Rio Brazos Kid

Cholla, Your problem is easily fixed. Just order lock rings from Dillon. They have a locking set screw. You can buy them one at a time, PN 098-14067, ($1.60) or in a pkg of 5, PN 098-10669 ($4.95). The LEE O-ring system works great IF, you never remove the dies from the press. However if you need to remove the dies to use a different set frequently, then they loose their adjustment and must be re-adjusted with each use. Simply a poor design as far as I'm concerned. RBK

I have 17 lb springs in all 6 of my Rugers. I run Federal primers in all pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Never had a FTF in my over 10 years of Cowboy Action Shooting. RBK

Widder, as you are one of the premier shooters in this game, I won't argue with you on the subject of chokes. All I will state is to put it on the pattern board. I did, and found that Cyl choke no where near put all the shot on the target. Skeet didn't either, IC put over 75% of the shot in a 12 inch circle. Remember, that's only 10 thousands of choke. Not a huge amount of constriction, but it was capable of putting most of the shot load on the target. I shoot 7/8 oz. shot loads, at about 1000 FPS or a little less, so I need to get most of my pattern on the target for best reliability. It has worked flawlessly for me.

20 in with chokes. Despite conventional thinking, (Usually with no tested and proven logic), chokes can make a difference. Wide open chokes, (Cyl Bore), is not the best or most effective in shooting Cowboy. Many Cowboys shoot open chokes and get away with it, but that's not the ideal way.

The guns are pretty dependable. Only thing is you cannot buy parts for them. Briley Manufacturing is the Official Warranty Service Station for Yildiz, and they will not sell you any parts . They will repair them, if you send the gun to them, including any needed parts. However they won't sell you any parts. RBK

JM Leather all the way. Excellent workmanship and highest quality leather. A shooter himself, and knows how to provide you with exactly what you want. He will stand behind his product 100%. There are lots of great Leather Makers out there, but Johnny Morris is Top Shelf. RBK

Any competent gunsmith can do screw-in chokes. Some of the best in the business is Mike Orlen in Connecticut, Skeets Gun Shop in Tahlequah Oklahoma, Midwest Gun works in Missouri, Tru-Lock Choke Co. in Whigham Ga.(Equal to or better than Briley & better turn around time), Carlson Chokes in Atwood Kansas. Pick any of these Smiths/Providers and you will get superb barrel work and high quality choke tubes. RBK

That's alright Scarlet. Those 32's will get the job done in fine fashion. I occasionally shoot some Baby Vaquaro's in 32 Mag. 100 Gr bullets at 670 FPS. Meets power factor and has never failed on KD targets. Admittedly, I try to keep my hits in the upper half of the targets, but sometimes that don't happen. So far the only consequence has been that on low hits, they just fall a bit slower. RBK

For Black Powder loads in SASS, you will be hard pressed to find a better performing wad for your 12 ga. loads than the old, now discontinued, WAA12R Winchester wad. No to worry though as Claybuster makes a clone of that wad, the CB1138-12 wad. Makes shotshell KD loads perform very well, and gives the loads the necessary internal volume inherently needed for Black Powder loads RBK

You are all correct. The "Clays family" of powders has chanced manufacturers, from a company in Australia, to one located in Canada. The color of the powder, (Clays) has changed from a grayish color to a greenish color, and is indeed a tad more dense, but loads exactly the same when used grain for grain. AS to the other powders, Clays is the fastest burning of the "Clays" family of powders, and much resembles the performance of Red Dot. International is a tad slower burning than Clays, and much resembles the performance of Green Dot. Universal is again slower burning than International, and much resembles the performance of Unique. As long as the listed charge weights are observed, the new Canadian manufactured powders will perform identically, as did the older Australian manufactured powders. RBK

This is all OK if using a Dillon 650, but won't work on a 550B. That is if you are also using a RCBS LocK-Out die. Since the 550 only has 4 positions for dies, the only way you can seat and crimp on different dies is to do the crimp separately, usually on a different press. I have for years used Redding Profile crimp dies for ALL straight sided pistol cartridges, and won't do it any other way. So after seating on the Dillon, and setting that die to just straighten, (not crimp), the case mouth flare, I run them through the Redding die on a separate press. Doesn't take that much more time, and the Redding die eliminates having to use a case checker. If it runs through the Redding die, it WILL fit any standard chamber on any gun, without question. RBK

I think you, (most of you), are hard assing the shooter, for any action done before the beep. The rules stated, as far as I'm concerned are for actions that occur AFTER the beep. Assistance after the beep can affect the shooters time, which is in my mind what the rules are there for. Actions before the beep have absolutely nothing to do with enhancing the shooters time. Many shooters have belts that only hold 6 shells, which makes staging shells for 8 shell scenarios difficult if they don't stage some of the shells beforehand. Asking permission to stage shells from the TO should suffice if not noted in the stage instructions. Additionally, there should be no consequence if he has assistance in staging the shells, so long as it's all done before the beep. As noted, all kinds of assistance is OK in helping the shooter get to the line, (if a new shooter, or an elderly shooter, or a handicapped shooter, or improper staging is detected. What's so special about who, when, and where, staging shot shells comes into play, as long as it's done before the beep????? Inquiring minds want to know.... RBK

