Abe E.S. Corpus SASS #87667

Club rules vary. Ours are very flexible. Four revolvers with the option to use a shotgun or a fifth revolver on the shotgun targets. The fifth revolver is loaded with four rounds if there are four shotgun targets (that way the revolver should be empty at the end of the shotgun string. We allow revolvers to be shot in any style. We rigged a weighted bucket with three holsters to facilitate transportation of the “extra” revolvers from the LT and to the ULT. It’s a fun challenge.

I believe the Taylors Run-N-Iron has that configuration.

I also bought several pounds when Sportsmans Warehouse had the powder on clearance. APP made this powder for Alliant. It seems to me to be courser than APP 3F so I tend to use it for shotgun. Most of my containers were badly clumped. I open the container, pour the powder into a large glass measuring cup and use a scrap piece of wood to break up the clumps. After that it works fine.

I really like my RCBS Lockout Die. I made a video comparing it to the Hornady Powder Cop:

Wolff says one of its wire springs is not for EMF revolvers. I had a pair installed on my GW2s and had issues. Went back to the flat springs.

If that kit had been available when I acquired my Miroku ‘73 I would have jumped on it.

I went the budget route. I purchased the SlixSprings lever safety/trigger return spring and had a local guy slick up the internals and thin the factory springs.

I talked to Hodgdon reps at the NRAAM after IMR introduced IMR Red as the counterpart to Alliant Red Dot. IMR Target was the answer to Alliant Bullseye and there was another “Dot” (Blue, I think). I asked whether load data for the Alliant powder could be used for the corresponding IMR powder. They said no but data would be published for the IMR powders. It’s too bad these IMR powders were discontinued since Alliant powders are still hard to come by. I use a lot of Red Dot for cowboy pistol and shotgun. It’s less sensitive to cold temps than is Clays and I find it softer shooting than Titegroup.

I keep some CCI Standard Velocity ammo in my cart for shooters who turn up wanting to shoot .22s (we have a Rimfire category in Greenville and a first time shooter showed up with Heritage .22 revolvers last Sunday). For what it’s worth, Steel Challenge matches allow “high velocity” .22 ammo and don’t seem to have problems.

Well stated. Cowboy Junky taught me to write stage instructions without using language that is covered by stage conventions. It not only saves space it helps eliminate confusion like this.

Out of the box it has what Ruger calls a “reverse indexing pawl” which means that the cylinder only turns clockwise but it stops at a position that aligns each chamber with the loading gate. If you try to turn it backwards it “hard stops” in the “centered in loading gate” position. I really like this feature. If you remove the set screw as others have described you get a “free spin pawl” allowing you to turn the cylinder in both directions when the loading gate is open.

That’s a deal. When I got started in 2010 CDNN was selling 50th Anniversary .357 Blackhawks for $379. Later I regretted passing them up in favor of SASS Edition New Vaqueros, but I eventually migrated to Gunfighter and to Frontier Cartridge so the fixed sight revolvers were more versatile.

I take it home dry so that I can run the cases through a universal decapping die in my progressive press before wet tumbling. Pre-soaking just made a mess when I went to decap the cases.

The TO made an on the spot decision to direct the shooter to fire an extra round. There’s plenty of support for that decision here in this thread. I am not criticizing that decision, just trying to understand the correct interpretation for future reference. The shooter “moved to” the shotgun position because it was on his way back to the pistol position. In my mind that satisfies the stage instructions UNLESS he was required to shoot from there. I say he was not because he had already engaged, and hit, the second shotgun target. “Shoot where it was” is inapplicable under these facts. What if there was a fourth shotgun position far away from the right table from which the second shotgun target was to be engaged? I could see an argument that ignoring that position might let the shooter make up some time. Even so, I’d say the shooter satisfies the stage instructions by moving to that table (tag it like a base), then come back. I don’t think the shooter would be required to fire an extra shot.

Thanks, PWB. This was my thought as well. I was scorekeeper on that stage so it was not my decision. I posted this in the What’s the Call Facebook group (I know that is not official). Interesting comments there.

Before anyone criticizes the stage writer, this was the club’s annual “March Madness” match that is designed to be difficult and zany. Shotgun round count is 2+. Stage features split pistols and split shotgun. Pistols from left table, shotgun staged on center table, rifle staged on right table. Begin at left table, shoot five rounds. Move to center table and knock down one shotgun target. Move to right table and engage rifle targets. Move back to center target and knock down the other shotgun target, then move to left table and shoot five rounds on the pistol targets (then a mandatory pistol reload but that’s not relevant to this post). Our shooter shoots five pistol targets, moves to center table, loads two rounds into shotgun and knocks down both shotgun targets (earning a Procedural), then moves to right table and engages rifle targets without incident. As shooter is moving back to the left, the TO directs the shooter to stop at the center table and fire a shotgun round downrange. Shooter complies, then moves to left table and completes the stage with pistols. What if anything was the shooter required to do at the end of the rifle string? -Nothing; shooter has fired the required number of shotgun rounds; -Move to middle table and pause (or pick up the shotgun and discard it); or -Move to middle table and fire one round downrange.

