Garrison Joe

No buffer is needed NOR recommended. These are essentially a gimmick for when folks shoot hot ammo in lightly sprung guns and believe they see damage due to that. If the gun is correctly sprung, it needs NO buffer. A shock buffer does not make recoil less or the gun shoot softer. Buffers do add a piece of plastic/rubber that breaks down and jams the gun. I've run one 1911 Colt Government that I got new back in the 1970s with 130,000 rounds fired. Never had a buffer in it. Ran factory springs when I was shooting full power ammo. Put in lighter springs and retuned the gun when I started using it in Wild Bunch. My other 1911s do not have shock buffers either. good luck, GJ

"Another forum" post on this subject is here: https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=584466 Even though this post was made in 2017, no one seemed to know about the Secure Firearm Products tester which began to be sold as early as 2010. Shows that a spring weight tester just does not get much publicity. 😄 The original recoil spring specs (and how to measure the weight) from US government can be found in that post. Although current Colt factory springing practice is the 16 # weight, not the 13.5 # found in the spec sheet! good luck, GJ

Spring makers have a way to measure spring "weight." Here is the only commercial end-user scale I have found: https://www.securefirearmproducts.com/Model_Details.php?modelno=11490-SR-D It includes the compressed length at which a 1911 recoil spring is measured already researched for you. BUT - If they are "old" springs, just toss them. The ones you will install will be what you run for the next couple of years anyway (and those springs in the drawer will be even older then). A 1911 (or any other defensive semi-auto) deserves to have the best possible springs that never instill doubt in the shooter's mind! good luck, GJ

For reference the conventional factory springs on Colt 1911s have been 16# for recoil and 23# for main. GJ

On my guns with tuning and smoothing performed, for Wild Bunch 155-170 Power Factor, a 15 pound recoil spring and a 19 pound main spring work well for me. A lighter mag release spring is also handy. Some folks start tweaking their (3 leaf) sear/trigger spring, but I can get good triggers without bending or lightening that spring. That makes it easy to just drop in a new one every 5 thousand rounds or so. With higher power (factory and above), that set of springs may lead to hard battering on the slide and frame, so consider what you will be feeding the gun. 1 - Keep your recoil and main springs balanced. Just putting a light recoil spring in will not work as well as reducing spring weight on both. 2 - I've learned from reading instructions from several 1911 smiths that your gun is "sprung well" when fired cases fall 5-6 feet away from where you stand. If they dribble out, the springs are strong for your load. If they fling 15 feet away, springs are too light. 3 - The firing pin retaining plate bottom edge is often square and has a sharp back edge. Rolling that back edge to a radius of about 1/2" works for me to reduce slide retraction force, spreading the hammer cocking over more slide travel distance. 4 - Most mainspring housings have a rough bore for the mainspring. Brownell's has a flexi-hone made just for smoothing that drilled hole. good luck, GJ

Factory guns are indeed sprung heavier than is needed for Wild Bunch with it's 150 minimum power factor. And then consider the square/sharp edge on the bottom of the firing pin retainer, rough mainspring housing bore, and other burrs and tight fits on slide, etc., yes, non-tuned guns are stiff. General gun will probably be very usable after tuning and smoothing. From reports from others, not from any personal experience with them. Sights on the PO Wild Bunch model may have 3 paint dots on them, from advertising I've seen on the gun. For use in a Traditional category, those would need to be covered to match the main color of the sights. good luck, GJ

Stages with 35 rounds of pistol are VERY common. Stages with 42 rounds are also encountered. That latter stage would require 6 magazines IF you never fumble a magazine change. Or have a need for "just one more round" due to popping a round loose while inserting a mag. Magazines can get stepped on, filled with dirt, etc. during a match. All that means I never go to a Wild Bunch match with less than 10 magazines I trust. And enough mag slides (holders) to carry 6 magazines on my belt. good luck, GJ

They's the one. My experience with Tripp has been flawless for Wild Bunch use in either of my 1911s. Some folks like to add a 1/4" thick leather pad for more sure seating of mag in the well, and to minimize the chance of pinching part of their palm. GJ

Tripp for me. VERY solid, almost impossible to bend feed lips or dent the body. An anti-dive follower to prevent nose-dives of cartridges coming off the top of the stack. good luck, GJ

Choice between 70 or 80 series Colts (basically with no or a firing pin block) - the type of trigger controls make little difference, perhaps adding 6 or 8 ounces to the trigger pull after tuning on the Series 80 guns. Although it appears from a quick look-see at the catalog that you can't any longer get Series 80 guns in the government standard specs (spur hammer, no extended grip safety, fixed blade rear sights). Yes, the Colt Classic model is the only blued finish gun that fits Traditional requirements from what I see in Colt's on-line catalog. Stainless - the name changes to Colt Government (the old name for a standard 5" simple 1911). Why? Hard to tell. Maybe they roll marked a whole bunch of stainless slides that haven't sold yet and they are trying to clear the inventory... I prefer the series 70 guns, since the trigger pull can be slightly better and there are fewer small parts to fiddle with on a complete strip of the slide. good luck, GJ

^^ double like this post GJ

I would be inclined to treat the 1911 as we do any other firearm, since the handbook does not have a special rule just for this situation. And I would not encourage anyone to ADD a new rule just for this situation. Why make things more complicated? good luck, GJ

CND - thanks for the fix. And, no, lots of other forums make me much sadder than this one ever does. This is one of the MOST useful forums on the net. good luck, GJ

Edit to previous post just above for purpose of fixing a typo - A Model 48 Yugo "mauser," not 28. grrr, GJ

