Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

Very easy to set a Pocket Pro (or other typical match timers) up to give you a start beep and a finish-by beep (called Par Time). That works for both dry fire and live fire. For dry fire, drop a half second off and practice until you beat the finish signal. Then reduce it again. With live fire, you can see splits on individual shots, and by a minor subtraction of a shot, calculate times for transitions. And, you have the same sound signal that you will hear in matches. Good luck, GJ

Over last 20 years, large pistol primers have been a LOT easier to buy than small pistol, large rifle or (worst) small rifle primers during the 3 or 5 shortages we've seen. You are heading down a road to disappointment changing guns and cartridges because of lack of buying primers when they are available. Good luck, GJ

Only if you think it does...... I've tuned up both types of toggle rifles for a top notch shooter before. Set them up to be almost the same feel. Both could run as fast or faster than that top shooter was able to run them in matches. Most of the difference comes from the 66 having a stock with more drop at the butt. So it fits a bigger shooter who stands upright a little better than a 73 does. And the 73 is a little more protection against an OOB. Folks shooting .357s in a a 73 are not doing themselves any favor. Shoot .38s with a long-enough nose once that rifle is fixed. Good luck, GJ

"Mirowin" gun seems to be missing a rear sight.....something you took off? Good luck, GJ

Or keep an eye out for a Charles Daly or Miroku 500. It's a "less special" Browning BSS (all made by Miroku) in the 1970s and 1980s. A fine gun, usually needs the automatic safety disabled, but then shoots very well. Often available very lightly used for $500. And does not have a barrel extension. Good luck, GJ

Now that you shared THAT vital piece of info, it surely sounds like the lifter timing is off. Bent lever, bent lifter arm, worn lifter, weak lifter spring, all can contribute to this kind of problem. If you have had an out of battery discharge right before rifle started acting up, then a check for bent parts is overdue. THAT has NOT been my experience with Lassiter's turn-around on a gun repair for something actively being used by a good shooter! I know of several gun problems fixed in very short time. Good luck, GJ

Because the cartridge return ramp is a little different. I have found I can make ANY toggle gun feed down to 1.400" with the correct return ramp angle. But, the lever has to do a little more work pushing the stack of cartridges back into the mag each stroke. That is why almost all toggle guns run better up around 1.53 to 1.55" OAL. Good luck, GJ

1.45" is a very Short OAL length for a non-modified 73 carrier to feed well. No, a '66 won't (on average) feed any better than a 73 toggle gun, since unmodified carriers are all shaped about the same. Test - Load up a few dummy rounds with no powder or primer. Stick several in the mag. Cycle slowly and see if your carrier pushes the SECOND cartridge back off the carrier and completely into the magazine as the carrier starts rising from the bottom of it's stroke. If the second cartridge rim catches even slightly on the shelf inside the carrier, the "cartridge return ramp" machined in the front face of the carrier is too steep. Making that ramp more shallow by filing and polishing is almost REQUIRED to feed 1.450" cartridges in most toggle guns! Do not file so much off that you break into the hollow cavity behind the ramp, though, or gun won't feed at all! The ramp gets reangled, not completely set back from the front of carrier. In other words, take material off the ramp at the top of ramp, and none at the bottom of ramp (the bottom surface of carrier), and tapered all the way in between. Your .45 and 44-40 ammo can't be loaded to that short an OAL without going to a real short-nosed slug, so that's why you have not seen this problem before. Second item that causes some feed glitches (especially with a fully loaded magazine) is a poorly shaped loading gate mortise. See details about how to check that and fix that on Pioneer Gunworks tech notes site, open the page about "Model 66 & 73 frame modification to improve feeding of the first round " https://www.pioneergunworks.com/technical-info/ Oh, and no real good ever comes from going to a smaller cartridge. Good luck, GJ

Type of sights and style of holding/shooting the revolver have long been conflated in Cowboy action. So, we have ended up with titles of shooting styles and categories that don't quite make sense to a true Historian of the Old West. Wild Bunch, on the other hand. got the shooting style, competition category, and sights/pistol features neatly separated and logical. IMHO. Good luck, GJ

