Garrison Joe

The parts-condition rules for a Traditional pistol are on page 5. Here's a very specific rule that pertains to your question: My interpretation of "the back of the sight" is that would be the whole back surface of the sight. Perhaps a Rules Committee member would care to comment. If the sight just "shows normal wear" that has removed bluing at the top of the sight, I doubt it would be considered an illegal modification. So, I'd give it a pragmatic view, and say it's good to go, without having seen it. But then, I've run local matches and shot in big ones, but not run the big ones. If you tune your gun to a typical 160 power factor load, the bullet weight won't matter much for your spring selections. And for a 160 power factor, I have found a lot of tuners (like Wilson) usually say a 15 pound recoil spring and a 19 pound main spring is a good balanced match. Remember that most factory 1911s (ones not intentionally set up for high power levels) are tuned to factory hard ball PF levels - 230 grains at 825 FPS or so, or about 190 PF. For that, Colt and several other makers install a 16 pound recoil and a 23 pound main spring when building guns. Why reduce the mainspring weight when reducing the PF and the recoil spring? Consider how those two springs are used. The mainspring is providing the major resistance to the slide moving back (more than the recoil spring, which is kind of the weak assistant during rearward travel). Really, the recoil spring is mostly storing enough energy to shove the slide forward to strip the top cartridge off the magazine and shove it upward and forward into the chamber reliably. Meanwhile, the mainspring is storing energy for the hammer fall that will come later. And, some slide energy is used up when the fired case hits the ejector, too. On forward motion of the slide, the main spring does nothing (it stays compressed until the hammer falls). The recoil spring is what drives the slide forward. So, when you reduce the PF in wild bunch ammo to 160 or slightly more (staying away from the absolute minimum of 150 provided by the ammo rules), the slide will be moving backward with less energy. To prevent a short slide travel that could fail to cock the hammer (or even fail to eject the case cleanly), the mainspring is commonly reduced somewhat. Testing shows, one can reduce mainspring weight to about 19 pounds in a smoothly running gun, with the mainspring housing honed to avoid wasting energy rubbing against the typically rough bore of the mainspring channel. And the reduction of the mainspring reduces trigger pull slightly. And the recoil spring can be reduced just a little, so drop it to 15 pounds. Safe to do since there is a fair amount of rearward slide speed reduction when the PF is dropped to 160. The lighter recoil spring AND mainspring reduces the effort needed to rack the slide, too. Along with radiusing the bottom of the firing pin retainer plate. The recoil spring still has to do the same amount of work to run the slide forward, so it does not drop as fast as the mainspring weight drops. You get into a balancing act with the two springs. Just dropping recoil spring weight lessens the reliability of going into battery well. Just dropping mainspring weight lets slide come back too fast and batters the hammer/sear engagement point and possibly the frame. Is there a quick way to see when you have a good spring-weight pair? I follow recommendations I've seen on Wilson and a couple of other sites. Clean up any fired cases on the range around your firing position. Load a full mag of your intended loads when you have gun smoothed like you want. Firm grip, using your intended shooting style. Fire until gun empties. Should see no failures to eject and no failures to feed and no failure to cock hammer. And last round should lock slide open firmly, not just hanging on edge of slide release engagement. Fired cases closer than 5 feet => often springs are resisting rearward motion too much (mostly the mainspring is heavy, but if one is reduced, consider reducing both) Fired cases farther than about 15 feet => spring set is too light and cases are being flung out with abandon. Go to a heavier set of springs. Free related failure troubleshooting experiences follow. Fired cases are dinging the mouth => extractor nose shape or ejector length isn't quite right to push the case out the middle of the ejection port Failures to eject - check ejector first. Then extractor tension. Failures to strip out of magazine - check magazine and magazine follower first (I use Tripp as a standard magazine) Jams going up feed ramp (3 point failures) - here, several things can be the source of problems. Subject of discussions galore on 1911 sites. But check magazine and mag spring first. Jams just short of going into battery - check ammo first, second and third. Then look at too tight a radius on break over from barrel ramp to chamber. A really good 1911 and spring maintenance guide is found in one of Wilson's videos: Including spring change out intervals. And, of course, these are guides I find to be useful on fairly smooth, tight Colt 1911s. Your gun will vary from that "legacy standard". Your goals in how the gun runs will vary. My goals are: Reliability - especially feeding and chambering and magazine operation Good trigger pull at about 3.5 pounds, breaking cleanly and consistently Sight visibility at speed. All the rest - doesn't matter anywhere near as much, even accuracy, but who doesn't love an accurate gun? good luck, GJ

