My husband first started shooting the local cowboy shoots about seven years ago. I went along to watch, as time permitted. He always seemed to have such a great time, and we made a lot of really good friends at these shoots.
He encouraged me several times to shoot, but although I love shooting guns of any sort, I didn’t want what I thought would be an added stress in my life. I’m a freelance court reporter, and the day-to-day deadlines and workload were all the stress I felt I needed.
I wasn’t too wild about being in front of a crowd, shooting a timed event. I wanted to be able to just relax and enjoy watching others shoot. Although, I must admit, it looked like tons of fun. And it’s a sport where you’re not limited to just shooting one type of gun; you shoot a lever-action rifle, single-action pistols, and shotgun.
Eventually, I was ready to start shooting. At first, I borrowed my husband’s guns, but once I started shooting more of the matches, he bought me my own guns. I really think he had as much fun getting me geared up to shoot as he did getting himself outfitted. As a custom leather crafter, he created me a beautiful gun belt and a pair of holsters.
He started me out with a pair of Ruger Sheriff models in .45 long Colt, with 3 ¾ inch barrels; a ’97 12-ga. Shotgun, and a ’94 Marlin long rifle in .45 long Colt. I have a great passion for guns anyway, so I fell in love with my new guns, especially the Sheriff models. They’re a lot of fun to shoot, and they look good, too.
I do have a tendency to shoot the longer barreled pistols better, so we had the Sheriff models re-barreled with 5 ½ octagon barrels. They look awesome, and the longer barrels have helped to improve my shooting.
Which brings me to another subject; one of the main reasons I love cowboy action shooting. I was so worried in the beginning about going out and competing when I really just wanted to have fun. What I found was that I am competing, but it’s against myself. I strive to do better at each shoot than I did at the one before. I’m not trying to outshoot anyone but me.
Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a very competitive sport. And if it’s your desire to compete against others, there’s a lot of fantastic women shooters out there. Some day that may be what I want to try to achieve, but for now, I’ve got my hands full just out shooting myself.
It’s a great sport. If you enjoy shooting at all, you’ll love shooting cowboy action.