Be wary of the different action sizes that get called 98 Mausers. If the stock has any indication it is from a Yugoslavian made "Mauser", there is a good chance the action well is shorter than a normal 98 Mauser, so the wood won't fit (and can't easily be made to fit) a K98 German made Mauser. Might be worth a call when ordering to have them give you the dimensions between the front and rear action bolts! All the Model 24, 24/47 and 28 48 Yugoslavian (BRNO) Mausers are short like that, I believe. And even some Turkish made Mausers, too. good luck, GJ

Sarco certainly has a couple of models to chose from, here's a flat buttplate model: https://www.sarcoinc.com/m98-mauser-stock-set-for-flat-buttplate/ But they also have the cupped buttplate model, too, per on-line catalog. good luck, GJ

Did some searching for take off stocks. Not much came up. Keep an eye on EBay, as much as you may hate to use it. Mauser parts do come up sometimes. Some of these sites may have gone defunct over Covid collapse.... k98stocks.com is a web site that sells Norwegian takeoffs, which usually fit the K98 Kreigsmodel very well. http://www.continentalmilitaria.com http://www.stewartsmilitaryantiques.com http://fox-military.com http://www.hoosiergunworks.com http://homepages.vvm.com/~histpart/k98parts.htm www.libertytreecollectors.com You may have already found this forum for serious collectors of K98s: K98kforum There was a fellow on there who dealt/swapped/sold military stocks..... handle was mowzerluvr If you can still locate him, he might be pretty helpful. good luck, GJ

Settings in the forum software (which was recently upgraded to Invision Community) prevent the author of posts from changing anything in the post after a short time (maybe 5 minutes) of first saving it. The "edit" option in the action menu (three dots) gets taken away, and you can't edit the post. You have to add a "changes to above post" as a follow-up post, as you just did here. I find no other forum on the Internet (including the Cowboy side of SASS Wire) that is so concerned that the author might fix up wording or add pictures to his post. Sad. As to your original post - Numrich Gun Parts or Sarco would be a possible source of mil-surplus takeoff stocks. The original mil stocks and handguards for the Mauser 98 are pretty scarce at this point. That gun will be chambered in 8MM. The brass can be formed from 30-06. Pretty common to shoot lead bullets (0.323" diameter), 170 grain weight or so. (Jacketed 8MM bullets are just about unobtainable currently, in case you can't find those for other uses of this rifle.) Making 1300-1600 FPS is common for BAMM ammo. 13 grains of Red Dot would give you the lower end of that range. A few matches like Bordertown want velocities held below about 1100 FPS to save their non-armor-plate targets and prevent ricochets from making it to Tombstone village limits. So, that's even more load workup. good luck, GJ

FWR - you are missing my point. The rule that needs clarification and expanding is the "Safe for Restaging" Stage Disqualification rule on page 22 of the current manual. It reads: (SDQ is earned for the following conditions:) THAT statement says a SDQ would be earned with a restaged-for-further-use shotgun being "Open, with a round in the magazine or on the carrier but not in the chamber" (since the action is not closed, and hammer is not down) The rule in SDQ definitions list on page 22 needs to be expanded to include the "Action open, no round in chamber" situation. The rule you pointed out is in the Shotgun Range Operations section, on page 13, The two rules are "out of step" with each other. One on page 13, other on page 22. good luck, GJ

And, while writing this, I think we have a difference between what the rules call for, and what is generally considered safe to do. That would be, matches I have shot in have always considered it proper to restage a shotgun for further use if it is open and empty including magazine. The rule quoted above ignores this condition, and by ignoring it, implies that restaging the shotgun open and empty of any rounds, should earn a SDQ as well. This may be something that needs to be clarified in the next rules revision. From a physical safety concern, there would be no possible danger from "restaging for further use" an open and empty shotgun. In fact, the rules specifically REQUIRE initial staging of an open and empty shotgun if the stage instructions call for no-rounds-loaded in shotgun at the start of stage. good luck, GJ

You understand perfectly. About the only thing that is hard for some shooters to remember to do, when loading 6 initially, is to leave the action closed on round 4 as they complete the first shotgun string. If they open the action, they have to shuck out the two remaining rounds, so the shotgun is safe to leave hands (totally empty), because they no longer can get to the other safe condition (action closed on fired round). Some will forget and earn the SDQ for: So, be ready to deal with explaining the "safe to restage for further use" call to a shooter or two. good luck, GJ

There was certainly very little competitive advantage to loading a loose round into a 1911. 😄 Keep a Barney Fife mag (one round in) if you often need one more round. good luck, GJ

I used a smith I am sure is still in 1911 business - they did an excellent job on one of mine. Mars Armament in Salt Lake City. https://marsguns.com/ Send them an email or call about sight service they can do. good luck, GJ

You can contact Boggus Deal to see if he can install new sights. Do a member search to contact him. Traditional category shooters have a limited number of sight replacements they can choose from. Examples (Harrison, 10-8) are listed in the rule book. Modern category shooters - a wider range. PS (You may have to send him a message. There's no contact info for him on his profile any more.) Good sights help a lot. GJ

Firing pin and extractor channel clean out in in my annual maintenance list. Mainspring, channel and strut cleaning too. Fire control parts (trigger, sear, safety, mag release, slide release) clean annually, visual inspection and pull weight verification. Relube all with syn grease (I like Battle Born) or Rem Oil. Those areas don't get NEAR as much fouling blown into them as do the slide, barrel, link, recoil spring, barrel bushing, frame. Those are done between days of big multi-day match. Or end of small matches. Especially because I use conventional bullet lube, not coated slugs. It's that lube that gets blown around much more than powder fouling (since I run WST powder). good luck, GJ