Bison Bud

The original "old style" VQ's have a considerably larger frame than a Colt Model P SSA's or replicas. However, I have a pair of original VQ's, in .44 Mag, and a pair SSA's as my main match guns in .38 Special and have used them frequently out of the same set of holsters with no real issues. The new style VQ's are smaller and should present no real problems. However, I guess it might matter if you want the smaller guns to fit really snug and it might depend a bit on the holsters used, but I've never really worried about it or had problems with it. Good luck and good shooting to all.

I have to agree that the cost of .22 rimfire these days doesn't save that much over rolling my own .38's and .44's, especially when I cast the bullets myself from scrap lead. Back when I was really active in the sport, I'd take 1000 rounds or more of .22 rimfire and 3 to 400 of my main match ammo to the range for practice and pretty much shoot then all. I have two Ruger Single Sixes with the cowboy type sights and a Marlin lever rifle and they have had a whole lot of ammo shot through them practicing cowboy. Yeah, not really the same as my main match guns, but still good practice in my eyes. However, much of this game is in what one gets used to and I always also practiced with my main match guns. Someone earlier mentioned dry fire practice and it can be helpful as well, but not a good idea with rimfire guns as it can and will damage the firing pins. For dry fire practice, I'd highly recommend using your main match guns and using dummy rounds in them. Good luck and good shooting to all.

Generally speaking, the less empty space inside the cartridge the more consistent the rounds will be across a chronograph. However, as virtually everyone here has already stated you won't really see a difference in your cowboy loads and it's not really worth worrying about.

Apparently, it was ruled as a vest and therefore legal, but I've never seen a vest with a shirt type collar before.

I'd like to try to answer your original question of "For the ease of reloading, I was wondering why would you load both?" The simple answer is that the true beauty of rolling your own is that you can taylor your ammo to best fit your purpose and to what the gun likes and this can vary quite a bit. Yeah, it would be easier to just load one good all around load, but some guns can be really picky about what feeds and shoots well in them. There are quite a few .38 revolvers out there that can not load the longer .357 Magnum case and are not rated to handle a magnum load either, which would make it dangerous if you could load them. You can generally shoot the .38 Special in a .357 handgun, but not the other way around. As others have already mentioned, many cowboy shooters crimp their .38 Specials longer to feed better in especially the Marlin rifles and .38 Special cases are generally cheaper and more plentiful as "Once Fired" cases. I personally prefer the .357 cases for my Marlin Carbine, but I have used .38's crimped longer with some success. In any case, if your desire is to have one load that does it all for you, then you may have to do some experimentation and make a few compromises. As for me, I load what the guns like and what performs well in them and that too took some experimentation. Good luck and good shooting to all.

First off, from the info. provided, I'd say that Unique is a good choice and Clays would also work well, but it's out of production right now unless something has changed that I don't know about. As for your concerns over a double charge, I don't blame you one bit, but finding a propellant that will overflow the case on a double charge may be a tall order. I too load on a Dillon 550B and since I really like the Lee Factory crimp die, I seat the bullet and do my crimping in positions 3 and 4. Since that leaves me with no place for a powder check die, I have learned to leave the position 3 alignment pin out of the base plate and literally pull every case off the press and inspect the powder drop manually before putting it back into position 3 and seating a bullet. Once inspected and returned to the press, you can easily keep the case in place with your finger on the base of the case as you start the ram upwards. While this does slow things down a bit, I think it's worth the extra effort and in over 30 years of reloading, I have never made it to the range with a double charge or and empty case squib. As I have said many times before, "If you want to shoot fast, it's probably better to load slow!" Good luck and good shooting to all. I came back to edit this post, as I wanted to clarify that my 30 years of reloading was not all on the Dillon 550B. I started with a Lee Turret Press and used it for quite a while before upgrading to the Dillon. I still use the turret press for my 45/70 loads, but the Dillon loads everything else. Anyway, my anti-double charge procedure was much the same with the Turret press, as I still removed the case after the powder drop and inspected the charge manually prior to seating the bullet. I also wanted to mention that Trail Boss is probably the bulkiest powder out there and many folks in this game liked it primarily for that reason. Unfortunately, it too has been out of production, but it is supposed to be coming back and some folks have been able to find some recently. Whether that was old stock or new stock, I have no idea, but if you can get a hold on some I think it might serve your initial purpose well. Again, good luck and good shooting to all.

I would think for that large a bullet that hand ladling would fill the mold faster and make more consistent slugs. I like my Lee bottom pour pot and they are very affordable, but at least on mine I can't seem to get much more than a small stream of molten lead that takes a few seconds to fill a 200 grain, .44 caliber mold. Frankly, any bigger than my .44 mold and I think I'd have to switch to ladling to prevent air bubbles and unfilled sections of the mold. As others have already mentioned, temperature is important as well. Good luck and good shooting to all.

