My wife said she is interested in doing Cowboy Action. She might be half a bottle of wine in, at the moment, just for reference

I chuckled.

My wife thinks I think she's funny for wanting to wear old clothes. I told her no, I'm chuckling because I think she is trying to put me in the poor house.

What would it cost to set up a rig for this?

I'm starting with nothing, let's say. I'd expect my 30-30 or 45-70 would dispel her interest rather quickly.

A rifle? $400-$1,500
A shotgun? $300+?
A single action revolver? $400+?

Holster, get-up, reloading supplies (do people sell loaded cowboy-action loads)?

I told her $3,000 would be a low number. Of course, I know the people to ask

I am trying to get her into shooting, but time is the biggest challenge. This would be an adventure, but probably not a short-term goal. The numbers are for us to ponder.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:

A single action revolver? $400+?

Try two.

Just for reference Ruger sells their two gun SASS set for a msrp of 1618.00 I believe. Get a second job.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Just for reference Ruger sells their two gun SASS set for a msrp of 1618.00 I believe. Get a second job.

HA! $1,699. I showed her and she said "Ok", in stride.

BTW, she's a full bottle in lol. I think I need to show her some watch pictures and see if she feels as loose with the purse

chongosuerte, you reminded me of one of my son’s teachers back in elementary school in NY.

One of his female teachers participated and competed in mounted cowboy shooting. For those that don’t know- this is done on horseback while riding through a barrel-based obstacle course using two .45 pistols. They shoot targets mounted on poles for timing/points on accuracy. She was a a member of SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) as well as CMSA and several other national competitive organizations.

Don't quote me on this, but as I recall the pistols were Ruger Stainless Vaqueros. She had two.

The Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association is the fastest growing equestrian sport in the nation. Mounted contestants compete in a timed event using two .45 caliber single-action revolvers each loaded with five rounds of specially prepared blank ammunition. Cowboy mounted shooting is a combination of reining, barrel racing, horsemanship and marksmanship. Contestants carry two loaded revolvers, and execute one of more than 50 possible patterns. Each pattern consists of 10 balloons in which contestants shoot five balloons of one color, holster their first gun, run to the end of the arena draw their second revolver and shoot the remaining five balloons.

This was very interesting as she was a teacher in New York and used- well, you know… GUNS. The teacher’s association or whatever it is called had asked her to not mention the guns around kids so we found out by seeing her perform once.

So as to cost- in her case it was a horse, food/care/lodging/vet care for a horse, saddle/tack, clothing, a very nice dual gun-belt and two Ruger Vaqueros, (MSRP around $900 each), and special rounds.

Certainly not a cheap sport, but lots of fun and great to watch as a spectator.

Can your wife ride?

Below is Kenda Lenseigne in competition. (In 2009, Kenda Lenseigne made history when she became the first woman in Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association (CMSA) history to win the Overall at a World Championship, beating all male and female competitors to claim the title).

Don’t they shoot blanks mounted cowboy action ?

quote:

Originally posted by cas:

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
A single action revolver? $400+?

Try two.

Just for clarity, that would be two revolvers, not $200 for a single one.

Sidetrack, hopefully minor: Cowboy shooting doesn't really hold any appeal for me, but talking to a friend of mine whose 10yo boy wants to go shooting and is fascinated by AR-15s but afraid of the noise, I got to thinking. Is there a rimfire variant of SASS? It might help get some people into shooting who are otherwise tentative at best, and at the same time be a little less expensive - ammo wise at least - than the centerfire variety. Oh, the 10yo boy is getting an AR-styled BB/pellet gun for Christmas.

And yes, several commercial ammo manufacturers offer cowboy loads in all the popular calibers.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Just for reference Ruger sells their two gun SASS set for a msrp of 1618.00 I believe. Get a second job.

HA! $1,699. I showed her and she said "Ok", in stride.

