Legendary Lawman

Howdy Big Boston First thing, dry firing is defined on Page 29 of the cowboy shooters handbook: "Dry firing is defined as the act of bringing the firearm into a shooting position, cocking the hammer, and pulling the trigger as if to cause the firearm to fire normally." In other words, as long has you do not go through ALL the motions above, you have not dry fired the gun. In practice, most model 12 shooters will keep the shotgun on or very near the loading table, close the action, pull the trigger and then turn it over and load the magazine with the required number of rounds (to a maximum of 6). As J. Frank points out, many of us will pull the trigger a second time, sometimes even a third time, ;D to confirm that the hammer is down. On the firing line, if a shooter picks up their shotgun and cannot rack it, the RO should stop them and check the gun because that is a good indication that the shotgun is cocked. Welcome to Wild Bunch. Enjoy.

Had a great time. What a great match.

Elwood Thanks for the story and thanks for the ideal.

Jorge I agree with Happy Jack, as we are trying to make this an early 1900s military match. You have the option of adopting a sitting position which is more stable in any case. I checked with the Match Director and she agrees with Happy Jack. No pads will be allowed. Of course, exceptions will be made for a disability.

Thanks GJ for your answer. To confirm, any BAMM legal rifle is used in the Sgt York stage.

The BAMM match at Winter Range has been changed a bit to be more military in style. To that end the side matches are being published now for the information of all Wild Bunch competitors. BAMM Monday, February 24, 2020, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. – Bay 13 (practice bay) Long Range Rifle 2 targets, one at 100 yd and one at 150 yards (distances will depend on target size available) Rifle – 10 rounds The only support you may use, other than your body is a military sling that would have been used with your rifle. A stripper clip may be used to load and reload the rifle. Start standing with rifle loaded with 5 rounds. Chamber a round under the direction of the TO. At the buzzer, shoot 2 rounds at the far target and 3 rounds at the close target. Change to the kneeling or seating position and then reload 5 rounds and shoot 3 rounds at the far target and 2 rounds at the close target. Highest number of hits wins with time used to break a tie. Sergeant York 2 rifle targets at 100 yards, 6 pistol targets at 35 to 60 yards. Rifle – 5 rounds, Pistol loaded with a 6-round magazine Start standing with rifle in hand, bolt closed, chamber empty, 5 rounds in the magazine. You may use a sling for support. At the beep, alternate on the two rifle targets for 5 rounds, starting on either end. Then make the rifle safe, draw the pistol and put one shot on each of the 6 pistol targets, starting on the furthest pistol target and sweeping to finish on the closest pistol target. Shortest time wins. A miss is a 5 second penalty. A procedural is a 10 second penalty. NOTE: With thanks to Evil Roy and the use of his targets, you may use jacketed bullets in your rifle. SPEED MATCHES Tuesday, February 25, 2020, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Bay 8 for all firearms Rifle – 7 rounds Shotgun – 6 rounds Pistol – 2 magazines of 7 rounds each Note: Main match rifle and pistol rounds must meet WB power factor

Just heard that you were not going to be able to make it J. Frank. We'll miss you here. There have been discussions on how to allow more Wild Bunch shooters to participate. Again this year, we will probably max out which means 26 shooters a posse which is pretty big, especially for Wild Bunch. The problem is time and people. If you look at the schedule, there is so much cowboy activity on Tuesday, that the stages we shoot on Monday have to be re-set on Monday afternoon to prepare for all the schools and courses on Tuesday. Then there is a mad rush again Tuesday afternoon to re-set the stages for the cowboy side matches and warm-up on Wednesday. As well, we have the Wild Bunch side matches on Monday and Tuesday afternoon. I just wanted to show everyone that what seems simple is not. We have talked about having another day for shooting. That is an additional expense but may be viable if we can get enough shooters. The rest of the Winter Range board are all supportive of Wild Bunch and we continue to have discussions on how to make this match better. Thanks everyone for your support

Hi Tully The list of who's coming on the website www.winterrange.com, is all inclusive. It does not tell you who is shooting Wild Bunch. I will inquire but I think it just takes too much time to separate the list. Right now everyone is working hard to tie down all the loose ends, checking and rechecking. We have a work party at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Jan 4 for anyone who is already in town. Lots of work on props and things but lots of fun working with all the other volunteer cowboys. It's going to be a great shoot.

