CowboyChris the traveling Dog Tag

To move from cache to cache collecting geo-karma and travel stories along the way.

Wanna know a secret? I'm not really a Cowboy, but I do play one on TV. Okay, I don't even play one on TV, but I do compete in "Cowboy Action Shooting". You have to dress the part and shoot pistol, rifle, and shotgun. Both pistol and rife need to be the same caliber. Mine are all in .357. The shotgun is usually a double barrel 12 Ga, but some cowboy's use the Remington 1897 pump action of that time period.

Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS), also known as Western Action Shooting or Single Action Shooting, is a competitive shooting sport that originated in California, USA, in the early 1980s. Cowboy Action Shooting is now practiced world wide with several sanctioning organizations including the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), Western Action Shootists Association (WASA), and National Congress of Old West Shooters (NCOWS), as well as others in the USA and in other countries.

Firearms

CAS requires competitors to use firearms typical of the mid- to late 19th century: single action revolvers, lever action rifles chambered in pistol calibers, and side-by-side double barrel shotguns (also referred to as a Coach Gun – with or without external hammers, although automatic ejectors are not allowed) or 1897-style pump-action shotguns with external hammers. Winchester 1887 lever-action shotguns and Colt Lightning pump-action rifles are also legal. Both original and reproduction guns are equally acceptable. All CAS handguns must be "single-action", meaning that the hammer must be manually cocked before each shot can be fired.[1] Competition in a CAS match generally requires four guns: two period revolvers, a shotgun, and a rifle chambered in a centerfire revolver caliber of the type in use prior to 1899. Some CAS matches also offer side events for single-shot "buffalo rifles", derringers, etc. Replica firearms are available from companies such as Ruger, Colt, Uberti, Pietta and U.S. Fire Arms Mfg. Co.[1]

Costume

Competitors are required to wear an Old West costume of some sort; however safety glasses must be worn while shooting. Depending on the standards of the sanctioning organization, clothing may be historically accurate for the late 1800s or may just be suggestive of the Old West. Some might even dress like a character in a western B-movie, such as Hopalong Cassidy or a television series like Gunsmoke.[1]

Alias

Participants must also select an alias out of the Old West or having an Old West flair, which is registered with the sanctioning body that will prohibit any other shooter from using that same alias at a sanctioned event. Many shooters get creative in selecting an alias (such as the banker who shoots under the alias "The Loan Arranger"). Registered names cannot sound the same as another registered name