What is Cowboy Action Shooting?

By: David Stroud (AKA Dallas Stoudenmire SASS 332 ) of the Comanche Valley Vigilantes

What is Cowboy Action Shooting? It is quite literally the fastest-growing shooting sport in the world. Beginning in the late 1980s a group of people in California began this exciting competition with single action pistols, lever action rifles and double barrel shotguns. About 1995 there were only a few clubs and about 2500 members of the Single Action Shooting Society. There are now clubs all over the world with over 50,000 members.

Why has the sport grown so popular? Well let me tell you. Picture yourself in the late 1800s surrounded by outlaws that are out to rob the bank. You’re holed up in the bank and they’re outside trying to get in for the town’s money. You’re the only one that can stop them. You load up your six guns and rifle and make sure you have plenty of shotgun shells to hold them off. You run to the window and you fire five rounds at the hombres outside, but you hear them sneaking in through the back. You run around to grab your rifle and fill them full of lead, as they come over the hill on horseback. There are some that got through, so you take your shotgun and finish them off at the back door. You saved the town from the robbers and all of the people are beholden to you.

This might well have been a picture painted in the 1800s as you walk through the West with the rest of your heroes Gene, Roy and John. Everyone shoots under a selected alias; I don’t really think anyone knows anyone’s real name. Of course half of the fun is getting dressed up in your duds from the 1800s and wearing your guns through town. You greet all fellows and ladies while getting to know a lot of new friends. Most of us grew up in the era of the old TV shows with cowboy heroes and watching late-night Saturday serials of Gun Smoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Wanted Dead or Alive and any number of the other favorites. Sometimes a lot of us feel we were born a hundred and fifty years too late.

Yes, this is a shooting competition using these old guns. On each scenario you are timed and your misses are counted against you with a five-second penalty for each miss. Miss, did I say miss? Yes, even the best of us can miss those big, close targets, real fast. But it doesn’t really matter if you hit anything or not, just as long as you look good while you are doing it. There are a lot of folks that have discovered Cowboy Action Shooting is the answer to a shooting sport where you can really enjoy yourself, meet people that enjoying shooting and have fun too. This sport is not only for adults, but also for families and kids. There are any number of classes to be shooting in, not only for the men, but also for the ladies and kids. We have traditional, modern, duelist, black powder, gun fighter, ladies, Jr. boys, Jr. girls, seniors, super seniors. We have classes for everybody. We have clubs all over the state and all over the United States. It seems no matter where you are, you can find a Cowboy Action Shooting club that will welcome you with open arms and say, "Come on, let’s have some fun."

As for myself, I got involved a little over 10 years ago. I became active in shooting speed plate matches at the Dallas Pistol Club. Then one day a man and his son showed up dressed in their cowboy clothes and shot the match with their single action pistols. They didn’t come in last. It looked like so much fun to me that the next weekend I came out with my Ruger Blackhawk (45 long colt) and from that time on I have shot nothing but single action. As I got little faster with my single action pistol, I joined a group in Denton that call themselves the Lone Star Frontier Shooting Society. At that time we only had 10 or 15 people show up the matches. As we grew we had to move to bigger range in Chico. From that time on the club has grown.

As all things change I became involved with another club. We were able to procure a range down in Glen Rose, Texas, where a western town was already built. This gave us an ambiance that added to the splendor of the sport. We call ourselves the Comanche Valley Vigilantes. Over a period of two years we have grown to be the second-largest Cowboy Action Shooting club in the world. We’re quite proud of that achievement and are working hard to become the largest Cowboy Action Shooting club in world.

If your life is short of excitement and you love to shoot, you need come out and join us. There are about 23 clubs in the state of Texas and any one of them will be more than glad to bring you into the fold. Cowboy Action Shooting has grown because of the fun and camaraderie of its people. These are the friendliest people you’ll ever meet in your life. We have fun, compete, and have a great time just being with each other. It’s great for the family because it teaches good sportsmanship, shooting and safety skills, and as someone once said, “ The family that shoots together, stays together.”

The clubs of Cowboy Action Shooting are proud to be involved with the TSRA and the NRA in protecting our rights and our heritage, guaranteed by the Constitution. I want to extend an invitation to all those looking for an activity in the shooting sports that the family can enjoy and learn about the heritage of the old West. So come join your local club or us and let’s have some fun.