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Visitors’ Directory
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Attractions:
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Billings Tour Loops
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Useful Information
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Get in on the Old West at its rootin’ tootin’ six-gun shootin’ best at the Yellowstone Valley Buffalo Stampede hosted by the Montana Territory
Peacemakers at the Billings Rod and Gun Club in Billings, June 27-28.
Side matches will be on Friday with the main match of eight stages on Saturday.
Shooting will begin at 9 am. and will continue until about 3 p.m. each day with
the Top Gun awards given out on Saturday after the match. For more information
about the Peacemakers, contact James Knight at 628-8694.
Were you born in the wrong century or would you like to go “Back to the Future?”
The Cowboy Action Shooters (CAS) dream of times past, tell stories, dress in
period clothes from the 1860s to the 1900s, and shoot cowboy guns of that era.
Each shoot begins by reading the safety rules outlined by the Single Action
Shooting Society (SASS). The local shooters also go by these monikers (club
affiliations): Montana Territory Peacemakers, Colter’s Hell Justice Committee and the High Lonesome Drifters, just to name a few.
The firearms they shoot are single action revolvers usually in the .357, 44-40
or 45 long colt calibers using only cast bullet loads. Usually two pistols are
used.
Lever action rifles are best in the same caliber as the pistols. They can be
1866 Yellowboy, 1873 Winchester, 1892 Winchester, 1894 Marlin or replicas.
Shotguns that are used are 1897 Pump action or double barrel side by side with
no ejectors.
What do they shoot at? Steel silhouettes, cardboard cut outs, clay pigeons,
playing cards, or charcoal. The targets are arranged according to the story
(scenario) or byline for the stage to be shot. The story can be based on
history, fiction, or western movie themes.
The shooters have visited McClintock, Lonesome Dove, Wagon Box Fight, Open
Range, the Land of Oz and just recently the Oklahoma Land Rush.
Ladies wear prairie dresses, skirts and blouses or working cowgirl for every
day. They can get really fancy for the ball with Victorian dresses with hats to
top it off. Period accessories can be added to complete any ensemble.
For the gentlemen, depending on who they want to emulate, they could be a
working cowboy, miner, storekeeper, lawman or even a bad guy.
An alias is chosen. For example, names already chosen and registered with SASS
are Backstrap Bill, Lilly Blossom, Yakima Red, Wyoming Drummer, H. M. “Muggins” Taylor, Angel and Flat Nose George, to list just a few.
Besides the shooters monthly events, they also get together for some camp-outs,
annual shoots, and parties to live out their dreams. Most clubs hold monthly
shoots from March/April to September/October. A few are diehards and shoot year
round. At the camp-outs the food is cooked exclusively in Dutch ovens over the
campfire. You can expect beans (a cowboy staple), stew, bread pudding or even
peach pie on the cowboy menu. The other cowboy staple — coffee is also served.