Cowboy mounted shooting?

This sport looks like so much fun to me. I wish someone around me did it.

Question from someone who knows nothing about it: You have to use a .45?

That is whey use. Now I do not know for sure if that is the only caliber you can use but I would think that if everyone was using .45 and you did not you would be at a disadvantage.

Hmmm, that does make sense.

Reloading is not a problem since Hubby wants to shoot in SASS as well! We can keep the brass to reload practice rounds here at the house!
They do supply the loads at events, and 44-40 is another round they use for the rifle class. I have also heard they are starting a shotgun class as well. .22's are what they use for the kids to shoot.

.45 LC is the only caliber used in mounted shooting. CMSA, SASS and MSA all have the same rule.

All three organizations require the club to provide all ammo at matches. You can "make your own" for practice, but must use "certified" ammo from an approved supplier at any official event. There are both "fair play" and, more importantly, safety reasons for this.

.45LC blanks cost about 40 cents each and are available from several different providers. These same providers also sell "half loads" and "primer only" loads for training purposes. The blanks are MUCH easier to get than live ammo in the same caliber. I just ordered 2,000 rounds for an event I am running later this month. Finding that many rounds of live .45lc ammo (at anything approaching a reasonable price) would be impossible.

Rifle class uses a similar round. It is actually a "3 in 1" shell that will work in rifles chambered for .45LC, 44-40 and .44 magnum.

Shotgun class uses the same .45LC loads that are used in the pistols. To use these in a shotgun, special inserts are places in the barrel. The insert is made in the size of the shotgun shell (i.e. 12ga) and has a hole in the center that will accept the .45LC shell.

Some people do make their own loads for practice. This can be tricky. The brass used for blanks needs a larger primer hole than those used for live ammo. Firing a blank with a standard primer hole, the primer will often back out and jam the cylinder. If you reload both live and blank ammo, you need to be careful to keep the brass separated as they should NOT be interchanged.


Getting into the sport is expensive. A pair of decent pistols (Ruger Vaqueros) will set you back around $1,000. You can find gun leather cheap, but anything decent will start at around $300.

On the plus side, the people in this game are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Most will loan you guns, leather and even their horse to get you started out! :)

Also, once you make the initial investment in guns and leather, you are done with the "big" costs. Properly cared for, they will last you forever.

Cowboy mounted shooting is an extremely fun sport and very addictive. :)

To the Canada riders... I have heard that gun laws are pretty strict up there. There are also a few active CMS clubs in Canada. You should contact them and see if they can offer any advice on getting started. If you are close enough to the border with a gun friendly US State, driving over to a US club and borrowing (or even renting) pistols may be a feasible short-term option.

It sounds like great fun - I would absolutely love to give it a go. Bundy wouldn't bat an eyelid - He is used to stockwhips. I love fast-paced skills based disciplines.

Don't think it will ever take off in AUS though due to our tight gun laws (Which I like - But will restrict this kind of thing).

See my other post regarding reloading live ammo brass as blanks. You should either get blank brass (Starline sells it) or make sure to drill out the primer hole.

I have never heard of kids shooting .22s. Where do they get the blanks?

A wrangler class (12 and under) usually has the kid ride the course with a fake or unloaded gun (or none at all). They can then _optionally_ shoot while standing on the ground (stationary position) under the supervision of a parent. They use the same .45lc ammo as the adults. (There is no recoil when using blanks so firing a .22, .38 or .45 makes no difference).

Is anyone still allowed to own a pistol down under? I thought they confiscated all handguns a year or two ago?

Either way, I agree that it will be very hard to get CMS going in a country that is so opposed to handgun ownership.

They are having similar problems in Germany right now. There is a group of riders petitioning the government to permit mounted shooting. Germany has some very strict gun laws (like most places that restrict gun ownership, this means you must be very rich and powerful to own a gun).

Last I heard, the group hit a roadblock with the authorities because it was felt that allowing mounted shooting would create a demand for handguns and increase ownership.

^ I don't know about types of guns but if you wish to own a gun you have to apply for a license and I believe be a member of a gun club.

My riding instructor does it but I know basically nothing about it. She really seems to like it though. Here is a picture of the horse she uses... I know he has an English saddle on! My beginning lessons... she starts everyone in English because the saddle is thinner and you can feel the horse beneath you... sorry I'm off topic!