Garrison Joe

That is a reinforcing block that was used on, if I remember right, earlier variants of 97s to support the ejector spring so it would work better and break less. If yours is loose, you can try to find a new one that will fit the pin hole tightly enough, but that may be real tough. You may be best off soft soldering the block back in. Gun Parts Corporation shows they have some in stock. Item 45 on this page of catalog: http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufacturers/Winchester-33573/Shotguns-42603/97Takedown-41826.htm?page=5 Good luck, GJ

If the lost brass pickup happens like it did 2 years ago, the Scouts will have school, and will pick it up at the end of the day. That way you still can buy it back the next day. Glad to hear that someone other than me enlightened them that they had priced pickup brass way too high 2 years ago. I'm sure they will be adjusting. Good luck, GJ

The Scouts (and some hard working parents and siblings) in Phoenix usually hustle pretty well. I've seen the brass available each morning, after the day it was shot, unless there was enough rain to make that day's crop impossible to retrieve. Watch for a tent set up with the Scouts under it with bagged brass. Good luck, GJ

Thanks NB. That was the intent - to point out it might be just one more. QM - if you are a new shooter to WB, you would do well to find a local shooter to let you know where locally you can get good ammo, or whether someone might load for you to get you started. We almost all load our own, especially for .45 Auto, as there is almost no commercial ammo that is really suitable for this game. For us to make a local recommendation, we would need to know where you are located.

Garrison Joe re-upping for side match assistance. PS: I see you did not have my name recorded on the list you posted of who was helping. Double check, as I can help where you need me! Thanks, Gene, you da man! GJ

You guys playing with trolls again?

First clean the mag tube good and lube lightly with an oil that dries well. EEzox or Boeshield. Look to see if you have kinked your spring. If you have, a Rem 870 spring will replace it, but it will need to be trimmed. Look to see if you have got the rear end of spring correctly into the follower. Reversing the spring sometimes makes the fit much better. Easy to switch ends of spring by mistake. See how much spring sticks out the end of mag tube. If more than about 4 inches, you might be able to trim back to 3-4 inches. But since you are trying to fix a weak-feed situation now, I'd save trimming it until the last ditch attempt. Most likely it's assembled wrong somewhere. Good luck, GJ

Yep, you can ease the slide down to prevent possible battering caused by dropping slide on empty chamber. Just don't ease the hammer down - let it fall. I usually will ease my slide down to protect the action work I have done. Good luck, GJ

Could well be that allowing "finger in the trigger guard" is a root cause of some east Texas clubs going to the additionally very silly, local "plant and then poke" rule to prevent the ADs that were occurring with non-hammered double-barrel shotguns. If folks maintained good trigger discipline, no ADs could occur while moving. Good luck, GJ

You do realize that it would be easier to run a lighter bullet at 125 PF than a 230 grain? Making that PF and still getting the 1911 to cycle would most likely be fairly easy if you go to a 200 grain or even a 185 grain slug. But 230 may be a challenge. Bullseye target guns have been run with 185 grains at about 700 FPS, or 129 PF, for years. Sometimes by dropping the recoil spring to around 12 pounds and mainspring to about 18 pounds, and a judicious amount of smoothing.

Here's a serrated mag release. http://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgwi/prod/1911-magazine-catch/F404770

You really don't need much beyond what is needed for a Cowboy match. Except for MORE brass pickers! Figure out how you want to score your local match. The Usual Choices are * total time * rank points * stage points It's easy to start with total time and then move to, say, stage points later, so even that is not something to worry about. Training (WB RO class) for at least 3 or 4 shooters will get you some knowledgeable ROs. It's a little disappointing to show up for a WB match and not have anyone with a rule book in their cart and the major rules clear in their head. But with the two great helpers you mentioned, that should not be a problem either. And, you might decide to "relax the firearms requirements" when you get started to let .38 spl rifles and modern pump shotguns in for a while - makes getting new folks out to the match much easier. Maybe even let 9mm pistols in, but the requirement for lead bullets often discourages 9mm shooters with their Glock factory barrels. Go Shoot! Good luck with it!

Per your first question. (After waiting a couple of days to see if a rules committee person wanted to run with this football) I believe the WB RO committee have settled on the "once the pistol leaves your hand" you may no longer fix a problem with it. This has wavered back and forth a little recently, which is probably why the pocket card is out of step with the Shooter's Handbook. Perhaps a rules committee member can comment, especially if I'm wrong about the current state of the rules.

Per your second question. You have pulled out two references that are specific SDQ penalties. There are more. The general pistol restaging rules that cover this situation are in the Range Operations section: Was slide locked open? No - It was probably jammed partially closed on the three-point jam. Was the magazine empty or removed? No - There was a cartridge still partially in the magazine. So, either of these two conditions would have made it a SDQ penalty to restage the pistol without declaring a malfunction. Both conditions - well, you get the penalty for sure. The rule book makes an attempt to point out two of a large number of possible reasons the gun can not be safe to be staged. It can't point out all the reasons and be brief. So, it's better to use the rule of what IS safe to do, and declare all the rest unsafe, as the Range Operations rule does. SDQ. A cartridge jammed in a three-point configuration is NOT "in the chamber". However, a jam where the cartridge is neither chambered, nor still partly in the magazine, can occur. A stovepipe is one. A "double feed" jam could be another. And the three-point jam is what you saw (had the rim cleared the magazine lips). All of these jams still result in a "loaded gun" that cannot safely be put down as it is. To prevent that penalty, either clear the jam and lock slide back, or declare a malfunction and ground the gun safely (pointing down range either way). It is more important for the shooter to know the condition of his guns in Wild Bunch than it is in cowboy shooting.

