Garrison Joe

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

No, as a matter of clarification, I did not allude to an answer. I provided the exact spot where the rules state the error and the penalty. The Pocket RO Card is part of the rule book, yes, but it has historically never been the main reference for the rule and penalty. It often lags behind being correctly updated when the rules are changed. It often paraphrases the rule and may be written in shorter form. The RO committee writes/approves the rules, they normally (from my understanding) do not compile the changes to the RO pocket card (an admin function after the rules are approved). good luck, GJ

Firearm discharge at the unloading table - rules say Match DQ: Under the Match Disqualification section, page 29 of WB Shooters Handbook: The only possible reprieve would be if the shooter had asked for a match official to assist with clearing the pistol, and they found that the only possible way to clear the gun would be to cautiously BLOCK or lower the hammer, take the pistol to the firing line, and fire it safely downrange with the rest of the posse safely behind the firing line. Then that becomes a supervised firing of the gun downrange, and no penalty is incurred. It is a major failure to attempt to clear a firearm at the unloading table if there is any chance it may discharge. There should never be an idea in the mind of a shooter that cocking and firing any gun at the unloading table is a safe thing to do. And, importantly, I have never seen a case where a well trained range official cannot get the firearm unloaded without it firing. And if there was any possibility of it firing, I would have insisted they do THAT at the firing line with safe downrange conditions. There is NEVER such a level of time or peer pressure at a match that the shooter should consider endangering themself or other shooters or spectators. good luck, GJ

Free advice given here is guaranteed (money back) for at least 60 days, so no rush getting it taken care of. 😄 GJ

I have given up on trying to use tenon mounts for larger/taller front sights, as have many smiths I know. Tenons just will not hold a heavy sight securely. Pretty easy to have a smith mill a standard dovetail on the front and mount a sight. Then the front as well as the rear is drift adjustable. And MUCH more secure. Perfectly legal for any Wild Bunch shooting. good luck, GJ

Gun stainless steel is usually a 41x or 44x series stainless, which IS MAGNETIC. That slide is very different than the common (acid resistant) non-magnetic stainless, like 304 or 316. THOSE are non-magnetic, soft(er), and not amenable to heat treatment due to greatly different alloy content. Nope, your slide is gun-grade stainless, almost certainly. good luck, GJ

Nice work. Is that cerakote on the frame now? Nice two-tone vibe. Bigger fixed sights would make it a great carry and WB Traditional gun! good luck, GJ

Decide if this is a shooting gun or a BBQ gun. Just that often sets the tone to get you to "perfect". From the mixed pedigree of parts, this seems to beg to be a shooter or daily carry, not a dressed up gun. BUT - What parts you use are really what meets your taste and performance goals. I really like good checkered wood grips on 1911s. Some folks like G10 plastic with real aggressive checkering, if you need the extra-firm locked-in feeling grip. And I like a relief cut for the thumb to reach the mag release easily. (But, my tastes would not run towards any of the 3 sets you show. Just me) I would use the barrel bushing that fits the slide moderately tightly and the barrel moderately tightly. The heck with the "appearance" - I would go for 100% reliable performance and good enough accuracy. If you get 3" groups from rest at 25 yards, be delighted. It's always better for cleaning if the bushing will come out without a bushing wrench, but if I get great accuracy with a tight fitting bushing, I'll put up with always carrying a wrench in my kit. good luck, GJ

Those would be MIM metal parts. Sintered metal powder. If sintering (heating to almost the melting point) is not done well, the metal does not consolidate into a solid part, but retains porosity and weakness. I only use bar-stock milled fire control parts in any 1911, to avoid such occurrences. Wilson and many other of the good 1911 parts houses carry such parts. I've never had any of those fail, especially the Wilson "bulletproof" parts. A few bar stock extractors have lost their spring tension, however, but that is kind of common with 50,000 rounds through a gun. And I too strongly favor a real Series 70 Colt. good luck, GJ

Be even closer to the game if it were one of the six "American Eagle" DWM 1906 Lugers made in .45 ACP (designed for the US Army trials that were won by Browning and his 1911). https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/american-eagle-luger-tests-by-us-army/464295#replay good luck, GJ (yep, I labeled it .45 ACP because that was the designation of the time, before SAAMI came along)

Got multiple mags that work in it, and lead bullet ammo? I agree it would be fun, just not "the game." good luck, GJ

Perfect description for a "shooter" gun. Make it yours. (Kroil and fine bronze wool scrubbing will take all that remaining rust off, when you decide to do that) good luck, GJ

I've staged loaded magazines at EOT Wild Bunch, Bordertown WB, state matches, etc and never once were there any "stage instructions" that interfered with putting down magazines in a safe and easily accessible manner. Someone got a little carried away with rulebook modification, I would think. If a stage instruction mandated doing that in some specific way, then of course, I'm sure WB shooters would try to comply with the restrictions (or allowances) that the stage instructions provide. Stage instructions override the rule book for the stage they apply to! But surely the rule book does not need to keep re-iterating that principle over and over on specific rule points. good luck, GJ

