2026 NC state Championship

We had a record of 227 Registered Shooters with 214 shooters that shot the Main Match

Your North Carolina Cowboys, Inc Board of Directors along with our amazing Match Committee and Regulator Volunteers hit the ground running on Monday November 2nd and unlike last year, we were greeted by mild temps instead of rain.

By 1:00pm, all of the heavy targets, stands and large props had been positioned in the berms and stage set up began.  By 1:00pm Tuesday, the range was setup for the Cowboy Match and with the help of additional volunteers, your NCCI Board was able to shoot-thru six stages.  The remaining 4 stages were shot first thing Wednesday morning.

Wednesday was dedicated to getting the entire Range ready for the 227 registered shooters scheduled to start arriving early Thursday morning.   Black Powder Match and Wild Bunch Match stages were set.  Warmup Stages were set.  Speed Match stages were set.  The Registration Tent and the Main Tent were made ready and the entrance to the range was decorated as we celebrated the 250th Anniversary of this great Country and the 30th Annual Uprising at Swearing Creek State Match.

Thursday brought a record number of pre-match shooters and spectators to the range.  To the casual observer it looked as if Thursday was the the Main Match.  

We delayed the start of the Black Powder Match  by an hour due to a light rain.

We had 24 shooters participate in the Black Powder Match and 40  Wild Bunch shooters and a large number of shooters took advantage of the warm up stages and speed stages as they got ready for the Main Event.

Friday morning was a wet one, but fortunately it was not too cold or windy.  The Match did start on time and the rain finally cleared out a little after 10.  The First Wave wrapped up and the second Wave started a little after 1.

Friday evening festivities at the range started a little after 5 with Black Powder, Wild Bunch and Speed Match Awards, and a BBQ feast and live music.

Saturday was a perfect day for the final 5 stages of Cowboy Action Shooting and we closed the evening out at our Awards Banquet.  Stonefire Slim was honored as our 2026 Top Hand Award Winner.  You can find all of the winners and all of the scores below.

Sunday was a travel day for most of our shooters and vendors but we had plenty of help on hand to finish breaking down the stages, storing everything away for next year, cleaning up the range and returning it to our great friends at RCWA.

Your Board is already hard at work planning for 2027, and as the song goes, 

"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".

Thank you for another  wonderful year.

We look forward to seeing you on the range during 2027 and again at the annual 

NC State Cowboy Action Shooting SASS Championship in November