice loading and reloading much more than I do ...

Still, I am reminded of the old Texas Ranger who waited while the outlaw fanned both his pistols, putting up small dust devils all around the Ranger. Then the Ranger deliberately drew his gun and fired ONE shell: killing the gunslinger instantly ...

One shell shot deliberately and slowly.

However, it would be nice not to come in last ...

[cpt dan blodgett]

Ward as long as you are having fun I would nt worry about the last thing.  Some aspects like staging, moving  reloading shotgun can be practiced to improve times without a trip to the range.  Other self improvement goals could be to shoot clean

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Captain,

Fun is the point.

In addition to the fiscal bent of the last point, I had a knee replacement that still is not totally healed after a year (the arthropod said six weeks ...he lied *S*).

So I keep telling myself that I will get so much better when I trust my leg to move the way it should .... that is, if Alzheimers does not set in in the meantime).

[John Smith]

Did you get my PM?

[Garand]

I've been shooting competition since 1986. Service Rifle, Service sniper, IPSC, Action Pistol, Cowboy Action, and tried a couple of others briefly. I have always shot with a shooting buddy, generally a very close friend and during this time I have always concentrated my "competition" to beating my shooting buddy, either for a beer or bragging rights until the next match. Trying to be number 1 is too much like work, trying to outshoot your shooting partner is just plain fun. In the end, this is what it is all about.

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Trying to be number 1 is too much like work, trying to out shoot your shooting partner is just plain fun. In the end, this is what it is all about.

Now this is an idea I will get on board with.  I shoot Cowboy fast draw with 2 of my friends.  We practice every Wednesday and shoot matches twice each month.  I always push to do the best I can ... but the bottom line, my real competition is shooting against my friends ... beating them just feels oh so good. 

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

I'm not good enough and never will be to worry too much about winning. I'm too old and I got started in this sport too late to ever be competetiveon a high level. i just have funplaying cowboy and shooting my guns.

My sentiments exactly.