Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

That round in the carrier at an angle (first of your latest pics) is the tell-tale sign of needing the loading gate mortise beveled! If that is what happens with 6 rounds in the mag tube, when you load 10 (the usual load for the rifle), the crooked round jam will be even worse - jammed tighter (due to pressure from the tighter compression that 10 rounds in the mag tube cause) because the round is harder to "jiggle back" straight. Look seriously at the frame loading gate window bevel! All your ammo has round nose flat point slugs. The ammo is NOT what is causing a failure to feed. Folks were trying to point out the well-known problems of trying to get semi-wadcutter ammo to feed in most lever guns. Even if t hey called it a collared round. BUT that is not your problem since you are using RNFP ammo. Do all three of the ammo types show some resistance when you try to chamber them? I would not put too much importance on finding that snap caps feed well, because they may be slightly smaller diameter than the 0.480" nominal diameter of the .45 Colt cartridge. Let's try an experiment with just loading one round. Take a black sharpie and mark all the slug and case right down to the rim. Put that round in the loading gate and ease the lever through a cycle. If the round hangs up, stop and extract the round with easy motion. Look for where there are scratches showing binding on the round as it was trying to feed. Take a few pics of any rubbed off marking. You have a rather unusual problem. The 73 rifle feeds the round almost straight in. It would take the carrier being quite a bit out of position to make the feeding (forward travel of the bolt) bind up. good luck, GJ

First - make sure you do not have a bullet stuck in the chamber or throat of the gun! This stops a round from fully chambering just like your pic shows. Run a cleaning rod down from the muzzle until it comes out into the carrier shaft. If you can't you have a slug stuck from either a squib round or a bullet that caught in the chamber and pulled itself out of the case - that would have spilled powder around the action, too! Second, take a real close look at the tab at the front of the bolt face, lower edge of it. This tab should stick straight forward. If it is bent downward, it can catch in the groove of the cartridge channel in the carrier (lifter) block. A bent cartridge support tab needs replacement or repair. A gunsmith job, for a first time cowboy shooter. Lifter arm is raising the carrier about the right height, now that you gave us a side view. This problem could well be that the loading gate mortise was not beveled enough - it has been on many Uberti guns over the years. This problem would make the first round balky to cycle up from magazine to chamber. (But, that problem usually locks the gun up as you lever the action open, then start to close the action. You are showing you can get the action about 2/3 closed! So this may not be your problem) A crooked round in the carrier usually requires jiggling the lever or slapping the gun to straighten out the round in the carrier block. And could even affect the second round being crooked enough in the carrier channel to prevent the first one going into the chamber. Load magazine with ten rounds in a safe place and manner. Dummy rounds if you have them. Look down in the opening in the carrier block to see if the first round sits angled (crooked) instead of straight forward. Crooked means a poorly machined loading gate mortise. Although lots of folks with experience can fix this with these instructions: http://www.pioneergunworks.com/technical-info/ then go to the "Frame Modification for 1866/73" instruction link. It can be well above the level of a person who has never taken apart a 73 rifle, though! If this is the problem, a workaround to let you shoot the gun would be to carry a stick (about pencil size) that you can push the FIRST round (last round loaded) straight by putting the end of the stick through the loading date (like you were trying to "load the stick" into the magazine). Once the cartridge is straight, the action will let you cycle it fully. If the SECOND round also sits crooked, the problem is pretty severe, but the firing of the gun often provides enough vibration (jiggle) that the second and remaining rounds will cycle OK. Having a cowboy gunsmith fix this will be simple. Other gunsmiths won't even understand what you want them to do. Beware! Ask around the club where you are located for a local gunsmith who is "cowboy capable". Sorry if no one informed you that almost all Cowboy guns from any factory will not have enough attention fitting the parts to run well, smoothly and quickly right out of the box. These designs took hours of fitting at the factory back when they were originally made. They still need individual parts fitting and smoothing, even if now they are made on CNC and robotic controlled machinery. good luck, GJ

Yep, I have a .45 auto rim die to seat and roll crimp my Cowboy 45 Specials. Works better than a .45 auto taper crimp die! good luck, GJ

Lifter looks like it is coming up a little too high - the top edge is well above the adjacent flat cut on the top of receiver. This may be catching the lower edge / face of the bolt by contact with the lifter channel (it has a hole from back to front in it where the bolt runs going forward to chamber the round) A catch here would interrupt forward travel at the position in the picture. To test this, put a little thumb pressure pushing the lifter block down 1/4" while you try to lever. Report back if this helps or does nothing. If this is the case, you may see a bright shiny spot looking down at that channel in the carrier once you remove all rounds. Let us know about the lifter carrier. good luck, GJ

