Garrison Joe

My take on your plans so far - Buy a belt suitable for your holster with NO loops sewn into the belt. Then you can experiment with buckling in front, or buckle spun to the back. A cartridge holder for at least 2 rifle reloads and at MOST 4 shotgun shells works just fine, because you can almost always start with 6 shotshells in your gun (unless you plan to shoot a side-by-side, then I'd suggest you immediately get a shotgun belt holding 10 shells (paired together) as well as the gun belt). And you might as well get 3 paired 1911 mag holders, total of 6 mags. Lots of matches shoot more than 28 pistol rounds on a stage, and you need a spare mag in case of fumble, misfeed, jam, etc. All your magazines then will come to hand the same way (height, angle). Some folks like wearing huge award buckles on their belt, and they are almost always in the back, for the AUDIENCE to see. And when worn in front they take over valuable "belly space" that is better used by ammo of some kind! Get a stout belt made for holster carry. Light belts will move around, break, sag, and holsters and holders need to stay put, too. Best results usually come from using same maker for belt and holsters and holders. good luck, garrisonjoe

Newish Colt 1911? They no longer polish/tune the feed ramp and round over the top entry into chamber like they used to. With lead bullets, it's important for 100% feed. FMJ round will feed fine where lead slugs are much more likely to stick on ramp or at barrel/ramp joint. Most other gun makers don't do as well as 50 years ago either. So, first thing I do with a new 1911 is lightly polish the feed ramp (cratex bob) and take sharp edge off top 1/3 of chamber entry. I also make sure the bottom of barrel entry is exactly matched (blended) to the top of the feed ramp with the barrel fully forward in the frame. Rare for factory to get that junction exactly right. A 1911 is not considered broken in until I have 300 factory-power rounds through it. And, I also check extractor tension and shape. Most have bad hook angles, rim clearance, and at least one edge that is sharp and can grab the rim as it feeds. Some are tensioned a little too tight, too. good luck, GJ

Lassiter in southern OH? Sgt Eli in southern IL? Three Cut in NC? Find them all in the SASS Gunsmith's list: https://forums.sassnet.com/index.php?/topic/311362-cowboy-gunsmiths/ good luck, GJ

So, your location might make it easier to suggest a nearby smith... GJ

This was just a survey, AFAIK, so I see no need for folks to run down others' opinions. State what you like and leave it at that, right? GJ

Colt Series 70s for Traditional. One I've had since 1973 - that's still my main match gun. Have a backup built in the 90s, needed more smoothing and tuning. Medium trigger, flat mainspring housing. Replacement 10-8 rear sight and custom front dovetail sight. Springs tuned for 160 PF loads. good luck, GJ

Slots in the retaining cap (at forward end of the slide handle) for the action slide, it sounds like. I have successfully used the Boyd's 97 fore-end wood to replace a real Winchester 97 fore-end which used that slotted retainer cap. Brownells had a spanner wrench that I bought 10 years ago for Winchester 12 and 97 model fore-end retainers. Works well. With some care, though, a flat end punch will USUALLY let you CAREFULLY drive the cap around far enough to let you unscrew the rest of the way by hand. Slightly different design than the one I have: https://www.brownells.com/tools-cleaning/gun-tools/shotgun-tools/winchester-model-12-double-ended-forend-wrench/ Midway shows this wrench out of stock now. But by the time you order wood, it might be back in stock. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007012423?srsltid=AfmBOopPuDQdLydQsJJEt2SOwaPprUHov0RHSBofymO8N2ECiBD0HozD&pid=976945 good luck, GJ

Wolff most likely has to be snipped too to make 6 rounds fit. There are kits available with a replacement follower which is shorter than the Winchester (or Chinese) original. Those help, but they also replace the spring with a shorter length, IIRC. I've got 3 of the IAC 97 clones which will take 6 rounds in mag AND feed perfectly well with only a spring cut back to be 5" longer than the total magazine tube (that is, with all the guts out of the magazine, action closed, the forward end of the uncompressed spring is 5" longer than the mag tube body itself). That includes the factory follower being used. Snipping a spring is free - the 6 shot conversion last time I looked is about $40. If you make a mistake, order a new 12 gauge spring for a Rem 870. Same diameter and strength, and easily available. $7 last time I bought one. good luck, GJ

