Garrison Joe, SASS #60708
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Posts posted by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708
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Glad you got it out with a chamber-filling low-melting metal alloy - assume it was Cerrosafe. you used.
You know, there's really no value to wiping out the original problem text in your initial post! It just makes it harder for folks in the future to understand how your solution might help them with a similar problem.
good luck, GJ
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Possible problem - cylinder base pin reinstalled too deep and blocking the hammer travel (as a safety feature). Try resetting the base pin and making sure the pin latch catches the pin in the firing groove, not in the safety groove.
The Cimarron published "Hammer Block Safety System" warning can be found here, with a good set of line drawings that make things very clear:
https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/Manuals-Forms/PDFs/CusSafInst.pdf
good luck, GJ
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6 hours ago, Billy Boots, # 20282 LTG-Regulator said:
3-4 reloads on a once fired hull?
I get about 5 (after factory) on Gun Clubs, 8 on Nitro 27 and about 10 on STS. good luck, GJ
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My go-to for rust removal is Kroil! You can use BRONZE wool and scrub after soaking with Kroil and remove ALL the rust, usually without removing bluing. It does smell!
For long term prevention, I use the same grease I use for other firearms maintenance. Right now, the best I have found is Battle Born synthetic grease. Second place - Mobil One bearing grease. Any oil will have a hard time staying on the parts after a year.
good luck, GJ
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Yep - follow Cerrosafe instructions about TIMING and you won't be sorry! After a couple of hours setting, you may have to warm up the barrel with a torch to where it sizzles water to get the metal out. good luck, GJ
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I find that the green STS hold their crimp petals one or two reloads more than the gold Nitro 27 hulls. So I favor the greens but won't pass by a gold Nitro on the ground or in the bucket. Both of those are smooth hull walls.
However, I find the STS and Nitros are at least two reloads longer lasting than Remington Gun Clubs (with ribs), that get pretty ratty petals on about the 5th reload.
good luck, GJ
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Yep, that's one of several ways to mine and mill copper. Worked the copper processing game for about 10 years, back when the US mined and processed it's own copper requirements. Now, most of our new-production copper comes from foreign countries. Including Zambia, as the video features. And, it's more expensive than ever before! good luck, GJ
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Got about 15 small digital devices with clocks in them. Each changes the time manually and differently, except for one alarm clock which can sense when the time change happens, and the several computers... Some are complex enough that I have to pull out the manual twice a year.
Changing time is for the birds. How did we ever live BEFORE we had DST, only Standard Time? The 1700s, 1800s, 1900s were all WRONG? Nope!
Time is NEVER saved, just folks get to stay up later in the summer without an excuse.
good luck, GJ
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Not legal since that is a full-metal jacketed slug. And it's power factor is only 142. Most 1911s have to run light "bullseye" springs and proper throating to get solid feeding. No, all the way around.
Always useful to see the factory ad for details:
Federal 185 grain target .45 auto ammo
good luck, GJ
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On 7/18/2026 at 1:12 PM, 9245 said:
I just ordered an antique roll crimper for the paper shells, but could it also possibly be used on the brass ones?
No, you don't have any need to roll crimp a brass hull. Insert an over shot wad and cement it to hold in place against the shot. A white glue is often used, because it is brittle enough when dry to come cleanly out of the hull when the load is fired. Or a quick-set cement like rubber cement or E6000. "Waterglass" (sodium silicate) from old time drug stores was used in the "olden days", but is hard to find now.
The paper-hull roll crimp tool will not have anywhere near enough power to "roll" a brass hull mouth enough to hold the overshot card. And you would work harden the brass quickly leading to cracking the hull.
Lots of cowboy shooters just use a plastic hull and either roll or star crimp it. Using either a fiber wad stack or a conventional plastic shotcup. That leaves melted plastic in he bore, but it is easily cleaned out by spraying the bore with your black powder cleaner and shoving a chunk of paper towel from breech to muzzle after 5 minutes of softening.
good luck, GJ
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Best suggestion - come out to a cowboy match close to you and talk with folks about what they use and like! Ask BEFORE you buy!