Boggus Deal (a top shooter here) does excellent 1911 gunsmithing. Search the Member List for his contact info. I had my Series 70 Colt slide dovetailed, and a custom tall front sight fabricated, and a 10-8 National Match (legacy) rear fixed sight installed by Mars Armament, a smith shop in Salt Lake City. They also have done tuning suitable to ensure the gun runs 100% reliably. They were slammed by work in 2020 and may be back to accepting and completing 1911 work now. Top notch, but rather pricey. https://marsguns.com/ Recently made Colt Series 70 guns ship with pretty good, Traditional legal, sights already. But, I would highly recommend a dovetailed front sight. My 1911 lost a tall staked front sight after a professional installation was done. Tall sights just are harder to keep on the slide than original heights with their lighter weight. The dovetail, if done to one of the standard dimensions, allows you to easily change over to a different configuration quickly. Be careful to review the allowed modifications and replacement parts configurations that are within the rather tight window for a Traditional pistol. A standard Colt Government style gun (or Springfield, Ruger, Remington, RIA, etc) with * a beveled magazine entry (no added "well"), * no checkering or serrations on front strap, trigger guard or slide, * military-spec shapes and sizes on hammer, safety, grip safety, * fixed sights in solid color, blue, black, or natural colored steel/stainless (may be polished). No dots, beads, inserts, glow devices, etc.) * and a well tuned "duty" weight trigger are about all that is really needed most of the time. Gun tuned to run perfectly with "light hardball" lead ammo, at a power factor of about 160. Gun weight cannot exceed 40 ounces with empty magazine. good luck, GJ

Pretty common stage design. Rules cover the situation, and shooter is expected to be able to follow the rules. good luck, GJ

I gave up on hotels in Phoenix at MLB Spring Training time. and have stayed at AirBNB houses last three times I went to WR. If you are careful about reading descriptions, you can find houses about 5 miles or less drive, that are friendly to Ben Avery competitors. There are several cheap, non-major-name hotels around the northwest Phoenix area that are just horrible. Essentially week-by-week noisy apartments. And lots of vehicle break-ins reported by WR competitors at any hotel when vehicles have any hint they have firearms in them. Hard to say it, but if you want a hotel, go with "Big Names" that EOT website calls out, and take an extra arm and leg and don't leave stuff in the vehicle. good luck, GJ

This page might help show the small adjustment that is usually required to prevent bites https://www.theboxotruth.com/educational-zone-45-fixing-hammer-bite-on-a-1911/

You gotta have a spur on the hammer to be a legal Traditional hammer. That kinda eliminates "bobbing" as far as I understand the definition of bobbing. I've not seen anyone yet get a "more precise" description of minimal size allowed than what is in the handbook. good luck, GJ

I shoot a Colt Govt Model 70 traditional. Flat mainspring doesn't let the web of hand move down enough. The longer (dimension away from the safety's pin) grip safety from A1 does help quite a bit. But the best solution is to take a little metal off the top of the grip safety and bottom of hammer spur until the hammer, at full slide recoil, leaves a quarter inch of air gap, or more if you have more skin to get in the way. Leaves the hammer in the same overall dimensions, just removes the interference. When my gun was new, the hammer spur would come back far enough to touch the grip safety, leaving a ding. You can see how that is an automatic bite if there's skin in the way. good luck, GJ

You haven't seen enough BAMM shot. I use a 1907 style leather sling and find it improves my shooting a lot. All positions, unless we are shooting a bench rest event. good luck, GJ

A cheap Harbor Freight chop saw with an abrasive blade to get within about 10 thousands of the final length of 0.898" Drilled a couple of half-inch holes in a block of oak to hold the cases while chopping off. Then a Lyman case trimmer to do that last little bit of trimming to length. Can trim about 3-4 a minute that way. Then a hand reaming tool to bevel inside and outside the mouth. With a power case processing tool, those steps would be even faster. good luck, GJ

More folks on the Cowboy wire will have that brass. But it's rather rare to find someone selling it. I used to use the Starline special production C45Spl brass. Now I just trim off old .45 Colt cases. Lasts longer. I make as many as I want. good luck, GJ

The app states "Side Matches the afternoon of the 27th" From that statement, no shooting seems to happen before noon on the 27th. And the main match is on Saturday and Sunday, the 28th and 29th. good luck, GJ

You folks gonna require shooters run the Garands with lead/gas checked only? Or with jacketed slugs? Any velocity limitations, regardless of whatever bullets are allowed? Just a hint - it will be tough enough running the Garands with lead bullets....and especially tough if you have a fairly low maximum velocity limit as well. good luck, GJ

A fine crew, I can tell even from afar. And a super fine match, humidity excepted - sorta like shooting in the Philippines, I would guess. Congrats to all you match honchos! Wish I coulda been there. good luck, GJ

Medium size hands. Shoot Traditional. For me, the flat mainspring housing brings sights up on target from draw. An arched housing puts front sight too high. And a medium length trigger puts my trigger finger pad properly on the trigger face without reaching for it. good luck, GJ

