Garrison Joe

I believe I would, should someone show up with a Yugo M48, have to say that that was not a WW II rifle, and thus would not be eligible under our current BAMM rules. Those variations on the Mauser design of the M24 Yugo were designed in '48 and all built starting with 1948. Thus, unfortunately, not in rules compliance. However, the Yugo 24/47 makes a very nice BAMM rifle. That was a Model 24 rifle, rebarreled and refurbished in Yugo arsenals from 1947 forward. Prvi Partisan makes ammo in 8x57 and sometimes other ammo and brass manufacturers turn out a little. The K31 (Swiss) also is a good BAMM rifle. Several specimens have been circulating through gun shops recently. And the Swedish M96 Mauser and later variations are very nice and in good shape, usually. Although their chambering (6.5x55 "Swede") is a little more of a challenge to shoot cast bullets through, as it needs a very long bullet to fill the throat. And brass is even harder to run down. Good luck, GJ

I've seen bunches of squibs in a 1911. NEVER has the slide cycled. Tip of the week - if you yank the slide back and an empty case pops out, you had a squib, not a failure to feed a round. :D Check that barrel! Good luck, GJ

I'd probably send it in to CC and let him take a look. Sounds like at least the cartridge stops are not working 100% and are failing to let the shells out of mag. Of course, it could be you -short stroking the 97 while trying to go fast will jam it up right now. Try shooting in practice sessions and see if full strokes solve the problem. Good luck, GJ

I've got a Hunter Leather Whelen 1" sling on my Swede. Looks about right, and is very adjustable, as compared to the original Mauser slings, which were closer to carrying straps than to a good sling. Takes a little study to get it rigged the first time. http://www.huntercompany.com/HunterCatalog/files/assets/basic-html/page32.html Model 220. And if you want the hooks for adjustment rather than laces, the Model 200 in 1" width will give you a good sling, too. Good luck, GJ

(bolding added) I would say, from your description, the shooter would earn a MSV for clearing the jam with the mag out of the gun and allowing that loose round to chamber and then firing it. Inserting an empty mag with the slide down would not help this situation, it would just add more time. (Besides, how would the TO or others know for sure that you are putting an empty mag in?) Rack the slide to remove the jammed cartridge and lock slide back, then insert fresh mag. One could use a Barney Fife (single round) magazine very easily in this situation to avoid having to clear 4 unfired rounds from the gun after firing one round to end the sequence.

No. The rules only specify that pistol ammunition must be charged from magazines. Rules do not require any specific number of mag pouches, just that IF mag pouches are used, they must comply with several restrictions, most of which are very traditional and make lots of sense. If a shooter wanted to penalize himself with the extra reaching needed to get to mags on a table or prop or a pocket, why not let them? Only if the pocket was specially engineered to do things that the rules prohibit mag pouches from doing, would there be any concern. WR and EOT have both allowed shooters to place all mags on props or tables or in pockets. It has never been an advantage to do so. And there are usually at least one or two stages where you can save a lot of time by starting to move, drawing mag from pouch on the run and inserting mag as you slide to a stop at next shooting position. Definitive? Around here? Well, good luck. ;D

If you want the official, full 500 pounds of instructions for running power factor testing at a really big match, go read the appendix of the WB match director's guide. I was trying to give the OP a feel for what works in a practical way for a small match. Whoo, boy, no good intentions ever go unpunished, huh? Why don't you fellers just go shoot? ;D

