BERWICK, Maine — Cowboys from across the country gathered together this weekend for a good old fashioned shoot out at the annual Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) Maine State Single Action Championships.
The three-day event, marked with two days of actual competition, began on Friday with lunch and side matches meant to get the adrenaline pumping in preparation for the stage matches the next two days.
The event was separated into 10 stages, with each stage occurring at a different scenes, with different guns used and amount of ammunition needed to complete the stage. Cowboys and girls were scored based on time and if they completed the stage in the designated order set out by event organizers. Typically each stage called for the use of pistols, rifles and shotguns. However, the amount of ammunition to be used in each stage depended upon which scene the competitor is shooting from. Also at each stage, a scenario, including a scripted line, as well as the order in which the cowboy or girl must fire each gun at and how many times each must be fired was designated for competition.
According to organizer Bruce “Marshall Custis Long” White, the dress of the cowboy or girl, as well as the type of gun used by each participant is different depending upon which cowboy or girl group they fall into. Each participant, when they begin the sport, is allowed to choose which group they will fall into, but their accessories at further competitions must match and fall into the category they have chosen.
Along with dressing like a specific type of cowboy, each participant also has a cowboy alias that they go by whenever their in competitions. According to White, they’re often encouraged to take on completely different personas that they usually relate to their aliases, as well.
“I don’t even know these people by their “street names,” said White.
This year, over 60 people from as far away as Alaska came to compete in the competition, which cost $75 per individual and $60 for another competitor after that. The sport and competition is open to almost all ages, from 10 until “you can still fire a gun,” said White.
Four year Maine state SASS champion Deane “Dapper Dan” Stanton began participating in SASS events in 2001 after he saw a SASS event on ESPN 2, although he owned and had been firing guns since he was a teenager. He said that he already liked and collected antique guns, so competing with them seemed like a perfect fit.
“The best part is the friendships I’ve made through this sport,” said Stanton. “There’s no prize money, so you have to be really honest about why you’re here.”
The event continues today from 8:40 a.m. to 4 p.m. when an award ceremony will held to announce the winners of the competition. All events are open to the public.
(c)2011 the Foster’s Daily Democrat (Dover, N.H.)
Distributed by MCT Information Services