Can be loaded with lots of powders. I get great accuracy with 5744, but it's very expensive. For 100 yard shooting, 2400 or 4227 is a good choice. Red Dot can even be put into use. For 200 yard accuracy, better to go to a powder like 4198 or 3031 or Reloder 7 - of course, those are rapidly increasing in price, too. Really depends upon what you want the muzzle velocity to be. And accuracy of each cast bullet load in a rifle tends to be specific to that rifle. Here's a great summary of military rifle cast bullet loading: https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?13425-Cast-Bullet-Loads-for-Military-Rifles-Article My favorite for 30-06 with a 170 to 200 grain slug at about 1800 FPS tends to be........Reloder 7. 4227 if shooting slower loads (1400 FPS) friendly to normal steel "cowboy" targets. A copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition (all cast bullet loads) or the Lyman Reloading Handbook 51st edition (this edition now has several cast bullet loads for each bullet and cartridge combination) is going to be your best reference material. good luck, GJ

Yep, shell stops are also cartridge stops and cartridge cutoffs. "Shells stops" sure are easier to type without having to correct spelling. My Radocy Win 97 Disassembly/Reassembly Manual calls them shell stops in writing. Chicone "Gunsmithing Guns of the Old West" - shell stops. JB Wood - "Firearms Assembly and Disassembly - Shotguns" - shell stops. Think I can keep on calling them shell stops, too, and be in good company. 😉 GJ

A well running pump will spit light shells OR heavy shells out of the magazine onto the carrier. A weak mag spring would be the first thing to check. Next thing to check is dirty or worn shell stops. It's almost certainly not the ammo causing failure to remove shells from the magazine easily. Try factory loads as a test if you need to convince yourself. If they also hang up, then that proves it is the gun or short-stroking while running the action. good luck, GJ

The Wild Bunch pump guns (models 12, 1897) are not very picky about the 12 gauge loads you can feed them. Like most pump guns, keep the mouth edge rolled over with a little taper and avoid a nailhead or bulge in the hull mouth that is larger than the normal hull diameter, so the rounds enter chamber easily. A good shell checker gauge that you can drop your loads into to check the mouth and brass (aka, head cover) diameter is really valuable. Several are around the market. Boggus has made one that works fine. Load to a performance level that is comfortable for you to shoot. Lots of folks like 7/8 ounce of shot at 850-900 FPS. A little more for my needs - 1 ounce at 1050 FPS or so. There aren't really any "magic" components that make a magic load. Many powders, many wads, almost any primer will make a gallery type shotgun load that works in a pump gun. If it feeds and fires 100%, it's golden for Wild Bunch. good luck, GJ

Well, no guarantees that anybody's statement in 2019 about pricing is going to be good in 2024. If I could have guessed our current economic outcome in 2019, I would have bought a warehouse and bought TONS of American powders then, and might be replacing them with TONS of VV powders now. (GMAB) In 2019, we mostly had confidence that the American powder manufacturers understood their business and the world economy well enough to keep reloaders supplied with components at reasonable prices. We know that they got BADLY fooled by events and turns of the industry, largely, and have passed on the pain to us. 🙄 GJ

Best (most extensive) source for cast bullet loads - the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th Edition: https://www.lymanproducts.com/brands/lyman/publications/cast-bullet-handbook-4th-edition (May be a few bucks cheaper at Amazon or sometimes found used in book stores online) Also lots of load data at the Cast Boolits forum (yeah, they use that exact spelling of their name), look at one of the subforums called either CB Loads/Military Rifles or CB Loads, Your Favorite Cartridge. https://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php Also the Artful Bullet: https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php#discussions.12 Powder...... The very best (finest accuracy at 300 yards) that I have EVER used for .30-06 cast bullet rifle loads is IMR SR 4759. They quit making it 15 years ago. Sadly. If you find it at garage sales, snap it up. Close to that accuracy - Accurate 5744. Followed by IMR 3031, Reloder 7, IMR 4227, IMR 4198 and bunches of others. For most BAMM shooting, folks often find matches being shot at 50 or 100 yards, due to lack of range real estate at many cowboy clubs. For that kind of shooting, one can drop down to "gallery" loads like the C E Harris load which is famous for 100 to 200 yard shooting - 16 grains of 2400 in just about any bottleneck military cartridge case of WW I or WW II, bullets ranging from 150 to 200 grains. https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?13425-Cast-Bullet-Loads-for-Military-Rifles-Article Each gun is a project unto itself. A load that may be fantastic in one of my guns may be a stinker in yours. Keep trying. good luck, GJ

Yes, I cast just about everything I shoot. For a .30-06 rifle, usually have good luck with 185 to 200 grain bullet, gas checked, and cast pretty hard (20 BNH), lubed with conventional Alox type lube, sized to 0.311 for a good barrel, and powder to make about 1600-1800 FPS. Usually it's easy to load for 3" groups at 100 yards. And most rifles with sufficient load tuning can get to 1.5" groups. It often takes 3 months of range work to satisfy me that I have wrung out a load for best accuracy. Have fun! GJ

One can't unless bending parts is in the plan. The reply was written without actually measuring a gun I had worked over. I have now measured my standard match gun and there's a gap of 0.140" between hammer and grip safety at full slide travel. THAT clearance is enough for my average size hand to avoid web pinching when firing. I do know the fellow who tuned this gun and relieved the fit on the hammer spur - I see him every morning. good luck, GJ

IIRC, Ejection port had to be covered by holster leather early in the history of SASS WB rules. That was relaxed several years ago. Perhaps that is where the confusion came from - folks not keeping up with the WB rules changes.. good luck, GJ