Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

Of those powders from the 18 year old Lyman handbook, the ones that are still made sometimes are a short list: Unique - usually very hard to find WSF - probably the easiest to find most of the time, but out of stock now HS-6 - in stock at Powder Valley now (but really useful for 7/8 ounce loads or heavier) Blue Dot - very rare to find on a shelf If you might have some TiteGroup (also called High Over All) powder, there's some new tested loading data for a 3/4 ounce 20 gauge load I could point you to from another Internet forum. good luck, GJ

Let me walk you through how to use one of these powder sites. Let's use the Hodgdon site (Hodgdon powders are much more available right now), and let's say you found some newish Winchester AA 20 gauge, 2 3/4" hulls. And Cheddite 209 primers. Ok, let's find a good guess for a load recipe. Open up the Hodgdon link I gave you previously. Pick the Shotgun section of data. In selections, chose 20 gauge and Ched. 209 primer and 2 3/4" Winchester Compression Formed AA hulls Then pick Lead Shot type, 3/4 ounce shot weight (make as light a load as you can), and you see only three powders to choose from (International, PB, and Super Hcp). Gulp, I know that International can not be bought right now due to military demands, and PB hasn't been made for 20 years. Pick the Super Hcp powder. THAT at least you can buy pretty easily. OK, click Get Load Data button. I get 3 recipes. You should too. Here's what I see: ( 3/4 ounce load in Winchester AA 20 gauge 2 3/4" hulls) OK, Winchester is the powder brand, Super Hcp (Handicap) is the powder type, Ched 209 is the Cheddite primer that is easy to buy today, CB1075-20 is a ClayBusters wad that is used in a lot of 20 gauge target type loads, 12.5 on the first row is the weight of powder in grains, next number is the chamber pressure in PSI, and the final number is the velocity in Feet Per Second. Remember I wrote earlier that most loading data is going to be a target or hunting load? Yep, the lightest load here is still scooting along as 1,150 FPS! Anyway, you could try that load, probably have to locate the particular Wad and a 1 pound bottle of Super Handicap powder. Here's the maker of that wad: http://www.claybusterwads.com/index.php/product-by-gauge/by-gauge-20 The neon green wad CB1075-20 is the one in the recipe. Most folks selling shotshell supplies will have it. The powder, Winchester Super Handicap, looks like this: https://www.powdervalley.com/product/winchester-super-handicap/ But, Powder Valley shows both a 1 pound and the 8 pound bottles are out of stock RIGHT NOW. Your job might be to search for a seller that has it in stock! See, told you it could be done, but might require some leg work! 12 gauge loads are easier to find components for, but lots of Out of Stock problems with those right now, too. 2024 is not an easy time to start reloading shotshells. good luck, GJ

