Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

Take one side plate off, keep that side upward, cycle gun and watch closely until you see what is the "catch in the git-along". Then fix it. You have not got a real common problem. Watch that your link set does not bind by having the "knee joint" go past perfectly straight. Watch the tip of the bolt to see if it is colliding with the lifter block as you open the lever. If so, retime the travel of the lifter. Tell us what you may have changed about the time you started noticing the lever binding. Tell us what non-factory parts and work has been done, Take a real good picture of what the innards look like with the action closed, when it binds just before it opens. Probably we need more clues, and you are the one who has to find them. good luck, GJ

Dropping the recoil spring to 15 pounds AND the mainspring (in the housing in the lower section of the grip frame) down to 19 pounds lets most 1911's run with easy slide retraction but still enough force to chamber rounds and strip rounds from magazines that are in good shape. Colt factory originals are usually 16 and 23 pounds, respectively. Change both, don't run one factory and one lighter than factory. good luck, GJ

Conventional (historical within the game) cast bullet load with Win 231 would be 225-230 grain round nose (so called ball) bullet, over about 4.3 grains of 231 to make about 160 power factor. (This is the starting load on Hodgdon's data site by the way). Seat the bullet so only the rounded part of nose sticks out from mouth, not any of the full diameter bands of the shank of the bullet - the 1911s all have very short "throats" at the end of the chamber, and you can get failures to chamber completely if the full band sticks out the mouth of the case. Taper crimp to just return the diameter of the mouth of the case to about 0.472". This gets rid of any seating bell that you put on the case before seating the bullet. Either a powder coated slug or conventional lubed slug sized to 0.452". Brinnell hardness of slug between 9 and 11 is best, to prevent the conventional hard cast bullet tendency to lead the barrel due to gas cutting of the base of the slug with the low pressures this load will generate. good luck, GJ.

Think .44-40 for rifle. The thin case walls and bottleneck case REALLY keep the action much cleaner. Only use a 92 action (complex to take down and reassemble) with .45 Colt black powder loads (the dirtiest cartridge) if you are a real masochist and enjoy slaving over the gun. Revolvers - much simpler to maintain with black powder. good luck, GJ

Black Loctite (relatively new product) is often used for "permanent" mounting of steel parts. REALLY tough. See Amazon or even Graingers. Best reference material for Iver Johnson revolvers is the book by Golightly. Title is "Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works Firearms 1871-1993" Out of print now, used copies are close to $100.. Lots of exploded diagrams on most of the break open models showing a firing pin disk or bushing with two very small holes through it for a tightening wrench (probably have to be made from scratch). I would check the "disk" and the hole it came out of carefully to see if there are threads before you glue/epoxy/solder the disc back into place. And the firing pins were usually spring loaded, so if the disk is out, the spring may be gone and have to be replaced with something similar. Otherwise, firing pin will stick forward into the primer dent and could lock the cylinder from rotating after firing one round. Parts are essentially not available. Some folks buy a second similar gun that is bad shape and salvage parts out for things that break on their "main" gun. good luck, GJ

You can take a 12" length of 1/4" brass rod, cut into 2 pieces, hammer one end or each to a chisel shape, and you have two nice, safe die scraping tools. The real tough to remove deposits that you can't get out with carb cleaner and swabs or bore brush and patch, will come out with the brass scraper. The best part of cleaning with a scraper - I can put the die back into my loader and be running within a minute! No waiting for any liquid cleaners to dry. good luck, GJ

Yeah, accuracy costs. Unless it's able to be a business expense 😉 Seriously, though, keep writing well! GJ

Be aware that if you want to sell equipment on Shotgun World site, you need to become a member (free) and then contribute at least 25 useful replies or posts to their many forums. THEN you can sell and send and receive personal messages (how folks contact a seller on the forum). Recent discussions on there guessed the going price for a used 366 in good shape to be roughly $400, maybe slightly more for the "trendy" 28 gauge loader. good luck, GJ

When they have the parts needed (and they seem to be adding more used parts all the time). They do have the M12 carriers with ledges, several in stock right now. But at higher prices than Old Arms of Idaho. Like this one: M12 12 gauge carrier with ledges at the rear of shell lifter surface good luck, GJ

Darn those old springs that get tired and weak as they age. Same as legs. good luck, GJ

If you are just loading 12 gauge for cowboy matches, I'd get a MEC 600 Jr and leave that 366 as a 28 gauge. Lots less work, and that MEC will work for you if you are only going to make 50 or 100 shells a month! good luck, GJ

No, it's a PVD vaporized metal deposited finish. Should be a lot tougher (and glossier) than Cerakote or electroplating, and probably close to what anodized aluminum would be. good luck, GJ

At least it is an aluminum receiver, not the zinc alloy with a steel wrapper like the Henry 22s. Will respond better to tuning and give better lifetimes, I would guess. good luck, GJ

