Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

Careful with a pipe cutter - it bends the barrel wall in at the cut to produce a false (and inaccurate) mini choke. Simple to find a gunsmith who will cut off in a lathe and deburr the muzzle and even install a new bead. Good luck, GJ

PL - There's MUCH similarity between Cowboy matches and WB matches. I use same rifle (73 in .45 Colt) and could use same shotgun (Win 97 clone) for both. But there's no regular categories in either of those two matches that allow a "wild mix" like a revolver plus a 1911 for a Cowboy match. Or a double-barrel shotgun in WB matches. Some clubs will let you mix and match, but that's on an individual club basis, and usually a that's a small club that needs participants. SASS is a recreational game much more than a training ground for self defense. Can you gain some valuable skills in SASS? Sure. But I would not press real hard to convert SASS clubs over into a run-n-gun, one more IPSC or Speed Steel game. I'd go shoot those as they stand if you want to be proficient in self defense. So, generally you are talking about stretching SASS things quite a bit, and that makes some folks uncomfortable about just what changes are coming. I use the philosophy of "buy the firearms you want to shoot and find a way to shoot them." Or "find a game that is interesting, and gear up to compete in that." Most here at least appreciate the second approach. Good luck with your relocation, GJ

Well, you do realize that in Mar, Apr, and May Chiappa/Daly was probably very short handed if not totally closed, right? I'm sure you want a new stock (even if you can get by with the repaired one). To get that, you are going to have to be persistent in these times of short staffing, I'd bet. Good luck with it, GJ

Well, if you consider that any gun used for Cowboy shooting will look pretty worn after a year, I'm not sure why you are concerned about using a pretty gun that will be worn in a year. If you can get it for a good price, and it works, that is all I want. A poly-choked shotgun is not a collectable to almost anyone. A Cutts Compensator is a collector's item to a few shooters, though (mainly Skeet shooters). Good luck, GJ

Not legal in Wild Bunch part of SASS with the polychoke on it. That choke might also be in violation of SASS Cowboy rules by being a visible external modification, as I don't believe Winchester put on PolyChokes at the factory. As Cholla mentioned, have barrel trimmed to a shorter length - it will look better and for our matches, shoot better too. Shouldn't cost more than $100 to have it done. Good luck, GJ

Time to trace back to the importer of the firearm into US (Chiappa USA, which now owns Charles Daly brand name), and then to the manufacturer overseas. You will most likely get much more of an answer from the US importer than trying to run down a Turkish or other manufacturer. Is this a model 512T Daly shotgun? If so, that is one of several possible Turkish manufacturers.... Did firearm come with any warranty paperwork, or was this a used gun? Their US Customer Service is at 937-835-5000, if you have not already been in contact. You don't need feedback, you have already bought the gun. You need warranty service. Good luck, GJ

Most Cowboy ammo is loaded with a shotgun or pistol powder - it's cheap and a pound makes a lot of cartridges. Almost all powders burn more completely and accelerate a bullet for a longer period of time in a rifle barrel. Our usual findings from chronographing both is that there is 150-200 FPS more velocity in most loads in the rifle than in the revolver. Each gun is a story of it's own, though, depending upon many variables in how action and barrel are machined. Very light loads may show less difference between revolver and rifle. Very hot loads usually show more difference. And, yes, you may never really know what any given factory does to get it's "published velocity." By convention, rounds considered handgun ammo are tested in handguns. And same match-up for rifle ammo. .22 ammo is almost always tested in rifles, except for target ammo for pistols which is tested in, amazingly, pistols. Good luck, GJ

What pants?

