Draw!

October 7, 2005 9:14 AM

Cowboy Action Shooting. Old West fantasy gunfighting competitions. Antique guns, frontier aliases, and period costumes. That's right, costumes. Oh, dear lord, the costumes.
posted by Gamblor (25 comments total)

this is THE gayest thing I have ever seen.
even gayer that the gay pride parade here in Chicago.

how bout those tuff looking harley boys riding thru town with their leather chaps?
posted by phredhead at 9:15 AM on October 7, 2005

Also available in the mounted variety.
posted by Gamblor at 9:17 AM on October 7, 2005

this is THE gayest thing I have ever seen.
Yeah, totally. Like, Those men are like, so , homosexual!

Those are some pretty rockin' costumes, though.
posted by arcticwoman at 9:26 AM on October 7, 2005

Oh my lord! they are the best outfits EVAR. Thanks Gamblor. Nothing beats that front page for well... front.
posted by tellurian at 9:54 AM on October 7, 2005

Lone Ranger needs to do some pilates, yo.
posted by bardic at 9:57 AM on October 7, 2005

Cosplay, oh cosplay. Always good for a chuckle. These guys are no more bizarre than Civil War reenactors. At least they aren't dressing up as Manga characters.

Hey, look at the freaks! They're so... so... freaky.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:05 AM on October 7, 2005

It's cosplay for the long-moustache-growin', firearm-totin', non-bath-takin' jetset.
posted by ToasT at 10:07 AM on October 7, 2005

(Who coined the term "cosplay", anyway? I remember when I was a kid and running around in a costume pretending to be someone else was called . . . "being a kid". And there was nothing wrong with it.)
posted by ToasT at 10:13 AM on October 7, 2005

Costumes aside, cowboy action shooting is pretty cool and some of these folks are incredibly good with their guns. I've wanted to give this a try but its kind of expensive to get into.

Pollomacho, last I knew the Civil War folks didn't use real bullets in real guns.
posted by fenriq at 10:19 AM on October 7, 2005

I know, I know. The Good Ash and Bad Ash in my head had a long fight over whether or not to post this. I didn't want to do a "Hey, look at the freaks!" post, but when you see something like this, I mean Bad Ash just whips out his boomstick and pulls the trigger.

A while back, I found out that my step-sister actually competes in the mounted shooting competitions, and she showed me a video of it. So it's not totally mocking, as I was surprised to hear that such events actually exist, and thought I'd share.
posted by Gamblor at 10:23 AM on October 7, 2005

ToAsT,
The term was coined by the Japanese as a contraction of "costume" and "play", to describe the hobby of dressing up as characters or people at conventions or the like.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:50 AM on October 7, 2005

(Thanks, Sangermaine. Actually, my question was rhetorical. In reality, I'm as otaku as they come.)
posted by ToasT at 11:06 AM on October 7, 2005

Who coined the term "cosplay", anyway? I remember when I was a kid and running around in a costume pretending to be someone else was called . . . "being a kid". And there was nothing wrong with it.

So what do you call it when those "kids" are middle aged shlubs?

Pollomacho, last I knew the Civil War folks didn't use real bullets in real guns.

They do use real guns, just not loaded with bullets, they even use fully operational artillery pieces. I'd like to see these cowboy junkies try that!
posted by Pollomacho at 11:06 AM on October 7, 2005

Heh... my Aunt and Uncle were into this. At his funeral half the room was in costume and only referred to my Uncle by his "cowboy" name. I didn't think it was that weird, but then again this is Texas. I got the impression that the shooting competition was the main focus and the costuming and backstory were the just the social aspect of the hobby; much like the civil war re-enactors.
posted by Mamapotomus at 11:11 AM on October 7, 2005

So what do you call it when those "kids" are middle aged shlubs?

I don't know. Never done it. Maybe it's fun.
posted by ToasT at 11:15 AM on October 7, 2005

The abysmal non-quality of the photos helps create a certain comic look for the site. If they're goin for that fine, but any decent pro could do a whole lot better job and allow other qualities to show through. They're really selling themselves short with those photos.
posted by scheptech at 11:19 AM on October 7, 2005

Yeah, scheptech. A simple wooden frame, a quick parchment texture and sepia filter, and BAM! Respect. Well - maybe not respect...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:39 AM on October 7, 2005

Klaatu barada nikto, hombre!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 2:28 PM on October 7, 2005

Heh, I think there might be a a little more upside opportunity than that. Among a few dozen other suggestions besides obtaining focus and manageable contrast these guys might be advised against wearing white pants with the chaps for picture taking purposes. Or photoshop coulda been used to de-emphasize the crotchal area and thereby reduce the amusment factor. Oh and lose the sunglasses.

Really though, with all those interesting real-people faces, and the costumes and other props, and the apparent general showmanship, profiling these guys and capturing the spirit of what they're doing should be a pleasure and not difficult. I say the snapshot photography is lettin' 'em down. Scape together a few bucks and hire a pro for a day, and the site and whole proposition of what they're doing looks more like how they themselves think of it.
posted by scheptech at 2:35 PM on October 7, 2005

I've been to a cowboy action shootout and had a chance to participate. I wasn't dressed up. These guys really know their history and their weapons. There were three events: walking down a target range with 2 45's. A 45 caliber rifle range event and the shotgun range. It was all timed and these guys were pretty fast. I was impressed. Besides, they taught me how to load a shotgun one handed (without lowering it).
posted by kookywon at 2:48 PM on October 7, 2005

Marty McFly would fit in well with these guys.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:16 PM on October 7, 2005

Excuse me while I whip this out.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:12 PM on October 7, 2005

Fifteen is my limit on schnitzengruben.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:03 PM on October 7, 2005

No shootouts at dawn? Awwwwwww......
posted by Edible Energy at 6:32 PM on October 7, 2005

Hell, they look like Browncoats, ten years hence.
posted by mikeybidness at 6:41 PM on October 8, 2005