How to practice for CAS

AbHobbyist

AbHobbyist

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Gentlemen:

After a long while, and plenty of research, I am in the process of getting some cowboy guns. I am starting with a three screw Rugger Black hawk in 357, and have access to a Winchester 1897 pump shotgun. I will slowly assemble kit as I progress.

I have started with a Black Hawk just to see if I like th sport. If I do, I will eventually change over to a pair of Vaquero’s.

I hand load, and have already secured some 130 grain Lead round nose Flat Point bullets from the Bullet barn Distributor here in town, and plan to load up some 38 special type loads.

I shoot trap and handload for that as well. So there is no shortage of shotshell loads either.

However I am wondering, how you fellows practice. What drills do you run through.

I would eventually like to shoot gun fighter class (a revolver in both hands) however I have a lot of practicing to get there.

I appreciate any input or suggestions you might have.

For now the plan is to practice the basics of grip and stance on both the week and strong sides, and would like to progress from there. I have a fairly good book for those types of basics.

I am not new to handguns, but have relatively little Single action revolver experience.

Regards and all the best

R
 
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Practice?:confused: I don't have time to practice (and my scores prove it).

First be very familiar with your equipment. Make sure you can shoot without any jams. Anything that is unreliable will cost you in time. Make sure your guns operate as smoothly as they can.

If you are looking for a rifle make sure you get one that holds 10 rounds. Mine holds 9 and puts me at a disadvantage.

I also shoot Ruger Blackhawks because I had one and found a second one cheap. Some of the smaller six guns are easier to handle. If you plan on shooting gunfighter look for a revolver that you can easily #### with one hand. I have a hell of a time with the Blackhawks. If you have big hands it might not be so bad. I also don't recommend shooting gunfighter until you have a lot more experience.

One of the big things in cowboy shooting is getting the stage right. There is a lot more to shooting a stage than shooting the guns. It does not help if you shoot the targets out of order or don't perform a required action. I have seen many shooters laugh at the mistakes made by a fellow shooter and than make the same mistake when it is their turn. Get as familiar shooting your guns until you don't have to concentrate on it. You should be concentrating on what you will have to do in the stage rather than thinking much about your guns.

As far as practice it is best if you have someone with you and have a timer. The reason for the timer is not to time you but to provide the BEEP to start you off. It's amazing how stressful that beep can be. Also if you can practice with as many people watching as possible. You want to get used to people watching your every move. You want to learn to ignore them and concentrate on the stage.

Wear you cowboy gear when you practice. This is especially important if you are wearing cowboy boots when you don't normally wear that kind of footwear. If this is the case then you might also want to start wearing the boots/footwear at other time as well in order to get comfortable in them. I have a hard time with the additional heal height. I move around a lot during a match. I shoot the match and take about 500 pictures of the match as well. If I wear cowboy boots with higher heals I end up with some muscles pain. Because of this I tend to wear period looking leather shows (with leather laces).

Now on actual shooting you want know where your guns shoot when you shoot the same way you do in a match. Put up some paper targets about the same size are the targets you will shoot in a match. Run through a sequence with all your guns, shoot the rifle on targets other than the pistol targets, same with the shotgun. Again use a buddy with a timer to put you in the same frame of mind as you would have in a match. Find out where your guns shoot. I have seen a lot of people shoot the ground in the same place behind and just beside the target. They are consistent but they are not on target.

Don’t worry about speed, go for consistent reliable hits. Work toward no misses in practice and then try to pick up the speed a bit at a time. Shoot the same sequence for a while then after you are comfortable with your shooting change the shot sequence or target position.

Just a few suggestions. ;)
 
