What makes a cowboy boolit?

[Charlie U.]

I've been reading and researching pistol bullet designs and keep seeing molds that refer to "cowboy" bullets. From my efforts at self education I gather that these are for SAS or some such. It is unclear to me exactly what defines a bullet as a "cowboy" style bullet.

Would anyone care to spell out for me in plain and simple terms.....what is the difference between a "cowboy" bullet and a Round Flatnose?

[Tatume]

Cowboy bullets are as light as possible for the caliber. They are intended for fast action shooting at relatively large targets.

[Wolfer]

For me that would be a boolit that could replace a prolapse in a cow in a two section pasture with nothing but a horse and a rope.:-D

[robroy]

Two section pasture? My grandad's whole farm was only one section. But then I said farm not ranch.

[Garyshome]

Boolit shot by above said Cowboy!

[Blammer]

light for caliber, usually soft lead because they are shot at 'slow' velocity.

[plainsman456]

I was doing to say the little hat and the spurs.[smilie=1:

light and slow.

[guicksylver]

An awful thought but some thing an Indian would use?

If not +1 on Blammers

[44man]

Sling shot ammo! [smilie=1:

[mdi]

A cowboy bullet is the one with the bowed legs...

Sorry, I just had to add that. Usually a "cowboy bullet" is as described above, light for caliber, loaded low for rapid fire shooting. Also it can be a copy or representation of a bullet that was originally loaded in a cartridge...

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Round nose so it feeds well in lever guns.

[Walter Laich]

to be serious for a moment:
always felt it had a flat point FP to be used in tubular magazines. All lead. Could be softer than normal. Might be lighter than what 20th century shooters would use.
.
transported to the old west by railroad, sold at the local hardware store and would be pushed by black powder, some in rim fire cartridges -- oops could only be serious for a moment

[00buck]

I use a 250gr RNFP cast lead for CAS

not everyone shoots mouse fart loads

[btroj]

Difference between a RNFP and a cowboy bullet? The name.

[lwknight]

Cowboy action loads are for show so they are light loads and usually mid to light weight bullets.
The commercial cowboy bullets are softer than the hard cast for high power.

Here is the real story. Softer bullets mean cheaper casting alloy. They know that less expensive bullets will do just fine for cowboy action shooting. The price is usually the same so the caster makes more money.

I have found IME that softer bullets tend to be more accurate in light loads than hard bullets and still do not lead up the barrel. I have taken my revolver out looking like it tagged along with space shuttle Columbia and the bore was still clean.

Those balloon busting trick shooters use cream of wheat in their guns. That way they can't miss. Unless you are talking like Bob Munden or Jerry Miculek.

[Charlie U.]

I was doing to say the little hat and the spurs.[smilie=1:

light and slow.

LOL I knew it....even as I typed up my question to start the thread. Somebody was gonna say something about spurs or chaps or somethin.

mdi, you made me grin with the bowlegged comment too.

Thanks for the help, Ya'all

[1bluehorse]

I've been reading and researching pistol bullet designs and keep seeing molds that refer to "cowboy" bullets. From my efforts at self education I gather that these are for SAS or some such. It is unclear to me exactly what defines a bullet as a "cowboy" style bullet.

Would anyone care to spell out for me in plain and simple terms.....what is the difference between a "cowboy" bullet and a Round Flatnose?


I haven't any better answer that the above...only know what comes to mind when I hear "cowboy bullet" and that would be a softer (as in pure maybe) roundnose bullet, not necessarily light for caliber...as in 45 colt= 250gr. which is about what the original blackpowder "cowboy" bullet would have been...

[geargnasher]

It's a mould manufacturer's sales gimmick. Mostly it means an RFN pistol-caliber boolit of weights typical of calibers used in "cowboy" shooting competitions and shaped so that it will feed reliably/safely in the pistols, rifles, and carbines of those sports. Most of the SASS people I know that use smokeless powder tend to use very lightweight boolits and also soft ones. The softer ones tend to be easier on the metal targets and the shrapnel safer for bystanders than hard, heavy boolits.