I've never seen a list. Get the shotgun that you really like. Ejection mechanisms are easily removed/disabled. If you can't do it yourself, seek a cowboy gunsmith. Almost all the side-by-sides will come with ejection plus extractors.
Post your location in the personal info of your account and we can even suggest a gunsmith close to you. And matches close to you, too!
good luck, GJ
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The search function on this forum is clumsy and weak, and although some workarounds exist, the forum software ought to do better. So, no, I don't think you will get griped at about not "just doing a search," but posting instead.
Be aware that welding and re-cutting the bolt face will mean a longer firing pin is needed. And maybe a non-standard extractor, too, unless the work is planned out real well. "Stretching" the links (or making a larger knob on the forward link) is something that gunsmiths often do (welding and relocating the link's pin locations or shaping a new bearing surface on the forward link) which just moves the whole bolt forward a tad to close up headspace. Meaning a replacement bolt should just drop in without work. You can read about that in David Chicoine's book "Gunsmithing Guns of the Old West" (available on used book market, and well worth it if you ever want to know the innards of one of our guns).
good luck, GJ
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Yep, swapping the short stroke links over to another gun and seeing excessive headspace on THAT gun is an excellent test! You have extra headspace.
I'd email Will Shootem (Joe Alves) at Pioneer Gunworks and let him know you need longer links for one of his short strokes. You may have enough measurements already to tell him what extra length you need to close up the gap to around 0.005" of headspace between bolt face and case head when chambered. good luck, GJ.
willshootem@pioneergunworks.com
FYI - in future, you can start your own post rather than tacking on to the end of a LONG 2 year old posting. You will get more response doing that. Rather than "hijacking" a zombie post. GJ
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I've tested several dies for crimping operations, and the one that comes out tightest and least likely to bulge the case wall below the crimp (because it resizes the case wall to proper loaded cartridge diameter) is the Redding Profile Crimp Die. Sometimes it only works on a particular bullet profile, so it's not guaranteed to ALWAYS fit the slug that you may have picked out.
Where the crimp is less likely to bulge the case, I lean toward RCBS dies.
good luck, GJ
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I also run RCBS lockouts on my Dillon 550s which load straight-wall pistol cases. Even though that means I have to use a combined seat/crimp die. Just means it takes a couple of extra minutes when I change a bullet design to get the seating and crimping synched up. Let's see - the last time I changed a bullet design in those cartridges was about 2012..... good luck, GJ
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Following info came from the W.E. Goforth reference book on Iver Johnson revolvers.
Appears to be a Second Model Hammerless "Safety Automatic" pocket revolver, made in .38 S&W. The cylinder has the long flutes (lead-in) on the locking notches that makes this gun designed for black powder only. Gun was made standard with the nickle finish (blue finish was extra cost). It appears to have factory made optional Mother of Pearl grips, which were an extra cost add-on. Would make the original sales price at the time be about $8.50, according to Goforth.
The location of serial numbers, patent dates and manufacturer's logo would make this a 1906 model, 10th Variation.
Top of Barrel - manf. logo is correct and confirmed.
Serial number on bottom of the Top Strap - no picture of this area for confirmation.
Serial number on bottom of trigger guard - confirmed
Serial number on left side of grip frame - confirmed
(but Goforth specifies that an "R" should have been stamped in front of the numerical part of the serial. Sometimes the factory workers forgot to do this)
Butt of grip frame - patent dates with only 2 dates listed (June 16, '96 and Aug 25, '96) and a Pat's Pending stamp too - confirmed by picture
Serial number of 475 says this was made early in the production of the "R" series of guns in 1906. Estimated 1906 total production of this model was 33,000. It was a very common gun of the time.
