GETTING STARTED IN COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING,

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Caliber:

Caliber for the rifle should be the same as for your pistols as soon as you can afford it. I've seen .45 Colts stuck in .44-40s. Fortunately no one was shooting at the shooter, but his stage was ruined. I've also seen .44-40s which had been stuffed in .45 Colt chambers.

Barrel length? Again, a personal thing. I think 19-20" is perfect, but as the eyes get older the longer barrels work better. The Marlin was only available in 24" when I got mine, and I've left it stock. If you start with a .38 or .45 Colt, you can get the Competition version if you want 20". 24" has its advantages for those of us with presbyopia. I've seen 30" barrels work. 16" barrels are too short. 19" carbines are the practical minimum. Your rifle should hold 10 rounds in the magazine. More isn't necessary (nor desirable in The People's Democratic Republic of California. One of the reasons I purchased a '73 Winchester Saddle Ring Carbine is I could take it to future End of Trails without worrying about being arrested for violating their idiotic gun laws--since corrected. The other reason is I wanted it because that was the weapon of 1880s Texas Rangers).

Sights:

The various rifles come with period correct sights. Some have small notched flat rear sights. Some have semi-buckhorn. Marble makes replacements for most with flat, semi-buckhorn, or full buckhorn, as well as small flip-up sights which go in the dovetail for the stock sights. These are available in various heights and with flat or semi-buckhorn shapes. Marble Arms. Marbles no longer sells them direct, but Brownells does.

The Marlin Cowboy comes with a white diamond rear sight. This violates SASS rules. So when you get your Marlin Cowboy, turn the sight insert around or black it with flat black paint/magic marker/laundry marker, etc. As a Gunsite graduate (3 times), I learned about the "Ghost Ring" and its advantages for speed shooting. Therefore I had mounted a Marble Arms Tang Peep Sight on both rifles. With the insert removed, it's a near perfect ghost ring. I keep a flip up sight in the original dovetail just for checking to make sure the Marble hasn't gotten out of adjustment. It's fast and accurate. May 2003 update. After a disaster at Winter Range when the rear sight broke and the flip up sight was inadequate, I've taken it out and installed a Marble's flat top rear sight (Brownell's 579-066-001 #66 Dovetail Flat top rear, long shank ). I keep it 2 notches low so it's basically out of the way. But if I break the tang sight again I'll raise it 2 notches and use it (and I keep a spare tang sight in my kit now.)

Recommendations: Marlin 1894 Cowboy II in .357 magnum or one of the new Competition models in .38 as your first gun (latter preferred but more expensive). They need very little in the way of maintenance and last like iron. They need three things in addition to occasional cleaning: 1. Keep the screws tight. 2. Keep the screws tight. 3. Keep the screws tight.

Shotguns:

Left: Major Calvin N Hobbes shoots his Stoeger SXS at Winter Range 2001, taking 4th in Cartridge Black Powder. (World Champion Black Powder Cartridge Duelist 2003 End of Trail).

I thought I'd managed to get into a gunsmith free sport after IPSC. I bought Ruger pistols. No gunsmithing needed. I bought a Marlin Cowboy. No gunsmith needed until I wanted the ghostring sight. I can accept that. But, boy, gunsmiths have sure been necessary for shotguns.

Sundown Tex shoots his Winchester '97 at Winter Range.

Winchester '97--faster than a double on long stages, used by most of the top guns. Absolutely requires a gunsmith. The gun should be at least checked over by a good gunsmith. They're all 40-100 years old. They have 100 parts. Parts break. A good gunsmith with experience in '97s is a requirement if you're going to use it extensively. After having mine break and hang up at various times I finally had gunsmith Coyote Cap do a full race job on it. I do recommend his work, for '97s, Bounty Hunters, and Stoegers. Norinco '97 -- 4th generation models seem to have the kinks worked out. Send it immediately to Coyote Cap, however. The difference between his guns and stock ones is unbelievable. Yes, the Norinco is made in China. Tequila now uses one after having a 75 year old Winchester break and take him out of the World Championships.

MARCH 2004 update. Norinco is now importing a '97 that's been set up to Coyote Cap's specs at the factory. It's ready to go out of the box.

