Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

No, it's not. SAAMI agreed a 1911 semi-auto pistol is chambered in .45 Auto. Even Colt stamps their pistol barrels with that designation (.45 Auto). This is a good example of what SAAMI was established to do - set standard cartridge sizes and names!, The firearms industry of 1920s was trying to remove confusion even then. So the decision then (and now) is that .45 Colt was the revolver cartridge and .45 auto was the pistol cartridge. good luck, GJ

Lassiter would be pretty close to y'all. And would do a fine job. See the sticky post about cowboy gunsmiths for contact info for him. Agree that fixing a Marlin carrier is easier than trying to ever prevent it from jamming, if it ever does. good luck, GJ

If you want to honor the developer and how he named it, it's Cowboy .45 Special. good luck, GJ

It's made by Uberti. Close examination of the barrel will likely show the U in octagon company mark. Now, is it a long action or a short action Uberti? Measure lifter length. 1.600" or very close to that - it's the latest modern length and should take most currently available parts. Shorter, close to 1.500", and you have an old production piece. If you translate the proof date code (two letters) on the barrel into a year of production, you will be more able to tell VTI or other parts suppliers exactly what you have, which is necessary especially for bolt replaceme

What is stamped on the barrel? The engineers/designers/product managers specified that roll marking. I doubt many of those knowledgeable folks did anything further with packaging materials design but make sure that there WAS a box and a manual. Let alone go over each page and label. When a company participates in a standardization program like SAAMI, it usually is expected that the company follows the standardized cartridge nomenclature, just as well as complying with pressure capabilities and chamber and barrel dimensions. IMHO. good luck, GJ

BP usually shoots a wider pattern, especially if you forgo a plastic wad for fiber wads. good luck, GJ

Loaded ammo that is shipped is never charged a hazmat fee! But, of course, shipping will be a little more than if buying feather pillows. good luck, GJ

Umm, I KNOW that Win 572 is a double base powder, with 36% nitroglycerin. https://www.handloadermagazine.com/propellant-profiles-0 Believe Win 231 is also double base. Know 244 is double base. The MSDS that includes 231 has several powders in it, many are double base. Most flattened ball powders are double base. It's modern version, Win 244 has 37% nitroglycerin. Just about guaranteed that 231/HP-38 is double base, too. https://www.handloadermagazine.com/propellant-profiles-9 PB SR 4756 SR 7625 are long out of production, so hardly worth menti

$109 for a brick - That may be what your local club wants to / has to sell .22 LR at right now, but that is not a new MSRP pricing. Its a "panic-profit" pricing that some middleman is forcing on the club. And some other sporing clays clubs are selling Rio and some other target shells at $10 or less. So, you don't have a crystal ball. And, you don't see that some prices will go lower that that in next month or so as the supply starts to catch up. good luck, GJ

Get a (powerful) rare earth magnet from hardware store. Indispensable! It will easily detect steel shot right through the hull. NEVER use steel shot on our cowboy targets. Order some smokeless shotshells from a few of the online vendors that show up on Ammo Seek, as a backup plan. 1/2 ounce shot loads with BP in 20 gauge? Don't think you will be satisfied with their knockdown capability. And, I avoid Pyrodex like the corrosive plague that it is. Use real black, or some APP for shotshells. I'd make 3/4 ounce my minimum BP payload in 20 gauge. You need the shot

Colt - Not a lot of data published on WST in .45 Colt. I've loaded it for about 10 years now, though, so I'll share what works well for me. For a Cowboy load - about 5.7 grains WST with the 200 grain lead bullet. Makes about 140 PF. For Wild Bunch - 6.2 grains WST with 200 grain bullet, Makes 168-175 PF - in my rifle, has been chrono'ed at big matches about 10 times. How light can you go? Don't know, when I want a light revolver load, I use WST in a Cowboy 45 Special case with a 170 grain bullet. About 4.2 grains there. WST w

Not a lot of single base pistol/shotgun powders still left. Most use some nitroglycerin content (up to 40%) to speed up the burn rates and supply more energy in a light charge. So, not using NG is not the cure-all for a clean burning powder, but it helps. Other additives apparently can compensate for some NG content, as used in some of the recent powders that are designed to have clean burns. (Powder companies don't tell the general public a lot about their chemical magic - a lot of what is known comes from MSDS sheet disclosures required by OSHA) good luck, GJ