I find more problems when I run Model 12s really hard. IMHO, they do best when run smoothly and just firmly. Don't panic - run one like you are just a firm master of the mechanism. And just for completeness: At the loading table with a Model 12, you drop the hammer by pulling the trigger. All it takes is close action and pull trigger. Many folks are hanging a scarf or some other indicator from the trigger guard before they head for the line. It's a reminder to both the TO and the shooter that the Model 12 has to be checked at the line that the hammer is down. Take the "M12 indicator" off the gun, show the hammer has already fallen by pulling trigger, stow the indicator in your back pocket or other storage spot. You knew that already, I would venture! Good luck with that lovely hunk of steel and walnut! GJ

ER - Be glad to help anywhere I can. Assign me a job that you are having trouble filling. Good luck and see you there, if not sooner! GJ

Many folks have a Win 94 chambered for 45 Colt. Not a single one has ever reported that is it anything but balky and clunky when you try to run it fast. Surprise! It's a rifle length design that was modified to shoot pistol cartridges. Because it is so clunky, no gunsmiths I know of even want to do much tuning, let along try to figure out how to short stroke it. Would be like hotrodding a Rambler rather than starting with a Camaro or Mustang or deuce coupe. Results wouldn't be all that fast, and it won't look good either. Save that 94 for when you want to shoot Ruger level loads at pigs, bears or cats. Good luck, GJ

Sintered metal - steel alloy powder pressed to rough shape, then heated under pressure almost to melting point to partially weld the grains of powder together. Minor pocks can be seen in the surface on parts that are not well sintered. When those pocks are on the surface of a hammer, for example, I can feel the grating as the trigger is pulled, and the wear is quicker on the parts. That is what my hammer and apparently the sear were made of on an early Armscorp/RIA 1911. Fire control parts are what make up the firing controls - so, hammer, sear, trigger, disconnector, firing pin and retainer plate, some folks include the grip safety, thumb safety and slide release in the fire control category. A failure in any of them puts the gun out of commission and possibly allows it go go full auto. Good luck, GJ

Oh, and I have seen some lousy RIA and other Phillipie guns. When you use parts that are MIM and sintered for fire control, you are asking for fast wear. Good luck, GJ

cachet - reputation cache - a stockpile of supplies Good luck, GJ

I have absolutely no regrets shooting my Colt Series 70s, either the original run from 1973, or a recent return-to-Series 70 run (probably 2009 or so). They both shoot so well for traditional I look to no other factory's line. They are THAT good, and still reasonable. Up over 100K rounds through the old one - finally had an in-match failure, which I fixed in five minutes. In Modern category, you get the luxury of SO much choice. But a Colt or Springfield frame and slide is never a bad place to start. Good luck, GJ

I've seen data showing about 25 FPS higher with a large primer. Not my data, because I won't use the small primer cases. Good luck, GJ

Yep, in fact, the boys out at LASC (Los Angeles Silhouette Club), some of the 'leading' experts on lead bullet shooting, have a hardness - to - chamber pressure chart. For our pressures of about 10,000 to 12,000 PSI in cowboy and Wild Bunch loads, they point out a 8 or 9 Brinnell hardness is just about perfect. That is about a 2% antimony alloy. Half Wheel Weights and half soft lead. I find I agree with them boys. It takes 12,000 PSI, according to this article, http://www.lasc.us/FryxellCBAlloyObturation.htm to make a bullet of 8 Brinnell hardness seal the bore. And the harder the alloy, the more pressure it takes. Even on 45 auto slugs. Too hard, and the hot gases blow by the slug and I get leading right in the throat of the barrel. Haven't yet cast any slugs too soft to shoot well out of the 1911. Keep going to a softer alloy every time I cast a batch. Good luck, GJ

Crazy Mingo - The Remington R1 would be a great pistol for Traditional WB. Several folks are shooting them. The relieving of the ejection port is allowed. As is any coating/painting you want to do. If I remember right, Rem's come with dots on the sights - which should be covered over or blacked out to give a uniform single-color sight surface. 90% of problems getting your pistol running right come from the ammo. The other 90% of problems come from poor quality magazines. Make sure you have those right (have other shooters test them if you have questions about either) before you have any further frustration with shooting WB. And finally, the remaining 90% of problems come from trying to operate the pistol without a firm grip and a keen sense of mastery of it's workings. Good luck, and WELCOME to WB! YeeHaw, GJ

Pretty typical for TiteGroup powder in a mid range or warmer load. Once you get that 30% nitroglycerin burning, it really goes, and does so with lots of heat generated, a loud report, and generally great accuracy. Small Standard Deviations are not all there is to accuracy, but they sure do not hurt the group size! Good luck, GJ