That is network slowness. Lotsa folks trying to stream stuff across the ole net. Maybe it gets better in a few months.... Good luck, GJ

A bushing number is not a load recipe, especially for folks who do not use Mec loaders. If you look at ALL the powder manufacture's sites, and the loading manuals, the loads are ALWAYS given in weight, not volume (bushing number). Not all Mecs will throw the same weight with the same bushing, either. Progressives throw lighter than 600 Jr non-progressives! Be safe, be considerate to all loaders - give recipes in weight, please! GJ

No benefit until you start shooting Cowboy shotgun (thrown) targets. And expensive compared to a cylinder bore barrel. Have yet to find a KD out to about 20 yards that does not go down with any of my CYL (no choke) guns. Good luck, GJ

I'm not sure the extractor nose has any real function. I file some off to taper edges and remove burrs, but have never removed the nose entirely. Since the 73 (and other toggle guns) is NOT a positive capture feed (rim under the extractor during feeding), I've always thought some bevel is warranted to help guide the cartridge rim down (and extractor hook up) to ensure the round chambers rather than blocks with a square nose of extractor jammed into the cartridge base. I don't like it if the nose lifts the extractor off the rim during final movement to battery (by nose camming up the slope of the extractor nose cut in barrel face. Seems that extraction has got to be more positive if the rim already hooked by extractor when the bolt starts backward. Good luck, GJ

It's fairly easy to buy light loads (and even easier to load light rounds) for a 12 gauge, much more so than it is for a 20 gauge! 20 gauge guns are usually lighter, too. With the heavy loads and a light gun, the 20 is a real kicker. Ask around at Rio Salado. There's a ton of cowboys there who will give you great advice. DO NOT buy more hardware until you have good reasons for what you are buying, unless you just love trading guns until you get to "right" A gun that was gifted? Unless that giver was a thoughtful cowboy shooter, there's little chance it is a great gun for the sport. If you want to get going quickly and with minimal re-buys, then CLOSELY COPY the hardware that a fellow Cowboy shooter is using that FEELS GOOD when YOU first shoot it. At least then you will have something that works well for a good shooter. DO NOT listen to most gun store/big box store clerks about Cowboy guns. They are making it all up because they have never been to a match and shot the good guns.! Good luck, GJ

The 73 toggle action is a WONDERMENT of almost complete visibility if you are willing to take off the right side side plate, and hold the left plate in place (a little masking tape works). "All things will be revealed to those who seek" Once the action is open and tipped to the left side, get a dummy round and feed it through a cycle, slowly. Where the action would give you the locked feeling, watch the parts that are moving VERY CLOSELY. Repeat until you see where the hangup could occur. If you have had an Out of Battery discharge (felt by a slap the your hand that transmits back through the lever), then you could have a bent lever or lifter arm. If you have damage to the extractor nose or cartridge support tab, or crud in the slots into which those parts slide into in the breech face of the barrel, you would have interference just before the action being completely into battery. If you have a dirty chamber you could also have interference right at bolt closing. If you are shooting .357 cartridges now and have shot .38 special rounds before, you could have carbon buildup at front of chamber (bell a .357 empty case enough to barely enter chamber, then push it forward with bolt to shave the carbon out of the chamber). Once you inspect with eagle eyes, and THINK about what the action and ammunition is doing, it should be pretty clear what is causing the problem. Good luck, GJ

Either a weak extractor or lot of crud under the leg (springy section) of the extractor. Pull up with finger tip when the bolt is half open. Should start to hurt your finger tip as the extractor nose rises up to the top surface of bolt. If weaker than that, replace extractor. At 5000 rounds through gun, most folks would have replaced the extractor once. If tension is good, then look at the extractor's position on the rim of a chambered dummy round or an empty case. Should be fully down on the case rim. If the extractor won't close down on the rim, check that the nose of the extractor is not causing the extractor to lift up off the rim on the last 1/8" of closing. If THAT happens, the nose needs to be trimmed so the nose fits into the extraction slot cut in the breech of barrel (or crud cleaned out of the cut). If the extractor won't EVER get low enough to hold the rim (regardless of whether bolt face is closed to breech or opened back away from breech), then the cut in the bolt that extractor fits in is full of crud, most likely. If you had a split case that caused the stick, it's kinda common for the extractor to not be able to extract the case. To remove the round that is in the carrier when this happens, open action enough to be able to push the carrier down to the bottom of it's stroke. Tip gun muzzle up at about 60 degrees and rotate to right so the loading gate is mostly below the receiver. Hold that position, and push loading gate open and jiggle until the rim falls out through the loading port. Good luck, GJ