Jesse James Wannabes Take to Idaho Range

B O I S E, Idaho, Dec. 2 -- A blur of fire-spitting six-guns, rifles andshotguns transforms the quiet desert plinking ground at BlacksCreek Public Rifle Range twice a month.

The dusty sagebrush desert makes a perfect backdrop for the morethan 75 participants who get gussied up in 19th-century costume tosocialize and compete in Cowboy Action Shooting, a fantasy sportthat combines a heap of historical flavor with rapid-fire targetshooting.

For a few hours a month, ordinary people become steely eyedlawmen or bad-news drifters. At least in their own minds, theybecome Jesse James or Wyatt Earp, or Annie Oakley or Belle Star.

"This is a chance to do what I was doing when I was 10 or 11years old out in my backyard — only now I can do it with realguns," said Ray Walters, a 55-year-old former firefighter who nowwrites for the Boise-based SHOOT! magazine.

The competition, governed by the Single Action Shooting Society,has existed since the early 1980s. There are numerous styles ofmatch competition, from mounted pistol shooting to short-rangederringer competitions to long-range rifle shoots. Most common aremedium-range pistol, rifle and shotgunning games.

Take an Alias

Matches are divided into eight or 10 scenarios, called"stages." Shooters fire through a doorway, around a corner or outof a window at steel squares, circles or small cowboy silhouettesfrom 5 to 15 yards away. They use multiple combinations of pistols,rifles and shotguns. Sometimes an extra element is added, such asthrowing a knife or hatchet into a target.

A timer keeps electronic track of how long it takes a competitorto shoot through the stage — which usually lasts less than aminute. Official observers watch for safety violations, gunhandling problems and target misses, which can add time to theoverall score.

Cowboy shooters are assigned aliases, which they prefer to theirreal names during competitions. Walters is "Smith n' Jones."Deana Daniels is "Missy Marble."