Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Cowboy Action Shooting perfered caliber?

whats the perfered caliber for c a s ?
25-20/32/20 /44?
i have an 1892 win in 25-20 and was wondering
if its adequet for the job or if i should sell it
and get something a little bigger
what say the hive?

Most shooters use either .38spl or .45colt. I prefer the .44-40.

The .38 is preferred by gamers particularly due to the lack of recoil and faster handling.
Remember there will be some knock down targets so you need enough power to reliably knock them over, also it's often referred to as "the old bang and clang" not "the old ping and ting" so bigger is better

I'm not a CAS person but I've read that there is some movement towards the 38-40 due to the lesser recoil and other desirable characteristics.

I'm not sure. I'm in it for fun not to race so I'll stick to the full noise .44-40 or .45 colt.
I am tempted to join the dark side at times and go black powder just for the fun of it.

Like this?

Yep, like that.
I enjoy watching this lady shoot, love the smoke she puts out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwSHdbhe1NI

The pics I posted are me.

well done!

CAS is a lot of fun. Those not yet there need to go on line, check out a club near by and go. CAS are the nicest, friendliest of all the shooting sports family. They'll let you shoot their guns, burn their ammo, just to show you how much fun they're having. That's why, IMHO, CAS is the fast growing shooting sport out there.

BTW, from my experience of around 5 yrs. in CAS, the .38 spec is first, the .45 Colt is second, with scatterings of others. Most CAS shooters like straight wall cases to reload. Many beginning shooters start out with .45 Colt and migrate to .38 spec. The .38's are cheaper to load and do kick less. But, you don't have to use mouse phart loads. One can make a .38 spec. go bang/cling pretty impressively. Some select categories require a min. of .40 cal. but most CAS shooting can be done with the .38 spec.

If you're around BP shooters, you'll see more 44-40's, 38-40's and .45 Colts. Many of those (you assume right, I'm not one) are hard core, claiming that this smokeless stuff is just a passing fad...

BP is just too smelly and nasty for my delicate tastes...

DF

I am using either cap & Ball 44's or .357 cartridge guns. Just fill up the case to near the top with BP or substitute on the cartridge guns and squeeze in the bullet!

One of those polluters who makes all that nasty smoke...!

HA!

I GUESS I could see how that could be fun...

But, by now I've spent way too much time harassing the BP shooters at our club, coughing when they shoot, complaining about being down wind, threating to call the EPA, etc...

Too late for me to join the "dark side"...

DF

NEVER too late!

My problem has been finding enough appropriate firearms of the right chamberings at the local gun stores. I suppose I could go online or get a gun store to special order some for me, but getting two revolvers and a 10 shot lever action rifle in the same chambering has been tough. I am set up for .45 Colt but would like to find a rifle for .357 and another pistol for .44 Magnum. It is nice loading out of one cartridge box.

I generally shoot .45 Colt but occasionally mix and match other chamberings, .357 revolvers with 32/20 or .44 Mag rifle and 44/40 and .44 Mag revolvers with any of my rifles. Shooting out of several cartridge boxes can get interesting.

Most of the real serious shooters at my club shoot .357/38 revolvers and rifles. Several shoot black powder.

We generally have a Cowboy match each month as well as a Wild Bunch match on a different day so we can run a bunch of ammo through our 1911's.

I've never had much luck finding suitable CAS equipment at a local gun store. CAS is a specialty market, generally not well served by the typical gun store. Check on the SASS wire and on line for equipment and suitable vendors. Often one can find guns that are CAS ready, just be careful on "over gunsmithed" items. There are a number of vendors, like Longhunter, Cody Conagher, Pioneer, and others who supply ready to go guns, done right. Club members often trade and sell their stuff as they move up the equipment food chain.

Looking back, if I had gotten a good '73 in .357 with an action job, probably short stroke first, I'd have owned a lot fewer CAS rifles. I guess we all have to experiment with various type scatterguns and pistols. Just part of the experience and the fun.

DF

Go to a match and see if somebody will give you a past issue of the "Cowboy Chronicle", it is the official paper of the SASS and a treasure trove of vender's.

Also stop by here: http://www.sassnet.com/

As TL said, cowboy chronicle is great reading.
Another suggestion is to simply pass the word round your local club and around at other shoots as to what you are looking for, someone is sure to have something suitable sitting in the back of their cupboard or on a shelf in their man cave.

Two months ago on a club day I mentioned wanting antler handled .44-40 revolvers, last month a guy turned up with a pair he wants to sell on. He was from another club but came along to our club day, travelled about three hours, just to show me the guns.
It made a good excuse for him to do more shooting too of course.

I read Cowboy Chronicle with great delight. Those gun adds are quite tempting. I may break down one day and order some firearms that I have not been able to find locally. I do have enough toys to field several shooters so do not really NEED any more guns. I would LIKE, however, to find the correct firearms to have a complete set of two revolvers and a rifle in .44 Mag and in .357 Mag. I would even like to get set up for .44-40 and .32-20. I already have plenty in .45 Colt and use them for most shoots. Part of the fun is the hunt for the firearms that would complete a set.

Longhunter modified Rodeo II's are a lot of gun for the buck, IMHO.

If I was looking for top performance value, right out of the box, I'd have to put those on my short list. I like Rugers, but after a full house modification to "run like a Colt". Stock Rugers are too easy to skip a round and click, click, click, click, boom is all to common. Just don't see that so much with Colts and clones.

Longhunter modified Rodeos are cheaper than Rugers with a full house action job, which done to the max, can cost over $350.

DF

I have a pair of Rodeos in .45 Colt that I enjoy shooting. Both are out-of-the-box but shoot very nicely. They just feel right. Most of my cowboy revolvers are Rugers and have been quite reliable except for one old Vaquero in .45 Colt that I bought used. Someone had evidently done some shadetree gunsmithing on it so that it would over-rotate. A trip back to Ruger fixed that.

I have heard nothing but good things about the Longhunter products and services. I use some of his leather products.

You cited many cartridges but not one caliber.