My guess on this head cover ("brass") blowout is due to a part of the extractor body having been completely removed, leaving a gap right where the tears occur. Some Baikal "work" has been done in the past that clipped off the upper extractor ears without pinning the cut-off ears to the barrel breech to hold pressure when the gun fires. I mention Baikals specifically because they have an hour-glass shape on the extractors that wrap almost 180 degrees around the shells, and smith's think that will get in the way of fast easy extraction, so they "dehorn" the top section of the extractor - leaving an "unsupported chamber". Other shotguns may have similar extractor designs. Take a picture of the extractors as they sit down in the barrel breech (before they lift to extract)! Yikes! GJ

Abilene - Correct! I was thinking of the other infamous gun from China, the 97 clone. Parts for those dried up real quick after IAC got their last container, as well. All this should remind folks that most of the smaller-market imported guns are subject to non-existent parts availability for many different reasons, including an embargo (Russia, China) or a financial crunch, a change of business direction, or just "bureaucracy." If you buy a gun that is NOT a close clone of what was a widely made US gun, then you should probably get 2 or 3 and source your own parts from the safe when you need them. I've already had to snag a butt stock for my old TTN from my new TTN. Now I have to get back to trying to repair the head of that old stock where it rotted from previous oil soaked storage for years (before the receiver of the 1998 vintage TTN gives out).. And, I patched in some beech to a short Baikal gunstock just like you have done. Also, THAT one got covered with a leather butt cover, for appearances sake. good luck, GJ .

All these comments should show you by now that a new replacement butt stock is hard to find. IAC does not import these guns now, Norinco/subcontractor has not made any since about 2011. About the only possibility for a new stock would be sending off your short butt stock to a wood worker who can duplicate the stock while adding back the pull length you need. That is common work in the gun stock business, but it's pricey - probably at least $600 for plain straight-grained walnut. And some hand work will be needed most likely to fit the duplicated stock exactly to the action and finish the surface. Unless you find a "junk" gun that still has a decent butt stock you can swap onto your gun. good luck, GJ

Win 244 - yes for pistol cartridges. No for light 12 gauge cowboy shotshells - too slow IMHO. Maybe for a full-speed shotshell for clay targets or upland birds. good luck, GJ

Yeah, that is just one of several reasons that I load rifle cartridges (bottlenecked and straight-wall dinosaurs) on a turret press, with charging using a powder measure dispensing onto a scale pan for weighing each charge. PS - OK, I found I did not really know about the Dillon powder check die. I assumed the reference was to the powder hopper sensor. So, the comments below only apply to the Dillon powder hopper sensor. Remember that a powder check level sensor only catches the absence of powder in the hopper. Any problems that prevent dispensing the powder, including fubar'ing the reload process, powder clumps, foreign matter in the case, partial drops, etc, etc WILL NOT be caught by powder checkers, but WILL BE caught by the powder presence in CASE dies like the RCBS lock-out. From years of loading experience, I have drained all the powder out on my progressive press during a loading session - zero times. All powder charging or obstruction in case problems discovered were caught by RCBS lockout dies. I too would be very concerned that just an audible signal instead of locking the cycle like the RCBS die does would be less useful. good luck, GJ

Another RCBS lockout die fan. All my Dillon 550s carry one (yes, that means I seat and crimp in a single die). I get a lock about once per 200 rounds loaded; some are false lockouts and that is OK with me. good luck, GJ

Titegroup is about the most available powder right now for doing light loads in most any cowboy cartridge, and it will work fine in .32-20. It is also sold with the name High Gun (exactly the same powder, just another "marketing name" added by Hodgdon). If you have some on hand, Bullseye would work fine, too. Have not seen it very available now, though. good luck, GJ

Yep, my poor experience came with a cart bought in 2008. Wire wheels, busted brakes, poor fabric design. Replaced in 2010 (IIRC) with another, and that one is still going fairly strong. My comments were directed at the original design, and that seemed to be what the OP had. I'm glad they have made improvements through the years. Glad too that they now have a field rep who gets out amongst the end users, too! good luck, GJ

I have settled on Air BNB or Vrbo places when I go to Phx for a week or so. Several of those kind of places can be found either in Anthem area or Peoria. Both locations are very convenient to the range, and about 1/2 the cost of a hotel in that part of the year. And quieter. Just don't get kicked out for having big loud parties - those kinds of properties are getting serious pressures to protect safety and security of neighbors next to short term rentals! good luck, GJ

