Dressed to Shoot
By Sweet Violet

Classic Cowboy

Dictionary.com defines Classic Cowboy as the following: Classic: (1)of the first or highest quality, class, or rank (2) serving as a standard, model, or guide (3) traditional or typical; Cowboy: (1) a man who herds and tends cattle on a ranch, esp. in the western U.S., and who traditionally goes about most of his work on horseback.

One of the newest shooting categories in the Single Action Shooting Society (Sass) is Classic cowboy.  Not only is Classic Cowboy a shooting category, it is also a way of dressing.  For you see, it has a dress code!  (There are also firearms requirements that go along with this category but since this is a costuming article, we’ll just stay with the costuming aspect.)  The SASS handbook states that to shoot in Classic Cowboy, you “must choose at least five of the requirements listed below.  All clothing must be worn appropriately during all shooting events and awards ceremonies.  Chaps, spurs, cuffs, tie or scarf worn loosely around the neck or with scarf slide, vest, pocket watch with full length chain, jacket, sleeve garters, knife, botas, leggings, braces: no straw hats allowed.

I personally know two wonderful gentlemen who have chosen to shoot in the Classic Cowboy category.  Both are of the highest quality and class.  But I have never seen them go about their work at the shooting range on horseback!  They have each chosen different ways to represent the CC category, and they do it with great style!  Who are these fine gentlemen you ask?  Please allow me to introduce them to you, Ray Walters, aka Smith n’ Jones and Michael G. Veitch, aka Kid Sopris.

Smith n’ Jones started cowboy action shooting in 1996 and joined SASS in 1997.  He had recently retired from the fire service and was doing some indoor shooting trying to find a shooting discipline that was fun and that would hold his interest.  When he first read about CAS, he connected directly due to the fact that he, like thousands of others, had been raised on the Western movies and television shows of the 50’s and 60’s and had spent countless hours playing “cowboy” in the backyard and streets of the small rural town where he was raised.  “With a strong interest in Old West firearms and owning several it was a natural transition into cowboy action shooting,” says Smith n’ Jones.

Because he owned several Ruger old model Blackhawks as well as an old double-barreled shotgun given to him by his aunt, Smith n’ Jones initially shot in the Men’s Modern Category.  His first two shoots were “feeling out” affairs where he wore standard blue jeans, a Western denim shirt, an old pair of cowboy boots, and an old cowboy hat.  His primary reason for switching to classic Cowboy was due to the fact that he had an aversion to shooting small caliber guns.  “I realized that there was certainly a place for them in the sport but somehow it just didn’t seem right for me to shoot low velocity, low pressure .38s.  With a .40 caliber minimum in Classic, I could compete with other shooters using a little bigger bullet.  I also really love the exposed hammer double guns.”

With time, the costuming aspect of Classic Cowboy became more appealing to Smith n’ Jones.  The term “Classic Cowboy” typically brings to mind images of a rough, tough cowhand with vest, chaps, and a sixgun.  But it seemed that was the direction just about everyone was going in Classic, so Smith n’ Jones opted for amore of a gambler/gun fighter look, “reminding folks that a gambler or business man could protect himself just as well as a cowboy riding the range and even an Old West lawman could dress towny and still be effective as was Bill Tilghman, Bat Masterson, and Wyatt Earp.”  One of the great things about the Classic Cowboy category is that the clothing requirements allow some variation from the typical cowhand look.  Of the five required items for Classic Cowboy, Smith n’ Jones wears braces, a vest and tie, pocket watch with chain, sleeve garters, cuffs, and a frock coat.

One of the most appealing aspects of cowboy action shooting and SASS for Smith n’ Jones is that there are so many categories and dress styles from which a person can choose.  It is a reflection on how they want to look, the guns they like to shoot, and the shooting style they find most attractive.  That and the people he has the privilege to meet and shoot with and the friendships he made, make cowboy action shooting an important part of Smith n’ Jones’ life.

Kid Sopris started cowboy action shooting because he felt he needed to bridge the gap between his childhood and his adulthood.  Like many SASS members he felt he was born just a little too late.  While growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Kid had the opportunity to meet and get to know some of the Silver Screen’s heroes such as Spade Cooley, Hugh Farr and the Sons of the Pioneers, and he even lived behind Pat Brady’s (of Roy Roger’s TV Show and co-star in some of Roy’s movies) parent’s house.  CAS was a natural move for Kid and gave him a chance to relive the West as well as to shoot more often and afford him the opportunity to become involved with the Happy Trails Foundation, something that has become very meaningful to him.  “SASS and the Cowboy appearance is a way of life for me.  I am known around Southern Nevada and other parts of the country for my Montana Peak Cowboy hat form D Bar J Hats.  Actually, I have three of them.”  In 1995, Kid formed Colorado’s third cowboy action club in Hotchkiss, Colorado called the Black Canyon Ghost Riders.  He now shoots with the Eldorado Cowboys in Boulder City, Nevada. Like many of the folks who start out in cowboy action shooting, Kid chose the Traditional Category.  At his first Winter Range, he attired himself in sprus, a black hat, Levis, cuffs, a black vest and scarf.  After Winter Range he found Cowboy britches and suspenders.  His guns of choice were two Colt Single Action Army revolvers chambered in .44-40, and a Rossi side-by-side 12-guage hammered shotgun.

Switching form Men’s Traditional to Classic Cowboy came from sizing up the competition.  He refused to switch to smaller, less recoiling calibers.  He now shoots two rifles: an 1860 Henry  (Uberti) and an 1873 Winchester (Uberti) both chambered in .44-40, a TTN 1878 Colt 12-gauge hammer shotgun, a Laurona hammerless 12-gauge shotgun, and his two Colt Single Action Army .44-40 revolvers.  As time has gone on, Kid keeps upgrading, or as he says, “Read that as spending more money.” Dressing the part in Classic Cowboy provides Kid the opportunity to gather instruments, guns, artifacts, and just about anything cowboy, and the “flare to get all dressed up was more of a temptation than I could resist.”

He is constantly striving to perfect the image he wants.  The collection of items, despite my oath not to buy anymore, keeps growing!”