Dang It Dan 13202 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Hey Widder Cracking Dan's password was not hard once you get to know him......................Like his favorite movie :lol: Of course you know this means WAR! If you are coming to Eustis this weekend, I would be glad to hold the timer for you, ol' buddy. Sorry Dan.......change your password Wyatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Well TX Fiddler, you've asked a question that comes up quite a bit and you'll receive several responses with folk telling you to use essentially what they are using. You'll also be told to go to shoots to learn the guns and ask to mooch a few to find out what works best for you. You sound like me when I started. I'd already had a lifetime of shooting under my belt and at one time or the other shot everything I saw at the range, so it was easy for me to know what "I" wanted to use without anyone else's input at all. You like 44, then have at it. I went 45LC in a Ruger Bisley Vaquero (a really great gun) and a Rossi 92 in the same caliber so I didn't have to fiddle around with rifle vs. pistol rounds as they all were the same. Shotguns I'd already had experience with a coach gun so I got one and gave a try at an 1887 lever action (just because I've always wanted one). All of the guns worked like a champ and I was completely happy and content. I did monkey around with some inexpensive leather until I figured out which draw I preferred and once I decided upon double strong side's I sprung for a Kirkpatric Leather rig in that fashion. So go for it and don't let anyone talk you out of your preferences. It is a terrific sport that for me was just plain fun to shoot without being competitive. (it takes years to be able to do that). Enjoy the folk and enjoy the shooting and welcome to SASS. Smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooting Bull Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 You'll also be told to go to shoots to learn the guns and ask to mooch a few to find out what works best for you. Mooch? Are you sure that's the word you want to use? I've always thought of "mooching" as being rather leacherous. That's why the first cat who adopted Sour Kraut and I was named Mooch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyatt Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 That's the plan Dan These days it's all about the FUN factor See you Saturday Wyatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Mooch? Are you sure that's the word you want to use? I've always thought of "mooching" as being rather leacherous. That's why the first cat who adopted Sour Kraut and I was named Mooch. I'm sorry a better term would have been "borrow", but the way I was raised and to pull your own weight I would personally feel like I was "Mooching". That's not to say I haven't mooched before. I just feel guilty after I've done it. Smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooting Bull Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I'm sorry a better term would have been "borrow", but the way I was raised and to pull your own weight I would personally feel like I was "Mooching". That's not to say I haven't mooched before. I just feel guilty after I've done it. Smithy. And THAT is the exact reason I asked the question. I'm not at all picking on you because I know you mean well but, what I try to pass on to all the new shooters I meet is to NOT feel that guilt. By lending new shooters our guns to try out, we're attempting to help them avoid the mistakes we made when we were new shooters. I guess you could call me a veteran SASS shooter at this point and I'd feel guilty if I didn't try my darndest to help a new shooter have the most fun possible, for the least $$$ possible and with the smallest amount of aggrivation possible. Letting them try my guns goes a long way toward accomplishing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Hooker Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Welcome..........Singing - If you're gonna play in Texas there's gotta be a fiddle in the band............ God bless Bob Wills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Hooker Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 OOOPS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Howdy and Welcome! There have been a lot of responses so far. You know opinions are like elbows, you'll find cowboys seem to have a lot of big strong elbows. Just remember you are getting advice from a group of people you don't personally know (yet). For every cowboy that pops up with a "Don't even bother with a XXXXXX, it is less than worthless", there are 5 cowboys using that exact piece of equipment to great effect. The advice about going to many shoots and getting to try out many different types and brands of cowboy guns is a great one. If you find one you really like be sure to ask the owner what work may have been done on it. You may try a 92 Winchester that is awesome but it didn't start out that way, it may have been to see Nate Kiowa Jones for a tune up, or the 87 you handle may have been tuned by Fireball, or any number of excellent gunsmiths may have improved the hardware you handle. I would hate to have any newbie try one of my Munden tuned sixguns and expect an out of the box Ruger to be the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex Fiddler SASS Life 10127 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Red, thank you for the Bob Wills video. Saying Texas and fiddles together certainly makes Bob Wills come to mind. He's been a favorite in my family going back to my grandfather. -tex fiddler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Philly Slim, you are good people then and a benefit to new shooters and to SASS. Smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack Hacker, #60477 Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 P.S. Always buy your wife the best and most relable guns ans leather possible!!! If she's having fun, she will get into it and it will be a fun family sport for years!! See ya! +1 It is more