Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

I have a lot of C45 S cases from Starline, and yes, they crack quite a bit more often than do my cut down .45 Colt cases made by Remington, Top Brass, Federal, even S&B. I no longer buy from Starline because I came to a conclusion they don't really understand how to make this particular case. All their other chamberings I have tried have been OUTSTANDING. And before you say you did not hear this before you bought, I have related my experience with these Starline C45S cases several times in the past. good luck, GJ

Note the emoji. Not a scientific test, and certainly uncalibrated. The goal of any test is to get close to the kind of "real world" conditions which MIGHT cause a failure, to see if worries about the possibility of such failure are unfounded, or if a change to the system is needed. So, drop from as high as you figure is needed, and use about any wood (just to avoid the damage that would be done dropping onto concrete). I actually do test the pull strength of my loads - in my hammer type bullet puller. If it only takes a "light rap" to move the slug with a roll crimp placed on it, crimp is not tight enough. If it takes a couple of "moderate raps" to move it - perfect. I also use the door jamb test - holding cartridge in one hand, press nose of round as hard as I can into the wood. If I don't collapse the slug into the case - good enough. GJ

Don't have to calculate it, I make that decision based on field testing. Where it REALLY counts. Now, a design that is going to be cast with 6-2 alloy really does present a need for a crimp groove, especially with folks who don't DO a lot of reloading to know all the tricks to use. Although, if you really wanted to test whether bullets will break their seating position, fill a magazine tube up and drop rifle butt first onto a wood surface and then examine the rounds for any collapsed condition. 😉 If none, then it's nothing to worry about unless you are loading cracked cases. But, I'll stand behind my statement - a crimp groove is not really necessary if you know how to load. And the whole topic of commercial casters using an alloy that was never even considered before the .357 magnum was invented and reloaders who did not know better started leading up barrels is a complete discussion of it's own. A 10 BNH bullet is all that is needed for ANY SASS match shooting, even with 1911s. No one I know shoots "dead soft" slugs over smokeless powder, either. The Happy Medium (Goldilocks choice) wins again. good luck, GJ

I have been running .45 cal bullets for the last 10 years with no crimp groove, and ZERO bullet setbacks. In a .45 rifle load that makes about 175 PF. Both in cowboy and WB. What is the key? A soft slug, about 10 BNH, and a firm roll crimp into the bullet land so that the brass of the shell cuts into surface of the lead is the key to this!d Hard alloys (like the standard commercial 6-2 alloy) make it hard to roll the crimp into the slug. A crimp groove, while a nice luxury, is not NEEDED if you load with the proper understanding of the amount of pressure exerted by the bullet stack weight in the magazine and the recoil of the rifle. Now, one design trick that has been used in the past (but not very favorably received) is to put two crimp grooves into the front of the shaft of the bullet. good luck, GJ

I'm sure all involved in the match appreciate your hard work and quick posting! GJ

That top spring for the left hammer appears to be a replacement of an "unground OD" spring. That is probably a bit weaker than the bottom spring (which has tighter coils, larger diameter spring stock, and ground to remove enough diameter to get into the bore tightly. Putting shim into the back end of the spring (if you can get the end cap off and back on) would be easiest way to go. STRETCHING a coil spring never lasts. It's the metal diameter in the spring steel from which the spring is wound which really sets the force the spring can exert. (written before your last reply showed) good luck, GJ

Typical .45 Colt cartridge length that works is highly variable, even within toggle link rifles. Depends upon the carrier installed (factory, replacement, even custom tuned carriers - all have a different cartridge return ramp angle). Then there are the shorter rounds - Schofield and C45Special. And then there's the Marlins (like a longer round) and 92 designs. I DO NOT THINK you can make one design that always works. Unless you go to a design that can be loaded in .45 Colt cases to about 1.530" or more, to shoot in most factory toggles. Or you go very flexible by not putting a crimp groove in the leading band area. So, that would be a fairly long nose bullet. From my personal experience, I would use a long Truncated Cone nose with a meplat about .220" - slightly larger than the primer diameter. Comments from a fellow bullet designer - the Accurate 45-175B is from my design of a stubby TC bullet. Made to have a fairly wide lube groove (can work as a BP slug) but NO crimp groove (so it can be seated over a wide range of lengths). Has worked real well for Cowboy shooting when cast soft (10 BNH) so that crimp can be turned into the leading band. And it casts VERY fast since it's not hollow based. 175 grain cowboy design good luck, GJ

