How I started out in CAS... How'd y'all jump in to the pond?

[McCandless]

OK, I got bitten by the CAS-bug, but didn't have any guns, leather, or clothes....but I had the sickness... just hadta hav "stuff"!!! The monkey was on my back, screamin' in my ear... and then the voices in my head said "BUY!"

So, I visiting in-laws down in Orlando and I found the Buffalo Store in the phone book... Next thing I know, I had met Wild Dick and had bought a pretty Rossi '92, pre-safety, .45colt with a crescent stock and 24" Octogon barrel. Laid out the $449.00...and...I had ordered up a set of leather right outa Packin' Iron! cost 185.00

 

Next, back home in NC, I found a 5-1/2" Stainless Bisley Vaquero in .45........just the one. 379.00 Took a long time to find another, and it was Blued! Well, I figured I'd shoot Salt n' Peppa. 349.00

 

Money was dwindlin' fast!

 

From there I went huntin' for a shotgun. At a gunshow I found a Stevens 511, blond wood, nice case colors, clean bores for 279.00

ok... was ready to order ammo.

 

Found a reloading company somewhere's that sold me my first 1K loaded rounds... (save the brass!)

 

Got a pair of Justing Roper boots, and somekinda shirt and pants, and a 5" brimmed Guatemala Palm hat.

 

I was ready to sally forth into a world I was totally unprepared for,

 

40 pistols, 9 shotguns, and 12 rifles, (that's just the ones I kept)...and 12 years later,,, I'm still enjoying the games!

[Tom Bullweed]

I shot trap for four years and maxed out shooting 88/100 with a semi-stock 870. Improving was likely to involve a much more expensive gun.

I shot DCM/Hi-power for six years. My eyesight kinda stinks so I maxed out there.

I shot IPSC for six years and got a B classification in revolver, production and L-10. Met my goals.

I shot bullseye pistol for three years with poopy eyesight and maxed out.

I grew up watching westerns and shooting single-action revolvers and lever guns. I visited a couple SASS matches and was immediate met by the friendliest of folks. My equipment has always been piecemeal; I like to shoot original guns as much as possible. I am a very average shooters but enjoy CAS more than the other shooting sports that I have tried.

Too many stories about too many guns to bore anyone with....

[Mean Matt McCord, SASS #24683]

Catherine and I were married in 1998. She kept harping on me that I needed a hobby. She was right, of course. My first wife was a domineering control freak, so I was not allowed to pursue any activities that did not revolve around her. I have always loved shooting, but had never heard of CAS. Anyways, one night we were sitting at the table reading magazines; I was reading an old copy of Shotgun News. I turned the page, and there was a 1/2 page ad for SASS. This was the ad that featured the Carradines in full cowboy regalia. Catherine saw the ad and being the big western movie fan she is (not to mention praying daily at the altar of Roy Rogers), she asked what it was. I said something to the effect like "Something called the Single Action Shooting Society, I have no idea what it is." To which she replied, "That sounds like it would be fun, you should check it out." And the rest is history.

[Mud Marine,SASS#54686 Life]

I am a bullseye shooter and handgun hunter. While visiting my local gun shop, I saw a book about cowboy action shooting. I was intrigued so I bought two Ruger Bisley Vaqueros .38/.357s, a Marlin .38S&W Special and a Stoeger 20 gauge double, ordered leather from my supplier, Idaho Leather and went shooting. It was fun but the puny caliber and gauge bored me. I kept the original guns for loaners and bought .45 Colt Vaqueros and a .45 Coly Henry Big Boy. Plus, I had my POS ten gauge 3-1/2 cut down. I loaded wart hog BP ammo that made it fun. ILater, for side matches, I added a Marlin .38-55, a Bond Arms derringer, a .44 Mag Henry Big Boy,

and brought my C. Sharps .50-140 and my longer barreled AyA 10 gauge double plus a WOODEN gun cart embellished with two of my personal cattle brands.Then, I purchased "gunfighter grips and had the revolvers squared away by West Fargo.

 

Since my daily garb is Western, I purchased period correct 1875 USMC dress, field and fatigue uniforms, etc. An RV followed plus,lus,plus, ad infinitum! :-)

 

After I retired, I bought a place and installed a 4 stage cowboy action shooting range.

