Cowboy Fast Draw Chapter Hosts Idaho’s State Championship
By Dianna Troyer
An intriguing shooting sport featured on a television show captivated Larry Lansdowne two decades ago.
“It was the first time I’d ever seen Cowboy Fast Draw,” said Lansdowne of the 2004 program. “Everyone from youths to seniors, were dressed in Old West outfits and having such a good time seeing who could shoot targets the fastest. I had to find out more about it.”
He contacted people featured on the show and quickly became a member of the national Cowboy Fast Draw Association and started the Boise-based Idaho Shootists, the association’s first chapter in Idaho. The sport has expanded and in 2012 Lansdowne and others started the Sawtooth Shootist Society. Five chapters have been established in Idaho.
His contagious enthusiasm persuaded his wife, Kathy, to join him at the firing line. Since then, the Lansdownes have become state, territorial, and national fast draw champions and built a shooting range at their home near Idaho City about 40 miles northeast of Boise. He became president of the Sawtooth Chapter and also travels the nation as an announcer at events.
Wherever they shoot nationwide, the motto of members is the same—safety first, fun second, and competition third.
The sport has an international appeal with the worldwide association having 4,600 members and clubs in Canada, Switzerland, Luxemburg, and France.
The Sawtooth chapter hosts matches the third Saturday of the month. The club will also host the Idaho State Cowboy Fast Draw Championship August 30 to September 1 at the Mountain Air Barn in Boise.
“We’re expecting up to 100 shooters from age 8 and up with most being older than 50,” Lansdowne said. “We have several in their upper 80s.”
Besides the championship and monthly shoots, members set up events with firearm instruction and provide equipment for team-building, family reunions, and festivals. With single-action .45-caliber western style six shooters and wax bullets propelled by a shotgun primer at less than 800 feet per second, fast draw is safe for indoors.
Cowboy Fast Draw started in the 1950s in South Dakota when western television shows were in their heyday. “As a kid watching those shows, Paladin was always a favorite,” said Lansdowne, 65. “Then there was Sammy Davis Jr. with his quirky smile and attitude doing all his own stunts and shooting. The goal of fast draw events is to honor the romance and legends of the Old West.”
Shooters’ outfits are modeled from 1870 to 1890 and feature guns and holsters authentic to the period. Men often dress as gunfighters, gamblers, lawmen or outlaws. Women dress in saloon girl attire, prairie dresses, elegant gowns, or are rebels in pants.
They pick an alias and wear an outfit that suits their idealized Old West persona. Larry is “Curley Calhoun” while Kathy is “Cool Hand Suz.”
At contests, shooters strive to keep a cool head and a hot hand. Speed and accuracy are equally important. They stand beside each other at the firing line and aim for a 17-inch metal plate target 15 feet downrange. A start light is illuminated with a digital timer on each target simultaneously, so shooters have to draw and hit the target faster than others. When a shooter hits three targets fastest, a bout is finished. Losers receive an “X” and are eliminated when they have 4 X’s. Sometimes, a match is decided by one thousandth of a second.
Curley said the sport’s camaraderie draws people in.
“People share tips to help each other improve their scores.”
Shooters have even met their life partner at events, and it’s common for couples to get married at a titled event.
“It’s great to meet people from all over the country and world at fast draw events,” Curley said. ISI
More information is available at cowboyfastdraw.com or by contacting Curley at (208) 860-1615 or [email protected]
