Dressed from head to toe in the western garb of the late 19th century, carrying single action revolvers, pistol caliber level action rifles, and shotguns, the cowboy action shooting group Los Vaqueros is in the midst of gearing up for next weekend’s 10th annual Bordertown.

For Los Vaqueros, a non-profit corporation and the oldest cowboy action shooting group in Arizona, the Arizona cowboy action shooting state championship — or Bordertown — is the key event of the season with over 300 participants, and roughly 25 categories.

The club, whose mission is to celebrate the history of the Old West, is associated with the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), an international organization created to preserve and promote the sport of cowboy action shooting.

According the group’s Web site, it requires members to operate under a shooting alias “appropriate to a character or profession of the late 19th century, a Hollywood western star, or an appropriate character from fiction” to stay true to its mission. A member’s alias more than a name, it dictates how they dress and what they shoot with.

Secretary of Los Vaqueros Jacque Newbrey and her husband Rory Newbrey, who have been members of the group for 10 years, choose their alias names together.

Having spent a significant amount of time in the Canelo Hills as a child, Rory Newbrey chose the alias name of “Canelo Kid” and Jacque decided upon “Canelo Kate”.

Last weekend Los Vaqueros hosted a two-day match, which included 10 stages (five per day) and about 40 to 50 participants. The match is designed as a “tune-up” for next weekend’s Bordertown.

Participating under the alias of Wily Yankee, President of the Tombstone Ghost Rider Outlaws shooting club Jerry DePuma said the match was very similar in its layout, setup and stages, and served as good preparation physically and mentally for next weekend’s festivities.

“Bordertown is known for its close and big targets, but you can miss them as fast as you can hit them,” DePuma said. “It’s about self control and keeping a clean head.”

DePuma has been involved with SASS for five years, along with his wife Debbie DePuma, a.k.a. Lola Jane, who has been apart of the organization for three years.

“My husband got me into it,” Debbie DePuma said. “You meet such nice people. This is like our family, and the shooting is such a release.”

While cowboy action shooting appeals to many Arizona locals like the DePumas, the sport also has an international appeal with members from all over the world.

In fact, two couples from the United Kingdom and a couple from Germany who are members of Los Vaqueros flew to Tombstone for the week to participate in the two-day tune-up as well as next weekend’s Bordertown.

“You come four and a half thousand miles for this,” said Richard “English Luke” Smith from Boston, England. “You want to have a good time.”

Smith said he and his wife fly such a long distance because they enjoy the competition, but they like seeing the people and the fun of the sport a little bit more.

“People are out here to have fun rather then compete,” Smith said. “I count myself lucky if I don’t come in last.”

Suzanne Locke, a stewardess from Bacup, Lancashire, England and a mother of four, said she and her husband also enjoy shooting, especially the quick pace they find in Tombstone that they can’t get at home.

“This is my first time, and its been good,” Locke said. “They are very similar, but here it’s very fast.”

Even Dave “Gil T. Azell” Stutenroth, a member of the board of directors for Bordertown, was surprised at the distance people travel for the competition.

“It’s very international in scope,” said Stutenroth. “We get people from all over: Canada, Australia, Italy, even Japan.”

Stutenroth, who has been involved for almost five years, found cowboy action shooting by accident one day while researching guns he purchased. He’s been hooked ever since.

Stutenroth placed fourth out of 300 shooters at last year’s Bordertown and hopes to do at least as well this time around.

“I’ve always been competitive, and I found an outlet for that here,” said Stutenroth. “There’s a commodity in getting together with your closest friends, there is a vast majority of us that would do this without a score.”