Garrison Joe

I don't know what you are referring to with "dove tail rear sight" in your question. Almost all sights on 1911s are attached to the slide with dove tails. A few older guns have front sights attached by staking. Fixed sight blade is what is required for Traditional pistol, not a screw-adjustable modern rear sight. Two commercial replacement fixed sights are called out by the rule book by name - the Harrison Design 03 and the 10-8 National Match. Existing mil spec fixed blade sights as found on WW I and WW II issue guns, the current Colt Government, the "straight blade" Remington R1 (now discontinued, I believe), Springfield MilSpec (but not the new Garrison model) are legal examples. There are several others. The fixed sights which do not fit in the mil spec dovetail and which extend the sight blade back to the very rear edge of the slide are not legal. Contrasting dots or other aiming devices (bars, triangles, glowing widgets) on the sight are not allowed, but can be recolored to match rest of sight. These are in the rules under Traditional Pistol Modifications: Harrison: https://shop.harrisoncustom.com/hd-003-retro-rear-sight 10-8: https://www.10-8performance.com/1911-nm-rear-sight/ Many sight designs are allowed for a Modern category gun. See the rules for a complete definition. good luck, GJ

Shooter has confused the match-1911-gunsmith guidance to not free-drop slide on an empty chamber with "don't drop hammer". Dropping slide when gun is empty has been found by gunsmiths to bounce the trigger and sear contact and even chip the sear or hammer ledge. (Dropping slide on rounds from magazine allows some of the energy to be scrubbed off due to the round being stripped and chambered.) But dropping the hammer by pulling trigger - THAT IS WHAT THE GUN IS DESIGNED TO HAVE DONE TO IT! TOs do need to see that the rules are followed! good luck, GJ

Only about 12 or so of those fellers are looking forward to getting a Minor Safety call for finger on trigger when not safely on the firing range. 😄 Hope our veterans were well remembered on Armed Forces Day yesterday. Thanks for your service, GJ

Marlin guns can be made fairly slick. Winchester 1892 designs - not so much. Why do you think you need a .44 Mag? .44 special or .44-40 are PLENTY of gun for Wild Bunch. If this is also going to be a hunting gun, PERHAPS it's a reason to have one in .44 Mag. I'd run .44 Specials in it for WB though. good luck, GJ

Addition: If you are thinking of the lever plunger (built into the lever's trigger guard), that has a small coil spring which helps hold the lever latched closed. Normally that is very soft and folks don't notice it much. If it gets jammed up or installed wrong, I guess it could provide some stiffness in the very end motion of closing the lever. Those are available as a replacement in some hammer spring kits for a Marlin 1894. good luck, GJ

How are you so sure it's a "stiff locking block"? (There is no part named "lever block") It would be rather rare to have a locking block be stiff and hard to move. Errors in reassembly are a common cause of a Marlin being stiff or even locked up. Most of the spring resistance in a Marlin action is the mainspring (aka hammer spring). Lighter main springs are available from several sources. So cheap, it's not worth trying to lighten the coil mainspring yourself. Check that the locking block really is or is not what is stiff. Does locking block move up and down in it's track when just block, bolt and lever are installed? Check that running the action with gun empty is stiff. If not, but gets stiff running dummy rounds, it's the ammo or the carrier dragging on the loading gate or cartridge on the carrier. Check internal parts for wear and gouges. Something may have not been machined or installed correctly. Longhunter Supply carries springs, firing pins, lots of other parts for Marlins: https://www.longhunt.com/storelh/index.php?route=product/category&path=88_93 good luck, GJ

More than altering a web page to entice clicks. The PRODUCT NAME is T1897! This is a manufacturer's decision.

Really bad product naming and management by a company desperate (?) to make money off of the history of a historic shotgun, IMHO. There's nothing wrong with making a clone of an Ithaca 37 - great gun in it's own rights. Just name it accordingly so novice gun buyers are not deceived. Here's a retailer with ad copy advertising it as a 1897 shotgun! https://palmettostatearmory.com/rock-island-armory-t1897-12-gauge-pump-action-shotgun-black-tpas.html good luck, GJ

Here's an easily found YT video on how to do the bevel and what a nicely finished one looks like. This is legal for Traditional or Modern Wild Bunch guns. A mag well extension added to the frame is not. Per this rule found in the modifications for Traditional or Modern pistols: good luck, GJ

Rule book says for a Traditional gun - Ambidextrous safeties were not part of original 1911 design. Doubt one would be accepted on a Traditional gun. Ambi thumb safeties are explicitly allowed on Modern category guns. You will have ABSOLUTELY no need for or usage of the thumb safety when shooting Wild Bunch. So it doesn't matter on a gun that is devoted to Wild Bunch competition. Gun does have to HAVE a working thumb safety, though, even if it is never used. Figure out if you are going to shoot your 1911 one handed (Traditional) or two (Modern). THAT will decide your main category. Then pick a gun that suits the category, per the rule book. Rules here: the pdf version of WB shooters handbook: https://www.sassnet.com/Downloads/SASS%20WILD%20BUNCH%20Action%20Shooting%20Handbook%202022%20-%20Vers%2016.3%20-%202.2.22.pdf the page on which you find the pdf to download: https://www.sassnet.com/Shooters-Handbook-001A.php good luck, GJ

