Fat men and iron, Part Deux (Gettin' SASSy)

I went down to Renton, WA last Saturday to check out a cowboy action shooting match at the Renton Fish and Game club. The cowboy shooters there are members of the Renton United Cowboy Action Shooters (R.U.C.A.S.), which is a local affiliate of the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS). I first heard of SASS and the sport of cowboy action shooters watching cable shows that featured it. When I bought my Cimarron Model P single-action .45 last year, I was sort of embarking on a long road towards getting into the sport.

I come by my interest in cowboy shooting honestly. My family is of pioneer stock. Born in Ireland, my great-great grandparents came West on the Bozeman Trail to Virginia City, MT in 1865. My great-grandfather was the sheriff of Richland County, MT. Like many a good lawman, he considered the line between legal and illegal to be a bit fuzzy where his own actions were concerned. Family legend has it that he and his deputies were stopped from running a herd across into North Dakota by the US Marshall, Floyd Davis--who was his brother-in-law. Family relations were a bit strained for the next generation.

Frederick Daniel Sullivan

Sheriff, Richland Co., Montana

The cowboy action shooting in Renton was very compelling. Despite the rain, the shooters were out there on one of the stages plugging away with rifle, six-gun, and shotgun. I'm eager to get started, but I've got a few things to get first.

So far, I have a very nice CZ Arms coach gun that I picked up used at Wade's. It's a short, double-barreled, hammer-action shotgun with color case-hardened frame and butt-plate, blued barrels and nice walnut stock. I haven't fired it yet. I have the Cimarron Arms .45 Model P SAA that I picked up a year ago and the Cimarron Colt .38 Lightning that I picked up last month. What I lack is a suitable rifle. I have my eyes on a Cimarron Yellow Boy carbine. After hemorrhaging so much cash already, I'm loth to spend another $900.00+ for this. I'm also unsure yet about whether I want to get it in .45 LC or .38 special.  The latter uses less expensive ammo, the former allows for homogenization of ammunition, but I'm already mixing calibers with my revolvers. The SASS shooters in Renton tell me that there are plenty of rifles to borrow for matches, just bring my own ammo.

Things are picking up. Other items I need are suitable cowboy clothing to wear at matches. I don't normally sport cowboy-style wear, so it's not like I have a hat, chaps, boots, etc. sitting in my closet. SASS specifies specific clothing requirements to be worn at matches, so I'm busy collecting these items, too. They are less expensive than guns, but some items are still pricey.

Yesterday, I went to the WAC gun show in Puyallup with Phil. I bought 500 rounds of .45 LC cowboy action rounds from Surplus Ammo and handed off my Lightning to Tru Ivory for custom fitting of grips to match the ones I have on my Model P. I also bought a cowboy hat from a vendor at the show. It's a very nice heavy-duty waterproof beaver-felt hat.

Another recent purchase was a gun-belt and holster for the Model P. I got it from Buffalo Arms, who carry a great deal of cowboy action items including clothing. When I ordered the belt, I fooled myself into thinking I was thinner than I was. However, "Fat men and iron," (a line from True Grit) is no misnomer. I'm a 38" waist, and the belt I ordered (33" - 38") was too small. I need to go to the next size to get the right fit and feel. In any case, the belt and holster are first-rate and very nicely made. Now I just need to get something for the Lightning, but Buffalo's Huckelberry shoulder-holster rig, which looks very nice, is also very expensive. I'll settle for a cross-draw that I can add to my gunbelt, but all of the cross-draw holsters at Buffalo Arms are for Colt SAA clones, like my Model P.

I don't know when I'll do my first match. I've joined SASS, but I'm still gathering the necessaries. However, one of the R.U.C.A.S. members holds Friday night practice sessions at the Renton gun club. I'll need to do a few of these before I'm confident about competing in a match.

Fat men and iron

Phil Bardsley and I had our quasi-monthly dim sum/shoot some event on Saturday. For the first time I can recall, we didn't finish everything we ordered at Noble Court. I think this means my stomach may be shrinking. 

At the range, I mostly shot .45 ACP from my SIG 220, but I rented a Kimber Gold Match II to try it out. Phil has a Kimber Eclipse Pro that I've shot a few times. Kimbers are very nice pistols and accurate like anything. I was hoping to see a big enough difference between the Kimber and my SIG to make me want to trade up, but Kimbers don't come cheap and even with a trade-in on my well-used SIG, I expect to pay a lot for one.

