Leaderboard

Please remove your email addy from your post. Scammers lurk here!! Reported just in case

The 2026 Illinois State WB Championship will be held as part of the 2026 Illinois State SASS Championship match to be held in Milan, IL from July 15 - 19, 2026. Match information and applications can be found here WB is 8 stages, 5 on Wednesday and 3 on Thursday with lunch and awards to follow. Hope to see you there! Cowboy Rick

What was really bad was when SASS sold ammo that didn’t meet power factor when it was tested..

It's used when there is an appearance of PF failure. At the old WR, it was used every day, every year. Random shooter, one or two per posse, had to submit ammo in ziplocks to be tested. Happened the same way at the older 4 Corners Regionals. Happened, for cause, at a 4 corners regional as well. Shooter had to change ammo. PF was so low it wasn't cycling his 1911.

OK, using that logic, why use any time at all to make sure it is CLEAR, at the end of the stage?

What was the basis for that call?

I may not have the extensive shooting experience or resume of others on this thread, but, having timed it on numerous occasions, there is slightly more than a 1/2 second advantage for me on a 10 shot string, using my .38/357 rifle and loads. Over 10 stages that is quite significant. YMMV. Cheers, FJT

This is a forum, not an airport. There's no need to announce your departure.

Plenty of us are thrilled about allowing .38 rifles. Count me as one of them. I never shot Wild Bunch and had no intention of buying a bigger rifle just to do it. Now it's become one of my favorite shooting sports. The rule of .40 or larger never made any sense and the power factor means nothing. If anyone took their ball and went home because .38s get to play, there will be plenty to replace them.

Now,now, boys!!!

No No NO. If they want to shoot under 150, for rifle, shoot wild bunch aka mild bunch aka wild bunch lite. But the range/club should understand 150pf for pistol stays. period.dot. It's not the Rifle PF that kept shooters away from WB, it's the cost of the equipment. Just about everyone has, or had, access to a single stack 1911. It was the shotgun and large caliber rifle that scared, potential, shooters away. Not the rifle PF. Now that there is WB for those who don't have, or want to get, the shotgun and rifle, and Classic for those who do. Again, Rifle PF has nothing to do with it.

Power factor for pistol is, and always was, 150. Power factor for Wild Bunch Rifle is 60 Power factor for Classic Wild Bunch Rifle is 150 The PF for Pistols was never changed. If a club decides to no longer offer WB because of the 150 PF for Classic Rifle, they need to acknowledge the PF for ALL Pistols, forever, has been 150. Nothing new here. Figure some other reason to not allow WB.

Mine get edited when I spot a typo after posting it, or I want to comment on another point, like I did about the question of how the OP's ammo looked. None were edited after another poster added their reply. GJ

Bring all rifle power factor back to 150

Who does a function check at matches? https://www.m1911.org/technic25.htm The disconnector test is REALLY critical.

Tall John, You will notice that some posts are all edited because they are originally wrong and googled based, not experience and success based.

Don’t drop the loaded round into the chamber and drop the slide. You will certainly at some point break the extractor. It’s designed for the cartridge rim to ride up the breach face under the extractor hook.

One bay. 2 volunteers. In between 2 stages somewhere in the match.

There was a bay where the equipment was set up for anyone to test their loads. That was the day before WB started. Some folks took advantage of the opportunity, some didn't. It's impractical to check 150+ shooters ammo, at five rounds each, and still complete the match. There is no more MDQ for scoring purposes so, once challenged and found lacking, it's a SDQ for any stage, after that, the ammo is used, and a MDQ for the second stage used.

I wonder why we care if the safeties work if we're not allowed to move with loaded guns or have loaded guns in our holsters. Would you really want to win a Wild Bunch match because your fellow competitor's grip safety didn't work when tested?

Doing it like that seems tremendously unfair and to send the wrong message. If it can't be done with calibrated equipment and for everyone, it shouldn't be done at all.

I would recommend your function check after any tuning/repair or every couple of years of use. On a safe outdoor range, load a mag with 1 round, a couple with 2 rounds, and several full mags. When time to test "proper disconnector" function, shoot them in that order. Be ready to control gun with two hands after the first mag. If you have any doubles (or worse), fix it better. There often is no place at a match to do this kind of test. Nor time to conduct it, nor time to fix it. Bring a working gun and working ammo to a Wild Bunch match! good luck, GJ

I have seen safety checks and ammo pulled and some tested. I don't have a problem with that being done...and it probably should be done...along with weighing pistols. I think that really at checkin...pistols should be weighed and the grip safety checked. During the match...random samples of ammo pulled and at least some of it checked.