A great gun for Traditional. Make the sights one color - paint, sharpie, nail polish, etc. A bevel on the bottom edge of the magazine well will help a lot with quick reloads. good luck, GJ

Thanks for the replies, gents! As you can tell if you read the other replies carefully, the old rules and now the new rules both make it necessary to just about have X-ray vision to understand just how many rounds are fired from each and every magazine, especially when the shooter does tactical reloads. Most of the spotters I have had the pleasure of being scored by, and probably half of the ROs I have shot with, don't count rounds-fired-from-each-mag, they count rounds-fired-toward-the-target-array on the string being shot. A carry-over from being used to cowboy RO work, probably. Mag overloading is a very infrequently encountered penalty situation, too. So why count so as to detect the rare situation, when it's so much more likely to need to guide the shooter about "where am I?" on the target array, especially right after they slam in a new magazine. And the few expert ROs who actually CAN keep a running count of both at the same time? My campaign hat is off to them big time! I'll confess that I VERY rarely can count rounds-from-each-mag. I try to keep up 100% with the shooter's progress through the target array. While also trying to watch muzzle, position, and gun handling. good luck, GJ

The rules need to be "easy to apply" regardless of the rounds in the magazine. Either because of what the stage instructions called for, or what the shooter decided he could use/load. Next question we see could very well be that the shooter has an 8 round magazine (legal if only 7 rounds are loaded), but in which he accidentally loaded and used an eighth round. Several ways I can think of this being hard to detect and hard to assess penalties. I'd still strongly suggest we only penalize the "overloaded ammo was used" error (with a P) and stop with any other penalties about ammo that goes from good to illegal. Just consider that the shooter already "paid the penalty for overloading," and let them continue with the 1911 as they see fit. No trying to figure out which and how many individual rounds are legal or not. Is this a shooting contest or a differential equations class? If they hit correct targets, good. If they missed targets or messed up an order, then penalties are incurred like normal based on standard rules. good luck, GJ

Well, I believe the new rules are even harder to apply in some situations than the old rules were. Seems like it's becoming just about impossible to apply these rules for the 1911 pistol string because who really knows at this point, considering multiple mag changes and tactical reloads, which rounds are not to be counted, which are, and which have to be "counted as misses" if and only if the shooter hit targets with them? Let's just realize that the shooter made a Procedural mistake if they overloaded the gun/magazine and then USED one or more rounds that were overloaded. No trying to figure out whether any particular round was illegal, just have to remember THAT the shooter used a round that was overloaded. Easy on long guns, pretty challenging on the 1911. But having to remember any MORE than that on the 1911 - is a "fools errand". And what would you do if the pistol string was an ordered sweep ("each round has it's designated target" - like Nevada sweeps, progressive sweeps, etc)? ALSO give the shooter a P for not shooting in the correct order? Suggest the rules should just penalize the mistake of overloading and using one or more rounds that were overloaded as a single Procedural penalty. Any more penalties on the "illegal" use of individual rounds is just too complicated, and it's a second penalty applied to the single mistake of overloading. And ambiguous wording of what rounds "count as shot" or don't is just asking for problems. These rules have to be applied by folks who are maybe old, maybe hot and tired, and maybe distracted. Let's keep things simple enough to apply correctly without having to do deep dynamic shot-by-shot analysis JMHO, GJ

Bent base plate on the mag(s) would mean they would fail to feed when loaded with 5 rounds, too. Never seen anyone abuse magazines enough to bend the base plate tip downward. Guy must be a weight lifter. ;D good luck, GJ

First, sounds like a new gun. Have you run at least 250 factory-strength rounds through this gun to let all the parts run in together? If not, go do that before troubleshooting further. Many 1911s are now built to be smooth out of box. But AutoOrdnance - I would not bet on it. How did it fail to feed? Different locations of where the top round sticks mean different parts of the gun need to be worked. Nose jamming into feed ramp low on the ramp, round partially comes out of mag. If this is a new 1911, most often the feed ramp needs a little smoothing or cleaning up the angle. Especially with Semi-Wadcutter (SWC like H&G 68) slugs. But a rough or poorly angled feed ramp can hold up any lead bullet-shape load. Round "nose-dives" down into the front of the magazine body. The stamped metal followers on lower price mags often tilt and let the first round nose down into the mag when the slide starts to push it forward. I replace all those followers with a skirted follower that will not nose dive. The one I choose is the Tripp follower and spring, which you can buy separate. Last I bought (4 years ago, though) were about $12 each and made some moderate price magazine bodies (like Chip McCormick) work almost perfectly, like ALL my Tripp magazines do. Case catching during the entry to the chamber - the sharp edge of the bottom of the chamber mouth needs a very small amount of radius. (No, don't take a dremel to it, just a little bit of softening with a round stone). Catching of nose on ramp-to-barrel junction - barrel lip at bottom of mouth sticks out past a poorly fitted feed ramp. Look for a little lead shaving going on at the junction between the frame and barrel. I've never had "too strong" a mag spring in any 1911 magazine I've had, shooting a variety of mags through 3 different 1911s. Including Colt mags. I'd look elsewhere for your feed problems. Check also for rough or too-tight (damaged) magazine lips. Too light a recoil spring has been installed in gun? (I don't go lighter than a 15 # recoil spring). Rough or tight slide or frame rails? Since you had same problem with all magazines you loaded with 7 rounds, it's probably not a magazine glitch. It's MUCH more likely to be ammo (bullet shape, overall cartridge length not handled by your feed ramp) or a gun problem. If you had to hit the slide release to partially unseat the magazine and allow it to drop to get the top round to feed, it may be that the slide release needs to be better fitted where it grabs the slide release notch in the mag bodies. And, make sure the inner side of the slide release is not contacting the top bullet in a fully loaded magazine. good luck, GJ