If you want to make room for an RCBS Lockout Die you can use a Hornady PTX insert in the powder measure in Station 2, or you can combine seating and crimping in Station 5.

Katfish, I load on the same press and have two recommendations. The first is the RCBS Lockout Die. I posted a YouTube video (my channel name is my alias) comparing it to the Hornady Powder Cop. I also posted videos demonstrating the process for loading cowboy ammo on a single stage, on a Lee Classic Turret (a good choice for a new Reloader) and on the LNL-AP progressive. Second recommendation is to purchase an Inline Fabrication Ultramount rather than bolting the press to the edge of your bench. Let me know if I can help you further.

Is that the same hammer spur as the Alchimista? It looks a little different.

There seems to be some confusion about categories. New folks are often confused about this. ”Elder Statesman” is an “Age Based Category”. You can use any type of SASS-legal equipment, leather, clothing. ”B-Western” is one of the two “Costume Based Categories”. It has very specific requirements not just for costuming but for leather and firearms. You elect one category. Now it is possible for a match to recognize “age divisions” of a “base” category. “Senior Duelist” is an example. It is possible to have an “Elder Statesman B-Western” category recognized at a match but it’s not common. At a monthly match we might have one B-Western shooter, if that.

Null, I posted a WTC on the Wild Bunch forum while back after we had a similar situation in a WBAS match. There we had static rifle targets and knockdown targets for the shotgun. A new shooter mistakenly engaged and dropped the KDs with the rifle (each shot being a miss under the flowchart) so that those targets were not available when the shooter transitioned to the shotgun. On the one hand, "shoot where it was" usually comes into play when the target is absent by no fault of the shooter. Here the shooter caused the problem by engaging the wrong targets. On the other hand, not allowing the competitor to "shoot where they were" results in two misses being assessed for each shot. The answer to my post was against penalizing the shooter twice.

I will toss in a couple of comments. Call Georgia Arms and ask about cowboy ammo even if the website says it is out of stock. Perhaps you can be first in line for the next run. They attend many of the Gun shows in this area and I've seen cowboy ammo at the shows when their website said they were out. Their ammo has worked well for new shooters here. It is great to find a reloading mentor to show you the ropes. Finding someone who loads the type of ammo you plan to make (such as a fellow cowboy shooter) is great. I would not worry much whether that person has the same type of press.

One of the new firearms announced at the 2017 SHOT Show is replica of the Colt SAA. You can see it on Gunblast.com's video of "Industry Day at the range". Standard Manufacturing says they are making them in Connecticut; another YouTube host reported that this will be a close replica of the Colt so no transfer bar. If anyone has or gets more info about these revolvers please post a reply.

My understanding is that the 150 power factor and the requirement of the .40-plus caliber rifle (the 1911s have to be .45 ACP and the shotgun must be 12 gauge) was something of a reaction to the tendency in cowboy action shooting towards small calibers and light loads. Wild Bunch targets tend to be more challenging (in terms of size and distance) than CAS targets. When my local club offered WBAS matches, we allowed any SASS-legal main match rifle because, as you said, many of our shooters were cowboy shooters who owned .38 caliber rifles. This seems to be the approach at most local clubs. I enjoy WBAS but I was reluctant to buy another expensive rifle for a game that only got to shoot four or five times a year. My club's WBAS match director thought that the big bore rifle requirement was a barrier to growing the sport. His opinion was to leave the 150 power factor but let shooters use any caliber they wanted. My local club eventually decided to replace Wild Bunch with modern Three Gun. There's lots of demand for those matches; they usually limit the match to about 70 shooters and when they open the online registration it fills up in a matter of minutes.

Welcome. I will add a word of caution about ordering clothing online. The sizing of Old West clothing, especially the pants, may be very different than modern clothing. For example, I usually wear a 34" waist size. In one brand of Old West pants, I have to buy a 36. In another brand I have to go up to a 38! I am fortunate to have found two stores within a reasonable drive where I could try on clothing so I have not had to deal with ordering clothes and returning them. I agree with the comments about visiting "vendor row" at state and regional matches; that's another good way to shop. Keeping it simple at first is good, too. I found some good shirts at a thrift store, and a New but reasonably priced Henley shirt at a local workwear store.