Well pards, if you missed the NCOWS match we had here at the Texas Ten Horns range back last month, you missed a mighty fun match. We had 13 shooters to brave the chilly and cloudy day to come out and shoot the first NCOWS match.

The 13 shooters competed in the following seven different categories; Men’s Smokeless Shootist, Men’s Black Powder Shootist, Men’s Smokeless Duelist, Men’s Black Powder Duelist, Working Cowboy, Ladies Senior and Junior Boy. Everyone I talked to said they had a mighty good time and will shoot in upcoming NCOWS matches at the club.

The targets are the same one’s we use for our SASS matches but were placed further out as per NCOWS style of shooting. The shotgun targets were about 15 yards out, the pistol targets ranged from 15 to 20 yards out and the rifle targets ranged from 30 to 50 yards away. Misses add 10 seconds to your raw time instead of 5 as we do in SASS. P’s are the same.

While clothing and guns and accessories are more historically accurate for NCOWS than for SASS, new posses and its members have up to a year to become compliant with the NCOWS regulations. That should give more than enough time to decide if you like this aspect of CAS or not and gather your gear.     

Now let me clear up a couple of misconceptions some folks have about some things in NCOWS. First you CAN use a gun cart for all but 2 categories in NCOWS, (working Cowboy and The Originals) which both of these categories are shot with only two guns. Most shoot either of these with one pistol and one rifle or, for the Originals, a pistol and rifle, pistol and shotgun or even 2 pistols. The gun cart cannot be a golf cart or have any motor in it, and it should be made of wood, not aluminum, plastic, fiber glass, etc.        

Since some competitors in NCOWS shoot with only 2 guns while others shoot with 4, there is no “Top Ten” in NCOWS, only category winners. The cost of shooting our NCOWS match is the same as it is for SASS matches, $10 for Ten Horn members and $15 for non-members. If you want more information about NCOWS you can go to their website at www.ncows.com and read their “Tally Book” which is their rule book that has a list of guns that are NCOWS legal and not legal.

NCOWS is ruled by the representatives elected by NCOWS members, not by a group of “founding fathers” so-to-speak. So, if the rank and file NCOWS members want a rule changed or added the members themselves can dictate the change. The age categories in NCOWS are young guns, 12-17, senior men and women 60 up and elder men and women 70 and up.        

With the different philosophy of NCOWS, compared to SASS, it is plain their emphasis is on accuracy over speed. There are some things we did in this NCOWS match that used to be done in SASS matches “back in the early days,” such as shooting a bow and arrow, carrying a damsel in distress to safety, and the like. If this sounds like it might be fun to you then come out and try a match. If you find it is not your cup of tea then there has been no harm. You got to associate with your friends, put some bullets down range and enjoy our freedom to use firearms in a safe and fun manner. You might find yourself in the some mindset I did; I loved the NCOWS match as I still love SASS.

Our next NCOWS match will be held on Saturday, February 14 at  the same time as usual.  Hope to see you there!  If you have any questions, please contact Lethal Larry (aka Larry J. Howard) in Tom Bean at 903-546-6848 or email ljhoward@dcccd.edu