El Chapo

I am facing the same dilemma! My gun is a 28" or so modified choke barrel. I have all the stuff to cut it but I'd talked myself out of it. I need to get to cutting!!

The way it is done in the "other" sport is not before the match. The chrono/gun weighing is a stage just like all the others. Other posses would be shooting and we would be subjecting our equipment to inspection. Even in that sport, they do not weigh every magazine, but I suppose they could if they wanted to. Realistically, if they don't care that much about the weight of the magazines, maybe they shouldn't be regulated, or the number should be so high that nobody bothers to game it. I had a plastic mainspring housing that I installed on my gun to sure it'll make weight with any magazine. I can't think of a time advantage for safeties either. My grip safeties all work even though they do not have to work in the "other" sports. I also agree with you that it doesn't matter if the thumb safety works or not as long as the rules continue the way they are. I have no idea why someone would think that was a worthwhile exercise. The "they" are whoever think it'd be productive to worry about a few ounces of weight or a grip safety. My point is that if those people really wanted to even the playing field and make a few ounces of weight matter even less, power factor would level it quickly. I agree with you that if the rule is 150 and everyone's happy with that, then it should be fine with it like that. I do think a more realistic power factor would make the game better in that it would make it more challenging and the guns more reliable with factory weight springs, but the reality as applied to me is that I'll install whatever spring and load whatever ammo I need to play the game, so it does not matter much at all. But it sure would to the person who thinks a weighted magazine is going to make him a better shooter.

My "other" 1911 sports they do weigh your gun and you get a serious sanction if you're overweight. I've never been safety checked and I can't see why that'd be necessary in a sport where we're not allowed to holster loaded guns. Why does it even matter if the safety works if you're not holstering with the gun loaded? That's the whole reason it's there. Weight is pretty hard to game. If you have a gun with the grip panel areas not milled out and add a tungsten full length guide rod, you might bust the limit by a few ounces, which makes less of a difference than shooting 160 pf ammo does. If they really cared about gaming, the pistol pf would be raised to 175-180, not 150. 150 pf for 45 ACP is weak. Even 165 pf is modest compared to factory hardball ammo.

The good news is that I have 2400, 4227, and 3031 here already, so I can get started soon on this project. I ordered the book you suggested. I already have the Lyman Pistol and Revolver manual so this will supplement that for rifles I suppose. Wish me luck. I am a member of the other forum you suggested. Those guys are probably the reason I'm here. Some guy at a match gave me his casting stuff (no molds though) and eventually I started casting bullets (or boolets as they say). Then I needed a reason to shoot them, so cowboy action seemed like a good place. From there I found out about WB and I'm going to try that before the end of the year. And since I saw this BAM in the rule book, I thought I ought to get started casting for that, too. I haven't fired a single round out of my 03A3 in at least 5 years, so at least this will get me shooting it, right?

While I wouldn't ask for load data, can you share what powder you use and perhaps a source for published loads? I made a few dozen bullets last night. I'm waiting on one more sizing tool so that I can size them (also to .311). I use powdercoat in my CAS guns so I'm going to try that, although I have conventional lubes if it doesn't work out.

Do any of you cast for your BAM? I bought a 30 cal mold last week and I'm thinking of developing a load for my M1903A3. I haven't shot it in a while but it's older than my dad and I have owned it for almost 20 years. I bought a mold last week for 185 grain gas checked bullet and I'm thinking it might be fun to play around with.

I actually started this thread because I had knee surgery in December after a motorcycle crash in September (not my fault!). My biggest concern is falling and deceleration movements because of what was reconstructed in my knee (ACL, made from my quad tendon). My doctor tells me that I am at increased risk of injury from the strength loss in my surgical leg until I can build that back (and maybe never, the studies show some of it may never return). That said, he also says that in the practical sense, I don't need to be overly cautious as the activities I want to do, my age, and the intensity I'm likely to be able to do them at are not significantly associated with reinjury. That said, pain is a real part of becoming an old man, and let me tell you, this has been a humbling experience for me even though I'm barely half the age of most of the people I shoot with. I'm not paranoid, but I also don't want to risk falling if I can help it. I also trashed my other knee in the Army, so dealing with at least some pain isn't new, but the surgery and rehab was a lot worse for a lot longer. I don't want to wear combat boots. I want to wear boots with lug soles. I think they will have the most grip on gravel and dirt and the other loose surfaces of the range, at least the most of what is practical and what I already have--I'm not going to try to wear football cleats. If I have to, I'll buy another pair or wear my leather soled cowboy boots. But I also don't think lug soles provide me any advantage other than making it less likely I will slip and fall on a loose surface. I don't want to look like a cheater, or hide behind some kind of doctor's exception, but if nobody is going to complain, I want to wear my lug sole boots. I had a great discussion with my posse today at a CAS match, and it seems like a lot of the people doing this sport have spent at least some time thinking about their footwear because traditionally constructed cowboy boots can be really hard on the feet and knees. I like my conventionally constructed boots and I wear them at more matches than not. But if I have to be on my feet all day, or if the stages have a lot of movement, or if the arthritis is just not cooperating that day, or the surface is loose, something grippy on the bottom is an advantage I don't want to give up unless someone is going to make a big deal out of it.

What rule says that? There are no rules in CAS that I can find that prohibit any kind of boots outside of the costume categories except those quoted. The boots I'm talking about are not jungle boots or sneaker based boots of any kind. I own the movie and I still have the questions presented in the first post. I can only surmise that the comment regarding "grip enhancing" soles is a relic from a previous rule set that had some different provisions which are no longer there regarding what is "SASS legal." Are the traditional jeep tire tread soles that our soldiers wore from the Korean War until about 15 years ago "grip enhancing" by your definition?

Are there any rules except the following that apply to the wear of boots in Wild Bunch? Also, this may sound like a stupid question coming from a former American Soldier who was in fact issued "combat boots" and wore them while in uniform: what are "combat boots" as our rules describe? Are boots that are not "military" boots permitted to have "grip enhancing soles"? If you're wondering why I'm asking, it's because I have a closet full of boots I'd like to wear and it appears that at least some of this language is left over from older sets of rules where what "SASS legal" boots were must have been more specifically defined (outside of the costume categories). I have no desire to "cheat" and after my knee surgery, I am not in any hurry. But I'd also prefer not to have to resole my boots to something undesirable for their other, daily uses.