Cowboy Action Shooting
For the past several years (1995 to Present), Dakota Doc Martin, (SASS #21774) has been having some fun with a fast growing sport called Cowboy Action Shooting. Basically, it involves the use of single action revolvers ("six shooters"), lever action rifles, sawed-off shotguns (or period style exposed hammer pumps), and derringers. The revolver and lever action are generally chambered in the same caliber and of a revolver cartridge available in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Various target setups are made to resemble some possible gun fighting circumstances and scores are made according to elapsed time and accuracy in hitting the targets. There is a penalty of five seconds added to your elapsed time for each missed shot. The winning shooter will have a combination of the lower elapsed time and the most hits to the targets. It is to your advantage to hit most or all of the targets and do it fast. There is no advantage to missing fast!
For example, you may be standing behind a makeshift bar in an imaginary saloon. When the buzzer on the shot timer goes off you pick up a derringer that is laying on the bar in front of you. You cock the hammer and fire two shots into a cardboard human-sized target located directly opposite the bar from you. Then you take a few quick steps, pick up your sawed-off shotgun and shoot two fall-down type steel popper targets about 10 to 15 yards away. Without wasting a second in hesitation you move through a pair of swinging doors and exit the imaginary saloon. Quickly, you draw your six-gun from the holster on your hip and shoot five metal plate targets located anywhere from a few feet up to about 25 yards away. You draw your second revolver and shoot five more metal plates or sometimes you shoot the same ones over again. Then you grab your lever action rifle and shoot seven to ten more targets which are located perhaps 30 to 50 yards away. The shot timer automatically records your total time after your last shot. Targets are scored for hits or misses. REMEMBER! Missed shots and failure to shoot and move through the stage in the specified order will add to your total time as a penalty.
Period costuming is required by SASS rules in order to give the event a feel for the Cowboy Era. This is much the same as the rendezvous and the muzzleloader events, except with some different clothing. In fact, if you have a drop shoulder style shirt you have been using for rendezvousing, it will also work for Cowboy Action Shooting. A different hat, boots, and a bandana is all you may need to look the part of a cowboy. Many companies have sprung up to supply the cowboy action shooter with everything he or she may want in the way of guns, clothing, and accessories.
Of course it is another one of those sports that tends to grow on a person as time goes on. As you get into it a bit further you will find that you might want or need other weapons but you can start out with what you have. I started out with my Interarms Virginian Dragoon .44 magnum revolver and my Marlin 1894S .44 magnum carbine. I merely loaded the cartridges down to the .44 Special velocity. It is a requirement of the SASS rules to use a lever gun in a revolver caliber however. It isn't necessary to have a matching caliber set to begin with but it is preferable. I bought a Stoeger IGA Coach Gun chambered for 12 gauge 3 inch magnum. It originally came with a pistol grip stock and a 20 inch barrel choked in modified and full. I reshaped the stock and made it into a straight English style stock and then recheckered and refinished it. I cut the barrels off to 1/8 inch over the minimum legal barrel length of 18 inches. This got rid of the chokes making both barrels shoot the same at close range, and it looks better also. The shotgun seems to swing faster from target to target and it's a lot easier to maneuver around the stage props. I then polished the chambers with a brake cylinder hone. This allows the spent shells to drop free when the action is opened and the muzzle is raised skyward. This saves time... which also helps the over all score. Shotguns with ejectors are not allowed.
I notice that Stoeger now offers a coach gun with a straight English style stock since I have had mine pictured here on the internet. At least I had the first one. :)
Eventually I decided I wanted to shoot an original cowboy era cartridge so I got a Ruger New Model Blackhawk .45 Colt and a Marlin 1894 Cowboy Limited rifle, also in .45 Colt. After shooting a few rounds with a derringer one of the other guys had, I had to have one also. I now have an American Derringer Corp. model M1 in .45 Colt. It is in stainless steel and closely resembles the over-under derringers made by Remington in the late 1800's. The Blackhawk has an adjustable rear sight as does the Dragoon. For that reason, they have to be shot in the Modern shooting category. If you really want to get into competition at the sanctioned shoots in the Traditional category a Colt Peacemaker or a Ruger Vaquero are two of the more popular choices in six shooters. Of course, you can load all of the old calibers with what they were originally designed for... real honest to goodness Black Powder! Heck, if you want to shoot your old cap 'n ball revolvers there is even a class for those too called Frontier.
