Cowboy Action Shooting in Billings, Montana

We woke up to a cool, overcast and breezy morning. We arrived at the Billings Rod and Gun Club yesterday and this is where our "new front yard" will be for the next 2 days. 

The reason I don't compete is because I don't want to get up at the crack of dawn and I can stay in bed where it is toasty warm. 

For those of you who do not know about Cowboy Action Shooting, I will sum it up with the help of Wikipedia. CAS is a type 3-gun match that uses a combination of pistol's, rifle and shotgun. They are from the western era and can be the "Real McCoy" or replica's. The pistol's are single action revolvers, the rifle is a pistol caliber lever action and shotgun can be either a double barrel or a Model 97 pump shotgun.

Participants must dress in period correct clothing from the era. You will see anything from Old West, Victorian, Mexican period dress and even B-Movie cowboy dress such as Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy.

Participants select an "alias" out of the Old West or something with "old west flair" such as Dead Horse Dan, Dirty Darla, Shady Lady, Lead Poison Larry, Tall Texan, Sod Buster and etc. Many are very creative. Some use the real names of the famous and colorful characters of the west. They can be gunfighters, soiled doves, Indians, saloon girls, Sheriff's, Marshal's, Judge's and soldiers. The names are then registered with S.A.S.S. which stands for Single Action Shooting Society. No one can use that name once it is registered. Ralph's name is "Lefty Rhodes". He is a left handed and Rhodes comes from part of his last name.


Competition involves different shooting scenarios and at each stage you use all your firearms. The targets are metal and placed at all kinds of distances and are usually different shapes and sizes. Some move and spin like that of an arcade. 

It is a timed event and misses add 5 seconds to your time, safety and procedural violations can add 10 seconds. National and World Championships can attract over 700 competitors.

Top shooter's can shoot their single action pistol faster than people can shoot an automatic. Electronic timers are used so first and second place can be the difference of a fraction of a second.

The first day of competition Lefty had several misses. Sometimes he is on his game and other times not so much. Maybe tomorrow he can redeem himself. But he loves this sport and has a fun time no matter what.

Janna my mentor who for the last 2 long, long days has been trying to teach me to do a blog. This is my maiden voyage to do it with out her standing over me with that ruler hovering over my knuckles! I hope she will be proud that I did not flunk out.

Happy Trials, Angela