Aka/ Mike Lussem

SASS-Life # 21267--Silver City Shooting Society and The Eldorado Cowboys

Always been a cowboy—1955                                                  SASS Convention—2007

Otto N. Sure came to the Nevada desert by way of Texas where he learned about cowboy action shooting.  Always a firearm enthusiast, Otto was a hunter and trapshooter back in his native South Dakota, but had given up shooting when the cost of being a sportsman in Texas became too expensive.  He was introduced to CAS by Joe Bowman renowned gun spinner and Western icon at a gathering of cowboy poets and musicians in Bandera, Texas.  From that inspiration, Otto joined the Alamo Area Moderators in San Antonio and also shot with the Texican Rangers in Fredericksburg.

Otto N. Sure takes his name from his business.  He began his career in the insurance industry with his dad’s agency in the late 70’s,  In 1999 he, his wife Cheryl, their dogs Dacotah and Tex, and their cat Lil’ Buckaroo came to Las Vegas to run an insurance company.  Shortly before the tragedy of 9/11 his company was closed down and he was unemployed for 5 months.  Fortune shined on the family and in February of 2002 he joined Auto Insurance America as their Agency Manager responsible for 19 retail offices.

Otto is a proud member of The Silver City Shooters Society and serves on the Board of Trustees and is the club’s Territorial Governor.  In addition, he is a member of the Eldorado Cowboys. Otto serves on the Clark County Shooting Park Advisory Committee which allows him to express the needs of Southern Nevada cowboy shooters in the development of what will be the nation’s premier sport shooting facility.

Otto began his cowboy shooting as a Traditional Class shooter with two Ruger Vaqueros in .357/.38, a Rossi Model ’92 carbine and a classic Winchester Model ’97.  His dad back in South Dakota found the ’97 for him and it will always have a special place in the gun safe.

After moving to Nevada, Otto decided to give another class a try and had a pair of Ruger Bisley Blackhawks in .357/.38 customized by the famed cowboy gunsmith, Utah Red.  This enabled him to try the Modern class.  Late in 2002 he went back to his Vaqueros and began participating in Duelist, and now is shooting in the Classic Cowboy class.  His shootin’ irons for Classic Cowboy are a pair of custom Stainless Steel Ruger Bisley Vaqueros in .45 Colt, a Uberti reproduction of the Winchester Model 1873 in .45 Colt, and a .12 gauge TTN Side by Side hammered double.  Otto packs his sixguns in a custom black rig from Texas Gunslingers and has a custom cartridge pouch and knife sheath by C.M. Poppins. 

Not being the world’s (or even the zip code’s!!) fastest shooter, Otto follows the philosophy of “If ya cain’t shoot good, ya better look good!” He has won numerous Best Dressed Cowboy awards, but has rarely won a shooting award.  That is his continuing goal…to be a better cowboy shooter and a better citizen.

Email Otto N. Sure at WesternStar-NV@att.net or he can be reached on his cell phone at 702/498-2040, or at home at 702/614-9205.