I then purchased three Interarms Virginian Dragoon revolvers. They were made from 1974 until 1984 and are very high quality. They are about 20% larger than the Rugers and are very well built. I was pleasantly surprised to find a factory engraved stainless steel model in .45 Colt and a 5 inch barrel. The engraving is wonderful and it came with a presentation case and a brass sheriff badge. It was part of an estate sale through a dealer. There are bargains to be had if you do enough shopping! I found that one in the Gun List.
The next radical step I took was to buy a pair of Colt Single Action Army revolvers. They are the current manufacture 3rd Generation 1873 Colt SAA revolvers (otherwise known as the Colt Peacemaker), consecutively numbered, .45 Colt, 5 1/2 inch barrels, and nickel plated. They really handle and shoot very nicely but they really are very much over priced for what you get. The nickel flakes off of them easily, the grips fit like the night janitor did the work on them, the serialized "pair" I finally got wouldn't even shoot to the same point of aim, and Colt's Mfg. Company really doesn't care to make them any better. I was very lucky to find a wonderful gun smith who calls himself Bozeman Trail Arms Manufacturing and really knows his stuff when it comes to the SAA revolver. I had him rotate the barrel on one of them so now they do shoot like Colt's should have made them in the first place. As for the nickel flaking off the cylinders... I'd rather not chance sending them back to Colt's to have them redone after the ordeal I went through the first time. In fact, if I had to do it all over again I would buy a set of revolvers from U.S. Firearms Manufacturing Company. They are making Colts better than Colt does... and they are making them in the old Colt's factory in Hartford.
My latest revolver purchase has been a Navy Arms 1875 Smith & Wesson Schofield Cavalry Model revolver in .45 Long Colt. I was going to buy one from Cimarron F.A. but found out that they did not have a single model in any caliber for sale during the summer of 1999. I posted a note on the SASSWire and found from several members that Cimarrons are made by Armi San Marco while Navy Arms are made by Uberti. The Navy Arms/Uberti models are very superior in fit and finish to anything else on the market currently. I know I like mine! The purchase of my repro Schofield even spurred one of our members into purchasing a genuine 2nd generation S&W Schofield! I also purchased a custom made Huckleberry shoulder rig much like the one Val Kilmer wore in the movie "Tombstone" for the Schofield.
Several famous gunfighters and lawmen used the Smith & Wesson top break single actions. Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire, Texas Jack Omohundro, Buffalo Bill Cody, Pat Garrett, Virgil Earp, John Wesley Hardin, Frank and Jesse James, Cole and Jim Younger, Charlie Pitts, and Bob Ford to name a few.
UPDATE (08-14-03)! I ended up selling the Navy Arms Schofield the spring of 2003. It was a nice revolver, but I never did like the feel of the grip the way I like the Colt SAA. My son has a matched pair of USFA Rodeos and they are wonderful. The fit and finish is outstanding and the price is down there where anyone can afford them. I put the money I got from the Schofield anlong with a little bit more cash and bought myself what I consider one of the nicest SAA's I've ever laid my eyes on. A USFA SAA in 7 1/2", .45 Colt (of course), blue and color case two-tone. The color case is so vivid and colorful that you'd figure it has to be fake. But, in fact, it's genuine bone charcoal color case of the highest quality. They are truly making Colts of better quality than Colt and doing it in the old Colt's factory in Hartford. It shoots point of aim and everything works like you can only dream of a genuine Colt working like. I highly recommend them! You may notice that I have removed links to American Western Arms. Their quality went down hill so much that I can no longer recommend them.
Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Shooting
Ole Doc Martin really likes shooting Black Powder Cartridge Rifle in the long range events at the cowboy shoots. I purchased a new Browning 1885 BPCR in .45-70 Government caliber which is a new production of the Winchester 1885 High Wall set up with target sights and is ready out of the box for NRA Black Powder Cartridge Rifle competition. It even has a match grade Badger barrel! This is an excellent rifle which sells for about $1500.00 US.