than, "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." The only thing more diestracting than issues with your guns/ammo, is problems with the ones you set up for your wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Ruger's new Vaqueros are amde specifically for cowboy-action and borrow much of the Bisley traits with the lower and wider hammer. The Bisleys are mostly used by duelists and gunfighters that shoot their pistols one-handed. The traditional Colt SAA setup works extremely well for two-handed shooting. My reocmmndation is to try as many guns as possible before settling on any make or model. The 1892 is a great gun, if you use an original. This Browning design works well with the original bottleneck cartridges; I have owned tow and look forward to finding more. The modern makes of these guns that shoot straightwall cartridges may not work as well (my opinion, others will disagree). The 1892 can be made to run slicker, but it cannot be short-stroked or tuned to the degree that a toggle-lock action (1860, 1866 or 1873) can be tuned (again, my opinion). Look at a lot of guns, talk to shooters and see what the better shooters are using. Find a local cowboy gunsmith in your area and talk to him. he may have guns or know guns that you can more easily acquire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Buscadero, SASS #73085 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 A lot of great equipment advice has been given. So instead of adding to that, my additional advice would be to read the Shooters Handbook and pay special attention to Categories. The category you choose to shoot can effect the firearms and calibers you will need. I shoot Classic Cowboy, which requires shooting .40 caliber + rimmed cartridges one handed duelist or double duelist style. .36 caliber if shooting cap and ball. So Uberti Bisleys in .45 Colt are my preference. Though I am faster (not fast - faster) shooting a .38 SAA two-handed, I like shooting Classic Cowboy. Classic Cowboy also requires a douber barreled sg with External hammers. So when you are at a match, ask folks about the categories they shoot and why. That will be good info to help you start off right and make the right purchasing decisions the first time. Welcome to SASS! Bucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackey Cole Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Here is some advice from someone who bought and sold my first 3 braces of handguns, 3 rifles and 4 or 5 shotguns before I found what works for me. I recommend going to several matches and try borrowing guns from different sources until you find what fits you. While there help out and learn what we do so your not trying to learn it while trying to shoot the match. Once you start shooting there is enought to remember with the different sweeps and actions required on a stage plus safe gun handling. Mostly shooter love showing off their guns at the end of a match and some will even load you their guns to shoot with until you get yours take some legal ammo with you so you are not shooting up theirs or ask to reimburse them for the ammo. Once you find what guns fit your persona and budget you will need to work on the leather for those guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 P.S. Always buy your wife the best and most relable guns ans leather possible!!! If she's having fun, she will get into it and it will be a fun family sport for years!! See ya! Hi Lead Ringer, So true. When I started shooting, hubby gave me his best '97. To this day (13 years later) she is still sweet and has never let me down. I am addicted to CAS (and WBAS), despite not being a top shooter. Although hubby doesn't shoot any longer, I am so addicted that I even go to annual matches by myself. I find shooting to be just plain fun and the people are the best around! Regards, Allie Mo PS Sorry I didn't get to meet you at Merlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck D. Law, SASS #62183 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 +1 It is more than, "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." The only thing more diestracting than issues with your guns/ammo, is problems with the ones you set up for your wife. Lead Ringer is correct regarding the better half, but Mack Hacker is telling you something that is critical. J-BAR's post regarding how different people approach the game is dead on as well, but elaborating on Mack Hacker's comment; guns that work as intended allow someone, regardless of how they approach the game, to enjoy it. I can't tell you how many new shooters I have seen get frustrated and quit because they tried to scrimp and save a dollar only to have their joy dashed with cold water at every stage fighting a gun, typically a rifle, that refuses to chamber and eject properly. If someone doesn't want to drive a Lamborghini (a 66 or 73), that's fine. A Marlin is like a Chevy or Ford, typically dependable and capable of being fast, even very fast. A 92 is like hot-rodding a six cylinder; it can be done...but it takes more effort. To attempt to hot-rod a 94 Winchester or Henry Big Boy is likely to be similar to racing a Pinto. Good luck and welcome to the fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I've been a gun nut all my life, so am familiar with most models and types used in the competition. I'm a 30 year veteran of handloading and have been casting bullets for 15 or so years.......... I'm going to cut to the chase: I love the looks of Colt Bisley's.......For a rifle, I've found there are lots of levers chambered in 44 Mag, but some of the '92 repro's seem to be priced right........Before anyone flames me for my choice of equipment let me say that I'm more interested in shooting for enjoyment than trying to be a world champion and I get enjoyment out of using my favorite guns rather than what might be "best" I knew and predicted that there'd be folk telling a veteran of a lifetime of shooting that he didn't know anything about his favorite guns and what he liked to shoot and was good at. Rather, he