 

:-)

[South Pass Kid]

I was with a group of friends from the firehouse on a cattle drive in wyoming, before leaving we took a side trip to South Pass City. I got to talk to some great people (SASS members), came home purchased 1 Uberti 45 colt pistol but took it no further. About 10 years later having sold the pistol my wife and I were sitting with our daughter talking about things we can do while traveling in our RV. The subject of CAS came up and the wife and little one seemed very interested. This was my chance I looked up the local SASS club and took them to see a shoot. They were hooked! Its been a great experience so far. In fact one pard went about and beyond and gave us a stoeger coach gun to help get started. Only problem has been this cold weather no one wants to shoot, come on warm weather!!!

[Charlie Whiskers]

I grew up going to the Saturday Matinee movies watching Roy, Gene. Lash Larue and Rex Allen etc. Then came TV in 54 in my town. WOW...The Lone Ranger and so on. Finally after I got my FFL I started buying some of the guns I saw in those movies. Sharps Carbine was the 1st one, followed by an original Trapdoor. Next was a 66 in 44-40. Followed that with a 75 Remington and a OM Vaquero in 44-40. Still hadn't heard about SASS at that time but shortly after I bought the Pistola's I saw a blurb on TV about CAS....my mind went oooooo.....gotta check this out. Went to the SASS site and 1st thing I saw was a hammered SxS. Bought one of those. When I retired and moved back to Montana I went to my 1st shoot and found out I was the only one there with a hammered shotgun, but had fun anyway. That was in 2001...finally in 09 I decided I wanted to travel to other clubs, so I joined SASS. The rest is a fun filled history.

[Grizzly Dave]

My kids were about grown and I decided it was time to spend some time on me, so I went looking for a shooting sport. Had both an IDPA match and a Cowboy match going on at different places on that fateful Saturday. I overslept and decided to check out the cowboy match instead of the IDPA match I'd planned on going to. A couple of low down scoundrels forced me kicking and screaming to shoot a couple of stages, and dang it I was hooked. Took three months of selling off other toys before I finally had all my own guns to shoot. Now I have two full sets of cowboy guns and want more more more.

 

Edited to add - I have since checked out a match similar to IDPA, but neither the match nor the people tripped my trigger like Cowboy does.

[Noz]

I don't remember how I first heard about the game but I started with 2 41 mag Blackhawks, an 1894 Marlin in 41 mag and an outside hammer 20 ga Chinese.

 

I've run through 3 rifles, 5 shotguns, and I have no clue how many pistols but in the vicinity of a dozen pairs or so, most of them being cap and ball.

[Shorty Jack Hammer]

I was a gunfighter of some notariety, quick with the gun but my temper was quicker still. One afternoon I was imbibing some particularly fine rotgut when a young upstart recognized me and called me out to fist fight him. Unfortunately my condition and temper got the better of me and I angered quickly, drew my hog leg, and shot him right in the gut. Unknown to me he wasn't heeled at all, not even a jack knife on his person, and he died a short time later. The town Marshall arrested me for trial, but the young challenger was a popular fellow with the local towns folk who broke me out of jail and rope burned my neck when they jerked me to Jesus. They buried me in an unmarked grave on little hill outside of that no name town.....that was 1883. I was reincarnated in 1965, grew up loving guns, hunting and shooting. Became a law man myself, but I could feel something was missing because I wasnt as interested in black plastic guns as much as my tactical minded coworkers. I drooled over the repro lever guns and pistols, always talked about them, but never pulled the trigger on buying any. Another like minded coworker pal of mine told me about being involved in SASS quite a few years earlier and wanted to start again. I went to a local match, then another, and another and I was hooked. Got a bunch of cool guns and some cool duds and love it....unfortunately I've not retained all those gunfighter qualities from that first life.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

About 9 years back, I was content spending my Saturdays either plinking with different types of pistols OR...varmint hunting. Mostly groundhogs.

 

A friend invited me to visit his Cowboy match. I was bitten!

 

I quickly acquired the guns by either trading some of what I had or selling some to get enough funds to buy what I wanted.

 

My first match, I shot Double Duelist...but wanted to shoot GF. They wouldn't let me.

 

Second match, I shot GF and have never changed.

 

Later in years, I was challenged by fellow shooters to submit a speed GF video to Doc Shiparo and Lead Dispenser. The rest is history on that.

 

Then about 4 years back, I got intrigued as to why the 1894 Marlin has some odd Gremlins when trying to shoot it fast. So, sitting down at my kitchen table and studying how it works, the Widdermatic was created. Sometimes, I think I'm still trying to figure out how that blame thing works...

 

And thats my story and I'm stickin to it.....atleast for now.....

