Blast Masterson

When in Rome, do as the Romans do; If it is not a safety issue it is not your job to determine minute of angle of a shot shell slider. I have seen over the berm that no one got kicked off the range because of where the range is located. Other ranges (like the Tn State) it is an automatic "Go Home". And you have to almost shoot straight up to get over the berm. Different neighborhood has specific requirements. You will abide if you wish to participate. No matter how many times you do something wrong, it will never make it right; if confronted with an issue, assess the actual facts and advise corrections. No need to kick someone off the range for less than safety issues however. Tact: The ability to tell someone to go to hell and have them look forward to the trip! A lot of modifications occur at local matches. It is your decision to participate or not. Will the shot shell slider cause you bad habits in the future? I don't think so. Discretion is the better part of valor: Just recommending you consider your words before speaking. What kind of a reply do you expect from a State Champ who has in fact shot across the land with that gear? What facts do you have that something like that is in fact a violation? If you have them, present them. I have shot with a lot of shooters with physical challenges. Does it really matter if their shell holder is high?

I have shot many 9 shot, 9 with a reload stages. No issues. I have never heard a complaint at the three ranges I shoot at when things get out-of-the-ordinary. They seem to go out of their way to be out of the ordinary. Must be a Kentucky thing... Everyone seems to derive great pleasure after shooting a total train wreck!

Tn Williams, This was what I was referring to, w/o trying to discuss the interpenetration of the "law". I wanted to express my "opinion/perception" not hide behind interpretation of the law. It was just a question/opinion in point. We are basically reenacting. If I have to dress up 1800's, my guns should be 1800's. Not an AR in a Winchester platform. It is a disadvantage because; I have only been shooting CAS two years. I have shot with you twice at the TN State. And I have watched you send live rounds into space! It is unlikely that I will ever get close to your abilities in my life time ( I don't have enough time left). But when you and I are shooting under the same 1800's guidelines, every time you send a round into space and have to reload or take a miss (which I have never yet done in a match) my chances to get closer to your total score improves. Now, because you modify your gun so you can't jack a round and I don't need that modification because I trained not to jack rounds, you mechanically improved your performance. You made your gun better, not your shooting ability. When you push the speed envelope you eliminate steps. When you eliminate steps, you miss targets and jack rounds. That is part of the game. I shoot for the fun not the belt buckle. I want things to be more difficult for me to shoot rather than an easy walk in the park. My satisfaction comes from knowing I did my best that I could do (or not). The harder stages levels the playing field for everyone vs. a twenty-six round one target dump. That is what the side matches are for. I'm a gunfighter, not because it is faster but because 80% of the shooters at a match can't shoot left handed and that in my past life I was required to shoot with both hands and I want to improve. Now for the big issue; Safety. When this thing locks the action closed with the hammer back, what is the difference than having a cocked pistol in holster? You can't un-cock a pistol on the firing line (regardless of what is under the firing pin). No one knows what's in the battery. To correct this or find out, you have to pull the trigger. So what makes the rifle any different? If your lever inadvertently closes on the line, corrective action is to grab the lever and open it. With this device, you must pull the rigger to make it safe (which is not safe). You can't lower the hammer, you must let the hammer fall on who know what's in there. It's nice to see where you stand against 200 (+) shooters in a two day match, but when a dozen shooters are not shooting the same gun and are in your class, those standings become skewed. "TW beat me by 15 seconds, but he has a modified gun so ..." You can argue about short stroke kits. Mine came from the factory with one. We all use short strokes or not. A short stroke provides the same advantage to all shooters, to shoot faster due to shorter lock time. I does not correct one particular shooters flaws over everyone else who can't seem to keep his/her lever closed. CAS is about doing what you can, with what you have. How do you really feel about yourself, knowing if you took this thing out of your gun that you'd be jacking rounds everywhere to shoot that fast? Is this game really just about speed at any cost?

Did they determine a percentage of total rounds to be shot per injury? That would be goo to know so we can know when we are going to shoot someone ahead of time!

Was this available in 1873/1866 guns? This weekend I couldn't see my front sights because of target and background colors. But I can't use a contrasting color on my front sight other than black, white silver, gold (which does not always contrast target colors). Because it creates an unfair advantage to those that forgot their nail polish? Not only does this thing create a disadvantage to other shooters, it is a potential safety concern when you may have to drop a hammer over a live round to get it out at some point in time. ie. You shoot 9 of ten rounds and re-stage your rifle and the lever closes in the process. Instead of operating just the lever, subsequently jacking the live round, you have to pull the trigger and/or drop the hammer to operate the lever. If you have a problem jacking rounds, quit jacking rounds... Have a problem with out of battery, put the lever safety back in... (yea I know some rifles don't have them).

