Sporting Guns by Martin J Dougherty

Author:Martin J Dougherty
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782741961
Publisher: Amber Books Ltd
Published: 2019-11-22T00:00:00+00:00

Cowboy Action Shooting

Cowboy Action Shooting events are more about spectacle and fun than perfect shooting, but that does not mean that the participants don’t take their messing about seriously.

Winchester Model 1885

Emblazoned with the Winchester motif, the Winchester 1885 High Wall Hunter has been chambered in a number of calibres over the years. Its single-shot, falling-block design has proved extremely reliable.

Cowboy Action Shooting

One form of competition straddles the line between re-enactment, competitive shooting and having fun with guns. Collectively known as Cowboy Action Shooting, these events recapture the (real or imagined) spirit of the Old West. Competitors are limited to weapons that were available up to just after the end of the 19th century, and are required to dress as cowboys or other Western figures, and in some events spurs are mandatory. There is a variant based on the Wild Bunch movie that allows military dress from the period, and some slightly later firearms, but the spirit is the same. In many events, competitors run a course tackling targets with revolver, rifle and shotgun, and are expected to shoot in a manner true to the spirit of the movies made about the era – whatever the reality may have been. Thus revolvers are carried with five rounds only chambered, as was the practice before modern safety devices were introduced, and targets are engaged with the gun in one hand only. It is, however, permissible to use a revolver in each hand.

The courses are set up to reflect a Western story, involving bank robberies, shootouts with outlaws and similar Western movie tropes. The course is timed, with penalties for missing some of the targets and other infractions of the course rules.

The Western movie theme is expanded upon by other events, such as mounted shooting. For safety reasons, the competitor’s gun is loaded with blanks, which are still sufficiently powerful to burst balloon targets as he rides through the course on horseback. This is a fairly specialized skillset, but not quite so exotic as some of those on display. Some competitors will give displays of skill reminiscent of the ‘Wild West shows’ of the early 20th century, including making trick shots while juggling with live guns. This sort of thing is as hair-raisingly dangerous as it sounds for most people, but it does make an impressive spectacle.

Some Cowboy Action Shooting events do require the use of percussion-cap weapons, but in most cases it is sufficient to use replica late-period weapons firing unitary cartridges. There are various rules about what weapons can be used in which events, and in some cases clothing must match the chosen weapon. All this adds up to a form of competition that is geared towards having fun as much as winning, but which is nevertheless fiercely contested.

Henry Big Boy

The Henry rifle is embedded in the history of the early United States, and the Henry Repeating Arms Company has revisited this history in its series of Big Boy lever-action guns. The Henry Big Boy is so named after its calibres. While Henry’s Golden Boy lever-action rifles are in various .

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.