[Graybeard]

Trying to get a feel here for what it is that motivates you to shoot the CAS circuit.

Are you a serious competitor out to win or just there for the fun and could care less if you win?

Back in the '60s, '70s and even part of the '80s I was pretty serious about competition. Shot NRA handgun and rifle silhouette matches, skeet, trap and sporting clays at various times. I was there to WIN! and win I did a bunch. But I burned out. It ceased to be fun. Winning takes a LOT of hard work. These days I shoot for fun only and have absolutely no interest in ever again becoming a serious competitor out to win.

If I went to CAS matches how many folks like myself would I likely find as compare to those there with aspirations of winning?

GB

 

[Biggun Stump]

A LOT!

I want to be the best shooter I can be, however, I have no delusions of setting the CAS world on fire. I'm 52 and their are a lot of shooters in or near my age group who are mature enough to realize this is a fantasy sport.

Aggresive competitors are around of course, and I'm always happy to see a fast gun do what I can only dream about. Nothing like seeing the best in the game, whatever the game may be.

On match days I get up, put on my outfit and look in the mirror. Suddenly I'm 8 years old again and playing Roy Rogers, with real guns this time. How serious can I take myself with that in mind? I'm having a great time in SASS and CAS and meeting some of the nicest folks I've ever met in ANY of the shooting sports, or anywhere else for that matter.

Tell you what GB. Bama ain't all that far from MO. You're welcome to come to a shoot anywhere within driving distance of KC. (Which means you could shoot any weekend of the month, practically year round.) You can stay with me and my missus and if you don't have a great time shootin' the bull and the bullets with the pards out here I'll eat yer camo hat! I'm serious now, I swan!

 

[Flint]

CAS

Biggun said it. Most of us are there for fun. CAS is even set up so the prizes are very often (if there are any at all) given to ranking like dead middle, or 3rd from last, etc. The shooting fees at a monthly match don't cover expenses like trophies or plaques, so there are none. Unlike IPSC where everyone is at each other's throat for position, CAS shooters are there to have fun, BS and shoot. There are no "race guns", and obvoiusly modified guns are not permitted. Friendliest bunch of shooters there ever have been in organized shooting.

 

[No Cattle]

Never owned a gun in my life until I started this game 4 years ago.
Since I 56 years old it is very unlikely that I could acquire the skills needed to be a serious competitor.
BUT No body in the whole world can tell me that I am not Roy or Gene or one of those other heros of my childhood when I am one the firing line.

It's all about setting aside the cares of the real world for a short time and reliving, what to most of us, was a happier, simpler time.

 

[Keokotah]

:-D :-D Fun is my objective here ......... But , I started out on the bottom of the overall scoring a couple of years ago , but as time went by I got better and better and was not really practicing any, I came up in the ranks to more than halfway to the top ,in overll and coming in NEAR top in my class .....I am 62 years old and always shoot trad. class .....I could go shoot other classes and be the top dog SOMETIMES ..... but , i'M HERE TO HAVE FUN....... :-D Keokotah ( I love those little guy's )

 

[butlerford45]

Why shoot CAS? Well, I'm 51 and a couple of times a month I get to pretend to be a 10 year old playin at my favorite pastime. COWBOYS!. By the time it comes to get ready for a match I'm excited enough that I lay out all my guns, clothes, fixins, cart, and anything else I can think of that I might want the night before. Break down the cart and have it in the car. Try to choose which guns to shoot, and which guns to take in case someone new might be there and want to give it a try, and get them packed in the gun cases. If we're planning some long range side matches. I'll pack another case. I make sure I've got enough of the right ammo for each gun plus some extras and pack the saddle bags. All the extra lubes and tools, just in case someone might need them. Into the saddle bag. Shooting glasses, hearing protection, extras into the saddle bags. Everything lined up by the door ready to go. Do ya remember what it was like when you were a kid on Christmas Eve? I get that feeling two or three (four on a good month) times a month. On the morning of the shoot and I've got my dud's on and after I get my boots on I'll make a couple of practice passes through the kitchen so I can get the right cadence on the jingle of the spurs. Grab my hat, and everything by the door in the car and I'm off!! When you get there, you realize that this shoot must be the social event of the season, or at least till the next shoot. The friendliest, most amiable group of people you'll ever meet. Everyone of them trying to live up to the Cowboy Code! The shooting is fun, ya get to be the hero, save the Damsel in Destress from a pack of crazed attack sheep, or the town's savings after a band of desparodos rob the Mississippi River Bank. You're the hero! Ya know at 51, I'm not big on hero's, I've met real ones and they are just people in the wrong place at the wrong time and did what had to be done, but when I was 10, real heros were bigger than life. Now a couple of times a month, my friends and I all get to be bigger than life. It is a game, it's a fun game, it's one of the few fun games that an entire family can enjoy together. If serious competition is what you consider fun, most clubs have one or two shooters that will give you some serious competition, but most of them will gladly hand you their guns and a box of ammunition and offer you the challenge. Some people will compete with a friend or a family member, some just want to do better than they did last time. Whatever the level of competition you enjoy, there will probably be someone there that will enjoy a similar competitive level. Something for everyone isn't just a cliche'. Cowboy hat, boots, spurs, tin star and guns while riding a hobby horse it's pretty hard for me to take myself seriously. I got wordy, sorry.

Cause its fun

 

[Cuts Crooked]

The Pards have tol' ya right! CAS is as much a social function as it is a competition! There's room for all, competitors, dress up 'n play cowboy types, 'n darned near everything in btwixt em! 8)

I'm competitive, with myself and others. But not to the point that I loose sight of having fun! Once in a while I win! Mostly I don't. But I'm always trying to do a bit better than the last time around! Thing is...I've had more fun at matches by laughing at my goofs than those where I've shot a perfect set! 8) :-D

 

[Capt Hamp Cox]

My grandpa let me shoot a Win. mod 62 .22 pump rifle 57 years ago when I was four. Been shooting something ever since, but got to tell you I have never found another shooting activity I enjoy as much as CAS. It is downright FUN. If you can't find a shooting category you like (I shoot Senior Duelist), I'll bet you wouldn't even like an OUTBACK steak. Until I got involved in CAS, I had never been successful in getting my wife (SASS Alias "Texana Trueheart") interested in any shooting activities. Now, we go to CAS matches together and have a blast. Our experience at every club we've shot with is that CAS shooters are some of the friendliest and most helpful people you will find anywhere. While I don't consider myself a serious contender when it comes to winning my class, I come in Third often enough to keep it interesting. As a side benefit, I find my non-CAS shooting, particularly offhand rifle and one handed handgun has improved significantly since I've been shooting CAS. It's not a cheap activity, especially with two of us involved, but if we weren't doing this, we'd just be spending more on the grandkid. If you like to shoot, and ever enjoyed playing Cowboys and Indians, I think you'll really enjoy CAS.

 

[Graybeard]

Wal I dunno. I was kinda hoping to hear about what you've said. For sure I'm not looking for another shooting sport to become a competitor in. I would like to get back into the shooting sports in some way that would let me enjoy myself and do a bunch of shooting. I like reactive targets much better than paper and that's another thing that makes CAS appealing.

Since my long time best friend and shooting pard Billy Doss died I've really missed our constant shooting together. He always wanted to be a cowboy and considered himself to be one even tho he didn't own any proper boots and don't think I ever saw him in a cowboy hat. Said it was just kind of a way of thinking and living to him.

I don't have proper boots but do have some old Wellington work boots that might pass muster until I can afford some. Dunno if I still have a western stle hat or not. Me and Mrs. GB both used to have. Dunno what happened to them. Might still be stuck back. Jeans I got and probably can rustle up a half way proper shirt or two.

Have one Ruger single action. A SS Bisley but it's not a Vaquaro it has adjustable sights. Did have an EMF Dakota and will likely pick up one or maybe a pair of single actions this year sometime. Got a lever action .44 mag. Marlin I could use for the rifle part and a Stoger 28 ga. SXS double I reckon might work for a shotgun. Of course it might be cheaper to get me another in 20 ga. than to set up to reload for the 28 ga. since I sold my loader for it to my friend Billy Doss when I sold him a Browning 28 ga. Skeet gun a few years back. Leather I don't have. Will have to come up with that. I do have a Marlin Cowboy .45-70 I reckon I might could use in long range matches if my right shoulder will take the recoil. Got bursitis really bad and the doctor told me to just stop shooting all together but I allowed as how that ain't gonna happen.

Will get out to a match up the road from me when the weather warms and I've had time to pick up another item or two. Might or might not shoot with them the first time but will check it out and see how things look. Will find time to shoot a match or two before the warm weather ends this year and see how I like it.

Like Capt Hamp Cox I've been shooting since I was four years old when I got a bb gun from the son of a friend of dad's. Been a shooting ever since. For shore I spent my share of time as a kid playing cowboys and indians. And I still like to watch a good old western movie on the Westerns Channel about better than most newer movies.

Now Biggun Stump ya shore wouldn't wanta go eating them stinking old camo hats er hats uv mine. They got some miles and hours in the woods on them. Dunno if I could make it out this year but if the invitation is still open next year who knows I might be able to.

Gonna start real soon working again after being retired since '95. Matt's opening a new computer store this month and has talked me into managing it for him. So time's gonna be a lot tighter for me this year than in a long time. Should help with the finances tho and maybe allow me to get what I need and get ready.

