SASS is "an international organization created to preserve and promote the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting™." 

Cowboy Action Shooting is a sport that requires it's competitors to use firearms typical of the late 1800 (basically 1860  - 1899).

Examples of the firearms typically used are single action revolvers (1851 Navy, '73 Peacemaker), lever action rifles chambered in pistol calibers, and side-by-side double barrel shotguns (commonly called the Coach Gun) or 1897 Winchester pump action shotguns and the Winchester 1887 lever-action shotguns are also allowed in competition. Both original and reproduction guns are equally acceptable.

All CAS handguns must be "single action", meaning that the hammer must be manually cocked before each shot can be fired.

Competition in a CAS match generally requires four guns: two handguns, a shotgun, and a rifle. Some CAS matches also offer side events for single-shot "buffalo rifles", derringers, etc. Replica firearms are available from companies like Colt, Uberti, and U.S. Fire Arms Mfg. Co. among others.

Every SASS member is required to select a shooting alias representative of a character or profession from the Old West or the western film genre.

I joined SASS in February 2001, as Jed I. Knight