Very few sources for factory lead bullet loads at the slower-than-factory velocities common in WB. WB is a reloader's game! GJ

Get WST powder. Cleaner than Titegroup. 200 grain slugs making about 160 PF will probably need 4.6 grains of WST, but I find each 1911 gives slightly different velocities. Find a buddy with a chronograph and test your loads. good luck, GJ

In Wild Bunch Shooter's Handbook, no mention is made of pocket pistols. I would GUESS that if a match is offering to have some sort of pocket pistol side match, they will have to define what guns they will allow and how troopers will shoot it. The SASS Range Operations and Match Director Guide - Wild Bunch Action Shooting is not currently available on the SASS home site, or I would have searched through that. If you know of matches that are hosting a P P side match for Wild Bunch shooters, you might mention what match that is. Right now, AFAIK, pocket pistols is an official side match only on the Cowboy side of the organization. good luck, GJ

Declaration of a gun malfunction should mean there should be greatly increased attention be paid to the gun and the shooter's attempt to unload it. Not the range safety officers (perhaps including the unloading table officer at the time) ignoring the shooter's situation and leaving it to him to make a really bad safety move. "Malfunction" is called on the line to relieve the shooter of having to try to clear the gun on the clock to be able to continue. Shooter can even declare that themself. Also, it alerts the line workers that the gun needs special attention to get it to the unloading table safely, without the shooter carrying it, worrying about it, perhaps even trying to jiggle the action. And, of course, it relieves the shooter from the penalty of restaging a gun that is in an unsafe condition for normal restaging (loaded or cocked hammer on live round), so that they can continue shooting the rest of the stage. Then at the unloading table, it needs special attention to note what failure condition and how many unfired rounds are in the gun, and then attention to returning the gun to good function safely. Nothing in that awards a free pass to commit unsafe acts with that gun. Unsafe acts with a still loaded gun just magnifies the safety risks. Declaring a Malfunction is not a penalty, it's a notice to the posse that the shooter will not be trying to fix a problem with the gun on the clock. good luck, GJ

It's just as dangerous as if NOT declared a malfunction. There should be no "free pass" here when a potentially mortal or serious injury could result. IMHO. The rules establish the stage firing line with a 170 degree downrange direction required to be able to fire any of our firearms. That eliminates most loading and unloading tables right there as being places where a gun can be fired for any reason, and maybe as a last resort, to clear it. This gun was declared malfunctioning. But for the shooter themselves to go ahead and try to fire that malfunctioned gun, without range safety officers attending? And without successfully determining what caused the malfunction? That is, generally, insanity. It's trusting to hope instead of finding and being sure the problem with the gun has been corrected. Did declaring the gun malfunctioned mean the gun would not fire? Not in this case! This particular case sounds to be an INTENTIONAL firing. Not an accident while trying to empty the gun and somehow getting an unintended firing because of lack of knowledge, lack of care, or a mechanical problem, all of which should have been avoided by an experienced range safety officer taking charge of the malfunction. good luck, GJ

BTW, every WB (and Cowboy) match needs access to a squib rod to assist the shooter with clearing stuck rounds or squibbed bullets! Lengths suitable for pistol clearing and rifle clearing. And a squib rod or drop weight to test for and remove wads stuck in shotgun barrels. Using one in this case would have been a correct way to get a round that the extractor cannot grab out of the chamber by running the rod from muzzle to chamber. Stick a small rag over the slide face and extractor to make sure the primer of the round does not contact the extractor tip when the cartridge is bumped out of the chamber. Why? Isn't this just a crutch for an ill-prepared shooter? No, it's because a loaded firearm may not be taken from the unloading table (which is the final "station" on the firing line of every stage) until it is cleared, except with direct supervision by a match official. Without a suitable tool to assist a shooter or a match official to clear the stuck round, one of the match officials must find a way to assist the shooter to place that still-loaded firearm into safe condition for temporary storage and transport - maybe even over the public road system. Make it easy to do so - keep clearing rods around the match. good luck, GJ

That's disappointing, IMHO. But glad you are seeking better understanding of the rules. GJ