Dusty Devil Dale

That is very decent of you. I really hope you get the problems worked out and end up with a good working gun.

I look forward to shooting with you. Bring plenty of ammo. The side matches this year are going to have some unique events. They, along with the main match by Snakebite will be well worth the drive.

Heat on a spring is not usually a good idea, unless you are OK with replacing the spring. If you do apply heat, use something like an electric soldering iron that can be precisely controlled. And put a wet paper towel over the spring. Impact drivers are scary things around firearms. You can do a real lot of damage in a short time, like slipping off the screw head and marring the finish, or twisting off the screw head and having to drill out the screw. Have you tried flooding it overnight with a penetrating lubricant like liquid wrench? I'd certainly try everything I could think of before risking doing damage. Keep in mind the principle that replaceable parts are made, in part, to be the sacrificial link in the chain. The screws will usually fail before the threads in the receiver will strip. If you are at this stage of consideration, and you are not 100% assured of your skill level, then I suggest taking it to a Smith. They are trained in numerous ways to overcome those kinds of issues, and they can usually fix whatever they screw up. They can do things like TIG weld a lever onto the head of the screw--things you or I might not think of.

You have several things going on. With regard to the occasional round sticking in the chamber and not extracting properly, it suggests either excessive propellant blow-by (carbon accumulation) or leading in the front of the chamber. Have you seriously cleaned the chamber and ruled out lead accumulation? I have found lead shards in the front of rifle chambers that are melted to the chamber wall by successive firings. They often are quite thin -- not enough to prevent the bolt closing on a cartridge, but enough to impinge the front of a cartridge case so that the extractor slips off the case rim before it withdraws the case. Melted on lead shards don't just wire brush out easily, and they can be quite hard to detect without a bore scope. They usually require much elbow grease and some creativity to free up. Just something you might look into for that facet of your problem.

Is all of this tech savvy "period correct"? LOL.

The lever and lifter springs are under considerable tension from the springs. They often strip before they release. Usually, if you CAREFULLY place a wide screwdriver under the spring and a second narrower screwdriver inside the spring near the lever articulation point, then twist the lower driver to GENTLY raise the spring clear of the articulation, then twist the smaller driver to pivot the spring toward the outside, (off the lever articulation point), the screw can then usually be easily removed. Do NOT just slide the tensioned spring off the articulation point, or you will round the sharp edges needed to hold the spring in place. Always lift it off with the lower (wide) screwdriver. After initial adjustment, I very seldom move the adjusting screws. To disassemble the action, I simply GENTLY, as above, release the springs, and replace them in the same manner, with two screwdrivers. ALWAYS put a dab of grease on the articulation surfaces of both springs. Replacement hardened screws are available from Taylor's. They are not inexpensive. Even these can strip, if you try to back them out with the spring tension applied. Hope this is clear enough to be helpful. If needed, I could post a photo of how to position the screwdrivers. Don't be overly forceful. Use just enough torque on the screwdrivers to lift and disconnect the springs.

Thx v. much for your prompt response. Question: Do the other previous detailed duty descriptions still exist in official documents, or now only in the course curriculum? It really seems like the detail of these duties should be written down someplace centrally. Maybe I'm off base here. If so just tell me so. Thx again.

SHB, P. 19: The role of the Chief Range Officer/Timer Operator is to safely assist the shooter through the course of fire...". It then goes into the virtues and pitfalls of coaching, and never really returns to lay out the specific T. O. role and duties. That is fine, as far as it goes, but perhaps it should also at least describe the operation of the timer. Timing the shooter and conveying the time to score keepers seems at least as important as coaching and/or assisting. In matches, and watching closely, I don't often see the T. O.s watching the timer as the last shot is fired. They are typically watching the gun and its handling, coaching, or duplicating the role of spotters. I know the SHB strongly urges shooters to attend the RO 1&2 courses which do go into more detail, as did the RO manuals in the past. But I had been given the impression that the new SHB was written to replace and encompass those other written guidance documents into a single document. Am I mistaken about that? If I am correct, then the current SHB description is awfully brief and incomplete, and no current SASS document really lay's out the detail of the T. O. job. Fortunately T. O. s have all taken the classes, so this is just about SHB rhetoric and completeness. Maybe a non-issue. The SHB language just seems to get diverted onto a "coaching" tangent, and never returns to the duty description.

Typical media hype.

V. nice area. One of my friends used to live there. When it got too hot, he either stayed indoors and ran the AC, or drove up into the Santa Rita's to either explore Madera Canyon, or just sit in the shade and read. Hard to beat the breezy summer evenings there.

Me neither. Just being clear. Thx.

Actually, I was pretty clear that it was a question, not a comment. Thanks for responding. Lots to think about there.

Fair enough. I'm just struggling between different folks' interests in trying to set up targets to satisfy our shooters. On one hand, if nobody shoots clean, your match was a great test of skill, but maybe not very fun, particularly if everyone is mentally exhausted at the end. On the other hand, if nearly everyone can shoot clean, you probably had a pretty boring match. Personally I like choices where shooters can risk utilizing harder targets with associated gain, like shooting the rifle targets again from the same location with pistols to save the time to change positions, v. moving location to shoot closer pistol targets. To me that is a helpful compromise. But like you, I like seeing that "I shot clean" look on shooters' faces. I think satisfying everybody's taste will always be a challenge. Personally, I just shoot whatever is out in front of me. Sometimes I shoot well, other times, not so well. That makes it fun.

My understanding from reading various forums, is that Ruger is out of stock and behind in producing them, and under a big back order burden. I'm only asking here, because a friend is looking for a set, and I ran out of options to help.

From the above, it sounds like you have witnessed the basis for taking care of the 3 out of 5, and expecting the other two dues-paying members to adapt (to what is clearly a change from the original CAS targets and shooting styles which originally attracted them.) Do you see that as a recipe either for loss of a sizeable chunk of membership dues, or alternatively, for splitting of our sport into separate interest groups? We have seen some of that splitting in the rise of WB shooting, as an aside to main CAS matches. Folks wanted to broaden the sport to include semi-auto pistols and other kinds of firearms, So WB was born. So do you see that kind of differentiation as our eventual SASS/CAS endpoint? Will we have Traditional CAS, Speed Single Action Shooting, and WB as three SASS pillars? Will that dilute the character of our historical sport? Would that matter? Do you see any sustaining middle ground (similar to what has been done in many recent matches) to try to provide something for all of our members within the same matches? If the really good shooters will always end up at the top anyway, will they tolerate some stages set up for the trad shooters who want to keep the original CAS sport alive, with its western style targets and more difficult scrnarios? I am really asking here, rather than asserting any judgment. Where do you see us (SASS/CAS) ending up?