Shotshell loading is VERY much more specific upon the EXACT components you put together, because in the low-chamber-pressure world of shotshells, things can get dangerous when combined incorrectly. And, besides the low pressure limits, there are the volume requirements. In cartridge loading, air space inside a brass case is not a big deal. In shotshell loading, the components have to stack up such that the combination of the powder, wad, and shot stack to a point that supports the crimp of the hull (unless you make a roll crimp). So, the volume that each component, including what volume the hull holds, is important. It adds the additional requirement that not only does pressure matter, but also the stack volume (height inside the hull of all the components). In loading cartridges, you just match your powder to a bullet weight, and read off what weight of powder you should put in the case. Bingo, you're done, unless you have to jigger the overall length to match what your gun works with, With shotgun shell loading, you load hulls that are made to one exact length - usually 2 3/4" long for the FIRED hull, but about 2.45" long for a 20 gauge shotshell when a folded (star) crimp is placed on the filled shell. So, all the components have to fit in the hull, and the crimp has to fold over onto the top of the shot and get pressed down by the reloading machine to make a firmly closed shotshell without a central hole that shot can leak out. And come out very close to the same 2.45" overall length that the factory made the shotshell to at the factory. So, variations exist in EACH of the components used in shotshells (lack of standardization in the shotshell industry) - * Hull type (different internal volumes, different wall tapers) (none of the different brands are anywhere near as close to other brands as brass cases are) * Primer (sometimes vastly different powder burns due to the power of the primer) (where cartridge primers are much more interchangeable) * Powder (some powder is very dense, some is fluffy, some carries lots of energy and makes high pressures and velocities, other powders carry less energy and makes low pressures and velocities) * Wad (lots of variation in the wad lengths, the amount of cushion space under the shot cup, and wads that fit either a tapered hull wall or a straight hull wall, but usually not both) * Shot (since we use only lead shot in cowboy shooting, not much variation other than the weight of the shot that you put in the hull - more weight means a bigger volume taken up by the shot) All those variations mean there are thousands of good combinations of hull-primer-powder-wad-shot, and probably millions of BAD dangerous or non-working combinations that you do not want to use, including loads that turn out squibby, poofy, or that won't crimp well. Loading manuals and published loading data web sites will show you SOME of the good (tested and safe) load combinations. (And none of the unsafe loads) So, you look through those combinations to pick one that uses the hull, primer, powder name, wad name that you have, and you follow the weights for powder and shot to make a good load. "Absolutely No Substitutions" from your recipe is the wise place to start with when loading shotshells. Other than the Lyman Shotshell loading handbook, there is shotgun data on the Alliant and the Hodgdon powder company sites - here are links to them: http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/index.aspx http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/ Get a copy of the Lyman book because it has GREAT instructions for HOW to load. The recipes you find in there are now at least 18 years old, and the wads and powders, even the primers and hull types, are obsolete. Just like that PB powder you mentioned - has not been made for at least 20 years now, and you wont get to use it ever, most likely! So, look at Alliant or Hodgdon web sites for the best current recipes. That's the good news. Now the bad news. Most of the loads you will find are "factory power" type loads. Useful for hunting or shooting clay targets, not so comfortable for cowboy shooting. But, to practice making some loads, pick a low velocity, light shot load designed for the hull type that you have, and load that just to see how you like loading and if you want to "go to lighter loads yet" - which most cowboys who load eventually get around to making. When you get to that point, we (or your local reloaders) will be around to make some suggestions. But, be aware, most cowboy shooters use 12 gauge guns and shells. You will find less advice available for 20 gauge reloading. And many fewer components like wads. Loading 20 gauge to begin with is kinda tough, compared to 12 gauge. good luck, GJ.

I have an very lightly shot Winchester 1894 Angle Eject model in .45 Colt that I'd part with, but I've resisted ever trying hard to sell it as I don't want the buyer to hate me! It's very slow to run the action, as it suffers from the "factory rough action no tuning" philosophy of the builders in the 1990s and beyond. No, don't ruin the gun converting it to 45 Colt. It's fine as it is. GJ

9 round mag capacity to make sure they dodge current or possible future hi-capacity-mag laws? Oh, and the MUST-HAVE threaded barrel for a suppressor. Gonna be a great Special Ops gun or a prairie dog sniper. And the $1279 version? It's stainless with a plastic stock/forearm. And a couple of M-lok slots in the forearm. THAT might more sense for throwing in the back of your Soul while off-roading and overlanding..... good luck, GJ

You mean the last cartridge you have shoved in the loading gate of the gun, which is the FIRST cartridge that you will try to fire. VERY high probability your Uberti has the "loading gate mortise jam" - as about 25% of Uberti rifles have had for the last 15 years at least. If the last cartridge you load which should sit straight inside the carrier block, instead sits cocked crooked with the rim over toward the loading gate, you have the mortise jam. You can temporary prevent this by pushing the last round you load another 1/2" into the carrier block t(pushing with finger or stick through the loading gate), until when you release the round, it sits straight ahead. But the real fix is to put the proper amount of bevel into the frame of the gun. Here's the description of the problem and nice photos of how to fix it. click on the article "Model 66 & 73 frame modification to improve feeding of the first round" half way down this page on the Pioneer Gunworks site: http://www.pioneergunworks.com/technical-info/ I've done many of these to fix the last-round-loaded, first-round-to-fire problems in Uberti rifles and carbines. Your smith may not have noticed this problem if he is accustomed to making sure the cartridges are pushed through the loading gate a long way (half an inch or more), instead of just stopping as soon as the gate snaps shut. good luck, GJ

To minimize the overworking of .45 Colt cases during sizing, I went to the Redding 2-ring carbide sizer. Lower ring several thousandths larger diameter than the upper ring that sizes the mouth/neck of the case. Unfortunately, I believe they are no longer made. Sigh. Great design and function, I no longer get hardly ANY case splits midway way down the shell. Perhaps folks can convince Redding to make them again? GJ