WildOkDee Send you a PM

Hi WildOkDee Unlike Garrison Joe, I cannot find your name on the list. Serenity, the Match Director for WB, just received the latest list from Registration and we cannot see your name. Please contact registration@winterrange.com and ask Sunshine Kay about it. We are going with 130 for WB and we are almost full right now. That makes for some good size posses but the stages look great with lots of shooting. We will be publishing the WB side matches in the next couple of days. They are exciting as well. Look forward to seeing you there.

It is looking to be a great match. We are working on warm weather. Hope we see you there Tully.

Hi Jorge Yes, a new version of the rule book will be published. Just some minor changes/clarifications this year.

A number of people have been working very hard to bring you interesting and exciting stages for this year's Winter Range Wild Bunch Match. If you have not registered for the match, there is still space, so get your applications in soon. The round count for this match will be about 287 pistol, 58 rifle and 50 shotgun. Don't forget to bring extra ammunition for the side matches. Complete details for the side matches will be posted shortly.

Hey August As well as the information, you brought a smile to all of us that knew Wild Bodie Tom. thanks

Hi Trooper Sounds like a great shoot. Congratulations.

Hi Abe I am not on Facebook and do not have a photo of the holster in question. However, the fact that it is lined (assuming the steel lining does not show) or the fact that it is dropped do not make the holster illegal for Wild Bunch. If you wanted an absolute ruling on a particular holster, we would have to see a good photo. A holster would not be outlawed based solely on a hidden liner or the fact that it was dropped. However, if it was TOO extreme based on the very general criteria of traditional or military it could be considered illegal. For that it would have to be something unusual. Without a picture, that is as definitive as I can get. Never believe Facebook!!!!

Hi San Joaquin GJ and Tully are on the mark. My wife and I match our Wild Bunch rifle to our cowboy rifle. In a pinch, the WB can be a backup at a cowboy match even. Having them the same just makes it all feel right and doesn't require extra familiarization. We shoot .45 colt but there was little question as my wife shoots classic cowboy so keeping the dies and brass the same just makes sense. I have looked at lots of power factor testing over the years and the majority of shooters (but far from all) use a 200 grain FP bullet for the rifle and a 230 grain round nose bullet for the 1911. Lets face it, the 1911 was designed for the 230 gr round nose - or was it the other way around :) Enjoy Wild Bunch

Thanks for the post Kingsnake. We appreciate the photo. Hope you don't mind us using it. LL

Thank you for pointing this out. It is a good question. The committee will review it and get back to everyone.

The 8th round in the magazine (the round in the bottom of the magazine) is an overloaded round and therefore illegal ammunition. If you use it, you are using illegal ammunition and penalties apply. LL

Abe Totally agree with you. Stay tuned :)

The WB Rules Committee has had a goal of trying to simplify the rules and particularly to reduce unnecessary penalties. In 2019 the penalty for overloading a 1911 magazine was eliminated. As Boggus Deal also stated, the shooter only earns a penalty if they shoot more than 7 rounds from a magazine. Shooting an eighth round from the magazine would be “use of illegally acquired ammunition” for the eighth shot. When the committee eliminated the overloading penalty, it was not realized that it needed to be replaced by a “rule” stating that you could only load 7 rounds in the magazine. That sounds complicated in that there is a “rule” but no penalty for overloading (unless you use the overloaded round). We already have that intent for the rifle. However, the rifle is different because there is only one magazine. Obviously, the rule book needs to have a clarification which will be posted by Happy Jack after review by the WB Rules Committee. In the meantime, WB shoots should be governed by the posted rule that 1911 magazines will have 7 rounds. Any overloaded round will not be a penalty unless it is used by the shooter.

Hi JJ I am sure Happy Jack will chime in. As a committee we have never discussed this. In the past when people have asked me, I have gone with the following criteria. If they are leather roping gloves, no matter how thin, they are allowed. If you cut off the shooting finger or even all the fingers, they are still allowed. Basically, the roping gloves are what a cowboy might/would have in those days. Cutting the end off the fingers doesn’t change the era of the gloves. As you point out, nylon, Velcro and such on the gloves puts them in the modern era and not allowed. Given the number of people that have asked me, it is a great question. HJ, as chair, will have the last say. LL

Great post Boggus. Learned something new. I see that Two Dot is right on the ball.

Serenity and I attended this match last year. We sure wish we weren't so far away. What a great shoot with a great bunch of people. There is lots of shooting and lots of fun, well worth the time and effort. Of course the facilities in Sparta are great as well.