Pull out your "regular" loading manual and take just about any of the loads at top end of "safe for single actions". I use 231 or Unique for loads like those, but there's 20 or so other powders that would do in a pinch. Good luck, GJ

The hook on end of action slide that fits into bolt, or the screw that holds it in place, is broken. Because the bolt falls forward, it's not hanging on anything. The screw breaks on many guns. The Smith Shop has a heat treated tool steel replacement screw. Getting a broken screw out is a pain, and best left to a cowboy gunsmith. If you are in Arizona, Jim Bowie in Tuscon area can handle that real quick. Or Johnny Meadows, too. Or Squibber in Casa Grande. Arizona is where old 97s go to retire! Good luck, GJ

If I have a chamber that is misbehaving (sticky ejection, etc), yes. Haven't had to do that to any of mine. I do have a chamber scraping tool since I use Cowboy .45 Spl cases in my .45 Colt chambers. I do try to remember to scrape the carbon out in case I want to ever shoot .45 Colt cartridges. I have been known to polish the throats if they are a little tighter than I like, though. Especially on Rugers. Good luck, GJ

But rather hard to shoot a SASS match with them air guns, huh? Primers are short everywhere due to hoarding/panic buying in current civil/medical unrest. If we could all be civil and well, we would have primers, perhaps. Good luck, GJ

Usually cartridge cases are made from "cartridge brass" (30% zinc, rest copper) alloy. Differences in "temper" (hardness) of various sections of the finished case is built in by the case maker during drawing (which adds hardness) and annealing (softens the case) operations. A case like .44 WCF goes through a bunch of those steps due to different diameters in the case and the very thin neck design of the case. If you had a hardness tester, you might find the .44 Mag case web is much harder than the .44 WCF case web, thus better suited for the higher pressures. And the HEAD of the case is usually high hardness to resist recoil against the recoil shield or bolt when fired, and protect the rim from damage by extractors.. The cartridge companies usually don't specify a different alloy for different cartridges. Too much hassle trying to get the brass makers to tailor a roll of cartridge brass sheet to each of the different cartridges. They just draw and anneal to the recipe for each cartridge design, that has been developed though the years. Good luck, GJ

First off, to find whether you have a short frame or a more standard length frame in that '66, you measure the opening in the bottom of receiver from front to back of opening. If it is just right at 1.600" you have a long frame. If close to 1.50" +/- a few, then you have a short frame. The short frame is older, early 70s or before. It DOES NOT take most speed parts (links, lifter, bolt, etc). It is commonly chambered for .38 special only, not .357 magnum. It usually has the lever safety (or would have had one from factory). These can be nice smooth guns, but not very fast. They don't carry the full value of a normal Uberti 1866. They have to be loaded with short length .38 special ammo. The receiver normally has a notch at the breech, as shown by PWB pictures. I really believe this is what you are considering. The long frame started to be made by the early 1980s. In the 1866, it is chambered in .357 magnum, has NO lever safety, and takes almost all the modern speed parts (except the modern bolt assembly and perhaps some minor others). No receiver notch. This is normally much more desirable than the short frame, especially if the shooter can get by without having the lever safety. If you want both a lever safety AND ability to tune up with modern parts, you REALLY want a '73 model gun!! There's several reasons that the fastest shooters have 73s and not 66s; this being one. Then again, most SASS shooters are not even dreaming of ever being the fastest anything. Except maybe fastest to dinner. Good luck, GJ

Don't know offhand, and I often find if I need a new Uberti screw, VTI is my huckleberry rather than trying to set up to thread a metric screw. And they have hardened ones for slightly more - those last a LONG time. Good luck, GJ

If you are right handed and missing a lot of shotgun targets by a foot or so to the left, you are cross-eye dominant, and seeing the front bead with your left eye instead of the right. Although there are several ways to attack that problem, learning to shut the left eye is fastest and cheapest. If you are missing a lot over the top of the target, you are not bringing the shotgun to your cheek, but shooting with your head up and even off the stock. With that approach, you have the barrel pointed over the target when you think you have the bead centered. Work with a good shotgun shooter in your club, and I'll bet he/she will spot a problem right away. Good luck, GJ