 

 

..........Widder

[Chicken Scratch]

Mine is a strange story, as a kid my friends and I would go out to the Desert and shoot anything we could find. It was friendly test of who's the best shot. Uncle Sam grabbed me at ripe old age of 17 and let me play with guns and boats. My life was complete. Then came Kids, having two girls and a anti-gun ex-wife the guns went into the safe for 18 years. Well I'm not a stand on the sidelines kinda guy, so I coached all my kids sports, soccer, softball, baseball, (we are short so thank God no Basketball) then one day my daughter wanted to get in a surf contest, well this became our thing. I got involved and ran both amature and Pro surf contest all over the East Coast, and Cali for 10 years. When the Girls went off to college I still ran the surf contest but it just wasn't the same without them. Remembering the good old days I decided to pull out the guns. I had long forgotten the combination so I got a locksmith to drill the safe. 4 1/2 hours later Woo Hoo I have guns, now where do I shoot them. I joined a local range and made friends with the owner. Being a competitive kinda guy a ask about shooting competitions.

I tried steel challenge and it just didn't scrach the itch. One weekend there was a cowboy match I went back to watch. Never have I met a friendlier bunch of folks. After the match they let me shoot their guns and I was HOOKED. I went on a spending spree buying cowboy guns left and right. 6 months in we hosted the Florida State match, O MY GOD I thought I had died and gone to cowboy Haven. Hundreds of cowboys from all over desended on my little town of St Augustine. Fancy stages, venders with lots of cowboy stuff to sell. The excitement in the air was so unbelievable, I had found my place in the world.

 

It's been a year and a half now and I'm still just as giddy as my first day. I have been shooting cowboy matches every weekend (good thing I live in Florida) and started to travel to some of the Big Matches

Looking forward to my first Winter Range next month!

 

Mississippi Kid

[Chili Pepper Kid, SASS #60463]

Our local paper (Des Moines Register) had a nice full page article about CAS and the two local clubs (Zen Shootists, Fort Des Moines Rangers) were having a "Tenderfoot" clinic. At that point in time I was working 3 outta 4 weekends and this happened to be on my weekend off. I have always been a fan of Louis Lamour westerns and John Wayne so this sounded like fun. I went and had a blast and the people were the nicest group you could ever meet.

It probably wouldn't have gone any further because I didn't come from a shooting back ground. However fate stepped in because that very next week I was working at a new location for me and happened to be talking to someone I had just met and he asked what I did for the weekend. He tells me he does CAS and his Alias is Cuts Crooked. He invites me to a shoot and can use all his stuff. It was in the fall. I went and had a blast and was hooked. That winter I sold a 49 Ford pick up that I had been tinkering on but didn't really have room for, my wife said I could the money from that to buy the guns.

 

9 years later and it's still the most fun ever!

 

Chili Pepper Kid

[John Henry Quick]

Not to bore anyone, but I started shooting my step-father's 1/2 pounder swivel gun in 1970 at age 12. High Power Rifle in 1983, but quickly grew bored with it. Unafilliated IPSC-style shooting in the late 90's, but colonial reenacting grabbed me in 1999 and wouldn't let go for over a decade.

 

I saw a group of CAS shooters do a demo shoot at my local IWLA and thought it would be great fun, but I was too consumed with the French & Indian War and American War of Independence to start yet another hobby. I finally burned out in reenacting three years ago and got started in USPSA and then decided that CAS was long overdue, so I spent a year studying and buying gear and then began actually shooting last spring.

 

The only purchase I made that I now regret was a '97 Winchester, mainly because it's, to put it kindly, maintenance intensive, but also because I am going into Frontier Cartridge and Frontiersman, so it's just not much use to me and I've sold it. I had bought a hammered double at about the same time as a backup, so it's now my primary shotgun. I'm quite excited about my second year because I'm combining the excitement of CAS with my love of black powder, so ow could it get any better?

 

With my first year under my belt, I can only say that I wish I hadn't waited 14 years to try it and it's every bit as addicting as reenacting!

[Mustang Gregg]

:FlagAm: :FlagAm:

 

I hung out with Badlands Bob (ND) at several military matches and schools from '1997 to 2001.

He was telling me how much fun SASS really is.

And he made me a super deal on a M-92 carbine that he had smoothed up. Heck, I already had Western duds and a pair of .44 Super Blackhawks.

At my 1st shoot at Eastern Nebraska Gun Club, I was hooked. Now I'm their TG.

