How long does it take to set up?
Depends on the number and complexity of the stages. I know of a club in North Dakota that used to set up only three stages, because they didn't have enough targets, but went through them twice. Their typical stage would usually have at least three pistol targets, three to five rifle targets, and two shotgun targets. It could be setup in an hour, easy. The pistol and rifle targets might be swept L to R, R to L, or shot with a Nevada Sweep, which is 1,2,3,2,1 or 3,2,1,2,3. Shotgun could be L,R,L,R or R,L,R,L or shooter's choice, as long as they alternated between the two. The more targets, the more you can write into a scenerio, but a typical local club setup will take probably two to four hours to set up, depending on how complex you write the scenerios. Take down is much faster, because we're all there to help.
What's legal and what's not?
Way too much to try and go over here. Go to
THE SASS WEBSITE, download the manual, and print it out.
Sample match scenarios?
See #1. You might have the shooter do something non-shooting at the buzzer to get things going, like toss a mock stick of dynamite into a mine adit, speak a line, or knock over a bowling pin with a bullwhip, then shoot five pistol targets L to R, five more R to L, nine rifle targets in a 5 target Nevada Sweep with the tenth round at a gong on the hillside set further back than the rest, then maybe four shotgun at a pair of poppers or other shotgun targets. For a little extra fun, you could throw in a one round reload in either pistol or rifle. Bonus "off the clock" rounds are popular at my club, such as trying to hit a golf ball at thirty yards with a handgun. You miss the ball, no penalty. You hit the ball, it's, say, 5 seconds off your total time for the match.
Where do I get targets?
I have a two stage CAS range at my house, and a most of the target steel came from a local scrapyard. Some I've cut into shapes with a torch, but others are just whatever I happened to find, such as large pipe flange blanks, odd sizes of flat steel, etc. I weld a piece of 2" angle iron on the back and hang 'em on steel fence posts driven in the ground. Shotgun targets are a couple of 8" channel iron pieces welded to tire rims, and a pair of 8" lengths of sewer pipe a couple feet long with a socket welded across one end and set on steel posts.
HOW do I get targets?
See #4. Also there are advertizers in The Cowboy Chronicle that sell all sorts of steel targets.
A major thing with CAS, or any other competition for that matter, is SAFETY. Rifle and shotgun actions are kept open until you are at the loading table. In addition to the shooter, a posse member is stationed at the loading table to observe and double check correct loading procedures. A posse member is also at the unloading table to double check that all guns are empty before the shooter goes back to his cart. Shotgun and rifle muzzles are pointed up, and actions open when transporting guns to the loading table and from the unloading table to the shooter's cart. The 170º rule, dropped or kicked over guns, AD's, and a hundred other things are covered in the manual. Except in the case of a malfunction, all rounds loaded are shot. If you are shooting shotgun, and miss a target, but are allowed to make it up (very common), and you load two, but hit the target with the first shot, the second round must still be fired downrange.
A posse should number at least 6 or so, plus the stage RO/timer; One person shooting, a witness at the loading table, another at the unloading table, a brass picker or two, and a couple of spotters. Spotters can double as brass pickers if necessary, but don't have the loading and unloading table witnesses doing double duty, they need to concentrate on safety, and if the match is moving along smoothly, they'll be busy the whole time. When it's their turn to shoot, have someone else step in for them.