Yeah, you can shoot either .38 Special or .357 Magnums in an 1894. I haven't tried a new Ruger made one, but the overall design should be the same and many of them do prefer the longer cartridge and cycle better with them. You should be able to cut the magazine spring down enough to load 10 Magnums, but go slow and don't overdo it and many folks simply crimp their .38 Specials longer to help them feed. Generally speaking, these long crimped .38's should work okay in most handguns too, but I have never had an issue loading different rifle and handgun loads to get what works best in each. It's your choice there and a little experimentation will probably be needed to get it right, especially if you want one load to do it all. As for bullet profiles, I've had great luck with the truncated cone style bullets and would caution against trying to go much lighter than 125 grain. In any case, the Marlin 1894 is a fine rifle and I think Ruger's version will be a hit with the cowboy shooting crowd. Good luck and good shooting to all.

I love the stuff and really don't see much difference in the spray can or liquid other than maybe convenience. However, as others have already mentioned, I do use other lubricants like a light grease and good old gun oil where the lube needs to be more effective. Breakfree cleans and preserves quite well and does offer some lubrication, all in all a fine product!

As mentioned already, there are a large number of propellants that work quite well in the .38 Special. The relative quickness of a powder is not the primary factor in clean burning. Slower powders are generally use to make magnum type loads, but the quicker burning powders work quite well in the target type loads we use and the key is to build enough pressure to burn all the powder. Using very light bullets and/or smaller than listed powder charges can cause some real problems and the .38 Special is a relatively mild mannered load to start with, so don't go overboard on trying to download them. My personal favorite was Clays, but it has been unavailable for quite some time now and I am now loading Clay Dot with good success. Unfortunately, you won't find published handgun loads for Clay Dot, but I've worked up some pretty good loads that I've posted with chronograph data in .38 Special, .44 Special, and .44 Magnum. I've also used Titegroup (which I really like in my rifle rounds, but it's loud report and sharp recoil impulse does not make it a favorite in my revolvers). As for other propellants that I've used, American Select, Bullseye, Winchester 231/HP38, Vitavori 320, Red Dot, and Unique are all very good options. So there are many ways to go with the .38 Special and availability of many of these propellants is much improved over just a year ago, but the prices have sure gone up. Good luck and good shooting to all.

While I too preferred and enjoyed the monthly printed Chronicle, it's pretty obvious that newspapers and magazines of all kinds are on a massive downward spiral. Many have already ceased to exist and this trend will most probably continue. SASS is no different and I'm sure the decision was made to abandon the printed issues and move to an online format, due to financial issues. While it was indeed a good marketing tool for our sport, SASS had to make a tough decision and we the membership need to accept that things do indeed change. If I remember correctly, there was quite an outcry when this first happened and I can understand that, but it's old news and a moot point now. Good luck and good shooting to all.

Nothing really new in this write-up, but it is well done! We have known for years that there is an exposure hazard with shooting and reloading and taking steps to help control this exposure can only be a good thing. Frankly, the biggest exposure hazards in my opinion are the dust from cleaning brass in a vibratory cleaner, which should only be done outside and one should at least wear a particle mask when dumping and shaking out the cleaned brass. I guess wet tumbling could also help to control this issue, but I've never tried it. Then there is the exposure to lead from the primers we use and good ventilation is important to minimize this exposure, especially when shooting indoors. Indoor ranges should have positive air flow downrange and moving away from the shooter with fresh air coming in from the rear. Outdoors is less risk overall, but can still be an exposure hazard, so be aware. I think that the risk of exposure from handling lead and absorption through the skin are minimal, but washing hands after handling is important and not smoking or eating until after washing up are very important as well. The other real exposure hazard in my opinion comes from casting your own bullets. Again, ventilation is important and casting should be done outside if possible. Personally, I cast outside and also place a box type fan behind me while casting. One also needs to not overheat the lead pot as this produces more vapors that can be inhaled. Inhalation is the worst exposure hazard in all these situations so be aware and be careful. As for assembling cartridges on a press, one could wear a mask and rubber gloves, but I don't think the exposure risk there is worth all that. However, you can make your own decision on that one. Anyway, I've been shooting, reloading, and casting my own bullets for over 40 years now and my blood lead levels have never been more than slightly elevated. One simply needs to be aware, use good judgement, and keep their exposure to a minimum. Good luck and good shooting to all.

I will admit that I haven't been competitively active since 2018, due to some severe medical issues, but I did shoot competitively for over 18 years and feel that my experiences do qualify me to comment and have an opinion. Frankly, I don't really care if you think so or not! Maybe I haven't kept up with all the rules changes, such as Rank Scoring verses Total time scoring, but I did concede that one and stated that the so called "12 seconds" would make more of a difference with total time scoring. I guess my primary point here is that these type of modifications do provide some overall performance enhancements, but not everyone benefits as much as some do and that's just the nature of things. If you believe otherwise, your entitled to your opinion. However, I also think it's a disservice to Newbies and the game in general to make everyone believe that they can't be competitive without expensive modifications. I guess it's no wonder that match attendance continues to decline. I shot the Guns of August Regional with over 400 shooters and according to last year's scores they only had 112. Frankly, having well functioning and properly fitted equipment is indeed important, but short stroke mods are well down the list in hierarchy of needs. Geese, it's pricey enough to get started in this game without sending them down that road before they even get started! So, what's the real beef here anyway?

