Getting Started

Your First CAS Match – What to Expect

As above, prior to shooting your first match, if you have never competed in a CAS match, KRR will require that you receive a Safety Orientation Class, in which a SASS Certified Range Officer will go over applicable operational and safety rules and observe/help you to shoot through a practice stage or two.  After completing the Class successfully, you will be cleared to shoot our matches thereafter.   This is usually both fun and seriously informative, even for shooters with prior experience shooting in other shooting sports.  Many SASS Rules are unique to our sport.

In monthly match notifications, e-mailed to all KRR members and also available on the club’s social media site, you can find dates, registration and start times, and other useful information.  Then when you arrive at the match, you will register, pay daily match fees, and be placed on a “Posse” of shooters.  Posses usually have from 8-20 shooters, depending on match size.  You will remain with the same Posse throughout the match competition.  Each Posse will have a Posse Martial or Leader (P.L.), who will explain each stage and direct Posse work tasks, such as Timing Officers, Spotter/Counters (of misses), Loading or Unloading Officers, or to do tasks like picking up spent brass or resetting knock-down targets.  Everyone on the Posse is expected to contribute to getting the stage work accomplished.  

 

At the match, you will usually find from five to ten “Stage” scenarios set up with different target arrays.  Each stage has a set of written Stage Instructions.  They are usually posted at the area where shooters load their guns and prepare to shoot.  The P.L. will call the Posse to “Posse up”.  You will gather near the shooting positions and the PL will read and explain the Stage Instructions and direct posse tasks.  Then shooters will go either to their assigned posse task or to the Loading Table to load their rifle and revolvers.  All shotgun loading occurs only on the Firing Line, immediately before being fired.   All rifle or revolver loading must be overseen by a Loading Table Officer.  They will observe loading of rifle and pistols to be sure they are properly loaded with the correct number of cartridges. You will be asked to show your pistols for inspection to be sure only 5 rounds are loaded and the hammer rests on an empty chamber.  Loading Officer assistance is not a substitute for shooter responsibility, however.  Shooters remain solely accountable for any loading or other rule violations and for being properly prepared to shoot the stage.   The SASS Rules specify the required safe condition of all types of guns for carrying and movement.  They must be carefully followed to avoid accidents and/or incurring Stage or Match Disqualification penalties. 

 

After loading and when the range is clear, the Timing Officer will call you to the starting position.  You will place your guns, staged according to the Stage Instructions.  Usually the Stage Instructions have a fun cowboy line which you recite or read as a “shooter ready” signal to the T.O.  After you recite the starting line, the T.O. will call out: “STAND BY”, then after a pause he/she will press the timer start button and you will hear a beep, which sets you into motion.  Your total time, including miss or other penalties, per the SASS Rules, are recorded and are the basis for determining match final rankings

The job of the Timing Officer is to time your shooting on the stage and to assist you safely through the course of fire.  As a new shooter, you will receive substantial assistance, coaching and encouragement from the T.O.   But know that serious safety violations will receive no grace periods.  You will be disqualified if you violate safety rules.  A Stage DQ is awarded a 5-second miss for each target in the stage, plus a 30- second penalty.  A match DQ removes you from the match. 

 After shooting, all shooters are required to proceed immediately to the Unloading Table, where an Unloading Officer will check all four guns to be sure they contain no live or spent cartridges.  When guns are confirmed unloaded, the shooting stage ends for the shooter and the shooter returns his/her guns to their gun carts.  Then the shooter is expected to rejoin the Posse work tasks.

About Penalties:

Misses earn a 5-second penalty, and Procedural violations (like shooting the wrong target order) are 10-second penalties.  There are other penalties that are clearly outlined in the SASS Shooter’s Handbook.  Some are serious safety offenses that result in stage or match disqualification.  New shooters need to become familiar with those safety rules and penalties prior to their first match, and must observe them carefully.  

 

Hitting Targets:

Missing a sixteen inch or larger steel target at a distance of three to five yards seems pretty unlikely.  But the score sheets show just how easy it is, even for experienced shooters to miss, when shooting competitively under a timer.  Remember, with a 5- second penalty per miss and 10-second penalty for Procedural errors, the common saying among CAS shooters is that “You cannot miss fast enough to win a match”.  So slow down enough to get your shots safely onto the correct targets.  Speed comes with experience.  The sound of lead hitting steel becomes instantaneous positive feedback for shooting correctly and responsibly.