Cowboy Action Shooting is not only a shooting competition, but also an atmosphere where shooters can re-live their favorite TV westerns and portray a persona from the actual West. About a hundred years after that famous gunfight at the OK Corral, SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) introduced Cowboy Action Shooting. It began in 1981 as an idea, and blossomed to what we have today. Men and women are dressed in 1880's costume as cowboys, native Americans, soldiers, gamblers, saloon girls and many other characters from the old west.
Each shooter adopts an alias that is registered and protected by SASS. This alias allows you to build or rebuild the character that you would like to portray.
In cowboy action shooting all guns must be SASS approved and pre-1899 in design. You will need two single action revolver handguns, a rifle or carbine (usually a lever action) in a pistol caliber. It's a good idea to have it in the same caliber as your revolver. Shotguns may be a double barrel, or a pump with an external hammer. Keep in mind, if the double barrel has automatic ejectors they must be disabled.
A match consists of a series of stages which are timed separately. Each missed target is a five second penalty. There are also additional penalties if you fail to follow instructions or do something which may be unsafe. Safety is always the most important item in Cowboy Action Shooting.
At some of the competitions your times are simply added at the end and the fastest time wins. At most SASS recognized events, a system called Rank Scoring is used. In each stage you are given rank points for your place of finish. The first shooter gets one rank point, the second gets two, and so on. The rank points are totaled at the end of the match, and the shooter with the least rank points wins. Rank points can and often do, have a different outcome than total time.
We'll keep you all posted if you're interested in learning more about this fun sport or if you would like to consider participating in a match at other clubs in North Dakota.
Our match dates are listed on the calendar along with contact information for the match director.
Second SATURDAY of the month.
11am Registration, Hammers Down at High NOON!