Oh, OK isopropyl........I was wondering where you got your India Pale Ale that was 90% ethanol. 😄 More pics would be worth a thousand words typed in try to get an explanation of what you do or don't see.... What would be real useful to try is taking the locking bar out of action, and hand testing the fit into the locking lugs on bottom of barrel. And a pic of that. Your first pics were marked as if the tip of the bar went completely forward into the recess in the front locking lug. Is this true? You did not describe how the back cross-piece of the locking bar fits the second locking lug - at the breech. That seems to be a pretty wide slot! Does the crossbar on the locking bar fill that slot well? Check for both full insertion to the depth of slots, and any slack vertically when the bar is full forward in the slots. No Stoeger will be fit up "perfectly" due to the price point the gun is made to and skill (or lack of) shown by the Brazilian factory worker. If as you have stated the barrels are not able to be even slightly opened when action is closed up, then the lugs and the locking bar are fitted well enough. That leaves that spring shown in your last picture - the opening lever and locking bar return spring. You may have to find a stronger spring, or add a spacer (washers, a short piece of tubing, mainly put in to test if a stronger spring would be a permanent fix) to put more force into holding the opening lever closed during recoil. good luck, GJ

Strong probability of the hammer spring gone weak. Small probability the firing pin is mushroomed or otherwise reluctant to travel out to hit primer - bad return spring, bent pin, bore of firing pin area dirty or burred. Little probability the hammer itself is damaged - it's the HEAVY piece of the parts involved with striking the pin. You did not clearly say you checked for possible tight fit between hammer and stock - I have seen that on a couple of Baikals. Why are you ready to break out the welder before you find the real problem? That's like tossing parts at an engine that doesn't run smooth (the parts cannon). Take off the butt stock and watch the action parts when you drop the hammer. good luck, GJ

Yep, CitriStrip is one of the most common, and least dangerous to lungs and skin, strippers. I've used several, and now just use CitriStrip. It will USUALLY cut through the sprayed polyurethane finish that the factory puts over the red stain in one or two applications. Get a few plastic bondo spreaders or other medium soft plastic scrapers to pull off the stripper and softened finish. Don't use metal tools or steel wool. Use the woven plastic scrubber pads if you need to have something SLIGHTLY aggressive. Once stripped, do the least amount of sanding or dewhiskering that gives you a smooth surface. It's very easy to take enough wood off to have metal standing proud of your refinish job, which, to an experienced eye, says "clumsy refinish job." Needless to say, make sure you separate the wood stocks from all metal parts before you start. good luck, GJ .

Baikals being Russian made - parts have disappeared largely during the last 10+ years of sanctions on Russia. Even though Remington imported them for a couple of years putting the Spartan name on them, they never did stock parts AFAIK. The EAA (Florida) importer does not have parts anymore (and didn't have much when they were bring them in). Loose on the hinge can usually be fixed without parts. Which any shotgun smith should be able to do. One barrel not firing with a Baikal can sometimes be the hammer/spring/trigger hanging up on the wood of the buttstock. Look for splinters or rub marks where hammer travels. Changing to a single trigger - now that would probably require finding a single trigger Baikal or Spartan that is otherwise junk and swapping several parts in, then tuning and testing it......not sure that would be worth it on a Baikal at this late date. If you want to get some good SxS shotgun work under contract, a shop fairly close to you would be Art's Gunshop in Hillsboro, MO https://artsgunshop.com/contact-us/ Or Sgt Eli (an active member and a recommended SASS gunsmith) owns Victory Gun Works, Fairfield, Illinois, (618) 204-9972 From a proud(?) owner of 3 Baikals (all double triggers) over the years....("proud" in this case mostly meaning I stuck my neck out investing in them 😄). good luck, GJ

Said I lament it. You are certainly free to have your own opinions. But no need to "suggest" to me that I ought to feel that way. GJ

THAT ^ factory section of bevel is typical of what the guns look like recently. But, as said, sometimes the bevel does not go out to the right side of the frame enough. GJ

I am usually able to get into that with a motor-driven die grinder (like a Foredom, but mine is a Harbor Freight copy). And a conical grinding bit. Go VERY carefully. good luck, GJ

From the scratched up carrier, you have shot SOME rounds that were too short for the "second" round to be returned to the magazine. That's the scratches on the bottom of the horizontal channel in the carrier. And the scratches on the return ramp show that mostly the return ramp is doing it's job. But, that is a lot of wear on the ramp. It could very easily be filed and polished out if you wanted to save the carrier. I have changed the angle of the ramp to accommodate short-ish rounds before, and that modification would take all your scratches out. There is some extra metal there, but you have to watch that you do not cut into the lifter arm cavity! good luck, GJ

