wrecking erp

If you have not been watching the Discovery Channel’s new show, Wreckreation Nation, you should be.
When the host, Dave Mordal, is not busy racing minibikes, wrestling aligators, fighting against other Live Action Gamers (not to be confused with Live Action Roleplayers, mind you), engaging in lumberjack olympics, or catfish grabbling (here in Tennessee, no less), he actually spent some time out in Kalifornistan participating in a Single Action Shooting Society championship.
And, for being prime-time television, he did a pretty decent job covering it.
For those unfamiliar with SASS, or “Cowboy-Action Shooting”, as it is more colloquially called, the premise is simple – time stopped right before 1900. Well, ok, it is a little more complicated than that, but the basic premise is that you have to dress, act, and shoot the part of a 19th century Old West resident – your costume must be period-appropriate (if not accurate), your alias must be representative of someone of the time, and your firearms have to be, as the name indicates, single-action only. No Glocks. No semi-automatics of any variety. Side-by-side shotguns are encouraged. And every time you shoot, you have to cock the gun, whether it is by the hammer on a revolver, or by a lever on a rifle. It seems as though you typically need a revolver, a rifle, and a shotgun for most matches, simply because some courses of fire might actually require you to use all three before you are done.
So what is the point? Shoot down as many targets as quick as possible – what else? Apart from that, be safe (which is really your primary goal) and have fun!
I do not think the host of Wreckreation Nation, Dave Mordal, had done much shooting in his past before this, and certainly not much, if any, single-action, but with a little practice, he nearly halved his course time, and beat out 2/3s of his competitors. Obviously, this is something that even halfwits like myself could stand a chance at.
The downside, as with most hobbies like this, is the cost – you need period firearms, and period clothing, and period holsters, and period ammunition, and so on, so forth.
The upside is that it looks like a bloody good time – I mean, seriously, who did not play “Cowboys and Indians” as a kid? And now you get the chance to dress up as one, knock down some targets, and not get some really strange looks from the rest of the folks at the range.
In any case, start watching “Wreckreation Nation” – if nothing else, you get to see a completely hapless host try all manner of things.