We hold monthly competitions at Aintree Pistol Club in Liverpool, these are an informal affair with the emphasis on taking part. They offer you the chance to practise the noble art, refine your technique or just to have a laugh and enjoy yourself.

We do try to encourage people to dress the part but that is up to you and is not essential.

The monthly competitions lead up to the culmination of the year, the annual “End of Trail” competition, held over a weekend in December. This is a “no alias” competition, once you fire the first shot on a stage you are committed to completing it, there is no allowance for equipment failure.

There is a more serious entry fee for this competition, but we do award trophies! One of the trophies will be for style; each competitor gets a vote on who they think has the best costume. It could be the most authentic, the most stylish or just plain crazy! It could be from authentic mountain man to a “B Western” river boat gambler, you vote for the one that you like the most.

Categories

As with a lot of sports we have different categories, so that like can shoot against like. There are several categories that you can compete in, sometimes that is chosen for you, depending on your equipment level.

The most basic equipment level is a rifle and shotgun, followed by a rifle, one pistol and a shotgun and the highest level is a rifle, two pistols and a shotgun.

Frontier Category

Two cap & ball revolvers
Rifle
Shotgun
Must use black powder in all loads.

Traditional

Two revolvers
Rifle
Shotgun

Duellist

Two traditional style single action revolvers, must be shot one handed
Rifle
Shotgun

Rifleman

Rifle
Shotgun

Working Cowboy

One single action revolver
Rifle
Shotgun

Wyatt Earp

Two Uberti Buntline single action cartridge revolvers
Rifle
Shotgun

Typical Competition Stage

Each stage of a competition will be in some form of "sweep", for example and "Arizona
Sweep". The stage descrition will set out the sequence of fire, you may start with the shotgun, then transition to the rifle and then to the revolvers. The course of fire will explain in detail how many shots are fired at which targets, it is a bit of a memory test, but it won't be set out to fool you, in fact the Regulator will correct you if he see's you going wrong. Targets for the different guns are different in size, and will also be identified in the course description, and again when you are on the firing line should you need it.

Holsters, Cartridge Belts and other such Equipment

All of this type of equipment, and anything else along these lines must be made of either leather or webbing. If it’s a synthetic material or elastic, please leave it at home, for the “serious” competitions anyway. Think 1890’s when you are planning a purchase; if it was available then it is acceptable now. If you are unsure ask, we are here to help.

For more detailed rules & regulation click here to see the British Western Shooting Society (BWSS) Shooter Handbook.

For the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) Shooter Handbook click here