Oh my how this thread has changed. Let me take us back to the beginning and explain a few things. I like Wild Bunch Action Shooting so the Eagle Rock Regulators started WB matches with one other Cowboy during “The Year of the Chinese Flu.” It was slow to start (a couple of our planned matches that year were canceled (due to range shutdown with no personal contact.) Now we’ve had matches with as many as fifteen shooters.
Nearly that long there’s been Wild Bunch Lite. The original premise for WBL was not to interfere with CAS, but give shooters a chance to shoot their 1911’s more often. This was accomplished by simply exchanging their single actions for two-five round mags in a 1911. Everything else CAS remained the same. Some, not many, have taken advantage of the opportunity. In fact, I did this at our match this month, with a Colt 1911-22 (hadn’t loaded enough ammo). It was near as much fun. To add I’d say everyone/every time who’s shot WBL has enjoyed it. Except maybe one shooter and that’s a story for a different time.
It’s important to note that as of this date we’ve normally shot WB in the summer on weekday evenings. Not in the winter as we do CAS. This has generally limited our attendance and opportunity for WB shooters to practice their art.
Now to my take on some of the questions/issues raised. I couldn’t grasp the issue with loading five then seven rounds in a mag until I realized it was only about WB not WBL and the difference between local versus i.e. state matches. However, even some of that discussion is not correct. It is allowed in both WB and CAS to move with loaded gun. The only caveat is the action must be open or the chamber empty (it applies to all guns) and that's the only way it should be allowed.
Unfortunately, I experienced this at my first ever WB match, which happened to be a state match. Scenario called for shotgun to shoot four then move and shoot two more. Guess what I did? Even though I experienced the pain I don’t want to take things like that away. In hind sight as a new shooter to WB I should have loaded four and then loaded the two on the clock. Some may call this a p-trap, maybe, I'd rather see it as an opportunity to excel.
Okay, back to WBL. We shoot WBL, as I’m sure many do, with a 1911 and two mags loaded with five rounds. Obviously to mimic two single action pistols. Works great and doesn’t hinder the flow of the CAS match. On the same line the shotgun like CAS is not preloaded, but loaded during the shooting (usually four sometimes three or six). WBL rifle similar to CAS.
After a few years experience I now see no harm in having the shotgun fully loaded (usually four rounds) at the loading table as in regular WB. “I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to…I guess.”
As for having WB matches at the same time as CAS matches, as may be the fashion of some, I’m adamantly again-it. To me it’s like oil and water they don’t mix and when mixed what are they good for, absolutely nothing. You can “tweak” them a little, aka Wild Bunch Lite, but a CAS match should not be the same as a WB match and vice-a-versa. As for me, although I like WB a lot, it will stand on its own or there won’t be any WB matches, just WBL.