Windex or windshield washer fluid. Cheap, uncomplicated, always available.

Why are you switching to Duelist in the first place? Duelist will always potentially be slower than two handed shooting. Why try to shoot it the same way as two handed? Your "make-up" with Duelist is that you can have two pistols out at the same time (no re-holster) and you don't take time to switch hands. While your shooting the first pistol, your other hand has all the time in the world to get a good grip i[on the next pistol which you can't do two handed. Better accuracy. "Clear the mechanism" and just shoot Duelist. Unsupported, both hands, and take the advantages to making up for a slow cock with one hand. If you do not want to shoot weak hand, I can't understand why you want to switch.

I have been shooting AA's for 40(+) years and were my go to shell of preference. When I started CAS I very quickly learned that AA's are no longer the same as some 1,000 old AA hulls I still have. I can't even resize a AA w/o tearing up the base most of the time. I have had separation of the base and the two part hull they now use. My pard shoots new shells most of the time (as he gets STS as cheap as we can reload here) so I have an abundance of once fired. I reload recycled lead and only use reloads because my shotgun does not like the recoil (need a new shotgun soon). It is a light gun and I don't like the recoil much either. We only shoot one box of shells per match, so cost is of no concern to me. Any uncertainty you have with equipment or ammo is detrimental to your performance. I know, I have been working through a lot of it.

Isn't sweeping anyone with a gun, loaded or not a range violation? Are you saying this is not being enforced?

What is considered "dirty"? A little soot on the cylinder or unburnt powder in the bottom of the barrel? I used Trail Boss for my first year and I like it. I was not trying to make bunny farts, just keep the bullet from leading the bbl. I want to feel the gun go off! Case capacity was my primary concern. I had lots of 700x around, but found it very dirty with lots of blow by in the winter with light charges. I now use Alliant Ultra Lite because because it's intended purpose is for light shotgun loads. The charge is very light and does not fill the case very much and 1/10th of a grain makes a difference (not a good choice if your want to eliminate all recoil). But it is as clean burning as anything else I've tried. Sooty, yes. but shiny clean after several matches of use. It has been very consistent round to round in all weather. 106 - 9 degrees F. Everyone has their pet powder, mostly based highly upon availability. Cost of Trail Boss was my only consideration to change.

The reason there are three spotters is there are three perspectives to observe from. Some perspectives have advantage. Some may see dirt fly and another sees the edge clip. Rule book gives benefit to the shooter, so 4 is the call. Not like this shooter is going to be in the competition for the grand prize or anything! At least spotter #3 didn't copy-cat the other spotter. "I didn't see any misses" is the proper reply in any case. If you can't follow the shooters sequence (gunfighter especially) just say it. If you can't pay attention spotting, pick up brass...

Lighter bullets does not always equate to lighter recoil. You need a heavier charge for proper bullet consistency. There is more space in the cartridge (more blow-by). There is less bearing surface between the bullet and bbl. There is less energy for reactive targets. There is less room for a good crimp with correct OAL needed in some guns. Modifying a load for the sake of recoil rather than accurate, consistent performance seems to be a poor choice to me. Poor bullet performance causes poor gun performance. Backed out primers, Unburnt powder residue issues from blow by. Improper OAL. After all, these are only .38 cal. in large heavy guns (for the most part), which is another recoil consideration.

I shoot about four times a month and I load everything on a single stage RCBS that I have used for 40 years. I have no problem keeping up with supply and demand. I do not expect a lot of agreement as most people are set in their ways of doing things but I will give you my opinion for your consideration for what is worth. If you spend very much time on the range you will see (and hear) a significant number of ammunition failures of all sorts. High primers, split casings, inconsistent powder charge, inadequate crimp of the bullet etc. When you use a progressive press there are multiple things going on with every pull of the handle and it can be difficult to detect when things are going wrong without a lot of inspecting of the finished product. A single stage press will let you feel and see what is happening in each step of the process. If you have a high primer and you don't find it until after the bullet has been loaded over a charge, what is your next option? To try to seat the primer deeper on a loaded cartridge? You can feel a split or splitting case when you are resizing. You can feel the crimp which may not occur in a short casing. Any of these issues could cost you 25 to 50 seconds in a match if the cartridge jams up the gun. You should decide on the quality control you want to have control of especially when you're just starting out. Just a thought.

Back in the day shooting trap/skeet, AA was the shell of choice. When I started SASS, I collected AA's off the range and tried reloading with a MEC 650. It was a disaster! The AA is not the shell of yesteryear! Had your same problem with the new two piece hulls. The shell bases would get torn up in the resizer as well. Changed to STS and they are better than AA's ever were in my experience.

I also like "I shot myself cleaning my gun"! ??