When you can score 4K of Federal small pistol primers, THAT will be a real sign we are getting to normal again. GJ

I'll bet a tidy sum there's no stock being held back in manufacturer or distributor warehouses right now. Last panic buying, distributors were loading almost directly from incoming trucks to outgoing trucks. And manufacturers had product already allocated before they could start making it. What is different right now is 1) panic buying and 2) production capacity sized to what JIT inventory control experts say is most cost effective in normal situations. In other words, in abnormal situations, the standard consumers get almost nothing for a while. And hoarders/scalpers get a lot if they can divert product from normal distribution paths. I believe both are happening. Good luck, GJ

No new 97s are being imported now. The IAC versions to look for are the 06 or later years (serial # starts 06...) Or the "cowboy" model which Coyote Cap felt is the best that he could get the Chinese factory to make - those have serial numbers "CB....." I find I like my "06" guns as well as my "CB" gun. Old Norincos are sometimes usable, sometimes not. Tolerances and steel are not as good as the ones built from 2006 forward. Other manufacturers (there were a couple that have tried) - I avoid them like the plague they are, Good luck, GJ

It will be a struggle getting equipment and components at this time to do reloading. You are competing against millions trying to do the same thing after factory loaded ammo pretty much dried up 5 months or so ago. If you are able to find what you want, it will be 3 times or more the normal price, for most items. If you are just doing this because it will be fun to reload, I'd advise waiting for about a year, to let the political/civil situation shake out. Either the market and society will: 1- settle down and get somewhat back to normal or 2 - blow up (perhaps literally) and then no one will be reloading because there will be many other disasters to attend to. These shortages due to irrational buying surges have always disappeared before. The manufacturers, I am sure, are producing components and ammo at full capacity (as they did in the 2016 shortages). But as we all saw with something simple like TP, it is VERY easy to overwhelm the manufacturing capacity in the US! Because they no longer value keeping "surge" capacity in mothballs until needed. Good luck, GJ

You would be VERY surprised at how often this happens. Even Founders Ranch has trespassers who enter the range after hours and shoot through cowboy steel with magnum rifles and armor piercing rounds. And shooters during supervised range hours can find themselves alone or just with a "silent" buddy - and then they whip out high performance ammo. Good luck, GJ

Then don't crimp in the crimp groove! The loader DOES HAVE more options than just always using the crimp groove. Most SWC designs have a full diameter (driving) band in front of the crimp groove that will let you seat to a shorter OAL! Especially with soft alloy bullets that are appropriate for the low pressures and velocities used for SASS. Max OAL that most toggle link rifles like a '73 will feed is usually about 1.590" or so. Good luck, GJ

Try Truncated Cone (TC) bullets. Love 'em. They have a longer nose section than RNFP, so when you need a long cartridge OAL, it's easier to get that with a TC. As folks have said, SWC will hang up when feeding on many lever guns - especially "uncontrolled feed" guns like the toggle actions. The ridge formed by the shoulder catches on the entry to the chamber. I have even designed a 175 grain TC bullet which fits .45 caliber firearms. It's found in the Accurate mold catalog as # 45-175B. Great for light large bore loads. SWC bullets have long had a reputation of being very accurate in revolvers (like Elmer Keith found). Especially heavy-for-caliber bullets. Good luck, GJ

And check your point of impact at no more than 10 yards, shooting standing. Assuming you want them sighted in for Cowboy matches. If you don't have a steady hand when using a file, wrap the barrel around the sight slot with a couple wraps of masking tape. The FIRST time you touch the masking tape, you know what NOT to do again. And do not leave a sharp edge on the rear face of that front sight. It WILL chew up your holsters. Round it off like the factory does. It really does not matter much what profile you cut. What your eye sees is the top edge, regardless of whether it is mid blade or rear of blade. A bullseye purist would want the blade highest at the rear for ultimate accuracy. You just need "minute of steel" Good luck, GJ