Cowboy

Cowtown Range, originally known as “A Day in the West,” and later simply as “Cowtown” was built in the early 1970s by Mr. Ron Nix, a Hollywood stuntman who moved to Arizona with his wife and a dream: to create an authentic old west event venue, stuntman training facility, and film studio with the western flair of Tombstone, Arizona and the spirit of the old west.

Ron built his dream virtually single handedly with his brains and brawn – he trained stuntmen, hosted public rodeos and gunfights, sponsored and acted in hundreds of commercials and movies, and performed Civil War reenactments. The gunfights and reenactments later became the inspiration for cowboy shooting at Cowtown, which began in the early 1980’s.

Prior to being officially invited to be a part of “A Day in the West”, a bunch of cowboy shooting guys and gals (led by Mr. Don Snow) gathered in the open desert near Cowtown every Sunday morning to shoot old west style guns and ammo while experimenting with historic western shooting scenarios and targets – and had a hoot doing it. Eventually they came up with the idea of forming a club and, in 1982, they became one of the first organized cowboy shooting clubs in Arizona (and indeed the United States) with established rules to safely train and compete with single action revolvers, lever and pump action rifles, and pre 1900 shotguns. Don’s motto for his new club was “If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doin”, which explains why all cowboy shooters are required (to this day) to have a registered western “handle” and dress in period costumes!

After forming the club, Ron recognized the fun loving western spirit of Don’s new club and officially invited them to become a part of “A Day in the West.” Early club members strolled around Ron’s town in their period clothing and shooting irons, sharing a camaraderie still found at Cowtown today. In 1984, the Club held the first Arizona State Championship of Cowboy Shooting. And, two years later in 1986, the international Single Action Shooting Society® (SASS®) was founded. This organization has been promoting, governing and stewarding cowboy shooting internationally ever since, and has trademarked the sport competitions known today as Cowboy Action Shooting™ and Wild Bunch Action Shooting™

In the year 2000, Don passed away and left his club in the capable hands of his wife, Gail Snow (aka “Barb Wire”). Gail operated the club for an additional 26 years until she hung up her spurs and retired in 2026. Cowtown is grateful for Barb Wire’s many years of service to the cowboy community in Arizona.

Despite the absence of Don and Gail, the cowboy legacy continues at Cowtown. Through our special “Cowboy” membership, cowboy shooting matches, and dedicated range/match area Cowtown preserves our old west history with a fun, family-friendly area for cowboy training and competitions. Cowtown is proud to have been a supporter of the cowboy community and the “Spirit of the Game” for the past 40 years and continues that support today!

The “Cowboy” Matches

Along with annual and other ad hoc cowboy matches, Cowtown hosts two monthly cowboy matches at our dedicated cowboy range: Cowboy Action Shooting™ (CAS) and Wild Bunch Action Shooting™ (WBAS). Wild Bunch Action Shooting™ is a fun and different style of cowboy shooting based loosely on the 1969 movie The Wild Bunch. WBAS uses the Colt M1911 (chambered in .45 ACP), along with the same rifle and shotgun as CAS, plus a Winchester Model 1912 shotgun. Both of these action-packed matches follow the rules published by SASS and are shot each month: CAS is on the 3rd Saturday and WBAS is on the 3rd Sunday. As Don originally said, the legacy of cowboy shooting at Cowtown… ”is still being written one match at a time” so please stop by and check us out – you won’t be disappointed!