You don't say whether this gun is functioning currently. Many have broken action parts that make the value fall to almost nothing (because parts have to be made or salvaged from other guns since "new" parts are not available). The finish has suffered a lot of aging. You also did not indicate bore condition - often pretty bad on these BP type revolvers. Many of these BP guns were shot with higher pressure smokeless ammo of the 1920s and 1930s and have the lock-up of the barrel latch stretched out, sometimes to the point of being unsafe to continue using.
Valuation of the gun depends so much on condition, condition, condition. This one has little to hang a "collectors" value on. Parting the gun out would probably be the most valuable use.
good luck, GJ
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Most folks won't have an adjustable reamer in their back pocket, so a split dowel with a sandpaper strip put into the split and spun with a drill will take a little out of a hole.
But, the pin is a lot cheaper than the bolt! I like working on the cheaper of two parts, if there is no functional difference. Which, there probably is no serious difference which gets fitted to the other. So, I'd still fit the pin by sanding it down.
good luck, GJ
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I'd stick that toggle link attachment pin in a drill chuck and scrub a couple of thousandths off the diameter with some emery cloth or other mild abrasive. As you can see, it's a pin that is held captive by the side plates. Make it just skinny enough to slide by hand if you press hard. Next time will be a lot easier. good luck, GJ
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There is NO procedural flow chart. The decision to make is: Did the shooter engage the targets in the correct order? as called out in the Miss Flow Chart.
Since we do not try to read the shooter's intent, the targets are in a close array (giving not much hint which was being aimed at), and we have the rule of thumb that "a miss cannot cause a P," then the miss was considered an engagement of the correct target.
Other procedurals are invoked by the context of the shooter's actions, and not needing a sequence to define by a diagram, as they all stand independently, and shooter only has to have committed one to be awarded a P. No multiples.
good luck, GJ
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Even with harder bullets than you have sampled, it will be pretty hard making more velocity (than about 1800) without the bullets starting to strip on the rifling and loosing fine accuracy. You will soon find that building an accurate load with a cast bullet is a whole different journey than you have been on before!
So far, you have four requirements which don't live well under the same roof.
Cast bullets, preferring poly-coat
Low enough recoil to avoid being beat up
Enough accuracy at distance to shoot the premier long range match.
Believing the jacketed bullet mantra that more speed is usually more accuracy.
This probably mandates more than one pet load be developed - one for about 200 yards max with low recoil, and one for your max range work.
Eyes and Practice Range -
And you haven't yet said what your vision capability is (can you still see flies on the paper at 200 yards and use iron sights like a Trooper?), and
Do you have a practice range where you might reach distance (1000? yards plus)
But, the IMPORTANT part is to have fun with the shooting opportunities you have. Enjoy the 45-70. I really do. GJ
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Like OLG said, that 18 BNH hardness is going to work, especially if they are poly-coated (HiTek). Lots of the commercial casters produce that hardness due to it being hard enough to ship without damage (not necessarily for it's accuracy).
But, you should let decent accuracy drive the search for a good load. Especially with cast bullets in a rifle, each gun is particular about what it will shoot tightly.
Vary the velocity, test at least a couple of bullets, and try different powders, too. It's really amazing how the variations will change a wild group into a tight one at a couple hundred yards.
Don't be afraid to shoot slower loads than 1900 FPS with cast or coated-cast slugs. My Marlin 1895 likes (with 300 grain slugs) either Unique or Reloder 7 making 1200 FPS for a (max) 200 yard load. 1.5 MOA is possible in my gun.
Only a few SASS side matches will shoot past that distance. And for those, perhaps a 405 grain load will reach out to longer ranges better, but watch the recoil. If you are not used to some big guns, you may be surprised at what an 1886 can dish out.
good luck, GJ
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Win AA HS hulls have a tall base wad inside the base of the hull. Some shot-cup wads that don't have enough taper to them hit that "lip" of the base wad and a few of them have the skirt expand outwards into the hull walls rather than tuck inside of the base wad cup. Those that do expand, often put a ridge through the hull wall that you can feel about 3/8" above the brass. That ridge is just about impossible to get rid of, so I don't use those Win loads for matches. Just practice.
