It looked like it was on the set of Gunsmoke the last few days at the Oklahoma City Gun Club, only Marshal Dillon, Festus and Miss Kitty weren’t there. However, there were many people dressed like this.
The Gun Club north of Arcadia hosted the National Cowboy Action Shooting Championships, a game in which participants pull the trigger on replica Old West guns (pre-1900 designs) and wear the clothes of Wyatt Earp and Annie Oakley.
The Single Action Shooting Society, the governing body for cowboy action shooting, was founded in Southern California in 1987. Today there are more than 113,000 SASS members with competitors in every state and 14 countries.
“SASS was created as a kind of fantasy sport. We like to say we’re in the entertainment business,” said Misty Miller, aka Misty Moonshine, SASS’ chief executive officer. “It’s a kind of escape from the real world and all the pressures that come with it.”
Every member of SASS has an alias and during Cowboy Action matches, no one calls anyone by their real name, just their cowboy nickname. That’s part of the fun. But make no mistake, there are shooters who take this game very seriously.
“There are some strong competitors out here,” Miller said.
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A game of speed and accuracy
Cowboy Action is a game of speed and accuracy. Participants will each shoot single-action revolvers, a lever-action rifle and either a pump or side-by-side shotgun at various points along the course.
Shooting at steel targets, they can’t unholster their six-shooters or pick up a rifle or shotgun until the timer starts. Missing a target incurs a five-second penalty. Shooting the targets out of order is a 10 second penalty.
Each stage is set up like an Old West scene. The Oklahoma City Gun Club cowboy action area includes a fort, livery stable, saloon, prison, trading house, gate, bank, mine and more. Groups of shooters, called Posses, move from stage to stage during the game.
“Crazy props. Everywhere you go is different,” said Charles Evan of Tulsa, aka Deadeye Dillard, the current overall world champion in cowboy action shooting. “I’ve done a lot of shooting sports and this one is just more dynamic. There’s more going on there.”
The Oklahoma City Gun Club hosts cowboy action competitions at their shooting range twice a month. There are six cowboy action shooting clubs statewide.
Phoenix has been the home of the National Shooting Championships for 30 years, but it hosts the World Championships in late February and early March, so the National Championship was moved to Oklahoma City this year.
More than 700 shooters from 40 states and four countries (Canada, Australia, Norway, Sweden) competed in the national championship bout in Oklahoma City.
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What’s cooler than a cowboy?
Sander Koegsiera from Sweden, aka Ray Heartless, is part of a Scandinavian group of SASS members who usually compete against shooters from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland at home. He has been photographing cowboy action for 20 years and flew 13 hours to Oklahoma City to play cowboy.
“Our generation grew up with Clint Eastwood and all the cowboy movies and it’s in our system,” he said.
How much fun does he have shooting in cowboy action matches? “On a scale of one to ten?” he asked. “Maybe 10,000.”
There are men’s, women’s and youth divisions in cowboy action shooting. Most participants shoot .38 caliber lead ammunition, but there are sections for more powerful weapons and black powder.
Thirteen-year-old Tulsa resident Luke Hanna, aka the Lever Action Kid, discovered cowboy action at a local shooting range more than two years ago and was hooked.
“Ever since I was little, I wanted to be a cowboy,” Hanna said. “What’s cooler than that?”
Now Hanna is the reigning world champion in the buckaroo division (13 years and under) and the Oklahoma State overall champion, beating even reigning world champion Deadeye Dillard at this year’s state championship.
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Just to show off
There is no prize money. Champions get a belt buckle, but it’s mostly about showing off your rights. To keep the prize money out of the sport, the focus remains on having fun, Miller said.
“It’s the funnest shooting sport I’ve ever experienced,” said Paul Hoover, aka Cheyenne Culpepper, of Cleveland, Ohio. “When I found this, I sold all my high powered guns and bought cowboy guns.”
Everyone in the cowboy action shoot shares a love of the Wild West, and while there’s serious competition, it’s no cutthroat. Participants often share guns and ammunition with other shooters when they need it.
“I’ve met a lot of good people,” said Hanna. “There are a lot of very good people in this sport, very friendly and welcoming. When you show up and you don’t have anything, someone usually lends you something.”
Said Koegsiera: “It’s the cowboy way.”
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