Yep, the chrono TEAM should have their procedure down pat. Try it out at a monthly WB match to make sure the equipment works, you get velocities that are consistent and agree with other chrono experience, that you understand the light conditions in which the equipment works best (most new ones like full sun on the "screens"). A team is needed, one to record/calculate and one to shoot. You don't let the individual shooters fire over the chrono unless you want the equipment plugged at least once!! A couple boxes of good "calibrated velocity" ammo to check that your chrono is not on the fritz each day would be good. Extra batteries and screens are a necessity. An extra chrono does not hurt (except in the wallet). The way that seems to work the best is have shooters come by the chrono bay either before first day starts (long lines), or perhaps in posse rotation through the stages (cuts down the waiting). They bring their guns (1911 and rifle) and ten rounds of pistol and ten of rifle. Their guns are shot by the chrono shooter over the equipment with four or five rounds. Be consistent with pointing muzzle of each gun up (or down, but if you decide to do that, realize it will give lower velocities) before each shot. Get the average, record it. Ask shooter for bullet weight, record that. Calculate PF for rifle and for pistol. Any failures can be retested immediately with their spare ammo. Any DQs are informed immediately so they don't shoot rest of match. Keep good records - not just back of a scrap envelope. Shooting with common "club" guns can be done, but realize that each gun barrel can be quite a bit different in velocity readings. And then realize you would need 4 rifles to cover most calibers in WB (38-40, 44-40, 44 spl or mag and 45 Colt). Better to use the shooter's own rifles and pistols! The Chrono Team reports to the Match Director only. Not to posse marshals, not to range safety officer. This is the MD's match, and he resolves any problems. Have a kinetic bullet puller ready if it seems that the self-stated weights are not quite right or you have a PF number come in right at the border line where the actual bullet weight could make a difference. Hang a target or other disposable object out in the back of the bay for the designated shooter to use as a sighting target. It is amazing how easy it is to loose focus while shooting hundreds of rounds over a chrono and end up pulling a trigger while muzzle is pointed at the screen stands or the electronics of the unit! And weight down the stand with a sandbag or two, even if the weather forecast says no wind. There is ALWAYS wind when you drag out a chronograph. The first time you do this officially, you probably want to test all shooters. Big matches have been sampling some of the "potential winners" and "usual on-the-edge suspects" and a random selection of others for power tests. Maybe they test one or two from each posse. Sometimes match officials just collect a baggie of ammo with shooter's name on it and bullet weights. Shoot it in club guns, and if a problem pops up, they retest with shooter's match guns. Good luck, GJ

Up to the MD, in reality. The best time to test is before the match, and then to allow shooter to obtain new ammo and retest. Testing during match and finding a failure, at big matches, there is usually no recovery allowed. Shooter gets a MDQ immediately. Same with gun weight or gun features. Much more friendly to spot any of these problems before any stages are shot, and allow shooter to recover if possible. But, practically speaking, this is not a big problem, because at the last WR WB match, no one failed for power factor problems, from what I heard. It's a problem that at big-match-level, occurs very rarely anymore. Good luck, GJ

Please don't make personal comments a part of commenting on a rule interpretation. It really is not conducive to getting folks to discuss a topic. And it's ad hominem. Let's get back to the discussion instead. ;D A mag follower that jams forward slightly can be resting on a slide release lever (from the inside of mag well), I have found, and that can jostle the release enough to have the slide drop as the mag falls past it. You folks are wanting to make that a failure mode separate from the slide lock not holding the mag. I say you are trying to place a MSV on a shooter when you cannot really tell what the fault was and if the cause was mechanical or operator malfunction. There has to be a simpler way to interpret this rule, and I'm suggesting that we should "No Call" any slide drop while reloading if the slide ever got a stationary slide lock. As well as the condition of the slide lock not holding on last round fired, which the rules already have put in writing, relieving the shooter from the penalty. The penalty of having to see the slide is down and racking the slide seems enough, even when the slide falls at some point after reaching lock but before the mag gets inserted fully. We probably can all see if the slide ever locked back, even temporarily, before shooter inserted a new mag. And we probably can see when slide failed to lock back at all, and the shooter then loaded a mag. I am in support of No Calling either of those two conditions. I think the "loaded mag with slide down" penalty is trying to prevent a true Tactical Reload. Not the accidental loading if the slide happens to fall for any reason on an empty chamber and the shooter continues to to insert the mag and then has to rack the slide. That is something I can call reliably. Why is that call much easier to make? Because the shooter will have to rack the slide and the TO will be able to see EITHER that a live round pops out (in that case, it was Tactical, and "MSV" applies); or that no round is ejected, in which case "No Call." Becomes very simple and easy to watch for and call. And there is physical evidence resting on the ground at the shooter's feet to keep the shooter from saying, "no, there was no round in chamber when I loaded." Good luck, GJ

Well, I would declare that both of you fellers are being proverbial H@@@A@@@@ for the "fault" we are discussing. Looking for a way to award a Minor Safety when it's pretty clear the shooter was trying to do the right thing. The OP said he could NOT see if the shooter pulled the slide release lever down as he dropped the magazine, and now you are wanting to ASSUME he did bump the slide release lever even though mechanical malfunction may have caused slide to drop (facts stated earlier - it only happened that one time in the match, and the shooter believes a borrowed magazine was faulty and did not get a secure slide lock accomplished). A pretty clear case of "looking for something to penalize the shooter on" from what has been stated here. Good luck, GJ