I did get to thinking about another cowboy gun, however. I enjoy my Cimarron Arms Model P SA .45 so much that I want to get a companion (or two). After shooting, I stopped off at two places near me: Adventure Sports in Lynnwood and Sam's Gun Shop in Everett. Adventure Sports carries several Uberti pistols and long guns; Sam's carries the Cimarron line. (Sam's is the only Cimarron dealer in WA state.) Cimarron are made by Uberti in Italy, but the lines are actually distinct. There are several models in each range that are not available in the other.

At Adventure Sports, I was looking longingly at a .45 1858 New Army conversion. It's a big gun with a long 8" barrel, but felt surprisingly light when I handled it and it's very nicely balanced. I'm a little hesitant to get another pistol that shoots .45 LC because of the difficulty finding jacketed rounds for it--as well as the expense of even the cowboy action rounds. But I learned from Sam's that they have such faith in the circulation system for their range that they allow shooting lead cap bullets. I've been shooting at Wade's for years, but it's nice to know that there's a place only a few miles from my house where I can shoot my SA even when I can't find jacketed rounds.

At Sam's I found what I'd hoped they'd have: Cimarron's model of the .38 Colt Lightning. It's chambered for .38 special and has a bird's head grip. It's a nice light piece and well balanced. The .38 ammo is much less expensive than .45 LC and is widely available as FMJ, so indoor shooting at any range isn't a problem. They had one with a 5.5" barrel and another with, I think, a 4.75" or maybe 3.5" barrel. The 5.5" barrel is what I wanted and I bought it after only a few minutes consideration (just long enough to let me look over a Cimarron "Yellow Boy" they had on the wall). I don't have a concealed carry permit, so I have to wait for a background check to clear before I can take possession of the gun, but I could have it by the weekend. Also, I can fire it on the premises at Sam's (on their range, not in the shop).

The acquisition of the Lightning gives me a pair that is similar to the pair of pistols that Doc Holliday is reputed to have carried--except that his were nickel plated and ivory handled. Mine are blued with a color case-hardened frame and Tru Ivory grips. I'd love to get genuine ivory or, even better, mammoth ivory; however, it's difficult and expensive to get natural ivory for a SA grip because of the size required. Also, the Colt Lightning that Doc carried was a double action. Cimarron's model is single action. Interestingly, I read recently that the poor operating condition of most of the surviving Colt Lightnings is due to the owner's practice of firing them as single-action pistols, which is what they would be used to. Apparently, the Lightning wasn't intended for single-action use.

My gun jammed!

I went shooting yesterday with my friend Phil. Every now and then, we go out on a Saturday for dim sum at Noble Court in Bellevue, WA and then down a few blocks to Wade's to shoot. I brought my Cimarron Arms .45 SAA and my Beretta Px4 Storm.

I fired 200 rounds from the Beretta and then switched to the .45. It's like night and day as far as recoil. The 9mm Beretta doesn't give much kick; the .45, shooting 260 grain LC rounds, lets you know you're shooting it. After 50 rounds in the .45 (all that I had left), I switched back to the Beretta. After 100 more rounds, I had a bullet that wouldn't seat in the chamber. I though it was just a misfeed, so I ejected it, fired the last rounds in the magazine, and then reinserted the misfed round into the magazine to try it again. This time it jammed solid and I haven't been able to extract it. Being a live round, I am loth to fiddle with it, which means I have to take it to a gunsmith this week. Darn.

My 9mm rounds are reloads, which so far have been very reliable. I can't say why the round misfed and jammed. The pistol was clean when I started firing.

I'm flummoxed about the .45 LC rounds, too. I use an HSM 260 gr. JHP round that I get from Surplus Ammo. com. I bought 250 rounds at a WAC gun show last year for a fairly cheap price. I shoot at an indoor range that requires all rounds to be jacketed (so no toxic leadsmoke). Most of the available ammo for .45 LC is cowboy action rounds (180 gr. lead cap). The HSM are harder to get because Surplus Ammo only carries them occasiaonally. I haven't found any gun dealer in the Seattle area that carries HSM, and ordering direct from HSM is a bit of a hassle.