Dusty Devil Dale

Sometimes I've found both new and used BSS parts at Numrich, in NY.

Our club annually holds a "Turkey Shoot Cowboy Match". It is like our regular monthly matches, but we include some more difficult targets, like stationary/flying clay birds or longer rifle targets, which are no-miss-counted bonuses. Each hit bonus target wins a raffle ticket for several turkeys or hams. Each clean stage also gets the shooter one ticket, plus everyone gets a ticket for signing up. The issue has come up of a shooter simply blowing away rounds downrange on the bonuses to save match seconds, so we have had to assign a 1-sec time bonus for each hit bonus target, as well. The match overall spirit needs to be more fun oriented and less competitive than our other monthly matches. Generally, we BBQ afterwards.

Legality should not be the only consideration. For many here, I'm sure Marital Commitments, particularly those made before God, mean just that.

Have you checked to see if the chamber that sticks is always the same one? If so, look for runout in the cylinder center boring. If not, check for a bent base pin. Either can cause a stick point. If the gun was not cleaned and lubricated properly prior to you owning it, either of those conditions could arise.

Violin bow rosin (on the buttstock--not the shirt).

I don't have them (wish I did!). I think they're beautiful and they fit my hands really well. Thanks for sharing these v. nice examples in the photos!

Yes, I have noticed slightly more smoke from Titegroup than from Clay's, Red Dot, and/or other propellants. Just an aside: I don't get the idea that anybody is paying attention or caring about meeting CAS power factors these days, at least Ive never seen ammo checked at matches. But I do chrono my loads and try to keep them SASS legal. I load Titegroup in .38sp, with 130gn bullets in my rifle, and 105gn in pistols. With the 130gn rifle rounds, I could not get up to required power factor until I loaded at least 3.5gn. (28" barrel). So the O.P.s 3.2gn might be a little on the light side. Also, loading Titegroup too lightly to fully expand the case and seal the chamber causes excessive dirty blowby to accumulate on the carrier and under the top extractor. Just my own observations. I'd be curious if others have had different experience.

You might give Hydrogen Peroxide a try. It does a pretty good job on some odors. Just sponge it on a contaminated surface, wait a few minutes and wipe it clean. It seems to either work the first time, or not work at all, but it is CHEAP!

Way too little info to be able to help you. "Action job" is too non-specific. Were stock parts used, and if so were they modified? Is the hammer spring a stock design or one of the many aftermarket divergent designs like Pioneer, or SGB? Is the firing pin extension stock or weight- reduced (or otherwise modified)? