About Cowboy Action Shooting

Do you ever wish you lived in the days of Wyatt Earp, Frank & Jesse James, and Billy the Kid? Would you like to stand tall and let your six guns do the talking? Well good news, the old west lives every 1st Saturday of the month at your local Cowboy Action Shooting club!

Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) is a 4-gun competition using firearms representative of those in the Old West era (Civil War to 1898). Competitors wear clothes that represent the Old West or the Hollywood representation of the Old West. All shooters choose an alias: a unique "nickname" that can describe their Western character, has personal significance and relates to the era.

A match consists of 5 or 6 stages. Each stage has pistol, rifle, and shotgun targets. The shotgun targets are usually knockdown targets that must be knocked over to count as a hit. At the beep, the cowboy or cowgirl will shoot the firearms (shotgun, rifle, and 2 pistols) in a specific order at steel targets. The targets for each firearms are generally shot in a specific order.

For example, a progressive sweep would be 1 shot on target #1, 2 shots on target #2, 3 shots on target #3, and 4 shots on target #4. The total time for a stage is the raw time (beep to last shot) plus 5 seconds for each miss. Additional time penalties may be applied for shooting out of order or safety violations. Stage times are totaled and the lowest total time wins.

When you are in the Bryan/College Station area come visit the Willow Hole Cowboys and see a match!

What You Need

Two Single-Action Revolvers

.32 caliber or larger, same model preferred

Pistol Caliber Rifle

Pre-1899 pistol caliber long gun .32 caliber or larger

Shotgun

Any pre-1899 model shotgun, no auto-loaders

Ammo: All ammuntion is loaded to SASS standards with lead bullets ONLY. See SASS Ammunition covenants in the shooters handbook for details.

Quick Facts

When: 1st Saturday
Time: 9:00 AM (safety meeting 8:50)
Where: WHC Range
Affiliation: SASS
New Shooters: Welcome!
Fees: $15 members / $20 non-members

New to CAS?

Check out our comprehensive guide for new shooters.

Getting Started

Governing Body

Single Action Shooting Society (SASS): sassnet.com
Official Cowboy Action match rules: Shooter's Handbook

We also shoot Wild Bunch on 5th Saturdays.

Individual clubs may vary their own rules and shooting categories for everyone's enjoyment. These are just the rules for the official sanctioned matches.

Match Schedule

Friday (day before the match) — Noon: RV dry camping opens

Saturday (day of match)

8:00 am: Range opens for target set up and shooter check-in
8:45 am: Shooter check-in and walk up registration closes. No exceptions.
8:50 am: Mandatory safety meeting
9:00 am: Match starts

Match Fees: $15 for members, $20 for non-members

Registration: On-site day of match.

Scores are posted HERE after every match.

Advance information: Email sent to cowboy email list the weekend prior to the match. CLICK HERE to send message requesting to be added to the cowboy email list.