Gear

[44man]

Gear has it, plus the shooters want no recoil at all because it affects speed from target to target.
An actual BP cowboy load of long ago had RECOIL!
So what is going on with CA has little to do with reality. You need a few thousands for clothes, the gun might be the cheapest part of the game.
Yeah, it might be a lot of fun and you meet super people so go for it. It IS shooting.

[btroj]

Yep, pure marketing to a specific audience.

[myg30]

+1 fer Gear, glad your here.

Im shocked at the lack of information here, NO ONE said A stick pony made from an old mop ! Just how old are you all ?

Mike

[Firebricker]

Cowboy boolit is really a very vague description. Like a lot of guys said above it is largely an advertising gimmick. The only real constant is they are RNFP that feed well in revolvers,leverguns or anything with a tube magazine. Some have very large lube groove to help with black powder fouling. I believe all the Lyman CB moulds are common weight for caliber like their .38/.357 CB mould being 158gr.

I have only shot a handful of CAS matches but I am a believer in 250gr for .45 Colt close to original BP velocity. My thinking is no cowboy in the 1800s went to the general store looking for mouse fart loads or took his brand new firearm to the local gunsmith asking for really light springs. Of course I did not when anything either but dang I look good in that hat LOL. FB

[NVScouter]

Most folks consider a lead bullet a cowboy bullet.

[prs]

I created one of the popular Cowboy boolits, the 454-250-PRS now in molds through Big Lube Bullets, other pards made lighter, smaller caliber, buffalo, and other such variations. Mine was intended to yield an easy to cast boolit from common scrap lead that would let the shooter use the rifle through long matches with real black powder and full house loads without loaing accuracy due to fouling. Not all cowboy action shooters are gamers, some ofcus like the buck 'n roar.

prs

[geargnasher]

What I respect most about the SASS crowd is the variety of shooters, equipment, and skill levels. Some are heavy competitors using every tweak and trick the rules allow to get clangs in the quickest time. Others are all about making smoke, noise, and big smiles, and I can't say I don't enjoy watching it. Others are there for the acting and just having a good time.

Gear

[btroj]

Which are you Gear?

I thought about trying cowboy action but decided I didn't need to be tied to competition. I know me and I would want to win. I did shoot some lever action silhouette, that was fun. Good group of guys locally.

I shoot lots of leveraction because I enjoy it. I don't own cowboy boots or a Stetson, not my style. I just like the guns.

[bhn22]

The "real" cowboy load was 250 grains of lead, and 35 grains of black IIRC. I think that's what Remingtons original load was.

[bhn22]

You know what Brad? You, Gear, and Run already have the perfect hats for it.

[btroj]

Nah, our hats are made for shooting cowboys, not like a cowboy......


http://youtu.be/nsdZKCh6RsU

[geargnasher]

Might pass for "B Western" class. I'm waiting for the Spaghetti Western class to show up, that way I could shoot cap and ball revolvers but still have cartridges in my belt.

I've been in the "Spectator Class" for about four years now due to not being able to justify the expense of a coach gun or $2000 in custom leather. I guess I could borrow my FIL's side-by-side hammerless 20-gauge for a bit.

Gear

[btroj]

Yeah, the leather isn't cheep. Good leather never is.

The outfit is a bank breaker. A couple revolvers,a Rifle, a shotgun, the clothes, and the leather. Not cheap.

[MBTcustom]

I met a guy at the range once. He had a beautiful pair of 357 Ruger Vaqueros. He told me he was on his way to the SASS meet and that I should tag along. Heck I was already wearing a stetson and a button down shirt, jeans, and boots. I'd fit right in!
I went and it was absolutely great. Feller was nice enough to let me use his guns and shoot one round on time. IIRC, I beat his best time and accuracy, but I got mixed up on the order I was supposed to shoot the targets. That sure was fun! I remember thinking about getting into that up there, but ended up doing competition archery instead. I'll never forget that day.

[geargnasher]

My short term memory under stress is terrible, and remembering a long shot sequence is one reason I finally quit IDPA. Those people have no sense of humor over it at all. Or anything, really. At least the crowd I competed against.