Sounds like fun. Guess I'll see about giving it a try this year.

GB

 

[jose grande]

GB, shooting CAS is great fun. There are serious competitors out there but at a monthly shoot there may not be but one. And even those guys love to have a good time. It is just when the timer says shooter ready? that they get serious & business picks up!!! I shoot Duelist (one handed pistol) with .45 SSA's 7 1/2 with a upper-midrange load. I don't want to wear the revolvers out prematurely or I'd shoot a normal service load (about 900fps instead of 800+ a little).A Rossi Puma & a Stevens SXS with a pair of single actions & leather is all yuh need to start. The guys can tell yuh all about great deals on hats & so forth. We shoot the 4th Sat. every month , so if your over this-away stop in. You can borrow my guns.We'll just shoot opposite ends of the posse. No problem.There are about 3 CAS clubs in ALA. that I know of . If you want phone no. shoot me an e-mail. One other thing though SASS rules require a 20 ga. min. You mentioned recoil as a problem;well I have a friend with a load for a 20 that is light to shoot but knocks down our targets without a problem.

 

[cheyenne ranger]

I think you're hearing just what CAS is all about and this is from all over these united Staes. Most of us are reliving our Saturday matinee movies and TV westerns.
I am 56 and have been shooting USPSA for about 16 years. As I got older I noticed I kept moving down the order of finish, not that I was very high up to start with. USPSA is a way for me to keep my hand in the shooting sport but it didn't have a rifle or shotgun component. CAS has that.
And like most started out young. First rifle was a pellet gun and first "real gun" I got to shoot was a Win 94 in 30-30. Still have my Ruger Mark I (back then it wasn't a Mark I yet). Did my share of deer hunting and got to spend a year hunting people as a guest of my uncle (sam). Turned out I got to be the target a few times--don't recommend it. Kinda lost interest in hunting (once you hunt people, hunting animals looses something--at least it did for me).
CAS is a social club with shooting on the side. It can be as competitive as you want it to be but for most of us, at the local matches, it's just plain fun.

 

[bubba]

I never shot cas GB for one reason. They wanted me to lug the horse rather than letting me ride it all the horses refused lol

 

[Graybeard]

Well jist dang it. I thought for shore I had the shotgun angle covered with my Stoger 28 ga. They need a class for old farts like me that ain't interested in competing for any place but jist wanna join in and shoot thru with the rest.

GB

 

[butlerford45]

GB take yer 28, I haven't seen a local club yet that wouldn't let you shoot what you have at the monthly shoots, they just won't let you have a score because your using an ineligible weapon. I've seen double action revolvers, 22's and single shots being used by folks new to the game, cause that's what they had. If some snob tell's you you can't shoot it because its not SASS legal, tell him your not SASS and find some one more intelligent to talk to. I have never found a person like this at any of the clubs I've shot with, but I hear they do exist.

 

[Cuts Crooked]

Graybeard,
You jist grab that 28 and head fer the range with it! The club will let you use it! until you can git a 12 'r a 20! We'uns is a purty understand bunch when it comes to that stuff!

But you know that we're gonna try 'n make a Darksider outta ya, don't ya!? 8) :-D 8)

 

[Graybeard]

Now I like the sound of that Butler. I could care less about a score. Have no intention of trying to be competitive. Just wanna shoot and have fun around a bunch of nice folks to be with. Don't care if they never send in a score for me and last place is fine with me.

If I'm gonna do this it is gonna be strictly about having fun not about winning or scores.


Cuts Crooked, hmm, dunno about that darkside stuff. Never popped a cap on real black powder in my life. Have shot some Pyrodex in my muzzle loaders but never any real BP.

GB

 

[Capt Hamp Cox]

Dadburned machine keeps making a "Guest" outta me.

 

[Graybeard]

Capt. I can fix that problem.

Been slowly changing the forums to require registration to post anyway. On the forums where it is required if ya forget it reminds you rather than letting you post as a guest. I'll go in and make this one registration required as are most of them now I think.

I used to do that sometimes on my old forums when it logged me out and I didn't realize I was logged out. Chapped me big time when I did it. Kept trying to get Matt to fix it so it wouldn't let me do that and he said he couldn't. Now we can.

GB

 

[Capt Hamp Cox]

Appreciate that GB. Probably ought to be "Stranger" instead of "Guest" anyway for the Cowboy forum (as in "Howdy, Stranger"). Just kiddin.

 

[Holiday]

Ah, heck, Gray Beard, just show up and you can use one of my scatterguns. If ya don't mind black powder, you can even use my shells! If ya don't like the smell, just bring some light 12 guage stuff. We shoot the first Sunday of the month, if it don't come a gully washer or snow a foot. Heck, we may even shoot then! E-mail me fer directions if ya need 'em.