R. Wagner
One of the best things you could do would be to talk to Ken or Flora at Wild West Shooting Centre in the West Edmonton Mall. Ken is one of the very best CAS competitors in the world and Flora is one of the top women shooters. I believe they have instructional videos, cds and books from some of the better CAS shooters. (if they do not have them in stock, I am sure they would get them or at least tell you where to obtain them). Ken is a real gentleman and I have always found his advice and instruction to be invaluable. ( if you can talk him into giving you a course or personal instruction DO IT.)
When you practise, remember to practise with all your firearms, we have a tendency to practise with one more than the others. Be honest with yourself in which firearm you need to improve the most. One of the targets that I find the easiest and most effective to use are 10 inch paper plates, set up between 5-10 yards for pistols and 10-25 yards for rifles. These show where you are hitting , are cheap and are easy to transport. Shooting at steel all the time contributes to sloppy technique. Shoot your rifle and handguns for groups on paper, you need to know exactly where they print, and it keeps you honest. Also, when you practise, try to shoot, safely, about 10% faster than you are capable of, that will train your eyes to keep up. If you want to learn how to shoot fast, you have to practise going fast! One of the better SASS shooters, I can't remember who, said, rifles keep you even, pistols loose a match and your shotgun can win it. If you are going to use a 97 learn the different ways of loading and practise them all , you will develop a technique that you are comfortable with, but sometimes the shooting scenario will dictate a different method.
Once you attain a reasonable skill level the difference between the top 10% of the shooters and the winners usually is their concentration level. You must stay focussed to do well.
Check out the website for the Alberta Frontier Shootists, and attend one of their matches. Anyone there will be more than willing to help you out.
 
R. Wagner if your in the SE part of the province, Medicine Hat has a fair sized Cowboy Action following. Drop out to the 2 annual 2 day Cowboy matches that we hold on the May and October long weekends organized by Grant R. Or ask around we are easy to find.

As previously stated there are a number of excellent books on the market for beginners. I highly recommend"The Top Shooter's Guide to Cowboy Action Shooting" by Hunter Scott Anderson from krause publications (www.krause.com).

Personally I find shooting steel a lot of fun, providing that your handguns are properly zeroed. Shotguns are generally used, starting in the staged position, unloaded condition. Order a dozen or so 12 gauge dummy rounds from Brownells (www.brownells.com) and practice in your basement. Find a secure position for your shotgun and practicing the load and reload from your cowboy belt.

If you have the range available to you most cowboy stages shoot 10 handgun, 8 pistol and 2-4 shotgun, put together a scenario that will allow you to do that when you get to live fire. There is alot of fine advice in these postings, good luck and have fun.
 
One of the forgotten part of cowboy action shooting is the transitional part. The time one spends from one gun till he gets the next one in action. Set up some paper targets in your basement and dry fire. then change to your rifle and then shotgun.

Dry firing is an excellent way to improve your shooting. Just make sure that you see the sights before you pull the trigger. A lot of people go for speed and then when it becomes live fire time they are fast but miss a lot.


I find it helpful to always start a live fire practise session with the same shoot order. Like a three target Nevada sweep. 1 2 3 2 1. Mark your time and misses in a little black book. This can apply to all 3 guns.

Shotgun loading is usually a big time consumer for most new shooters. Practise loading with dummy rounds in your own home.

As you progress you will meet and watch other shooters picking up good and not good things to do from them. One of the best ways to get better is shoot competitions.

Good luck be safe and have fun
 
Hello all & Happy New Year!!

First, I just want to say thank you to all of you who have taken time to respond. It is greatly appreciated!! Looks like a lot of good commonsense here!!

I already keep a little black book for my trap practice scores, so one for my CAS practice is a good idea as well.

Some of the points made have brought a couple of questions to mind.

Lets sway we are talking about shooting a Nevada Sweep in live fire practice.

How is it scored, how much time does a miss add??

What type of targets are shot at with shotguns?? Steel, flying clay ??

Again I appreciate any and all help.

Regards and all the best

R
 
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Gentlemen:

I just wanted to give all my heart felt thanks for sharring all of the above information.

In todays society, time is at a premium, and I apprciate all that spent some here.

Please keep any advice you might have coming, as i plan to complite a sort of FAQ hand book for myself.

Regards and all the best

R
 
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HOWDY; Richard
Shotgun targets are mostly knock down steel in ontario, This avoids the "golden pellet " discussion. spotter ;gee I saw one pellet hit the target therfore its a hit. Sometimes there is clays placed in a bracket at small club matchs ,seldon is there flying clay in a match ,unless it is a knock down pop can tosser target .
Miss is 5 second added per miss.
 
Most people can get the gun out of the holster reasonably quickly, putting it back is usually a lot slower. "Look" the revolver back into the holster. Practice transitions, pistol to pistol, pistol to rifle, rifle to shotgun. There are excellent "How to" books out there, you can also learn alot watching the "End of Trail" DVD's (that I picked up cheap off ebay). Watch the top shooters and see how they stage their guns, how they "walk through" stages in their head before they shoot, how they handle transitions, how they reholster with their weak hand while drawing second pistol with strong hand etc.