To resize a picture, open it in a photo editing tool. I love Hypersnap (on my Windows box) since it will capture screen shots as well as work on almost any type of photo. But most simple photo editing software lets you scale and then draw or type text on the photo to explain things (as was done above). Find the resize or scale tool. If your photos are like what you posted, you have about 3000 x 4000 pixels coming out of camera. Set the scale to size the photo to 20% of original size and apply it to photo. That is what I did with your excellent image, and now it's 600 x 600 pixels or so. (I cropped some off the top to make it focused on the mortise) Finished photo is about 4% of the original pixel size, so it flies through the 'net 25 times faster. good luck, GJ

IF that is a divot or other flaw above the "window" (known as the mortise), that really needs to be smoothed out. Then bevel the lower edge of the frame at the top of the window so that is has one continuous bevel, at about 30 degrees to the frame face. I don't like to have hardly any 90 degree "edge" at the top of the window. Not a knife edge, though, leave just a little 90 degree flat for strength. The orange color. Then I also bevel the right side (looking at your picture here) all the way down (toward bottom of frame) as far as my file or stone will get, giving an easy path for the rim of the cartridge to slip over to being straight underneath the firing pin in the bolt. The blue color. Yeah, that is one of the uglier frame beveling jobs I've seen. good luck, GJ

The sad emoji - That was because there was another error in calculating the length of second cartridge sticking out on the carrier to be returned by the cartridge return ramp. As to how it becomes a problem suddenly - perhaps the frame has gotten really fouled or developed a burr? But every time folks say they get a jam and the cartridge is siting cocked in the action and I have followed the progression of solving the mystery, it's due to the loading gate mortise not letting the rim center up in the channel. good luck, GJ

A cocked round on the carrier (fails to lay straight) is almost certainly due to the frame not having a good bevel on the "loading gate mortise". We've described this about 50 times in the last 10 years. It comes from Uberti not finishing the frame properly inside the loading gate area to always guide the round into the center of the carrier's channel.. Here's how to fix the loading gate mortise so rounds do not cock to an angle as they lay in the carrier channel - which causes the action to lock up as you try to cycle the round up to the chamber! Tech info page at Pioneer Gunworks Once you get there, open the item named: Frame Modification for 1866/73 (Round Alignment Fix) That will almost certainly fix the cocked round jam! good luck, GJ

You haven't run into lots of our spotters who close their eyes for C&B shooters and just listen for rings instead of seeing the misses. GJ

Two rounds on the carrier at same time which locks the action - that's due to too short Over All Length of cartridge. Perhaps a loose crimp on that second cartridge allowed it to collapse to a shorter length than you thought you were seating to. Perhaps you are right at the cartridge length limit where the carrier block cartridge return ramp does not catch the second cartridge to force it back up into the mag tube. With a couple of dummies loaded to your length, look down in the carrier after getting those into the magazine. If the RIM of the second (more forward) round is sitting on the angled ramp at the front of the carrier, your length is probably pretty good. But if rim is able to catch the FLAT (horizontal) surface of the channel in the carrier, you have too short a length of cartridges. If you have never had the carrier block worked on to enable feeding shorter cartridges, some of the factory blocks will catch a round that is only 1.460" long. It does vary between guns by +/- 0.020" or so. Your math does not work for Uberti 73's made this century. The carrier block is almost 1.600" long. Your first cartridge is 1.460" long. That should mean about 1.600-1.460 - or 0.540" of the second cartridge can be out into the carrier channel. Not just 1/8 inch (0.125"). Fractions of an inch matter with OAL. good luck, GJ

All are losses to our game that I lament. COWBOY shooting of the era involved guns capable of knocking down horses, dispatching cattle and some game for the pot. GJ

And THANKS to the OP for shrinking the pixel size of photos down from the humongous image size taken by cell phones or digital cameras today (typically now 4000 x 3000 pixels) down to the 800 x 600 pixel realm that makes for quick display across the sometimes low capacity Internet. Pics still show all the detail needed to diagnose almost any problem. good luck,, GJ

How is that a black powder game (BP CR) if using commercial .22 rimfire ammo? Sounds more like just a single-shot rifle game. ACTION sports are usually not shot with a .22 due to the frequent use of knockdown and other reactive targets. Hard to calibrate those to go down with hits from .22s. And, as already mentioned several times, match directors are free to open a special "open" .22 category for SASS matches, if they can figure out how to deal with quiet muzzle report, difficult reloading of most 22 guns on the clock, and other problems with rimfire shot on anything but paper or very frangible targets. GJ

Weak release lever spring (top lock lever) will cause a pop-open on firing as well. With the release lever having been bent, good chance the spring was lightened or replaced while doing that work. good luck, GJ