Abe E.S. Corpus

This was discussed on this Forum about a year ago; some of the comments indicated that there was an error in the Handbook which would be corrected in the next round of revisions. Rather than tracking through the superceded Handbook and the Forum discussions I am asking my question in reference to the Handbook v. 7.1 and the WB RO Manual v. 7.1 (both revised August 2014). Both documents make clear that although restaging an empty pistol with the slide forward is a SDQ, the shooter can "cure" the problem before firing the next gun. My first question is in regards to restaging a pistol with a loaded magazine inserted (assume that the pistol is at slide lock): can the shooter correct this condition? The Handbook and the Manual show the penalty as a SDQ without the parenthetical statement about correcting the problem, however, the Wild Bunch Pocket RO Card (part of the RO Manual) shows "closed slide" and "loaded magazine" as SDQ conditions that the shooter can correct before firing the next gun. There is a mark in the margin beside this part of the document suggesting that it was changed from the prior version. Perhaps this was overlooked in the editing process but it seems that there is a conflict between the RO Pocket Card and the language of the text of the RO Manual and the Handbook. The second question comes from a situation that happened at my local match today. The shooter experienced a malfunction on the last round to be fired from the pistol. There was a failure to feed malfunction that left the nose of the bullet in the roof of the chamber, the rim still held by the magazine. The shooter thought the gun was empty and at slide lock, and laid it on the prop. Once the gun left the shooter's hand, it was either a SDQ for leaving the shooter's hand with a round in the chamber, or a SDQ for leaving the shooter's hand with a loaded magazine. My thought is that a "chambered" round is one that is fully chambered, so having a portion of the cartridge in the chamber did not meet the definition.

I hesitate to guess at a percentage but a good number of Wild Bunch shooters are using the M12s so there is less chance that someone will overlook the staging procedure. Some of us even make a little game of it: "Excuse me, Ms. RO..." "You rang?" "I have here a Model 12 shotgun." "Do tell." "I'm now pointing it down range and pulling on the trigger (demonstrating)." "No click, no bang, you are good!" "Thankee!" I don't think we have had any shooter earn a stage DQ yet.

As Dusty said, no compensator but other features not found on a pre-1919 pistol are allowed in the Modern category. Consult the Handbook for the specifics. I shoot in the Modern category; my pistol is a Series 70 Gold Cup with several upgrades that are fine, such as an extended thumb safety, beavertail grip safety, Commander style hammer, match trigger, checkered mainspring housing, ramp front sight, beveled magazine well and a full length guide rod. On the other hand, I had to remove the exterior mag well funnel and the add-on wrap around checkered panel for the front strap.

I've seen both used to good effect by Traditional shooters. Both have more visible sights than a "GI" type 1911 (while still legal) and both are available in stainless (also legal) if you prefer a stainless gun. I think the Springfield is a Series 70 while the Remington has a Series 80 type hammer block. In case you prefer one over the other.

Looks a lot like my old Bianchi mag carrier. Mine covers well more than two inches. The linked photo shows ten round mags that are probably longer than standard mags. I say it is legal.

Colonel, the HBB is legal for SASS Cowboy Action Shooting. There is a specific provision in the Shooter's Handbook that makes it so, even though "it is not a reproduction of anything" that existed in the 19th Century. As is often discussed on the SASS Wire, the HBB is not highly favored by cowboy shooters. The Wild Bunch Action Shooting rules did not "pick up" the language allowing the HBB. This is one example where the WBAS rules differ from their cowboy action counterparts.

Personally, I think this is a good change.

If they are fresh out, contact Cowboy Junky on the SASS Wire.

What a great post; lots of positive points about WBAS in addition to costuming. I suggest you change the subject line and make it a sticky.

Is it possible to extend a Model 12 magazine tube anyway? I always thought a cowboy action shooter accustomed to single loading a '97 would be able to hold his own in 3 gun.