Absolutely not a SWC bullet. It won't feed reliably in any of my lever guns. Use either a Truncated Cone (TC) or a RNFP (round nose flat point). I run a 200 gr TC bullet with no crimp groove, but cast soft (at 8 Brinnell) so that I can put the OAL where I like it. Usually about 1.550" A crimp as firm as I can without bulging the case right below the crimp. Which with the thick case walls of .45 Colt, means a very firm crimp is obtainable. The firm crimp helps ensure the cleanest possible burn and less blowback gasses. good luck, GJ

A spray can of CLP, a shotgun chamber brush and a squib rod. For a big match, a .38 and .45 broken case extractor and a shotgun shell checker/sizer. Serious cleaning gear is back at the casa. Either the permanent one or the traveling one. Clean guns most evenings, especially if using a 1911 that gets fouled pretty quickly. GJ

I didn't know there was a cartridge named the .45 Vaquero. The .45 Colt revolvers as built can shoot at least 3 commercial and popular wild cat cartridges of course - Colt Schofield Cowboy Special Smallest case capacity of these is the Cowboy .45 Special, and with the very low pressures that the large volume cases suffer from when trying to make a light load, the Special wins out for easiest to load a light load into. Allowable within SASS rules? Must make 400 FPS and 60 PF. So the math says a really dedicated shooter trying to make a .38 Special out of a .45 Colt revolver might try a 130 grain bullet at 461 FPS. Several powders might make that load work; I'd start with Extra Lite or Tite Wad, maybe even Bullseye. I've seen a shooter or two show up whose loads did not MAKE 400 FPS. I was entertained watching the slugs rainbow into the targets 7 yards out. Pards will laugh some. A shooter firing that load will not magically become lightning fast. But, there you go. GJ

Swap Meet is Thursday, Feb 29, per the posted schedule (as of today) "6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Swap Meet – Main Tent, Out of Respect for Our Vendors, Please, NO Selling Until 6:00 PM" I'd think you will want to get a "Conventioneers" badge so that you can bring in and sell guns at the event. If you haven't yet done that, contact Sunshine Kay at register@endoftrail.org for details. good luck, GJ

With EOT coming up in February, a great venue exists in the Swap Meet at EOT for you to sell these personally, and even have several FFLs on the premises to help you with the transfer, if needed. Or, sell directly to one of those dealers in cowboy guns who set up a shop presence all week. Running those guns by a couple of dealers early in the week would at least give you a solid "low end" price at which you could move the gun to a dealer. Then, if the swap meet doesn't sell it, you may still be able to get that price (or slightly lower) at a dealer at the end of the week. With historic guns, a fair price is highly dependent upon how wisely you negotiate the sale, as book values may not even apply. Condition is king, and condition is judged only with guns on the bench "under the scope." good luck, GJ

Very nice molds, most seem to be BP examples in his gallery. Does he do smokeless designs, gas check designs, and multiple cavity (2 is what I like for rifle shooting) molds? Can he do custom designs that don't fit his "data entry" pages on the web site? Kinda steeply priced, though, good luck, GJ

Sedalia Dave is right on with his brief comment above. The GROOVE diameter is what folks commonly measure when slugging the barrel. It's real hard to measure the BORE diameter, which the the diameter of the drill and reamer used to cut what remains as the surface of the lands. But any precise caliper or micrometer will measure the GROOVE diameter of a bullet driven down the barrel of a rifle with an even number of lands (or grooves) in the barrel, since the nubs/ribs sticking up on the lead slug that you drive through the barrel are what the measuring device will contact. Those ribs are from the GROOVES in the barrel. So, even though some folks talk about "bore diameter," what really counts is the GROOVE diameter. Because best accuracy often comes from sizing the slugs to 0.001 or 0.002" over groove diameter. It is best to stop talking about bore, and concentrate on speaking about the groove dimensions. (For example, a 30-06 rifle normally has a 0.300" bore, but uses bullets that at least fill the grooves completely, the grooves are usually cut to 0.308", so this means bullets that you buy are 0.308" or slightly larger, especially cast bullets). Unless you want to start making mold modifications (beagling) or bumping up bullets (both are kind of advanced techniques for most SASS shooters), it would be wise to pick a mold that drops bullets in the alloy you will use at 0.380 or 0.381" diameter, for that Uberti made 38-55 rifle. And wise to find a mold that is not cut for gas checks, as most molds you find will be cut to make a gas-check design bullet. The common practice for most long range shooters is to use a gas-check bullet, as it often proves more accurate than a plain base slug. good luck, GJ

