Cowboy Action Shooting participants compete with the goal of out shooting everyone in their category. Competitors compete for the title of Overall Top Shooter, to shoot a Clean Match, and/or to win Best Dressed.
Cowboy Action Shooting requires competitors to dress in the style of clothing used in the 1800’s along with using the firearms of the mid to late 1800’s. Competitors shoot real guns with real lead bullets at steel targets under timed conditions. The parent organization, the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) was started by Judge Roy Bean in the early 1970’s and today has well over 100,000 members around the world. The sport centers around Cowboy Action Shooting clubs who operate on mostly privately owned shooting ranges, but there are clubs on public ranges as well. Cowboy Action Shooting has 42 shooting categories that cover everyone and all styles of shooting. Similar to Rodeo competitions, competitors compete for belt buckles or other prizes.
Depending on your category you will need two single action pistols, one lever or pump rifle, and one pump, lever, or double barreled shotgun. You will need holsters for the pistols. A two, three, or four wheel gun cart to carry your long guns and other essentials.
Participants register with their aliases and decide which Posse to shoot with. A posse usually consist of 15-16 shooters. There are usually 3-4 posses at a monthly match and up to 30+ at the Nationals and World Matches. Posses form up at the OK CORRAL stage where the Posse Marshall reads the stage scenario identifying how to shoot each set of targets (pistol, rifle, shotgun). When called to the stage by the Posse Marshall, competitors proceed to the starting location in order to stage their firearms at the designated positions. The Posse Marshall will ask if the competitor understands the scenario and tells them to say a starting line when they are ready, I don’t want any trouble. The Posse Marshall says Stand by and at the beep of the timer, the competitor begins shooting each target in the correct order, moving and shooting as fast as they safely can. The timer automatically records the last shot and the Posse Marshall calls out your time, misses, and penalties with the aid of three spotters and a scorekeeper. Misses add 5 seconds and penalties add 10 seconds to your time, resulting in your score for that stage.
Step 1: Join TSRA
Step 2: Contact TSRA Directors below
Forrest Person
Cowboy Action Director
cowboyaction@tsra.com
Scott Love
Cowboy Action Director
cowboyaction2@tsra.com