Doubles--must not have ejectors. Can have hammers or be hammerless. Most hammerless guns are not designed for CAS. Shooting the shotgun is secondary. Targets, except for aerial targets which plague some events, are usually 10 yds away and stationery. You should be able to hit them with #9 Winchester Featherlights. But every stage starts with the shotgun empty and ends the same way. Pick up most shotguns, open the lever, and note that the barrels, unsupported, will tilt back up and try to close, making it difficult to load them.

(Note on loads: At Winter Range the shotgun targets have been a pain in the neck. They're knockdowns with springs to keep them upright. You have to knock them over far enough for the day-glo base to show. Though they seem to be getting easier, most competitors use hotter loads for this event, Winchester lights or equivalent, 1-1/8th ounce, rather than Winchester Featherlights.)

Your double should be:

1. easy to open. Thumb pressure should do it. It shouldn't require breaking the shotgun over your knee.

2. The barrels should hang down enough for you to load two rounds with one hand, the other holding the butt of the gun, preferably at your shoulder.

3. The empties should fall out when you tilt the barrels or jerk the open shotgun rearward. If you have to pick the empties out, the chambers need to be polished with a flex-hone kit. Brownells sells them. Use their flex-hone oil, nothing else. Follow the instructions.

I've had 3 hammerless doubles:

Stevens 311--had the failure to stay open problem. I had a gunsmith install Wolff Springs to cure it. They were too light. Another gunsmith, Jerry Mosley, fixed all of its problems. The barrels will hang open now.

EAA Bounty Hunter--Out of the box it'll stay open if you push the lever to the right to open it, then to the left to hold it open. It requires too much pressure, however, in the 2 samples I've had. I did see one which was easily workable by a 12 year old boy. His father explained that the gunsmithing exceeded the cost of the shotgun. But the shotgun only cost me $200, and I won another. So I sold that one to pay for the gunsmithing (Coyote Cap). Now I use it a lot. It pops open easily and hangs open without reverse pressure. Recoil is virtually gone. Pattern is wider, so hits are easier. Still misses aerial targets, though. Rounds drop out unless you're using Clear Shot, in which case you need a chamber brush between stages. (Recommended for all powders, smoky or smokeless.)

Captain Baylor's Stoeger Coachgun belts out a warm black powder round at the Tin Star CAS Open.

IGA-Stoeger Coachgun--Out of the box it will stay open. It's not as easy to open as I'd like, but it might lighten with use. The IGA-Stoeger is very plain to the point of ugliness. The stock on my example, didn't have stain all the way to the end of the stock. The finish is dull and workmanlike. I like it. I don't have to worry about it falling over and getting dinged (though that would get me a stage DQ.) I found one, after much looking, for $299. I did the following to it:

a. Flex hone the chambers to facilitate rounds falling out. They do, most of the time.

b. Polished the mating surfaces of the opening-closing/locking mechanism so it will pop open easily. It does.

c. Deactivated the automatic part of the automatic safety. You're on your on if you do this. Mine is not used for anything but CAS and never gets loaded except on the line. My home defense shotgun is a Remington 870.

After a few hundred rounds it works pretty well. It only shoots Black Powder (or BP substitute) loads because in Traditional Category I'd shoot the '97. Sometime later I got another Stoeger that became available at a good price and sent it to Coyote Cap. Now it's my primary shotgun. Big bead up front, VERY easy to open, rounds fall out if you keep the chambers clean, internal modifications so it won't eat itself up in a few years, 3" chambers, opened up forcing cones, light recoiling with my heavy BP loads. 2002 lock-open modification. When opened it STAYS open until you tap the lever. So you don't have to worry about how you pick it up, and you don't lose precious seconds when it closes accidentally. Neat modification, unnoticed by everyone.

All of the new hammerless doubles and some hammer doubles have automatic safeties which flip to the on position every time the shotgun is opened. This means you'll have to practice putting the safety on every time or have it deactivated. The Bounty Hunter can be deactivated and reactivated at will. The Stevens and Stoeger require cutting a part and thus aren't restorable to politically correct status. I do not advocate deactivating any safety of any firearm. If your shotgun is also used for another purpose, such as home defense or hunting, it is doubly important that the safety not be deactivated. It is not illegal to deactivate it for Cowboy Action Shooting.