I see on the schedule the Cowboy RO classes are: Tuesday 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM RO I Course – Berger Bullets Building – 1000 Yard Range 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM RO II Course – Bench-Rest Stat House, Opposite Long Range Stages However, the Wild Bunch RO classes are not on the schedule referenced above. A post on the Wild Bunch forum cites the WB RO class starts at 8 AM Wednesday, but does not specify the ending time. Is that one expected to be the same 7 hours as CB classes? Thanks, GJ

What are the timelines for the classes on those days? Do the classes overlap any of the match events that are going on (even the overlaps between say WB match and the Cowboy RO classes)? good luck, GJ

Ummm, action slide lock, I believe - GJ

Good stuff. Yeah, 14 grains will make a nice light load with 7/8 or 1 ounce shot. I'm using 16 with an ounce and that's plenty. good luck, GJ

It would take A LOT higher temperature than most of us use to make lead vapor levels be significant. You would oxidize the tin and antimony out of the lead alloy before you vaporize some lead. Be careful with the powdery dross (crud) that you scrape off a casting furnace pool, though. Since that is dry and sometimes a very fine powder, dispose of it carefully and don't let a fan blow THAT stuff around. And, it usually contains oxides of heavy metals (arsenic, calcium, antimony, bismuth, tin, lead) which are very poisonous and able to be absorbed by lungs and mucous membranes much more readily than metals are. Another source of contamination to be cautious about - cartridges when fired blow most of the lead oxides from the fired primer out the barrel or the cylinder gap. Into the air. Prolonged timer operation duty can leave you breathing in this lead compound particulate. Not just your own primers, but all primers of those you time for, can be an exposure source. And, lead pellets from shotguns disintegrating on impact into very small fragments with shotgun knockdown plates is a real source of inhalation of lead, depending upon wind direction and distance. good luck, GJ

Did you let your membership lapse for a while (not paying annual dues)? Some "lapsed" member numbers have gotten reassigned to a new member, who may have chosen the name "saw dust" Why did I guess that? Your ID data on your post shows Guest rather than your old member number. good luck, GJ

Yep, even with a BIG expander button, you don't want (won't have) the bullet "falling" into the case. That much expansion in the neck means no neck tension holding the slug, only the crimp. Which is not enough - it's a collapsed bullet waiting to happen. You want a little resistance in the neck of the case (called tension) as you seat the slug. All you want any larger opening in, is the bell at the mouth, to allow bullet to start straight in the case without scraping a sliver of lead. Your 0.454 bullet will not be too small. The only real caution is that the large diameter bullet combined with some .45 Colt cases with thick walls, may result in a cartridge that does not fit the chamber of your guns, leading to failure to chamber or in revolvers, a sticky rotation because round is not chambering fully in cylinder. good luck, GJ

Finger on trigger a little too early is a very common reason, and comes as you try to go faster. A trigger that is even slightly pulled can fail to catch the sear shelf and hold the hammer cocked. So, you go to pull trigger and find no joy 'cause the hammer is already forward. Try intentionally holding trigger finger straight forward (out of guard) while working the (empty) action real fast. If you never have the hammer fall, this failure is likely due to your own finger riding the trigger. If hammer is falling sometime (with no possibility that you are early-tripping the trigger), then a worn sear shelf on the hammer or a chipped/worn tip on the trigger is likely. And the lighter the hammer spring has been tuned, the more likely all of these hammer-falls will occur. good luck, GJ

I have installed the bottle support on my Grabber, just on the basis that a few other shooters from a major shotgun forum have reported bottle breakage. good luck, GJ

Should be perfectly fine from a functional point of view. Lead bullets are able to be swaged down very easily upon firing. If you can get (cowboy level) cartridges loaded so they chamber properly in the gun, they would be OK to shoot. Accuracy should be on par with a 0.452" diameter slug, but as always, each rifle and bullet combination has it's own accuracy result. Two thousandths extra diameter with lead bullets (cast or swaged) does not increase pressures significantly. But, as always is true, if you load cartridges, you should watch for abnormal pressure signs on any change to your loads. good luck, GJ

Oh, mason's or bricklayer's level line. I get it now. OK, I'll throw you a "line" back - know what "555" cord is? good luck, GJ