Oops, a typo edit attempt turned into a second reply. Cleaned it up some and deleted the double tap. Applicable rule is: Page 7, WB Shooter's Handbook The only point of contention between you two seems to be that the rules do not fully-enough define "slide lock failure." I would apply a common-sense definition of failure so that it includes what happened to this shooter. In other words, slide lock is supposed to hold the slide back until it is released by the shooter. One part of the slide lock function worked perfectly - it engaged when last round was fired. One function probably failed - it did not stay locked when the shooter ejected the magazine. Or, alternatively, the shooter bumped the lock enough to release it. Since there could have been a failure, I would apply Benefit of Doubt in shooter's favor to this call and would not call that a reload from slide down, AKA "Tactical Reload" Shooter did not gain any time by having things happen this way - it would have been faster if the slide had not fallen, because the shooter had to additionally rack the slide to charge the gun. Give the shooter the benefit, and declare that the slide lock failed to hold the slide, and call it a No Call. And I would wonder why the shooter still brings this up at the next match - let it go. Sometimes calls go your way, sometimes they don't. Don't upset folks by bringing something like that up again at a later match. Get over it. Good luck, GJ

I like state-level WB held separate from the state C'boy match - I can get to each one independently and it does not take a club with both areas of expertise to do the combo. There are very few willing to even TRY the combo. I like regional and bigger event, when I've got to do a lot of traveling and setting up, as an all-together combo. But then, I am devoted to shooting both. This does limit the venues that are competent at doing the combo match, though. A different (maybe better) schedule for EOT this year might have been WB AFTER the C'boy match. Mon-Tues-Wed. And do a separate Awards ceremony Wed afternoon. Good luck, GJ

Specifically examine this recent post: http://sassnet.com/wildbunch/forum/index.php?topic=1810.0 You should find that the rule books are now very close together on the penalties for unfired and fired rounds left in long guns between the Cowboy side and the WB side.

Yep, BD got it right on the head. If you ever have shaved lead while seating, you have pretty well destroyed a rifle bullet. It will still fire, but it won't hit what you want. Plus, the slight step is easier to crimp completely back down than the taper that most expanders put in the mouth. Good luck, GJ

Sounds about like the normal path that one wants to follow while working up cast boolit loads. I too like a neck sizer die, especially if I have just one rifle to load for that cartridge. And a Lyman M die to get minimal belling for case to allow easy seating. I find more accuracy faster when I have a selection of cast boolits to choose from. There is rarely exactly one and only one bullet that shoots well in a particular cartridge, but each gun may have it's own pet. Just was out Sunday shooting my 6.5 Swede. Best so far has been some Reloader 7 and a 150 grain bore riding Lyman bullet. Both 5-shot groups fired with the best load printed 1 1/4 inch at 90 yards. Good for only being the third loading session for that cartridge, but I've got 3 designs I can choose from and a raft of powders. Velocity seems, like most 6.5 Swedes, to want to be about 1500-1600 FPS. Good luck, GJ

Buying because you planned it and tried it and really needed it, is a WHOLE lot better than buying because the seller HAS to get rid of it. None of a seller's reasons matter - if you are looking for using it for YOUR purposes. Sorry, that's just the way of Cowboy competition shooting. Fortunately, there is usually a way for a gun that just doesn't work for you can be converted to something (e.g., another gun) that does work fine. Good luck, GJ

To speak about safety directly, WB rules don't care if your long guns have a safety, don't have one, or the safety is pinned in Fire position. Just no external mods. And, yeah, that 94 is a clunky gun that will occasionally jam up when running it fast. regardless of what smithing is done to it. It runs fine with rifle length chamberings, not with pistol cartridges at the speed we need. Good luck, GJ

Welcome to "the Party with a 1911 in your Hands"! Hope you continue to have a blast!

No requirement for ANY pouches. Come shoot! Put your mags on the table if you want to. Put 'em in a pocket! Put 'em in your back jeans pocket. Just come shoot! If some club wants to be difficult about this while you are getting your gear together, let us know which one so we can give them a rough time about running shooters off! Seriously, though, don't sweat the small stuff. Come out and have fun! Good luck, GJ

Never seen a major match right on a big holiday. They avoid 'em, it seems. Club matches - 4th of July, Labor day usually means a weak turnout. Family comes first for most folks. Good luck, GJ

No, not everyone over there said to do that! I DID NOT recommend doing that! I recommended cutting the dimple deeper or even putting a stronger spring in the tube. give-me-a-break! ;D

It's the hostage taker that hides behind that is hard for me, though.

(sheepishly) which is why I never use a Barney Fife.

Common malfunction clearance on a 1911 often means you jack out a live round (or even knock a round off the top of a mag as you pull it or insert it into receiver). The Barney Fife magazine (from Mayberry fame) gives you a quicker way to shoot one more round than to pull a full mag, shoot the top round, drop the mag and cycle the slide and engage the slide stop. If you never have malfunctions or loading mistakes, you never need one. ;D