10-8 and Harrison both make fixed 1911 sights which are Traditional legal by name in the rule book. I run 10-8 NM (National Match) model. 10-8 does not have a big selection of 1911 front sights (last time I looked they only had fiber optic sight blades with a Novak size base). So, I had a smith make a custom dovetailed front sight and dovetail the slide for it. That also is legal by rules. Each 1911 model CAN have some variation to the front sight mounting system. If you are not set to cut dovetails yourself in 1911 slides, it really is a job for a pistol smith, which our Boggus Deal is one. Many folks find that when they try to STAKE on a new taller front sight on a slide originally made with a staking slot, that the weight of the new blade shakes it loose from the staking. Yes, I was one of those folks. The dovetail system is SO much more solid and reliable. good luck, GJ

Congrats Elwood! Looks like you burned things down! Say, Back 40, you might know. I did not find the stage description for the Sgt York side match anywhere. Can you or someone else sketch out how that was shot at EOT? Oh, digging deeper in the archives and I found it = SERGEANT YORK – Wednesday, March 2 – 2:00pm to 4:00 pm Beyond Bay 14, beside the BAMM match - 5 rifle, 6 pistol Two rifle targets at 100 and 125 yds. Six pistol targets from 50 to 25 yds. thanks, GJ

Yes, you got it right. The last two rounds in the "7-round spare" magazine, when fired, are "illegally acquired ammunition" - these have to be counted as misses if when shot they hit the correct target. From WB Shooters Handbook: So, two misses would be the call on the main part of the question. OK, second part: If shooter only fired 5 from the spare and left a round from the spare magazine in chamber (and one in magazine when dropped), that one round would be "illegally acquired" if it is later fired and hits a target. That would be one round counted as a miss (if it hit the correct target). To make this work without penalty, one way would be to do a tactical reload after 4 rounds are fired of the 7 rounds in the spare. Thus you leave 5th round in chamber, and drop the mag with 2 live rounds left in it. Then fire the chambered round and four of the five rounds from your last 5-shot magazine. Lots of thinking involved, though. Shows you that for these particular stage instructions, even your spare mag(s) should be loaded with no more than 5 rounds. Would prevent the possibility of illegal ammo calls. And keep you from having to count rounds fired from a magazine or doing the tactical reload at the right time. good luck, GJ

Yep. wide spur is fine. Lots of 1911s issued with 'em. GJ

Type of sights is really personal preference. What ever you can use faster. I like a sight picture just like my main match rifle - a flat-notched rear sight blade, and a post with medium bead front. TR is never going to be a match that requires precision. I don't like a tang sight for a quick shot. good luck, GJ

Not locked into just one powder. I use what works, and with a 300 grain slug, I got better groups with 2400 than with Unique. Both work, just 2400 shoots better in my gun. You would have to test what works for YOU. Cast bullet loads depend SO much on what each rifle shoots well. Much more than jacketed bullet loads. That cast bullet load shoots real well with 19 grains 2400 - 1" groups in my Marlin at 100 yards. With 12 grains of Unique, was more like 2" groups. Both are plenty accurate for Teddy Roosevelt matches. One can. The recoil with 405 grain slug is 33% higher than the recoil of a 300 grain slug at same velocity. For shooting steel quickly at 50 yards or less, one is better served with a light bullet. Especially if one can get a nice group and consistent feed and function. But, the 405 grain bullet can shoot well in the Marlin, too. Mine gave about 1" 100 yard groups or slightly larger with 12 grains of Unique, too, in my tests last summer. Lots of 405 grain and heavier bullets won't feed in Marlin 1895s when seated to crimp in the crimp groove. The standard Lyman 457193 design needed to crimp at the top of the driving band, above the crimp groove. good luck, GJ

Surely can. I've got a light bullet load with 2400 that hits 1" at 100 yards with my iron sighted Marlin 45-70, ballard rifling. good luck, GJ

6 pouches is all I have ever needed. good luck, GJ

Thank you and the Rules Committee for the hard work again! good luck, GJ