The disconnector is there for more than that. It prevents it from firing out of battery and from going full auto.

No one ever has done official "function checks" in that detail at a WB match. While it may be critical to buying a gun, it's not IMO critical to shooting a match safely. We have a whole bay full of safety officers watching the shooter, and able to stop the action if they see a serious safety problem. The test of a working grip safety and thumb safety has been part of the rules compliance testing of 1911s (along with weight, parts and modifications falling within rules, etc). I was a TO at a major WB match several years ago and issued two Stage DQs on the same stage to a very careless shooter (second one after a Cease Fire had been put in place). Neither was a failure of 1911 function. I think the real safety concern at matches needs to remain "Is the shooter following good safe gun handling". Just like we do now. good luck, GJ

It's in the WBAS SHB, pg 31

From several thousands of rounds of testing, a 230 grain at 725 fps is faster shot to shot than a 200 grain at 800+. The gun stays down and is less snappy.

AW & GJ sorry for the misunderstanding. I posted the above for information only. Since I shoot primarily small primer brass, I have been asked if there is a difference in velocity. While I felt that small primer brass lowered the velocity, I had never compared them side by side. My only fallacy in the test is that the primers are not all from the same manufacturer; as, I am now wondering if all Winchester primers are "hotter." So let me be clear. I don't feel the need nor compunction to justify a superior brass to you or anyone else. :) JFN

I wouldn't be using either one. Clay ranges are limited to 7 1/2 so I don't keep any shot bigger than that and I usually just use #8.

MSV was called. There was discussion on how the pistol got into the position. Should be SDQ. As for the finger at the start. I had it pinned to the top front side of the trigger guard where it meets the frame. Totes

Out of what powders you have, TiteGroup will run the 1911 better over a wide range of loads. The best 1911 powders IME, and also classics, are WST, Unique and Bullseye. good luck, GJ

Really? Can you show me the numbers? EOT was the most attended. Landrun, when they actually accept WB will be next. Bordertown, for a side match, sells out.

It's not a PF issue. The main reason SASS wanted an Open category, years ago, was to draw other, cowboy, shooters into WB. WB was not bringing in the revenue spent on awards etc. CAS shooters, who have now started shooting WB, didn't want to have to get a new rifle and shotgun. The cost of the guns for the amount of matches offered, didn't pencil out. So SASS had to change things up and, in so doing, eliminated the PF for all rifles to allow .38's to play. Add in the '87 and SxS shotgun, more shooters could afford to play WB. Enough WB shooters wanted the "big bore" rifles and pump shotgun, SASS decided to bring that back as "Classic". Kinda funny, if the "powers that were" had just allowed an "open" category, none of this would have ever happened. Rifle PF is only in Classic. As far as clubs using rifle PF as a reason to not shoot WB, I say BS. 150pf for pistol is more damaging to a target, because of 28+ rounds vs 7-10, it's just a reason they want to complain.

And I actually prefer Small Primers in my .45 acp...don't have to re-set my Dillon 550 after a 9mm or .38 spl. run Bugler

Looked up the applicable rule in the handbook. Page 13 under 1911 Pistol Modern Category Modifications good luck, GJ

That is not a rib, it's a sight base. That older style of adjustable sight needs a long slot to mount the front part of the sight. Besides, factory (OEM) full ribs have been allowed if they are part of the manufacturing process, not an add-on. Like on some Gold Cups. good luck, GJ

Layered safety, I would guess. Just like in aviation, where a mistake in operation or mechanical failure can be fatal. But, I did not help write the rules. I just shoot by them. good luck, GJ

Great idea. Get a bay, that's not being used, turn it into check bay. Shooters come off the previous bay, check in at test bay, weigh, check safeties, do PF test, move on. I like it. Now, to get the Powers That Be, involved. Thanks for the ideas.

Thankfully, I’ve never had it happen.

