Any Cowboy Action Shooters out there?

I have recently become facinated with this hobby. I live in central IN and hoping to go see a shoot or two. I have been looking at lever action rifles and was wondering what would be the best caliber to get. It has to fire a pistol round. I am thinking 44 mag or 45LC. I want to be able to deer hunt with it also if I take a notion. Here in IN we can use a pistol caliber rifle to deer hunt. Any thoughts? Thanks.

I've been to watch cowboy quick draw shoots a few times. They use 45LC with wax bullets for safety and their draw is timed. Seems alot of them use Ruger Vaquero with 4 5/8" barrel. Others used Uberti. All the people I met only use their gun for the competition and don't shoot lead ammo at all. I think all of the cowboy stuff is cool.

I have a Henry .45LC. It is a beautiful gun. The action is real smooth. I just shoot it, I'm not in with any kind of organized activity. Uberti, also has a real nice version of the Henry.
Jack

I would go with a 44mag but then I have a 44mag pistol and I reload that round. Took a 10 point buck at around 60 yards with the pistol I have with one single shot

here is a link to a quick draw fellow. amazing how quick he is
poke here

Sammy Davis Jr. was a fast draw, great timing and accurate to boot. LOU.

Deer stand still opossums run and they move fast so you figure 1 shot at a moving target the size of a opossum. But then unless your right here and are doing the shooting all you can do is not know what I am talking about

One of many different models available
Steve McQueen gun

Uberti makes several rifles suitable for cowboy action. Their Winchester 1866 and 1873 replicas are both good choices. The 1866 is chambered in .38 Special, .44-40 and .45 Colt. The stronger 1873 is available in .44-40, .45 Colt, .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. These rifles are sold under the Stoeger and Cimarron brands as well as Uberti.

I have Uberti's 1860 Henry replica in .45 Colt; it's also available in .44-40. It's a great rifle, although it's a bit on the long side.

You'll probably want to handload if you get into cowboy action, both to hold cost down as well as to tailor your loads. I don't think there's a cheaper or easier cartridge to reload than .38 Special, although .45 Colt is not too bad, either. I'm told that .44-40 is a bit trickier to load, plus you can't use carbide dies with its bottleneck case. IMR Trail Boss is the powder of choice for cowboy action.

With all due respect MarkB, Goex Cowboy is the true cowboy powder :lol:

My screen name is my cowboy name, Hogleg Willy. Been shooting Cowboy Action (SASS) since 2004.

I shoot 44 caliber. 44-40 in a Marlin rifle and 44 special in the pistols. I have 2 sets, Uberti Model P (a colt SAA replica) and Cimmaron Open-tops. Used to own ruger pistols and a model 92 in 45LC.

Shotgun is a China made replica of the 1887 Colt, called a TTN. Love it. Also own a Stoeger and used to own a Bakail.

Most shooter shoot 38, mainly for cost. Very inexpensive to shoot due to cost of lead and powder. Next popular is 45LC. Both work well for smokeless. I switched to black powder cartridge and sold my 45LC guns and bought 44. I mould my own bullets and reload. Can use the same bullet in both the 44-40 and the 44 special.

For a good deer rifle I would suggest the 44 special/44 mag Marlin. Easy to clean, run fast and you can use the specials in cowboy and magnums for deer. In 45lc, every ammo company loads them down due to liability of someone putting a p+ load in a antique 45 LC pistol.

Wish Illinois would allow pistol cartridges in rifles. Here it is slug only.

If you have any questions drop me an email at hoglegwilly at gmail dot com. we have only discussed the guns. Still have to talk about the gun carts and the clothes. I have been around guys that talked about cowboy attire like a bunch of old wimmen...

Hogleg Willy (John Williams)

Check out the Single Action Shooting Society, or SASS for short. Lots of info on competitions, rules, weapons, etc..

Hi Lou
I didn't know that. It is amazing to me how many people from all backgrounds enjoy the competitions. The ones I went to watch were all a real nice bunch of people.

Here is a picture of a stage (shooting platform) that my daughter and I built for our club when we lived in Texas. You shoot thru the openings at a set of steel targets, based on a set of rules called a scenario.





In southern Illinois, there are clubs all over. The one I like the best is in Cisne. Google for it.. There is a lot of very good folks involved in this game and you will surely feel welcome.

Hogleg