I never get to shoot enough. That’s my biggest complaint with regards to CAS. I’m a fairly decent shooter, and have been shooting firearms for a very long time, but I never have enough time to really get into practicing or shooting.

Jose went to the Play Day on Saturday, but I had to stay home. Between work, a new baby, and of course the wife, it’s tough enough to shoot one day a month! A lot of the guys we shoot with are retired, and/or make CAS their life. I’m not to that point yet, but what a dream. I imagine myself shooting every weekend, traveling to all of the major shoots like Guns of August, Mule Camp, Winter Range, and End of Trail, shooting all day and sitting around passing the time with a good cigar and a beer all night. I could practice as often as I like and maybe even get competitive. You see, the people at the top of their game in SASS are shooting from 10,000 to 25,000 rounds a month. Of course they get sponsorships that pay for the bullets and therefore are being paid to shoot, but that’s a different argument all together. I don’t mind being a working man with a family, hell I like that, but I’ll just have to dial back my shooting expectations for now and wait for that blissful moment called retirement.

So once a month I get my gear together and travel on down to “Thunder Valley” for the day and forget all my troubles. Speaking of gear if you don’t know anything about this sport here is a quick rundown of what you need to shoot. First off are the guns. You will need 2 single action revolver style pistols which are reproductions or originals from the mid to late 1800’s. You will need 1 lever or slide action, tubular feed, exposed hammer rifle or carbine manufactured between 1860 and 1899 (reproductions are fine). Lastly you will need 1 side by side or single shot shotgun typical of the period from 1860 to 1899. Lever or slide action, single barrel, tubular feed, exposed hammer shotguns typical of the period are also allowed.

Now you’ve got the guns you need the clothes. To compete you must be wearing clothing typical of the 19th century, a B western movie, or a western TV series. A minimum of cowboy boots, Levi or Wrangler blue jeans, a button down long sleeve shirt, and a cowboy hat are required.

This sounds like a lot of stuff, and it is. You can spend as much as you like or as little as you want and get by. Jose and I started fairly cheep, but have already started spending more and more, and just like golf clubs, once you start competing you want better equipment.