I will go so far as to say it is the best thing that ever happened in my lifetime as to the effect on the firearms industry. CAS single-handedly revived such cartridges as the .44-40 and .38-40 which were virtually dead, while at the same time pumping great new life into the .45 Colt, which for the most part had become a connoisseur’s cartridge.

The industry paid enough attention to CAS we soon had virtually every firearm from the frontier era available to us. Thanks to CAS we now have authentic replicas of such sixguns as the Colt Single Action Army, the Colt Bisley Model, the Remington 1875 and 1890, the Smith & Wesson Schofield and Model No. 3 Russian, and even Ruger has gone Western with the Vaquero and New Vaquero revolvers to the tune of approximately 1 million being produced.

The long guns have not been forgotten. We have replicas of the 1860 Henry, 1866 Winchester, 1873 Winchester, 1892 Winchester as well as several versions of the Colt Lightning and also Marlin leverguns designed specifically for CAS. Most CAS matches require two sixguns, a levergun, and a double-barreled or pump shotgun all reminiscent of the period from 1850s to 1899. Because of this demand, many of the old-style shotguns have been brought back and interest has even spilled over to create a demand for long-range rifles such as the Sharps and Remington single-shots, and the Winchester 1886 and 1876. Without CAS, I doubt we would have ever seen the latter.

Everything Was Good

CAS spread across the country and everything was good. Most shooters used .45 Colt sixguns with some opting for .44-40 and .38-40 and with all using either black powder or black powder equivalent loads. A maximum velocity of 1,000 fps was set for sixguns and these three frontier cartridges using 250-, 200-, and 180-grain cast bullets respectively at 800 to 1,000 fps represented the “magnums” of the last quarter of the 19th century. They are powerful loads, however they are not difficult to control and this is especially so with the .44-40 and .38-40. The recommended target setting distance was a maximum of 50' for pistol targets and 50 yards for rifle targets. Rifles had to be chambered for a pistol cartridge with a maximum velocity of 1,400 fps. Again, this is right in the neighborhood of the black powder .44-40 load which clocks out at 1,300 to 1,400 fps from a levergun.

CAS originally required the shooter to know his firearm and load and to be able to shoot accurately. For rifle targets, our local club used 8" falling plates at 50 yards and all sorts of pistol targets of varying sizes set at varying distances. The targets were definitely a challenge and I don’t recall anyone shooting a clean match — that is to say not missing any targets — in those early years. My personal challenge was the shotgun targets which often consisted of clay pigeons in the air or rolling along the ground. The course was challenging, however we had fun, much of which came from ribbing each other over misses. Sixguns and rifles boomed and targets clanged.

Then something changed. I knew trouble was brewing when an article in a CAS-oriented magazine told of the author’s converting a .45 Colt SAA to .38 Special. That’s blasphemy or at least backwards and something akin to trading a Harley for a Honda Trail 90! Light loads and large targets up close have pretty much captivated CAS matches with some few exceptions and boom and clang have been replaced by pop and ping. The challenge of hitting difficult targets is gone and all targets are very large and very much up close, again with the exception of a few clubs which have held onto the old ways. They are called dinosaurs.

What used to be an accuracy game has become a 90-percent-plus speed game shot with very lightly loaded .32s and .38s. Some shooters still cling to their original .44s and .45s. They are called dinosaurs. Actually, now they are called warthogs by the light loads group. SASS, Single Action Shooting Society, the main governing body of CAS has found itself with a real dilemma on their hands; one which could have been avoided easily by enforcing a minimum caliber and velocity rule.

They didn’t do so and I believe in their omission have sewn the seeds of their own destruction, and as a result we now have three main classes of shooters. We have the speed shooters who are part of the be-competitive-want to-win-crowd which is now only possible using virtually recoilless .32 and .38 loads. At the other end of the spectrum are those wanting to hold onto the old ways and in the middle we have those who don’t even know things have changed or simply don’t care.

Cowboy Action Shooting was enough of an inspiration for me to write my second book, Action Shooting Cowboy Style. It is now out of print and I mention it only to showcase what an influence CAS and frontier era firearms have had on my shooting and writing life. I actually had a reason to write about the .45 Colt, .44-40, .38-40 and also such cartridges as the .45 Schofield, .44 Russian, .41 Long Colt, even the varmint shooting .32-20 and the hide-out .38 Long Colt and all the firearms which housed them. That is definitely a positive thing!

I definitely miss the old ways when marksmanship was required and the .45 Colt was king. Yes, I could still shoot using my old .45, .44-40, and .38-40 loads, but somehow, when the challenge disappeared, so did the fun for me. Sorry, but I have to laugh at an able-bodied young man opting to shoot light-loaded .32s. Arguments are advanced claiming large targets up close and light loads came about to allow everyone to be successful. Again, sorry, but that is nothing more than level-the-playing-field political correctness. Everyone cannot be successful at everything.

Not having a crystal ball nor being a prophet I could be wrong in saying CAS has crested and is on the downhill slide, but I don’t think I am. Maybe the governing body of SASS can make the hard decisions to save it. I still appreciate the effect CAS has had on the industry, and thoroughly enjoy shooting the old style guns which I did before CAS arrived and will continue to do so. However as a shooting sport it is no longer my game, nor even appealing to me.