I have a 19-5 4 inch in as new condition. A very accurate gun. Also have a 586 6 inch that I use regularly in Pin Matches. RBK

Dillon powder measures work fine with Clays. Been shooting Cowboy Action for over 8 years, loading on a Dillon 550B for about 7 of those years. No complaints at all. Very dependable. I use Clays in all CA ammo. , including Shotshells. RBK

Well, I have been at this game for about 8 years, starting in early 2010. I at first was interested in the competition, wishing to be in the top performers, but soon realized that It would not be in the cards for me. I learned quickly that my best performances were those where I shot clean, and fast times became less and less important. Just shooting at a comfortable pace, and enjoying the friends in the game was where it was the most fun for me. At my age, nearing 84, just being there and able to shoot regularly is a blessing to me. Having shot many different disciplines through the years, Cowboy Action shooting has allowed me to continue my lifelong passion of organized shooting. I do however, continue to shoot lots of recreational Skeet and Trap on a weekly basis. RBK

Say what you will, but where you have a choice, such as screw-in choke tubes, I.C. has definitely proven to me, (and the pattern board), to be the the best all around constriction for our game. YES, you can get away with using anything from Cyl. bore to Full choke, but the optimum is still I.C., which is .010 constriction. Works very well with KD targets as well as with pop ups and Clay Targets. RBK

Several years ago I got all fired up to shoot Wild Bunch. Had a new Kimber Pro Carry, so I bought 4 new Mags, had leather made, bought a very nice 97, and also bought a Marlin in 45 Colt. All fixed up. Right?? Wrong!!! They bitched about my Kimber because it only had a 4 inch barrel, instead of the "Political Correct" 5 inch barrel. After a couple of rather absurd arguments with the then people in charge, I sold the leather and the 97, keeping the Marlin for a backup rifle. I lost all interest in WB shooting, and will never attempt shooting it again. Way too many other disciplines to shoot where my Kimber is welcome, and as expected, performs well. Cowboy action is my passion. Too old and slow to be a threat to the fast guys, but I enjoy the game, and more especially the people. For me it was the WB shooters that killed my interest, in WB Shooting, although I never intended to shoot anything but monthys. RBK

The Corpus area, (Portland), will get hit hard, but it sounds like Hoss's house is situated well to weather the storm. He's smart to go inland though as there will probably be outages that may last for several days. In Alvin where I live, I don't expect much more than a lot of rain, and probably power outages. Where I'm situated, I can take a whole lot of rain, 6 to 8 inches plus per day, without problems. I also have two generators so I can keep the refrigeration going when needed. Survived Hurricane IKE a few years ago without much problem, and it was much worse than what we will get from Harvey. RBK

Is anybody going to check this out. No need in Starline getting 50 calls for the same question? RBK

Sorry, but I think that is a bunch of hogwash. I don't shoot Black Powder, but my loads are 7/8 oz of shot, running at less than 1000 FPS. They NEVER fail to KD the targets. NEVER!!! Loading up Rhino Roller loads is foolish at best, and certainly not necessary. The only certain result is more RECOIL, which is not desirable in the first place. RBK

I have always used Weldwood glue, and had good success. I think I would take the Super Glue off before using the Weldwood. RBK

Butch, You can always use data for a heavier bullet than the one you are loading, but not the other way around. So you can use data for a 125 gr bullet with your 107 gr. bullets without any problem. You could start with the low load for the heavier bullet, as shown in Hodgdons book in the Cowboy Action section, which would probably be about right on velocity with the 107 gr. bullet. RBK

Go to www.wolffgunsprings.com They have every gun spring you could wish for. They have spring kits containing the hammer spring, the trigger return spring, and the extra power base pin spring. They have an assortment of kits, containing about any combination you could want. Wolff has long been the "Go To" for the gun industry for many years. Top quality, dependable gun springs. Personally, I am a two handed shooter, and run the 30 oz. trigger return spring and the 17 lb. hammer springs. (Factory hammer springs are 23 oz.) Never have any sort of problem relating to hammer spring strength. RBK

I have been rebuilding MEC presses for over 20 years, and keep a large stock of parts on hand to accommodate those repairs. However you are in Arizona, and I'm in Texas, so I can't do you much good. Two recommendations. If you don't have a parts schematic, go to the MEC website and download one to match your press. That way you can order by part number, and avoid possible mistakes. The other is DO order your parts from Gamaliel. They use MEC part numbers, only add an "M" in front of the part number. You will get faster service, and on some items, a better price. www.gamaliel.com 800-356-6230 RBK

Thank you Pat Riot It only makes sense to use such bullets in long range shooting. With the speeds necessary to have any accuracy, severe leading would occur without the use of gas checks. In the past I have shot 30 cal gas checked bullets made of wheel weights at approx 1800 FPS and had almost no leading occur. With plain lead bullets, you could not even approach that speed without severe leading. RBK