How it works!

     Mounted Shooting competition uses two .45 Long Colt caliber single-action revolvers loaded with five rounds each of specially prepared black powder blanks to shoot ten balloon targets, five of each color, from horseback while riding a specified pattern.  Generally, you must shoot the same-colored balloons with the same revolver.  Unburned granules of black powder exiting the barrel of the gun will ordinarily break a balloon out to a range of ten feet. Riders are timed through the course and each missed balloon adds five seconds to the rider’s raw time. The contestant who rides the fastest and shoots the straightest wins.

All SASS sanctioned State, Regional, National, and World Championship matches consist of at least six stages (unless inclement weather prevents

the completion of stages). Then it is possible to get away with doing only three stages.  Stages are the different courses that each contestant runs.

The main difference between SASS (single action shooting society) and CMSA (cowboy mounted shooting association) is the level of competition.  SASS does not award monetary (money) prizes but SASS does award buckles and other types of prizes.  In CMSA competitions you can win money at the shoots but there is a higher level of competition at these shoots.  Another difference between SASS shoots and CMSA shoots is that all CMSA shoots must use patterns that are in the CMSA handbook.