You can shoot twice as fast as me and I can still beat you if my transitions are smoother and I don't miss (gotta work on that 'cause I do miss too often :( ), as Evil Roy says "You can't shoot faster than clean." Five seconds for each pistol/rifle miss adds up quickly. Practice fast, compete smooth. Enjoy it's all fun!

If you have a pair of three screw .357's I wouldn't trade them for Vaqueros, they will likely have better triggers, are far quicker on reloads (chambers line up better) and will save you a ton of time if your thumb ever slips off the hammer as the cylinder will not advance unless the gun is brought to full ####. With a vaquero the cylinder will advance and you will have to shoot around the whole cylinder to pick up that round. If you want Vaqueros buy them, just don't sell the three screws (or if you do sell 'em to me!)

If you do plan to shoot gunfighter or duelist, check out the Ruger Bisley, some call 'em ugly but they work well shot one handed and the lower Bisley hammer is far easier to #### with the gun hand.

Shoot safe, shoot often!
 
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One of the variations we use in Medicine Hat is that a Miss costs you 10 seconds, same as a Procedural - which is how they do it in NCOWS (National Congress of Old West Shootists). It does save a whole lot of debate over whether something should have been ruled a Miss rather than a Procedural! ;) Definitely also throws a bit of a wrench into the "I think I can miss a few fast enough to win" point of view ... :rolleyes:

Another difference is that we now have a "Working Cowboy" class - requiring only one handgun, rather than two (also based on a NCOWS rule). Shooters in this class either reload their pistol on the clock, or only engage one set of pistol targets, depending on how that particular Stage is written ... ('Makes no Never Mind', as they used to say, because shooters are really only competing against the others in their own class ...)

Don't think you've said what part of Alberta you're in ....
 
Gentlemen:

I am truly astounded and very appreciative of all the tips and information shared here. I had no idea that the cowboy fraternity was so large!!

I really do believe that I am really going to enjoy this.

Toller:
I have only one three screw to date, and you are the second person to say it’s a good choice. The other was Brian Kent.

At this point I have no intention of selling it, and if you have a second to contribute I am all ears. :D

Grant:
Im up in Calgary, but as fait would have it, I have relatives that have just moved to the “Hat”, and was looking for an excuse to go visit them. Some very lovely country out that way, and have spent at least one camping trip in the Cypress hills!!.

Richards Cowboy kit to date:
1 - 3 screw 357 Ruger
1-1897 Winchester pump on Long term loan.

I have duds to start more or less from my intercollegiate rodeo days in university. In those days I was a bareback rider.

Working on leather, (LH) a second pistol, and Carbine.

Keep all the all the advice coming and look forward to spending more time around the coffee pot so to speak.

Regards and all the best

R
 
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Dan:

I said it the first time, and I will say it again, A most generous offer!!

You are a gentleman, a scholar, and a fine judge of horse flesh!!:D

PM incoming

Regards and all the best

R
 
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R. Wagner, if you show up in Medicine Hat for a match and give us a bit of advance notice, I'm sure we can dig up an extra .357 Carbine for you compete with. Just bring some extra ammo.
 
Again, A most generous offer, and I thank you for it!!

What a great group of people.

Regards and all the best

R
 
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I am stuck shooting indoors for a couple more months. Lucky enough to have an indoor range where I can set up 5 targets across and work through different sequences.

Suggest always starting with one target clear sight picture and center of mass on 8x10 piece of white paper. I set up all 5 targets on 3 x 3 ft cardboard. Preferred is all shots in center of paper but as speed progresses anything on white is a hit, card board a miss.

Suggest always start with precision slowly and then work on patterns. When comfortable a lot of time can be spent on the draw from holster which is muscle memory. Dry fire, dry fire, and more dry fire.

Recording for progress as perviously stated will get you through the slow progress times by looking back. I am trying for 1.2 second draw and first shot from response to buzzer. Others are faster but this is a personal goal for this summer, many good videos out, I picked mine up in Calgary. There are many opinions but whatever habits you develop will be hard to undo so money is well spent on info.

First match take all the time you need just to attempt a clean run.
 
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