Since the hull wall itself can expand out slightly when shell is fired, those "ridged" shells slide in and out of chambers or chamber gauges fine. But after firing, the ridge is what catches the shotgun chamber wall and keeps the fired hull from shucking easily with a flick of the wrist.
Try being particular with the feel of the shell 1/3 of the way up from the base.
BTW - that ridge is too high for a SuperSizer to compress it. And shotshell loaders do not have any of the dies that try to work on the plastic hull walls, just the brass and the very edge of the mouth, if you have a finish crimp (taper) die on the machine.
It was too much checking for me, so I just switched to using only Rem STS or Nitro 27 or Fed HOA hulls. Very rare now for a hull to stick in my SxS guns.
good luck, GJ
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4 hours ago, Tall John said:
Lands are 0.449-0.4518"
Grooves are 0.444 - 0.4460"
The names on the barrel features are backwards. Lands are the small diameter - what the barrel was bored to. Grooves are cut into the barrel with a cutting tool that goes deeper than the bore (lands), thus the groove diameters are a larger number!
good luck, GJ
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Casting bullets; advice for a first timer
in SASS Wire
Posted · Edited by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708
Even better than straight sawdust is oiled sawdust.
Tin gets "removed" from the alloy because the tin combines with oxygen from the air above about 800 F real quickly. The fluxes don't remove tin, they make most of the oxides in the alloy separate better from the alloy. Some fluxes oxidize (like borax) and some reduce PART of the oxides (tin mostly) back down to the metal (like sawdust, old leaves, and some of the oils) mainly due to the carbon in the flux combining with oxide part of the alloy, reducing the metal oxides back to metallic state.
Sawdust works pretty well because the wood chars into fine carbon that is more able to combine with oxides than the cellulose in the wood fibers are.
Oiled sawdust fluxes real well because of the ability of the oil to contribute extra carbon to combine with the oxygen of the impurities, and also to "moisten" the surface of the dross so it is better able to come to the top of the alloy in the melting pot. My favorite oil is synthetic 2-cycle motorcycle/outboard oil. It is less smokey, better smelling when it is heated, and holds together at the casting temperature better than most oils. So, I actually use DRY leaves (oak or ash are wonderful) as the cellulose component, and I mix a half a teaspoon oil of 2-cycle oil in as I add enough DRY leaves to cover the top surface of the alloy. Leaves will char instantly, oil spreads amongst that carbon layer, and stirring it all in gets all the oxides that are trapped down in the alloy and on the pot walls to loosen up and come to the surface where the oxides form dross powder.. That oil component really helps reduce the tin back to metal which then returns back into the alloy. This does get smokey, which can be burned to clear it up (I use a propane torch to light the gas coming up).
I get more free leaves than I can use from my backyard ash tree every year, dry them in the garage in bags or boxes for a year, and they never cause a moisture/steam explosion when I add them to the pot! New Mexico scrub oak (buck brush) leaves are also really good for fluxing - millions of tons are available in forests in NM. 😄
Discard the skimmed off dross outside, not in living spaces. Air's moisture getting into lead casting dross can create very poisonous gases! Sealed cans are excellent discard containers.
Of course, you NEVER should add anything into a hot melting pot that contains ANY amount of moisture. Just a couple drops of absorbed water can blow most of a pot of molten lead up and onto YOU and your equipment. That includes bullet jackets, range pickup lead, old roofing or cable sheathing, etc. as well as fluxing material.
Oh, that 2-cycle oil is an EXCELLENT lube to use on the mold sprue and top surface where the sprue plate contacts the mold. Just BARELY get a q-tip moistened with the oil, and scrub lightly. It removes the smeared lead on the sprue plate and mold top quickly, and keeps more from getting smeared when you cut the sprue before it completely solidifies.
good luck, GJ