Ahlman's Gunshop in Minnesota might have parts. Since that was Coyote Cap's family shop. Outlaw Gambler may have parts. Send a message on the SASS cowboy wire to him. Shell not coming out of magazine tube: Check first that the carrier is clearing the end of the tube when fully lowered. Check that tube is seated well in receiver. Check for rough edges and poor fit and anything catching rim of shell as it transitions from tube to carrier. Weak spring or spring that has been shortened too much. Dirty mag tube or follower, bent or dinged tube or follower, unlubricated (I use Boeshield T9, some others use Eez-ox) Can certainly be shell stops that don't open enough to let shell out of mag. If shell comes out a little but stops before carrier picks it up, could be sticky/dirty/gummed up shell stops. good luck, GJ

#1 - you need to provide more description to get much help. But, if the nose of the round is stabbing into the back end of the barrel instead of starting in, you need to look at what causes the carrier to be in the wrong spot as the bolt starts forward. #2 - dirty shell stops, or worn springs on the shell stops, usually. They open to let the shell out of mag but don't snap closed to hold the NEXT round in the mag tube. A very common problem with Chinese 97s. good luck, GJ

Mag release is not normally a hard problem to solve. If you have a quality release in the gun now, take it out and look for a rounded top to the projection that fits into the magazine's retention slot. That tab should be flat and have almost a sharp edge, but no burrs. Install just release without it's spring and lock screw. It should push through the frame to right without dragging until the "keyhole" flat projects out of the frame by the thickness of a quarter. It should push back to the left through the frame without dragging until the release button sits in it's normal position, and the surface of the keyhole end is flat with frame. The spring should not be kinked. The release lock screw probably needs a new part put in - the one the factory put in mine looked like it was machined with a dremel (or a chainsaw). Wolff has a set of five decreasing strength release button springs. That kit is worth having. Like this part kit from Brownells: https://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/frame-parts/magazine-release-parts/magazine-release-springs/1911-auto-reduced-power-mag-catch-spring-prod16540.aspx The strongest spring in the kit is a factory strength spring. Reassemble release. Take a marker and color around the retention slot of a mag that does not always stay in the gun. Hold the release fully pressed in. Seat an empty mag up in the well while making sure the release doesn't back out until the mag is fully seated. THEN let go of mag release button a couple of times. Take mag out with button pushed in again. Look for marks in the marker paint above the retention slot on the mag indicating that the mag is not getting fully up to the catch of the release. If no marks, then load a mag with dummy rounds (or live rounds if you will pay close attention), mark the mag wall around slot again, and repeat the seating and release button cycling a few times. You still should see no marks in the dye on the mag. If you see marks where the release is touching the mag wall instead of slipping into the slot, the frame could be mis-machined and needs some serious troubleshooting. And, have you had another shooter fire your gun to check if you might be riding the mag release button with one of your two thumbs? If they don't have the release let off unexpectedly, it really could be your technique. good luck, GJ

I have an early RIA 1911 that has a very poorly machined trigger raceway. My gun has too shallow raceway for the trigger stirrup, which binds up the release of a magazine about half the time. Find a real 1911 smith to check trigger, raceways, disconnector, and sear spring pressure on the trigger. Having to pull the slide back to reset trigger says the disconnector could be involved in this problem. Easiest fix, and strongly recommended, is get to a more normal action shooting trigger pull. A 3 lb. trigger pull is, IMHO, too light for reliable operation in 1911, and not needed for WB. 4 lb. is about as light as I set a 1911 trigger, but it's a real crisp and clean break. Light sear spring pressure on the back of the trigger (something that is often done in an attempt to lighten trigger pull) gives you very little trigger reset force. Yes, you need a good smith to work this gun over. Send it to Boggus Deal if you don't have someone closer! good luck, GJ

Yeah, it's usually hard to find stuff when fewer folks are working and lots of people are starting to do a new hobby all at the same time. At this point in time, it's reloading supplies and equipment. Set aside your bulged cases and fix 'em later when you can find an FCD in stock. Or post a WTB request for the Lee FCD die in the Classifieds. good luck (really), GJ

Exactly the same as I replied to you before. Bulge busting is needed to remove those failures to gauge. If those failures to gauge are not concerning to you, and they feed ok, then you can take the risk of shooting them. Personally, I don't. I fix the loads with the Lee Bulge Buster/FCD die with stem removed combination, until they do case gauge. I prefer to have the gauge reject more than my 1911 barrels. Makes me sure the gun will not jam on ammo. 8% is close to the failures to gauge when I load random range brass the first time. good luck, GJ