 

Mustang Gregg

[Three Foot Johnson]

I've been a collector and shooter all my life, heard about CAS late in the last century, went and watched a match, didn't have a suitable rifle so I bought a .45 Colt Rossi '92, practiced a little at home, attended the next match, and placed 9th overall out of about 25. That first match, I used the new Rossi, a set of salt & pepper 4 5/8" .45 Blackhawks, and a 12g Rossi Overland hammer coach gun.

[Grizzly Clark]

Hello the fire,

 

I was reading the ads on one of the gun auction sites when I saw an ad for a Vaquero in 44/40. I have always liked Rugers, and the thought of a 44/40 (a REAL cowboy caliber) really got me thinking. I read the ad again and saw that the pistol had an action jab. Discussing this with my wife, we decided that I should make an offer. Well, I got the pistol. Then my wife asked "now that you have it, what are you going to do with it?" Good question. I went in the internet and did some searches (44/40, cowboy etc) and ended up on the SASS website. The rest is history. After finding a second Ruger, a Rossi 92 in 44/40 and a Stoeger 12 I was ready for my first match. I met a GREAT bunch of people there, and was taken under the wing of Two Shots Short and his wife Clamity Nan. For me it is "thank you" to my wife and all the folks I have had the pleasure of shooting with over the years.

 

Griz

[Madd Mike #8595]

There I was

In a feed store in Las Vegas

When I saw a 8x11 printed flyer for a local SASS club

That was back around SASS#8595

 

The rest is fun-fun history

[Bones Z]

Navy chaplain I was friends with took me to my first match in "by gawd" West Virginia. Been doing the cowboy thing ever since, 19 years or so.

[Oklahomabound]

...was living and w**king in northern Alabama at the time... had a few guns; 1894 Marlin .45 Colt with hex barrel and Ruger .45 Colt were 2 of them... ...got them 'cause they were cool! ...was shooting sporting clays at the time, every Saturday and started looking around for a different venue...

 

...went to watch at North Alabama Regulators, a few folks let me shoot their guns, and one feller, Lawman Mark, told me about another shoot coming up, Old York Shootist.... ...so I found another Ruger .45 Colt and a Stoeger 12 gauge sxs a holster; took the loops off a pair of jeans-added buttons and suspenders; took the collar off a shirt.... ...already had the boots, and went to shoot.

 

...Lawman Mark was there, he asked me to share his cart--told me everything I needed to do... got me through my first shoot!

 

...hooked no doubt... made my first gun cart the next week... the rest is on page 2...

[Cpt Dan Blodgett, SASS #75655]

Got interested at FT Bliss Mid 90s got the Pistol, Rifle and Shotgun over a period of 3 gun shows, shot a couple of matches then started shooting a 600 yard high power match the same day every month cowboy fell by the wayside.

Fast Fwd about 10 years having left El Paso 5 years earlier was no longer shooting anything. Looked up SASS found out there were many clubs in Phx, Contacted ACSA got the update about now needing 2 pistols, took several months to acquire 2nd 44 Mag Vaquero (new vaquero replaced) another couple of months deciding on and order leather, 6 week wait for leather. Joined SASS finally (5 digit vs 3 dig if I had joined mid 90s)

 

Started shooting

[Cato Younger]

Never gave CAS a second thought until recently. Just this year I got back to the U.S. from overseas and started spending time with my fiance's family. Both her folks are SASS members and they drug me out to a match a few times. At first I wasn't too keen, but after a few times I really started to like it. Not as may egos as there seem to be in IDPA, which I have also participated in. Just ordered my pistols, and now shopping around for a rifle and shotgun so I don't have to keep borrowing stuff from my in laws!

[John Henry Quick]

Not as may egos as there seem to be in IDPA, which I have also participated in.

 

Amen, brother. I'm a USPSA shooter and there's some major snob factor with many of the better shooters that I have yet to encounter here in CAS.

[Cato Younger]

One thing I do like about SASS is that they seem to make an effort to keep things anti-commercial. No wearing sponsorships on your clothing, for instance. I think that contributes to keeping things friendly. Not to mention the culture of the game itself, which is perpetuated by the founders and the new shooters alike. People will let you borrow guns, bend the costume rules if you are a first timer, etc. Folks are just plain helpful. And when a new guy comes in and sees that, it not only makes him want to keep coming back, but it makes him want to be helpful to the next new guy to come along. You just don't see that in the other shooting sports. I mean, try to borrow someone's gun at an IPSC match? Good luck!