All in all, we are not all that far apart on this issue and I'm amazed that it has stirred up this type of controversy! Basically, we do agree that short strokes and even other legal modifications do have the potential to improve one's performance. However, we disagree on just how much difference that they can and do make overall. So, I guess we will just have to agree to disagree! I did look up last year's scores from Guns of August (our big regional match around here) and it was scored by total time, rather than by rank score, so I concede that one to you and learned something as well. Anyway, at least in my opinion, if you think someone is beating you because their handguns and rifle are short stroked, then you should probably spend the money on the modifications, but to say that someone can't be competitive without them is just plain wrong. I know you want a definition of "Competitive" to validate this concept, but this is more up to the individual than not. If your good enough to win overall at a big match then your definition would be at a higher level than the vast majority of us out there. Myself, I felt like I was competitive to even place in my Gunfighter category at a big match and a top 20 overall finish was very respectable. If you feel the need to be "Top Dog" then this sort of thing could indeed make a big difference, for the rest of us it's rather a moot point. Like you said, one can't argue with someone else's opinion and I guess I'm going to leave it at that. Good luck and good shooting to all.

I actually thought I did originally agree that the Short Stroke 73 was a bit faster! However, I think our disagreement has more to do with how much difference it actually makes. While any difference is worth noting, especially in a timed game, I think it's wrong to imply that one can not be competitive without short stroking everything. This is especially true with Newbies and my initial point was that their money might be better spent on more ammo and effective practice rather than heavily relying on equipment modifications to improve performance. Again, I agree that equipment does indeed make a difference and setting up ones equipment to best suit themselves makes a heck of a lot of sense, but a short stroked set of handguns and/or rifle is just a small and expensive part of improving one's overall performance and at least in my opinion not nearly the advantage that some here seem to think. I guess I have been out of it for a while now do to health issues, but I had no idea that they stopped using rank scoring, could you give me some idea when this actually happened, because it was a big issue just a few years back.

While I understand your point, I stand by my statement that "if your good enough for it to make a real difference, then have at it." When I shot regularly, I considered myself to be competitive and generally placed in the top 20 to 50 overall at the big matches and even won some Gunfighter categories (primarily when Lassiter and/or Mad River Marty didn't show up). However, there is also a difference in rank scoring and total time scoring. Most, if not all the big matches I attended were scored by rank scores on each stage and I can't really say that 12 seconds overall (less than a second on each stage) would have made much of a difference in my overall or category score at these matches. I guess total time is used more in local matches and it might make a real difference there, but all in all it really is more what one gets used to and shooting smart that makes the real difference. Good luck and good shooting to all.

In my opinion, about 90+% of this game is simply what one gets used to and this can apply to a variety stock equipment as well as legal modifications. Some folks feel that short stroking is a big advantage, but in reality it's probably not much of a difference overall. If your good enough that a few tenths of a second over the course of fire make a real difference then have at it. Otherwise, I think spending your money of ammo and practice would show more realistic and lasting results. While none of my cowboy revolvers are short stroked (USFA's and Rugers), I do shoot a short stroked 73 levergun. However, comparing times with it and my back up Marlin, which is basically stock, show very little difference or advantage either way (it averages to less than 1 second unless it's just a straight up dump target and that's only a bit over 1 second). However, I do see how tayloring your guns to fit you can be helpful, especially to us old farts that have to deal with pain in virtually every joint. Frankly, if it keeps you shooting and especially helps to keep you competitive, then more power to you! Good luck and good shooting to all.

In my opinion the true advantage and benefit to rolling your own is that the loads can be taylored to your purpose and application as well as to your guns. The right load can make a huge difference in performance and some guns can be really picky about what works well in them. However, it sure doesn't hurt to save a few bucks in the process! At today's prices, I don't think we save a lot in that area anymore, at least no where near what was possible just a few years back. Good luck and good shooting to all.

I'd have to agree with Garrison Joe in that they are similar in hardness to the Winchester primers, not as soft as the Federals, but not as hard as the CCI and a few others. I have used their shotgun primers extensively without issues, but wouldn't hesitate to load their SPP or LPP primers in any of my loads. However, it does seem like the Federals are available these days (LLP's seem to be tougher than the SPP's) You may have to pay a bit more to get them, but they continue to be the softest, easiest to set off primers that I know of and would seek them out first. Good luck and good shooting to all.