should start from scratch and ignore his experience and attend "several shoots" before he was able to formulate any intelligent ideas about guns to use. To that I politely say bullcrap! When I started (including posts of what I wanted to shoot and was familiar with shooting) I was told the same line of "bullcrap"! You've been shooting longer than some of these folk and certainly longer than they've been shooting SASS so use what you want to use and are proficient with using (as long as it conforms to SASS regs). Obviously you couldn't whip out your favorite Glock. When shooting skeet in the NSSA I got to witness (on more than a few occasions) a guy whip out his trusty Winchester model 12 pump and beat several of the consistent skeet shooters (the ones with knowledge of the game) who were shooting 5 to 10 thousand dollar over and under skeet guns. Did he use the suggested norm for skeet? NO Did he use a gun that most could win with? NO Did he use a gun he was familiar with and had several years of experience with? HELL YES! Not only he, but I had a blast watching him clean their clocks after their snide comments about his equipment and offers for him to borrow their "proper" guns for the game. He was a hunter who just wanted to brush up on his wing shooting. Smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Dan Dawkins Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Smithy, That's about the biggest dingle-berry post (#53) I have read this week, aside from some of my own of course. I had 25+ years of shooting experience prior to SASS and could shoot exceptionally well with a steady deliberate aim. It consisted of a 30-30, 30-06, .22's, Mossberg 500 pump 12 ga and archery hunting with a mix of various single and double action revolvers. None of that experience, nor the firearms, lent well to SASS. There is a finite number of guns with their own idiosyncracies leaving a lot of choices. Looks and price are not enough to make a decision on (take women for example). Try as many as you can before you buy as preconceived notions can impede your level of enjoyment (take women for example). If it doesn't work or doesn't fit, it will only frustrate (take women for example). I have sold off several thousand dollars in "cowboy" guns and "bullcrap" bought in haste that proved to be either unreliable, unnecessary or simply lost its luster. Many were sold to improve something I had or to buy something more reliable. Others to pay bills. Buying reliable guns set up for the rigors of this sport is priority. Speed or level of competitiveness, regardless of firearms chosen, has nothing at all to do with getting guns set up to function properly and reliably. A weekend or two a month shooting is more than most gun manufacturers expect from their stock guns and they sell them as such. Guns that are not reliable or don't fit, just takes too much of the fun out of it. There are different levels of entry. I started for under $750. All four guns. I got rid of those guns LONG ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Hill Tirador Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 God bless Bob Wills! I know this post is old, but I had to say thanks for the Bob Wills video! I first heard his music when I was a boy, so he's reason I, 25 years ago, picked up and never put down a fiddle. Funny thing about the video: If you look close at the left side of the screen, you can see a steel guitar player (just his left arm). The guys name is Bobby Kofer, recognizeable by the way he holds his bar, he's still alive and I've had the honor of playing with him a few times over the years. Hopefully I'll work with him this upcoming weekend at the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium as I did last year. But, I digress... To update, I bought a couple of .357 Hombre's and a Rossi 92 to get the wife and I started. The Hombre's are fine, the Rossi I've had apart so much I can shake it over my workbench and the screws back themselves out! I'm exaggerating a little, but I've encountered and fixed a few problems with it. I slicked it up as per NKJ's video, and them some, and it's a slick little rifle now. I had an old Fox B in 16 ga. that got the call for a shotgun. I slicked it up and we are set. Now that the wife is equipped, I'm on the prowl for my .44 Specials. I'm working on the pistols first and 'though I wanted Uberti Bisley's at first, I've about decided a regular SAA might do. After I get them, I'll start deciding on a rifle. Thanks for all the advice. CHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Hooker Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I know this post is old, but I had to say thanks for the Bob Wills video! I first heard his music when I was a boy, so he's reason I, 25 years ago, picked up and never put down a fiddle. Funny thing about the video: If you look close at the left side of the screen, you can see a steel guitar player (just his left arm). The guys name is Bobby Kofer, recognizeable by the way he holds his bar, he's still alive and I've had the honor of playing with him a few times over the years. Hopefully I'll work with him this upcoming weekend at the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium as I did last year....... I actually never even heard of him until I was 30ish and discovered a local college radio station, (WVKR, Vassar College, 91.3 in the Poughkeepsie, NY area, www.wvkr.org on-line) entirely by accident. One of the djs had a buddy on his show who later had his own show on a local commercial (just barely, more like a hobby for the owner) station (WHVW). They all played really old country music, from back when it was still called "hillbilly" music. I hardly ever listen to the mass-market commercial radio stations anymore. Music stinks, mostly indistinguishable from one another, and the same, maybe, five songs over and over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 'Competitor' ??...Nah, you become 'family' GG ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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