Saturday, Sep. 20, 2008

Shooting event near Benton City brings back Old West days

By the Herald staff

BENTON CITY -- They won't be dueling at high noon, but the fastest and most accurate gunslingers in the Northwest are bringing their six-shooters, rifles and shotguns to the Rattlesnake Mountain Shooting Range this week.

About 200 competitors from throughout Washington, Oregon, Montana and Alaska will compete Thursday to Sunday in the Single Action Shooting Society's Northwest Regional championship at the range north of Benton City. The top gunfighter advances to the national championships in Arizona in February.

But you won't see any of the competitors wearing blue jeans and a ball cap, or shooting modern firearms.

Instead, men and women with colorful aliases modeled after a character from the Old West or a western movie will shoot at a series of targets with firearms typically used in the American West during the late 19th century.

And they will be attired in clothing worn during the period to complete the cowboy persona.

"I look at it as cowboys and Indians for adults," said Roberta Ensminger of Richland, co-match director and a longtime participant in Cowboy Action Shooting.

"About 60 of the 200 people who will be here are women. There's a lot of families who get involved in this. It's just a lot of fun," said Ensminger, whose nickname is "Ricochet Robbie."

Contestants may not face off at 20 paces, but Cowboy Action Shooting is based on accuracy and speed, with scoring based on elapsed shooting time and added penalty points for missed targets.

Contestants compete in stages at steel or cardboard targets, and with different types of firearms.

Types of firearms typically used in Cowboy Action include lever-action rifles, revolvers and shotguns.

Rifles used in main or team matches must be original or replicas of slide or lever-action rifles made between 1860 and 1899, and must have an exposed hammer.

Calibers must be centerfire of at least .32 caliber and no bigger than .45 caliber.

But .22 caliber rimfire ammo is allowed in one of the shooting categories, Buckaroo.

Revolvers also must be single-action made before 1899 or be an approved replica, and be centerfire calibers of at least .32 and no larger than .45.

Shooters also must use a side-by-side or single shot shotgun typical of the period from between 1860 until 1899 without automatic ejectors and with or without external hammers.

The only slide action shotgun allowed is the Model 1897 Winchester or a replica.

Matches are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and the top gunfighter shoot-off is at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Rattlesnake Mountain Shooting range is north of Benton City off Highway 225.