At least SASS stages are pretty consistent with five from one revolver, five from the next, ten from the rifle, and four from the shotgun, and the sequences of each are pretty simple to remember by the shape of the pattern the sequence makes. They make it safe and fun game, not deadly serious combat simulations like some of the other shooting sports. I mean no insult to any of those other types of competitors, it's just not my cup of tea in the end and I did it for a few years. Maybe it's must me, but I shoot for fun, not because I think I'll ever need to train to singlehandedly take out 35 professional bank robbers from a seat in the lobby, with my 9mm pocket pistol.

Gear

[bhn22]

I have to agree with you gear, I didn't enjoy my limited dabbling in IDPA at all. Everything was so... personal. Some of those Cowboy Shooters are blazing fast!

[44man]

IHMSA was the same. Too much cussing on the line. My friends and I would laugh and joke and it made others angry. Same with archery shoots where we had fun but it bothered the rest. Strange that we beat the pants off all of them. Seen guys break an expensive bow around a tree.
BP silhouette shoots were also fun for us and we always won. Those others showed anger so rules were changed. They never liked the best shooters to take all the groceries.
Flint lock shooting would see me come home with $60 worth of groceries so they changed rules so the worst shooter also took home a lot.
I am not a speed shooter but at one time I could take my Ruger Mark II and peel off dimes as fast as I could shoot, made my friend mad because they were his dimes. I could throw a bottle with my right hand as hard and far as I could, grab the Ruger out of my left hand and break the bottle.
All is lost now but don't fool with me with a revolver. I figured out the wonderful machine and my younger friends out shoot me now. SOMETIMES! [smilie=1:
Nobody has ever figured out how I shot smaller groups at 500 meters with a revolver then most do at 25 yards.
My friend Gear says it best and CA is fun but just too darn expensive.

[rexherring]

When we were in Branson in December, there was a national CAS convention. Lots of neat stuff and vendors. It seems that the real competitive shooters are looking for speed of shots so they use a lot of RNFP's that are fairly light like a 125 gr for .38, and 200 gr for .45's and a lot of them use trailboss.

[bhn22]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1BwUJ4--Qw

[L1A1Rocker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1BwUJ4--Qw

Not much recoil on those rounds. CAS shooting does not have a minimum power factor?

[geargnasher]

Nope. All the load has to do is ping the steel. The shotgun loads have to have enough to knock down the resettable targets, but that doesn't take much.

Gear

[prs]

The original SASS "power factor" was the then common use of knock down plates set to not fall unless hit solidly with at least typical lead factory 158gr .38 SPCL round. But OH how the gamers whined! Then again, there were some sooty ole fellers who toppled them regularly with their .32 Navy C&B pea shooters using full charges and placing that little orb of lead close to top of the plate. I have not kept up on the ever more tangled web of SASS "rools" or malignant proliferation of Range Officer regulations, but I think the only power factor now in effect is with Frontier Cartridge. That which demands black powder cartridges to be charged some minimum amount of gun powder, I forget if is 1cc or 15gr; but it was/is pretty light. The premiss was not to require power, but rather to assure the shooter had to contend with at least a little smoke.

I have come to realize that I most enjoy shooting casually on the back fourty with my lonesome self or family. For me, if it goes BANG!, I'm happy.

prs

[detox]

Cowboy bullets are designed by people that shoot alot and know how to design a bullet for great accuracy. From my experience all my Cowboy bullets (RCBS, Lyman) shoot more accurately @ 25,50,100 yards than old style Keith SWC's.

Cowboy bullets are better modern design lead bullets...(notice rounded shoulders)

[Dale in Louisiana]

I was doing to say the little hat and the spurs.[smilie=1:

light and slow.

Chaps! You forgot the goatskin chaps with the hair still on!

Dale in Louisiana

[FLHTC]

Plain base, period profile( RN, RNFP)and of soft alloy. NOT a gas checked, hollow pointed semi wad cutter. It's that simple.

[prs]

Plain base, period profile( RN, RNFP)and of soft alloy. NOT a gas checked, hollow pointed semi wad cutter. It's that simple.

Take a gander at the logo at the top of our forum, the one with the Wonder Woman riding the boolit. That is a close depiction of the PRS cowboy boolit. Well, except they don't come with the girlie. :Fire:

prs

[trapper9260]

I have read this whole post and I was wondering also about what was first ask in the first post and you all clear that up for me also.Thank you for all that explain it that for some to understand it easy.