Cowboy Action Ammunition (38 Special)

[johngross]

What's so special about 38 Special Cowboy Action ammunition?

Except for one loading I've seen with a 110 bullet at 650 fps, everything else for sale is standard weight (158 grain) lead bullets at about 750-800 fps. That's the standard/basic 38 Special load.

So besides the higher price of the Cowboy ammo, what's the difference????

John Gross

[smkummer]

Often, the bullet style is designed to feed smoothly through rifles also. Some semi-wadcutter handgun style bullets hang-up in a rifle.

[Kid Sopris]

Cowboy Action Ammunition is a misconception of sorts..Maybe a Oxymoron...Readers Digest Explanation..

The early days of CAS/SASS 99% of the males were shooting the 45 and 44-40 Calibers.

Larry Cohen, aka Durango Kid did a video on Reloadiing for SASS. A world Champion shooter himself, he was not unfamiliar around a reloading room.

He won the World Championship using a 45 Colt, but what he didn't tell people is that he perfected a way to download and use a 165 gr. Round ball lead projectile.

Scott "Bounty Hunter", did a book and the competition took on another life form.

Enter Winchester Ammunition. They approached the SASS Board of Governors, aka Wild Bunch, with a promotion. The Winchester Marketing People out of Denver Colorado got the nod for the testing and marketing of the new product. BUT Winchester chose to ignore the basic principles of competition. I mean 225 Gr. Bullet for a 44-40 ? I did some sample testing for both the 45 Colt and the .44-40 for the folks in Denver. I also have one of the original Shotshell designs that Winchester did for SASS Wild Bunch with their logo on it. It's fading but I will try and take a picture and post it later.

I achieved basically the same results as their published information they provided. I was surprised because it wasn't beefed up like the other ammo rates are with unreasonable characteristics that most can't obtain in testing chambers.

PROBLEM...Winchester was to late and pricing was out of most peoples reach. Now the product is almost dead.

Ten X was the choice for non-reloaders for years because of reduced loading, until the original Owner died of cancer...NOW days, it is scaled way back.

SASS had to introduce a Minimum velocity and power factor because folks were showing up with 38 and 32 caliber revolvers and you could watch the bullet leave the barrel and hit the target...I don't think that is what the "Cowboys " used back then. SASS has always had a maximum velocity, but was mostly due to safety and target life.

So if you want competitive loads Don't buy commercial ammo it will send you to the poor house quickly, unless you won the 60 million last night on power ball. Today's "Cowboy Loads" is Just a Marketing term. It most likely is regular production made ammo placed in special boxes and they charge more...save the Black powder loads.

Truncated bullets usually don't function well in 38 cal rifles like Marlin..They do better in a toggle link style action like the 1783 or 1866. I have found that round nose flat points feed and function well in all calibers without modifying the firearm.

Buy a Dillon..You will get a more affordable, useable product that will provides years of another spendy culture desease like Marlinitis, Winchesteritis, Coltitis, Leatheritis and now Dillonitits. LOL

UPDATE:

[DPris]

The so-called Cowboy commercial ammunition, in my experience from using it from the major makers, is loaded with lead bullets to lower velocities in a more or less round-nosed (with something of a flat point) bullet configured to feed easily through a levergun's action.
It's designed for the CAS market that does not reload, to provide low-recoil ammunition for quick shot-to-shot recovery times, and to make it more attractive to recoil-sensitive shooters.
The stuff is not intended for defense or hunting, nor is it anywhere near what the real original cowboys used.
Denis

[johngross]

Thanks for the information. I haven't done any reloading for several years. As a matter of fact I sold or gave away most of my reloading equipment. I do however still have the basics for loading 38 Special. I asked my wife if she would like to learn how to make her own ammunition, and she said "Sounds exciting."

John Gross

[Kid Sopris]

Thanks for the information. I haven't done any reloading for several years. As a matter of fact I sold or gave away most of my reloading equipment. I do however still have the basics for loading 38 Special. I asked my wife if she would like to learn how to make her own ammunition, and she said "Sounds exciting."

John Gross

Exciting? Do you mean like going to Victoria's Secret Exciting or ? roflmao

[johngross]

Well, let me change the subject from Cowboy Action Ammo to Cowboy Action Competition.

I contacted a local club about going to their shoot next month and asked what we needed to get started. The email response said "Two single action pistols, a lever rifle of pistol caliber and a shotgun." Is this common, just to get started? We're only interested in handgun competition. Thanks.

John Gross

[johngross]

Well, let me change the subject from Cowboy Action Ammo to Cowboy Action Competition.

Well, I did some more reading and looks like I answered my own question. Yes, just to get started in CAS you need two handguns, a rifle, and a shotgun. Plus the requirement of having to wear a western "costume," which is more expenses of clothes, hats, boots.

Fortunately there's a USPSA club at the same range, where all you need is one handgun and a nylon holster.

John Gross

[Holdin McGroin]

Cowboy ammo is sissy ammo meant to knock over frying pan targets (lead only, no jackets) at close range. I looked into cowboy shooting games and it's already degraded into a pissing contest with $500 holsters. It started out as an alternative to optic equiped space pistol competitions. I predict the next big shooting game will be original only (no repo) guns of a certain time span like early 1900 Untouchables or WWII vintage, etc. NOW were spending money.

[Kid Sopris]

Just for the Record..Not All of us SASS participants are Sissy's...Nope some of us are Warthogs !

We don't cotton-up to the likes of the pea shootin' gamers. LOL