June 2004 Update

Stoeger has been bought by Beretta/Benelli. This has caused some problems. Benelli/Beretta will not repair or supply replacement parts for guns that were sold by Stoeger before the sale. Guns that they sold they will not sell replacement parts for, nor will they repair them if they have either been modified, or used in competition.

Even the most stock Stoeger used by the average CAS shooter has the chambers polished so you don't have to pry the empties out with pliers (exaggeration). Thus they have been modified, and if a firing pin fails, you're out of luck. Of course all of our guns are used in competition. I don't expect manufacturers to warranty guns for our use, but fixing them or selling us the parts with which to do so is imperative. Unless and until this situation changes, I would not recommend a Stoeger for CAS competition. Some people are working on alternative spare parts. Long Hunter is tooling up firing pins. e-gunparts has some parts, including stocks and firing pins, the most requested parts. Stocks break at the weak point from all the slamming open and closed we do in competition, and the firing pins are soft. If a reasonable supply of parts is available, I'll change my recommendation).

External Hammer SXS Shotguns: A lot of shooters like the external hammer guns for their authenticity. To my knowledge no top competitor shoots one because they do take longer than a hammerless double. The now defunct by federal regulations Rossi Coach gun is quite popular, causing the prices to rise. The EAA Bounty Hunter is a low priced gun with external cocking levers which look like hammers. The ones I've seen seem serviceable. EAA now has one with real external hammers, but I haven't seen any in action. CLASSIC COWBOY AND CLASSIC COWGIRL REQUIRE external hammer or external cocking lever doubles or lever action shotguns. Recommended for that category: Bounty Hunter II IZH43KH, with external hammers and screw in choke tubes. I would still send it to a good gunsmith.

UPDATE: March, 2004: Several hammer doubles have come, and most have gone. They have their proponents, but if you can't get one from your average gunstore, and the importer is no longer in business, I'm not sticking my neck out and recommending them. But Norinco, the Chinese arms maker, has hired Coyote Cap to make their guns work. He's gone to China and worked with their factories. As this is written many of us are waiting for the fruits of his labor, a special Coyote Cap edition hammer gun:

The Model 99WCSE has the modifications necessary for Cowboy Action Shooting (TM), and before Cap releases them, I expect them to be ready for competition.

Screw In Choke Tubes: The trend in Cowboy Action Shooting (TM) is toward knock-down shotgun targets. At Winter Range 2003 the knock-downs spelled disaster for many of us with open-choked guns. If you're starting out, get a gun with factory-installed choke tubes. Adding them to a '97 is no big deal. Briley can do a fantastic job. Adding them to a double isn't as successful. Coyote Cap talked me out of of adding them to my Stoeger. Long term durability is apparently a problem. I've managed to live without screw-in choke tubes, but I'll never buy another gun without them. If you don't need them, that's wonderful. It's better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them. (My shotgun loads are now quite hot, but they've successfully knocked down all targets encountered since WR 2003.)

Companero fires his EAA Bounty Hunter with external cocking levers, simulating a hammer double.

Winchester 1887: This lever action shotgun is rare at matches because it's rare period. Tri-Star promised a high quality replica, but it never quite happened. Norinco is promising one now at a low price. (May 2003--delayed by the SARS scare.) If you have to have a lever action shotgun, that's the way to go. If you use an original, stick with black powder or black powder substitutes.

MARCH 2004 update: Norinco is about to import their replica of the Winchester '87 Lever Action Shotgun, prepared for Cowboy Action Shooting(TM) by Coyote Cap:

The Model 87WCSE also has all the modifications necessary for competition, including Winchokes. There are events I would dearly have loved to have replacement choke tubes.

Gauge:

If you're buying, get 12 gauge. You can get Winchester Featherlights and get less felt recoil than with a 20 gauge, and if you encounter hard-to-knock down targets, you can use hotter loads. Dad's old 16 gauge is legal, but it's a pain in the neck getting cheap ammo. Ditto 10 gauge.

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