Numrich is about my last choice to get parts from, because they really put no work into checking and cleaning up parts. It's always a dice roll whether they will work. NuLine and Old Arms of Idaho are great suppliers. They send much better parts, usually. They are a little harder to order from than Numrich, but a lot more satisfaction in my experience. Just ordered a carrier with "ledges" and shell guide from OAI and parts dropped right into my Model 12 and it tested well, running at high speed, even tipped over to the right. Without having to ease any edges on the chamber. The main improvement seems to have come from the carrier having the rear ledges on it, which the one that came with my well-used gun did not. That was also a design improvement made sometime in the middle of the production run to also help with shell feeding off the carrier into the chamber. I don't put any supplier's old springs in, though. If they are coil springs, I use them to take measurements from and make a good one from cutting down a suitable replacement new gun spring. Springs do not last forever! As for your right side extractor, I'd use the thick (dark) one since it was hard to remove. That means it will likely be hard to have it pop out when you are running it! If it will pivot when installed (so it can snap over the hull rim), and has a good hook shape, it will likely extract hulls. Good luck, GJ

Looks to be PERHAPS a Black Diamond grade Model 12. But I don't see the inlaid black diamond in the grip area. Anyway, pretty fine woodwork on it. That would explain the long fore end, skip checkering on butt and a grip cap. Definitely a higher grade model 12. And it is NOT a Model 25, since this one has the take-down barrel. Nor is it a featherweight Model 12. Might want to post up the serial number (with last three digits starred out). And any markings on the barrel. Make sure it is not marked as a 3" chambered Duck Gun. Those are hard to run in Wild Bunch because they are tuned to run 3" shells. good luck, GJ

SASS shooting is rarely "precision" shooting. Most folks with good eyesight have some difficulty seeing a standard sight at the firing rates we usually do. Putting small dots on the front sight would be just about worthless for someone with marginal eyesight. Besides being illegal. But welcome to SASS and hope you enjoy your time in the game! GJ

ALL their long distance rifle sights showed out of stock when I looked a couple of days ago! good luck, GJ

Further reading on Model 12 carriers lead me to a supply of carriers reclaimed from "parts" guns, available either with no shell guide, or with shell guide, for 12 gauge guns. Old Arms of Idaho parts Have not run across this vendor before, but they have an extensive listing of Model 12 parts. A previous supplier that I used for Winchester parts, NuLine out of Missouri, has disappeared in the last year or so. Good luck, GJ

Another yes, from experience. But, it will possibly make you a bit slower getting the front sight on next target in a cowboy match. GJ

What Site? Montana Vintage Arms? Looks to me like there is a domain name problem, or web site has expired (or host name has been sold/hijacked by a new entity). Call this number that was listed for them back when the web site worked: (406) 388-4027 Here's a top-notch brand (Kelley) of custom Soule sights, with the mid-range sight picked out. They will work closely with you to get you exactly what you need. But, it will be a lot more than that Cimarron sight. But a lot more capable, too. Kelley Sights good luck, GJ

Front slide serrations, target trigger with holes, hammer, front of grip serrations, beavertail, rear sight and extended controls rule out the Traditional side of the game. Probably legal for Modern with a legal magazine. I'd have to look at all it's listed features to be sure. I'd look at Tisas guns if you want a low-end gun that is really good. Most folks have real good luck with them. They have some that are Traditional, and some that are more modern. good luck, GJ

No, but changing the shape of the ID granules (the yellow dots) has happened before with some powders. I don't think there is any easy way to be real sure if it IS or IS NOT 700-x. If the powder is not in the original container, you cannot be very sure of it. Spread it on the lawn! good luck, GJ

It is absolutely NOT Longshot, which is a flattened ball powder and very shiny gray. And Longshot has no color dots. Another idiotic AI result. This is a flake powder......the yellow donuts remind me of 700-X. But, as I don't have 700-X on hand any more to do a precise comparison, it's fertilizer. As such, it will probably grow beautiful grass 700 times faster. 😄 GJ

So, that serial number comes up as a 1954 manufacture year. A cartridge guide would not have been originally installed in that gun, carrier will not be machined to hold and operate a guide, and the milling of one to let you just add the guide and spring is kinda complicated. I'd bet easing the rough edge off the chamber entry on the barrel, on the right side, would be pretty useful. good luck, GJ

Many older Model 12s don't use a cartridge guide on the right side of the carrier. "Newer" models (from about the 1960s on?) normally do. That guide is there to help keep the shell in the gun, on the carrier, when running at high speed. I've had a 1947 model and a 1963 model - neither had the cartridge guide. What is the vintage of this gun, or at least the serial number (with the last three digits shown to us as STARS) ? Is the carrier pivot screw tight (holding the carrier to the trigger group) (it tightens CCW by the way)? If not, it can affect the feeding of rounds. Try keeping the gun about 15 degrees tipped over to the left as you run the action, so that gravity helps keep the shell from heading toward the ejection port as it feeds up into chamber. You can see how in the first picture that the shell base is pushing out into the port. Or, you can run the gun a little slower and thus smoother. Not what you really want, but often the cheapest way to get them to run. With a lot of hunting (like on ebay) you MIGHT find a used carrier that has the shell guide installed. BTW, this is not a 3" chambered "duck gun," I hope? The problem with shells sliding right is real common with 2 3/4" shells in a 3" Heavy Duck gun with an action made for 3" hulls. good luck, GJ