Marshall Cartwright, wearing a cowboy hat and gun holster, fired his shotgun from the door of a stagecoach to protect his gold from oncoming robbers.

It could have been a scene from the western television drama, “Gunsmoke.”

It was, instead, a scenario at a shooting competition in Pelham.

From July 23 to 26, more than 250 people wearing cowboy attire and firing weapons gathered at the Pelham Fish and Game Club for “The Great Nor’easter.”

The event, featuring cowboy action shooting, was a New England regional competition presented by the Single Action Shooting Society and Cowboy Gun Works, a Derry-based gunsmith.

“I always wanted to be a cowboy, watching westerns as a kid,” said Cartwright who hails from Albany, N.Y. “We’re here for fun. If you win, so much the better.”

Marshall Cartwright isn’t the man’s real name but rather a shooting alias. Each SASS member adopts an alias representative of a character or profession from the Old West or the western film genre.

Their firearms and costumes also reflect the Old West. Some participants wore suspenders. Some carried bandanas around their neck.

“We just like the cowboy way,” said Three Barrel Chris, a ladies champion shooter from Belmont, Vt., who donned cowboy chinks, leather leg coverings worn by horseback riders for protection.

The four-day event featured a variety of shooting contests, cookouts, a shooting school, a banquet, a costume contest, dancing and raffles, culminating with an awards ceremony. Many of the participants, like Cartwright and his family, camped at the site.

Vendors sold western apparel and accessories, black powder bullets and other shooting supplies, dry goods, animal tails, leather products, and more. Participants and guests enjoyed free rides in a horse-drawn carriage.

“You see a little bit of everything,” said participant Critter T. Longshot who came up from Friendsville, Penn.

A lot of the shooting occurred at a series of stages. Each stage presented a scenario where shooters had to hit a series of targets with their pistols, shotguns and rifles. All of it was done in an established order and participants were timed.

“You’ve been ambushed by Indians trying to get their hands on the rifles and ammunition you’re hauling,” read one scenario. “Your commanding officer has given the order to destroy the load. You have to blow up the wagon, take cover, and help him hold those Indians off!”

After each member of a posse, about 20 to 25 shooters, had their turn at a stage, the group moved on the next stage. While they pulled their gun carts, which held their weapons, ammunition and other supplies, they had to be careful not to step into horse manure.

According to staff member Tom Laycock of Salem – known as the Toledo Kid – this year’s shootout drew approximately 255 participants from 16 states including Arizona, Florida and Louisiana.

He and other organizers put a big emphasis on safety throughout the event.

Shooters in the organization hail from a variety of backgrounds. Laycock has met judges and lawyers, engineers, emergency room nurses and machinists.

“You get the spectrum,” said Laycock. “A lot of the shooters are retired so this is their hobby. It gives them (the chance) to relive the TV shows they grew up with.”

One of the participants, Ward Tingey, is an entomology professor at Cornell University, an Ivy League school in Ithaca, N.Y. Among the other cowboys, he’s known as Doc Perry.

The alias fits: Tingey has a doctorate and his great-greatgreat grandfather, who lived in the 1850s, was named Perry.

Tingey has traveled as far as Florida and Nevada to shoot. He participates in shootouts for five reasons: competition, travel, food, social interaction and dressing up.

For others, too, the camaraderie among participants is a big part of the appeal of attending shooting contests.

“The competition and shooting is great, but there’s a whole lot more than that,” said I.C. Moose of Middletown, N.Y. “We’re like a big family.” “Every time I come back here, I get a handshake and a hug,” added George Thomas – known as George Silver – who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “They’re a friendly group.”

This was the fourth year for SASS New England Regional Cowboy Action Shooting Championships. This year, the Concord Coach Society was invited to participate. The organization displayed a coach and set up a table featuring information about its mission and sold items from its gift shop.

The society collections and maintains vehicles, papers and other memorabilia relating to the Abbot-Downing Company and other makers of horse-drawn vehicles. It also educates the public about the vehicles and their role in the development of the United States.