[C.S. Brady, SASS #63699]

I went to watch a local Cowboy shoot and thought it might be fun to try. I bought everything I needed to get started, got my SASS membership, then never went to a match. A few years later I decided I needed to use my guns or sell them, so I finally went to a match. I almost didn’t get out of the truck as I didn’t know a soul in the crowd I saw hanging out before the match started. I got out, got my gear together, made a lot of mistakes, but I had fun and the guys at the club were so helpful and friendly that I went back again. It will be three years in June since I started this wonderful game and I now can’t imagine my life without it. I have met so many top notch people through my shooting and have made some life-long friends. So, thank you Judge Parkers Marshall’s for being so helpful and supportive!

[Outrider, SASS #72622]

I was in Iraq ('06) running Guntrucks with the 101st ABN. We got stuck outside the wire and ran out of water. Water became our #1 concern!

After we got back, I figured I'd research whatever was out there on stories of the Cavalry during the Indian wars.

Low and behold, something came up about competing with Cowboy guns. I joined while still in Iraq and started shooting as soon as I got back to Ft Campbell with the Crab Orchard Cowboy Shootists out of Clay, KY.

My bank account has never been the same!

[Cato Younger]

I was in Iraq ('06) running Guntrucks with the 101st ABN. We got stuck outside the wire and ran out of water. Water became our #1 concern!

After we got back, I figured I'd research whatever was out there on stories of the Cavalry during the Indian wars.

Low and behold, something came up about competing with Cowboy guns. I joined while still in Iraq and started shooting as soon as I got back to Ft Campbell with the Crab Orchard Cowboy Shootists out of Clay, KY.

My bank account has never been the same!

 

What FOB? I was there in 06 with the 172nd Stryker BDE. We fell under TF B.O.B. for a time up in Mosul, and worked with some other Screaming Eagles when we got sent south to Taji.

[Calamity Kris]

Some dear friends of ours retired and moved out to the high desert. They discovered the sport and became involved. They invited us out for the weekend and to watch them shoot. Uno was hooked. It took me a bit longer to get the bug because I hadn't prior involvement in shooting sports. Now I'm hooked and loving it. Looking forward to the time we can retire and travel to other clubs for matches.

[C.S. Brady, SASS #63699]

I didn't know all of that about you Outrider. You will need to give me more info on that part of your life the next time we shoot together.

[Matthew Duncan]

Don't remember how we heard about SASS.

 

Son and I drove a hour in a snow storm to watch Cutter's Raiders. We stay for the entire match and Midnite Desperado showed us the in and outs. Midnite let the boy try a pistol. We was hooked.

 

Took a while to gather pistols (oringinal Colt clones), '66 and Stevens 311. We shared until we gradually acquired a 2nd set.

 

Son and I competed against each other 6 years until he head off to college.

[Ya Big Tree]

Talked to Flush Draw on Indiana Gun Owners Web site about CAS and he invited me out to watch a shoot at Paradise Pass. I couldn't make it to that shoot but then went to watch a shoot at Wolff's Rowdy Rangers. I had a 44 mag and 45 Colt revolver and a 45 Colt Uberti rifle. I was basically forced to shoot after JD Spencer gave me a holster and a side by side and someone else gave me a box of 12 gauge shells. I can't remember feeling so welcome in a sport.

 

At this rate I may never have a retirement fund but I'm havin' a load of fun.

[Hashknife Cowboy]

Started at about 5 shooting my dad's Single Six....the Blackhawk....in the meantime shooting and hunting with Marlin and Winchester lever guns....love western history and the western life style is how I was raised and continue to live. Bought Blackhawks, Single Six's more lever guns and then the OMV in .44 mag for hunting and bought a 2nd one. Had old holsters from EPS and S.D. Myres and used them in the field. Started reloading 1975 and kept on reloading and shooting. Then it happened...went to Winter Range to see what it was all about. I failed the 20 step program at step 2, got lots of stuff now, shoot lots, love all the stuff associated with the sport, enjoy the friendships and mostly the spirit of the west. I carry my CAS guns while out on horseback working cattle and truly did find my place. Its just a HOOT!

 

Also in the past I did shoot 3 gun and practical pistol...this is just funner!

[Tom Bullweed]

My dad raised me on western movies, books by L'Amour and Grey, and shooting a Marlin 39 and High Standard Double-Nines.

 

Being my own fellow, I got into competing in bullseye, trap, high-power rifle and IPSC. My local IPSC clubs started shooting less frequently so I looked for what I should do next.

 

What do you know? NC has fifteen CAS matches every month and a whole horde of cowboy shooters who are top-notch! I kick myself over wasted time shooting at other types of matches.