Cowboy 1911 as a substitute for Wild Bunch?

[Frederick Jackson Turner]

Hi, Doc;

A few questions, though:

Are your cowboy targets set at 3 yards for pistol and 5-6 yards for rifle, like ours often often are? Often, yes, they are.  In that case - it's fun and fast, and a bit different than a more challenging WB match.  I'll try to post a couple of vids on Youtube to show how that looks - it's fast and furious, and puts real emphasis on mag changes!

 

Are you allowed to fully load the shotgun (6 shells) and shoot six target shotgun strings? Except for Cowboy stages which call for 6, we haven't been doing that, although there's no reason you couldn't load 6 for every stage, and just dump the last couple of shots.  Still, with SG ammo a bit scarce - we've just been stoking the four, and, per WB rules, allowing no makeups.

 

Are you allowed to move with the pistol or shotgun to shoot separated  targets? Absolutely - just don't move with the chamber loaded and the bolt or slide forward; same as cowboy.

 

Do you shoot multiple pistol mags (4-5) at a stage? We address two problems with this; on 10 round stages, shooters may announce they are shooting the rifle targets with the pistol.  Now, you have a 4 mag stage, with targets that are more challenging than the cowboy distances.

 

Really, the only gripes are, as J.J. pointed out, above, from the brassers. ;-)  Several cowboy shooters have been sufficiently intrigued that they have brought out 1911s to play, themselves, and thus, we grow the sport.

 

Cheers,

FJT

 

 

 

[Doc Holloman]

Sounds like your Cowboy stages are much more challenging than ours.  l've seen  movement with the shotgun once.  Never seen movement with the pistol.  3 yards is the norm for pistol with targets often closer.    Only 4 knockdown shotgun targets all in a row.  Our  cowboy stages are designed to generate clean matches where speed is the discriminator.

[Grouchy Spike]

The Willow Hole Cowboys in North Zulch offer a 1911 category in every cowboy match, integrated into any posse.  The 1911 shooters use 5-round mags, shoot the scenario like cowboy shooters except that somewhere in each scenario is an instruction to shoot ten pistol rounds at the rifle targets. Ten rifle, 20 pistol, and four shotgun.  Would that work for you, short of a full blown WB match?

 

The idea from Dusty Boddams has merit.  And a WB posse needs only five and good organization to function - the TO, three spotters (one keeping score) and a shooter.

 

Persevere!

[Doc Holloman]

 

 

The idea from Dusty Boddams has merit.  And a WB posse needs only five and good organization to function - the TO, three spotters (one keeping score) and a shooter.

 

 

Oh, I took Dusty's idea and ran with it.  Wrote up a detailed proposal for the club board. Crickets.

[Baltimoreed11754]

We do simultaneous monthly WB/Cowboy shoots with no problems with either regimen. We all use the same steel, same courses of fire [first 10 pistol] with the only difference being WB will have 5-10/stage more rds to fire. We will have one or two stages where we advance downrange to the rifle targets to engage with those extra pistol rds. WB also load their sg’s at the loading table. As a WASA club we allow self loaders at our monthly shoots, I’ve shot my 9mm Astra, a bud shot his Luger, another a C96, shot one match with my Webley Fosbery and a MkVI . It’s supposed to be for fun. Next month I’ll don my RE tunic, pith helmet and shoot 2 Webleys and a 1866 musket with fixed bayonets on the anniversary of Rorkes Drift.

[Doc Holloman]

New suggestion to me from another member of the Club Board:

 

 

A variation on "Cowboy 1911." 

 

Shoot with the regular Cowboy possees (usually about 15 shooters.)

 

Shoot two 5-round mags at the Cowboy pistol targets]

Shoot one 5-round magazine at the cowboy rifle targets

Shoot the rifle at the Cody Dixon Targets  (50 yards)  (6 rounds)

Shoot the shotgun cowboy style (unstoked)  4 rounds.

 

While I can see he is trying to compromise,  I still have issues with it -- no movement with the shotgun.  My Model 12 would probably not be allowed. Not sure about my 97 Trench gun.  In fact I might as well use my side-by side as I am totally  hopeless single loading the 97.  Also the Cody Dixon targets seem a stretch with a pistol caliber rifle unless I really tune the sights.  I may take my .38-40 out this weekend and see if I can hit them with it.

But I guess my biggest problem is that I am trying to shoot a hybrid Wild Bunch in the middle of a bunch of Cowboy shooters.  It is a different culture.  I really  dont like the Rush,Rush, Rush of the large Cowboy posses  I get the feeling I will be the odd man out -- dressed different, shooting different guns. And off course I will still have more brass to pick.

 

Really not interested in being a one person category.

 

[Doc Holloman]

Shot our Club's  "Cowboy 1911 2.0" Category  On Sunday.  Not many shooters on Sundays, particularly on a cold windy January Day.  Only Three of us shooting 1911s (and one was a guest.) so we shot with the single Cowboy posse.

 

We shot the Cowboy Pistol and Rifle Targets, two mags each, with the 1911s.  The Rifle targets were not bad.  Some of the pistol targets were so close I practically shot them from the waist  (not literally, but almost).  For Rifle, we shot the Cody Dixon Targets (6 rounds, using the Cody Dixon sequence) at about 40-50 yards.    This required a change in mindset from Wild Bunch shooting -- slower aimed fire. Also the .45 Colt ammo I had loaded for Cowboy shooting probably needs to be loaded a little heavier for the longer range.  And it took me a couple of stages to figure out what the sight picture/rear sight setting should be.

 

For Shotgun we shot the four Cowboy knockdowns, but were allowed to have our shotguns stoked with four shells.  Wild Bunch legal shotguns allowed.  No split shotgun targets (which are rare in our cowboy stages) so no movement with the shotgun.  Sinch  we were shooting both the Cowboy Pistol and Rifle targets with the 1911s, there was movement with the pistol  on 4 of the 5 stages, including one where we shot shotgun in between, which meant grounding the 1911 and then recovering it.  That made it interesting.

 

I was a little disappointed with the turnout, but 4 of our regular WB shooters  were out with health reason or otherwise (face it, our club membership is getting old. At 65, I am one of the younger WB shooters.)  Also, 3 of our regular WB shooters were shooting Cowboy (getting ready for EOT.) Finally, shooting on Sundays never draws the participation of Saturday matches.

 

We may lose a couple of our WB shooters completely over the shift to Cowboy 1911.  I'm going  to stick it out for a while.  We will see.

 

Doc sends.