BTW, she's a full bottle in lol. I think I need to show her some watch pictures and see if she feels as loose with the purse

You're going at this all wrong. I'm trying to use this exact thing to try to get my wife interested in the shooting sports and she's zero interest. I would love to have the opportunity that's being dropped in your lap with a half a bottle of wine in it.

Join her in her new hobby and share a gun rig and buy second hand leather.

Hopefully, Mr. Rolan Kraps should be along shortly to inform.

You should pick up more of that particular wine.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
You should pick up more of that particular wine.

Order a case from the liquor dome in Lexington

As i recall you have a nice leather holster for a certin .38. The person who made that holster is deeply involved in cowboy action shooting in central Florida. Call him up and talk to him.
A .357 lever action and .357 single action with a claw hammer double barrel would be a great starting point!

Research cowboy action shoots in your area and go as a spectator to see if y'all like it

quote:

Originally posted by ElToro:
Don’t they shoot blanks mounted cowboy action ?

From what I understand you are correct. It is a special type of blank called "CERTIFIED" 45LC blank ammunition because the energy has to be consistent across participants. It is supplied by the match’s organizers to ensure there is no advantage to one competitor over another and that no one has brought a dangerous, non-approved round.

In Cowboy Mounted Shooting rounds, about 35 grains of a modern black powder substitute are loaded in an elongated case. The case is then crimped to hold the powder in.

My wife does Cowboy mounted shooting. Yes its a blank. It's special in that the specifications call for it to break a balloon at very specific set of distances.
Since this thread is about costs for Cowboy Action Shooting I will mention that the gun equipment costs to go Cowboy Mounted Shooting are quite reasonable but costs also in the total scheme of things include having a horse (or more likely more than one). And I can assure anyone that horse cost will dwarf whatever rig your wife wants in Cowboy Action Shooting.
Hopefully Roland will be by shortly to tell you about Cowboy Action Shooting, but I can tell you to avoid Cowboy Mounted Shooting if at all possible. By the way its a really neat event to watch, so if you want some non everyday entertainment find an event and go enjoy it...

Horses? You people can afford guns and horses? AND a wife?



I jest... my wife has a better job than me, but we’re still not in “horse money” territory. That’s a whole different level!


This does sound like an excellent excuse to get a .357 lever gun, though

Got a fitted set of ear protectors for the horse?

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
Horses? You people can afford guns and horses? AND a wife?

The horse will require a trailer and truck, saddle, etc. Oats and vet bills. Place to keep the horse. And don't forget the joys of shoveling horse manoo

Not in my budget either.

I'd love to see a few matches.

quote:

Got a fitted set of ear protectors for the horse?

not sure if you were joking, but yes the ones my wife rides have exactly that. Nothing in horses is as it seems or cheap.
And to OKCGene at least shoveling manure is cheap as I don't charge myself.
Whenever possible in your life avoid horses.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Whenever possible in your life avoid horses

Horses really are a tremendous amount of fun when someone else is paying and someone else is shoveling. If one is going to be stuck with those two parts of the program the fun goes way down...

If you find a local group they will most likely let you shoot a match with them and someone will provide you with a set of loaner guns for the day.

That's what happen to my dad 2 years ago, at last count he now has 3 set's of pistols, 3 shotguns, 1 lever action rifle, 1 sharps rifle, 2 sets of holsters and all kinds of other goodies like the clothes, hat's and chaps.

Hell it's a lot of fun, I try to go with him to the local shoot's every couple of months.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:

quote:

Got a fitted set of ear protectors for the horse?

not sure if you were joking, but yes the ones my wife rides have exactly that. Nothing in horses is as it seems or cheap.
And to OKCGene at least shoveling manure is cheap as I don't charge myself.
Whenever possible in your life avoid horses.

hrcjon, just out of curiousity, what does it cost to feed/vet visits/board a horse a year these days?
I used to have someone in the family who bred Palominos back in the day and I remember roughly what it was a year, but that was in the 80's...

"More hay, Trigger?"
"No thanks, Roy, I'm stuffed"...