Because it would be real obvious…

Every EOT WB held at Founders Ranch had random rifle and pistol ammo from "random" shooters pulled and tested for meeting the +150 PF level. I know from personal experience as I attended all of those matches. And usually there were weight checks and functioning safeties tested. Some of those I conducted or supervised. Even if no thumb safety application is practiced at any WB match I've been in. good luck, GJ

SE Regional at Memphis Gunslingers had it set up on side match day. Not mandatory, but I had mine done to be sure.

Murphy says, "when you think they won't test PF, they will" good luck, GJ

Better than that full bottles on our raffle prize table. The double oak is like 102 proof and smooth, very good.

Get a dr.s note. Exceptions are made.

The short throat in a 1911 barrel catches a lot of new loaders of .45 AUTO by surprise, as they load a few hundred, go to the range, and find every one of the loads fails to go the last 1/8" into battery. Some keys to loading so they will feed well in your gun: 1 - the point on the nose where the upper end of the cylindrical section of the bullet (the shank) STARTS to narrow down (round over) to the nose ogive is the place where the case mouth should be placed during seating. If you crimp down on the shank, the nose will jam into the short throat of the barrel and round will not go fully into chamber. If you crimp out on the ogive of the bullet, you will have collapsed bullets during hard feeding. Remember that there is NO standard nose length on cast .45 AUTO bullets, because there have been hundreds of molds made to cast these slugs over the years. Regardless of what a manual may state. So, don't load to the published OAL, load to put the case mouth at the start of the ogive turn-in. 2 - apply a taper crimp that just returns the case mouth to 0.472", measured with a caliper. You are only straightening out the case from where you expanded the mouth, and just barely catching the surface of the bullet with the inside edge of the case mouth. Looking down from on top of loaded rounds, you should still see a bright ring of brass all the way around the bullet. The case mouth is the headspace location, so if you "bury" the brass case wall all the way into the bullet during crimping, the headspace mechanism is removed and rounds can chamber too deep to fire. 3 - get a loaded round checking gauge, and check EACH cartridge to make sure it chambers perfectly. Several companies make them, including Dillon and Wilson (the trimmer guys, not the gun guys, unless Bill Wilson just happens to be making them now, too). Yes, you can take the barrel out of your 1911 and drop rounds into the chamber, but it will "get old" breaking down your pistol every time you load a batch of ammo. 4 - good on you for bulge busting your "range" cases. But if a round fails the chamber check from step 3, the first thing to try is to bulge-bust that LOADED round. I've busted thousands of loaded rounds and never had a discharge. Second thing to do if you fail chamber-check is to look at the mouth of the case and find any lead finger-nails that "squirted out" during crimping. Depending upon the quality of bullet and your ability to squarely seat a bullet, you may or may not find a sliver of lead needing to be trimmed off the round. Those 2 corrections will almost always get the round to pass chamber-checking. 5 - chrono check and calculate Power Factor yourself. Not every 1911 will shoot a load from the manual at the velocity that the book shows! Sounds like you are well on the way to making great ammo. good luck, GJ

Folks, I just finished a new batch of firing pins. I have plenty available. Along with new hammer springs. If you have ordered any from me recently, they are already on the way or will be Monday. Thanks!

Joe, Chased all those rabbits and then some more. My statement still stands. JFN

Griff, At the risk of "justifying their existence" I will answer your question. The main reason I like SP brass is it is much easier to load, specifically to prime than LP brass. I seem to have zero problems with high primers and primers that are difficult to seat. Second, I find that SP loads are more consistent in velocity, a narrower spread from high to low. Third, I can buy once fired SP brass way cheaper. Fourth, SP brass has a heavier web. When you cut one in half, the web and sidewall at the base are thicker like a 45 GAP or a Starline +P. Which should make it stronger in unsupported areas. LP brass runs 78-79 pieces a pound while SP brass runs 72 pieces a pound. As a side note, I have found that my 45 ACP '73 rifle needs nearly new LP brass to run well and fire every time. But, use any SP brass and problems go a way. I have a 5 gallon bucket full (5000+ pieces) that is half way through its 10th reload. I try not to take it to the local matches unless I am out of LP loads. That is my practice brass. If I have to use it (like last month) I warn every one to check their brass carefully, because I know a lot of shooters don't like it. JFN

I thought that the Winchester SPM primers felt better, but figured it was a head thing. WOW I aint losing it.