On September 20, 1998 I shot in one of our local monthly cowboy shoots at the East Grand Forks Rod & Gun Club and literally smoked the competition with the 1885 BPCR! The Senior Deputy U.S. Marshall that ran our shoots and another fellow had tied for first place with a score of 13/15. (We were shooting five shots at the 100, 200, and 300 yard ranges.) After I had made my 15/15 perfect score I decided to shoot until I missed to eliminate any possibility of another tie. Also...it had begun to rain and I didn't want to have to sit out there again once I had finished shooting. I kept shooting and the rain kept coming. I finally missed shot number 19 as I could hardly see the target! So...Ole Doc made 18 hits in a row and the last 8 were at 300 yards! How's that for some shootin'?
Well... not quite the kind of shooting that had been done with the Sharps buffalo rifle in the hands of Texas Ranger Billy Dixon! Dixon shot an Indian warrior off his horse at the distance of seven eighths of a mile (1538 yards) on June 27, 1874 during the battle of Adobe Walls using a borrowed .50-90 Sharps. That long range shooting record stood until January 1967 when Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, USMC set a new record. He made a confirmed kill shot at 2,500 yards (2,286 meters) near Duc Pho, Vietnam with a Browning M2 .50 HMG mounting an 8-power Unertl telescopic sight. GySgt Hathcock's record has been recently broken by a yet unnamed Canadian sniper in the Shah-i-Kot Valley of Afghanistan. This sniper from the 3rd Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group made a confirmed kill chest shot at 2,400 meters against the driver of an enemy resupply truck. The primary rifle of the 3rd PPCLI is the McMillan Brothers .50 caliber Long Range Sniper Weapon (LRSW) that was only introduced to Canadian Infantry Battalions in April 2000.
I do have an interest in shooting out to some longer ranges than 300 yards however. I've joined the Grand Forks Rifle Club whose range is currently set up for up for 200, 300, and 600 yards paper targets. In the summer of 2002, they will have backstops at 200, 300, 385 and 500 meters for metallic sihouette. That should be fun!
I ordered a new Shiloh 1874 Sharps rifle in .45-90 in 1996. I finally took delivery of in in October of 2001. Yes! It took about 5 years to get my new Shiloh Sharps rifle out of Big Timber, Montana! (As of 2003 the wait is supposed to be under a year from what I've heard!) This rifle is ornately stocked in extra fancy burl walnut and pewter nose cap, factory checkered and the AA hand rubbed tung oil finish. It is fully engraved with elk, bear, and buffalo, and an eagle head on each side of the hammer. Also a monogram "M" on the lever. The action and butt plate is finished in French gray with a high polished blue barrel. Of course, if you can't wait and want to buy one RIGHT NOW and don't mind paying somewhat more to get one...check with James W. King or look through the Gun List. Of course, you won't get one like Doc had made for cheap. Mine came to $7,000.00 after all was said and done.
In preparation for some shooting I have purchased a 3-die set of .45-90 Redding Dies and some of the new Starline .45-90 brass from Midway USA. Of course, I also bought a new tool head for my AT 500 Reloader from Dillon Precision Products!
The new custom built Shiloh 1874 Sharps arrived the first week of October, 2001! It's probably the closest to absolutely perfect that can be had in the gun maker's art. I think the fit and finish rivals that of the fine English shotguns! I have intended on having some nice photos made of the firearm to post here on these pages but have not gotten around to it yet. I did snap a few with my digital camera.
I will do my best to get some nicer photos posted ASAP. I've since added a new Hadley Eye Disc to both the Sharps and the 1885 High Wall! The Hadley allows a change in aperature size with just a quick spin of the disk to match any lighting conditions..
Of course, being a traditionalist, I will continue shooting my black powder cartridges loaded with good ole American made GOEX Black Powder! Whether it be muzzleloading or black powder cartridge shooting... Doc does not accept any substitutes. Speaking of not accepting substitutes... when it comes to bullet lubes I figure there is no use in cutting corners so I always use what the champion shooters all use. I use SPGŪ bullet lube. It's the best, and that's all there is to it. SPGŪ Lubricant's Black Powder Cartridge Reloading Primer by Mike Venturino and Steve Garbe is more or less revered as being THE reference book to own when it comes to this sport. If you want to know everything there is to know about loading black powder cartridges you NEED this book.
Updated on April 15, 2008