If you are thinking about Pioneer, be aware that most folks have to reserve for a Feb 2025 week-long stay about in Feb 2024 to be successful. It is very popular, widely acclaimed with good reviews. I never got in because I did not know this when I tried 5 years ago. Yours is a hard request to help with, as I found the best place (easiest to get into) was the dry camp section at Ben Avery, and I just walked the few yards to the community shower house and toilets. Did a lot of looking at other RV campgrounds, most were a bit of a drive from Ben Avery and some were sketchy. The shotgun area campground is easier to get into than the main hookup camp at Ben Avery. But still in high demand at the time of EOT. good luck, GJ

If you have the Mernickle or Kirkpatrick leather butt cover that has gotten slick, folks often take a powered wire brush and lightly rough up the surface to make it non-slip. good luck, GJ

Our Veterans have given us the greatest gift possible....freedom from the tyranny which has tried to take over the world several times! Let us not forget that the ones who served contributed to this just as much as the ones who died in the service of the Country. May God protect our service members and our Country! May the future be served by folks of the same character, GJ

Volume means how many a month or year do you plan to shoot. Once you load 500 say, you are not done. You have just begun. If you do a match a month, and practice a little once a month, that is maybe 20 rounds for match and 40 rounds for practice. Or 60 rounds a month, which is 720 rounds a year. That volume you can easily do with a single stage press. I shoot at least 700 rounds a month of cowboy and 700 rounds of Wild Bunch, more in good weather. For me, a Dillon 550 press is just about right. And extra die plates are available for that press, so to change to a different round, it can be as simple as swapping the die plate, the shell plate and maybe the primer feeder/seater. 30 minutes at the most. Getting advice from an experienced reloader is about the best way to learn this hobby. If they already know how to load for cowboy matches, it's a genuine gift if he will work with you to learn how to load 'light"! After you load for a couple of months you will start to understand what equipment will work for you. I'd not buy a LOT of stuff until you get that experience under your belt. You may get a recommendation here for every reloading machine ever made. Most will work for you, but costs can range from a few hundred to a couple-three thousand. And production rates run a wide gamut. Learn, then buy once and wisely. good luck, GJ

Not even close as to quality and usability and resale value. You sound like you are buying on names you have heard someone mention rather than considering what your real needs are. (I can not imagine what the motivation would be that someone would be "split" between a Dillon progressive and any Lee loader. Sorry, just little comparison.) The volume of your shooting will make much more difference in a press choice than the wide range of chamberings you are considering. Larger volumes of shooting and small amount of free time means you might really benefit from a Dillon progressive or a Hornady Ammo Plant. Either will be pricey and take some learning time. A simple used RCBS or Lyman single stage press is a great learning tool, though, and the dies you might buy will mostly move up to better productions rates pretty well. good luck, GJ

So get a used single-stage press for $30-50 and start on it. Will pay itself off in 2 boxes of .44-40. GJ

No, contact the factory. They have made several wheel changes during the years, and older models are just about impossible to get wheels for. Weak early designs (like the spoke wheels which did not have spoke-socket-nuts) and China-sourced product has resulted in their carts being expensive use-for-a-while-and-discard equipment. Got to be real gentle with their carts! good luck, GJ

If you REALLY DO NOT want to reload, then you should be shooting .38 special guns. All other chamberings - you need to reload to avoid PREMIUM pricing.m GJ

The Single Action Army design is designed for not much more than 14K psi. .45 auto data runs mostly a lot hotter than that. I keep C45 Spl loads to about 12K psi. We don't need that much power anyway. GJ

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th Edition, really provides one of the largest collection of cast bullet loads. Which are different from what most loading manuals provide (almost all jacketed). Even that manual, however, rarely shows you the light loads that cowboy shooting uses. Most of what is shot in matches is lighter than the lightest loads published. So, I start with the Lyman "lowest load" and work down to the point where good-enough accuracy, function or consistency starts to suffer. good luck, GJ

NO! Put a couple of good dimples in the bottom of the sight base dovetail! Barrels are expensive and "permanent," new sights much cheaper. And are often made from mild steel rather than alloy steel, like barrels. good luck, GJ PS - a sharp center punch is a great and traditional tool for dimpling the sight base. Just had to tighten one up that I took a couple thousandths of metal off and the sight would move on it's own when firing a 45-70

I've had real difficulties with Competition Dynamics timers missing shots when timing through smallish windows in props and especially with long barreled .38 rifles and most .22 rifles. Don't use a lot of other brands of timers. And yes, that is with adjusting sensitivity to a practical maximum. Also have seen cross-detection of shots when shooting more than one stage on a single bay (like is done at Ben Avery with the wider bays), if the timers are adjusted to high sensitivity for light reports on "my" stage. good luck, GJ