My main match 73 in .45 Colt has 15 years of moderate use. And a C&I aluminum carrier since I short stroked it within 6 months of getting it. I'd guess 60,000 rounds through it with Cowboy and Wild Bunch both. Got lotsa life still in it. good luck, GJ

Titegroup gets to REALLY smoking up the .45 Colt cases with a 200 grain bullet and light loads, because it does not seal the thick-walled .45 Colt case, and it has a high content of nitroglycerin in the powder, resulting in lots of soot. Sorta like Bullseye does. I used to shoot it a lot in .45 Colt with 200 grain cast bullets. Had best accuracy and clean shooting with 5.5 grains TG. It will give you a loud muzzle report which makes you think its making higher velocities than you will measure over a chrono. Cases will be hot to touch, as the brass pickers will be glad to tell you. Both

That would be laser checkering, which is quick enough to do at events. Hand cut checkering is finer quality and a little more durable, but much more expensive and fewer practitioners. Tazz does laser checkering, mainly around Arizona and New England. Chuckaroo at least used to run a laser. Mogollon Drifter did a couple of my shotguns - high quality work. good luck, GJ

The Series 80 and 90 models have the firing pin block. The reissued Series 70s do not. Series 70s are much appreciated by gunsmiths when trying to make a smooth and light trigger pull. Some having No firing pin block: 1911 Classic - "A tribute to the revered Commercial Government Model pistols of the past, the 1911 Classic features the Series 70 firing system" Royal Blue 1911 Classic Competition, Competition Titanium, Competition Plus, Custom Competition Wiley Clapp Commander, Government, Light Wt Commander, CCO Special Combat Carry Combat Elite Gove

Reverse those two. Stick-on wheel weights, like used on aluminum and mag wheels, are very soft - essentially pure lead. Right off the wheels, they look like shiny gray Chicklets (but larger). 5 Brinell Hardness Clip on wheel weights vary a lot, but today are between 8 and 11 Brinell hardness, normally. As will radioactive isotope storage containers from hospitals. 9 Brinell is hard enough for almost any cowboy bullet. Even 1911 semi-autos. good luck, GJ

With vertical faces to reflect fragments, I would expect some higher than normal splatter problems, which might limit them to 50 yards or longer distances. Just because they will swing does not mean the dynamics of hits at 1400 FPS or higher will overcome the inertia of the plate in the first couple of milliseconds when splatter occurs (they will appear to be fixed in that time period). good luck, GJ

A great title for this post would be "Coated Bullet Vendors?" The better the title, the better the advice you can gather and the less time it takes us all to parse it out. The short to-the-point question was great. It's a hard time to be laying in loading supplies, however. Be ready to make several inquiries and searches. And remember that with bullets, buying from a close vendor or at a bigger match you plan to attend can save you the high shipping costs that are only getting higher. Often times, asking your pards at a local match gets you a vendor name or two you may

You will get tired or expensive (with automation) trying to reset a knockdown target past 10 yards. One target standing alone is rarely used in SASS - start thinking arrays of 5 of the same shape, and it gets VERY useful for practice. So, if you want to hit 'em with mild 45-70, you need 1/2" thick AR-500 alloy steel for the target face. No .38 spl would even begin to tip over that target, so as recommended by ERSC above, think stationary targets on sturdy stands. Because of the expense of making a target to handle large bore rifle, most folks buy practice targets JUST for cast b

Check underside of barrel, under the forearm. good luck, GJ

Many duelist style shooters only feel comfortable with Bisleys. But, it still depends on your hand size and strength. You do not have enough time in the game to be able to make a decision based on experience. So, you can be easily swayed by others' opinions and appearance. If you are a two handed shooter, there's more hammer to thumb with a standard hogleg grip. Few 2-handers use Bisleys. If you are shooting 2-handed, shoot those Patrons! And sell the Bises. This is a lousy time to try swapping either parts or guns. You will take a bigger bath than normal due to

Can you say "auto-ejecting annealing machine" ? My luck, I'd toss hot cases in my lap.

Did you ask specifically what's going on with the IMR powders they now own the rights to? thanks, GJ

There's really no benefit from trying to get lube into a shotshell load, IMHO. And lots of potential to deaden your powder. No way to force the lube to the barrel walls, where the lube could soften the fouling. Using fiber wads rather than plastic shot cups helps reduce barrel fouling some. But slower to load and harder to make tight patterns (if that matters to you). good luck, GJ