So, call the SASS office tomorrow. Most everybody else gets registered. You could have the messages going into spam folder in your email. Or you could have email address slightly wrong when you created the SASS Wire account. Or one of probably a hundred other things. The office will get someone to troubleshoot why. good luck, GJ

Asking about a "WTB double barrel" on the SASS classifieds will most likely get you a lot more attention than over here where the sport doesn't use SxSs. Here's the spot: https://forums.sassnet.com/index.php?/forum/14-sass-wire-classifieds/ good luck, GJ

Bulges just above the extractor groove are pretty common. I have them on purchased range brass, maybe 5-10 per hundred. I RARELY have them when reloading my own brass. I have no unsupported chamber pistols. I load no +P pressure level ammo. When you have them low enough, as an unsupported chamber will produce with +P loads, the sizer die CANNOT be adjusted down low enough to take care of the bulge. The bottom of the die runs into the shell holder or shell plate. At that point you have a decision to make. 1. Shut off your mind and ignore bulged cases. Risk having to rap a slide home or jam up the gun. 2. Reduce the bulge down to chamber specifications (0.473" diameter or smaller). Many of us do this 3. Toss the case away. 4. Swear off using any cases but factory new or brass you KNOW came out of your own gun. All but #2 are, to me, UGLY choices. Checking cases after you size them but before you expand the mouth is going to show you where bulges are that the sizer did not get low enough to erase. You WILL NOT be able to get the sizer die down onto the bulges. That is why Lee builds the bulge buster product, and some specialty roll sizer machines are in the market. And it would require me to process the brass twice on my progressive loader - yuck! If you don't have any bulged cases, great. If you do, then see the choices above. Trying to gauge check fired cases before loading them will give you no useful information, since the brass is already expanded by firing, with or without any extra bulges. Most will fail to drop into the gauge. Just to prove this, I grabbed 20 fired cases from a box of range brass I bought 5 years ago. I've never loaded cases from that batch. 15 out of the 20 would not fully enter gauge because the case was expanded from firing. One had a large rim, but the rest of case checked OK. 3 were expanded enough to only fully enter gauge if pushed in with my finger. 1 case out of 20 slipped right into the gauge (a "pass" check result). I use a Dillion .45 auto gauge. The bulge buster approach will show you a shiny band of brass right above the extractor groove where it resized the case. About 20 to 30 thousandths high. Not shiny before bulge removal. Shiny after applying healthy pressure to push the case through the die. Case/round won't gauge check before. Case/round will gauge check after. Sounds like "proof solid" to me. good luck, GJ

That's the low price fix. You buy the Lee Factory Crimp Die plus the Lee Bulge Buster kit. Remove the stem from the FCD. Install the case-pusher into the press ram. That way, you push the whole .45 case through the carbide sizing ring in the Lee FCD to reduce case diameter to 0.473". I leave that set up in my single stage press, too. Now, there are several "roller sizers" that run from $1000 to $10K that do the same thing - resizing the whole case down to 0.473" to get rid of bulges just above the extraction groove at the head of the case. Why there? Conventional sizer dies don't reach down to the edge of the extractor groove because of shell plates/shell holders grabbing the case there. Where do these bulged cases come from? Shooting warm or hot loads in the unsupported chambers that some .45 auto pistols have. The brass swells out where the feed ramp cuts into the chamber. Unsupported chamber is the popular term for that. More accurate term might be "over-cut feed ramp" or "butchered chamber." Because I use all the pick up brass I get back in matches, some of which might be from other shooters, I check EVERY loaded round in my loaded-round check gauge and any that don't pass go thru the bulge buster die LOADED. No damage to the bullet or case mouth because it's already taper crimped at 0.471" diameter. Only if you have a protruding primer would there be a chance the round would go off - I've not had one go off in running about a thousand rounds through that in 15 years of use. And you will find some cases where the RIM of the case is quite large. The chamber checker will catch those cases, and the buster die will swage the unneeded diameter off the rim edge (Speer seems to be particularly bad for large rims.) Unless you try to load 250 grain bullets in your cases, the bulge buster will fix up almost any bulge that the chamber checker rejects. Of course, loading bullet too shallow in case will not be fixed - for that, adjust seater die depth. good luck, GJ

There is a hang-fire locking mechanism that prevents the action from opening until the recoil of a shell firing has opened that interlock. It is manually overridden (like when dry firing the gun) by pushing forward on the slide after the hammer drops which causes the interlock to open. Both of those actions (shells fires, or user pushes forward on the slide) work via the same parts of slide lock. Both the Winchester 97 and the Model 12 have that built in, and it's not recommended that the mechanism be altered. If a hang-fire occurs (as was kinda common in the early 1900s), the action will still be closed for a second or so until the shooter overrides the action lock. Hopefully, the hang-fire has gone off by that time. good luck, GJ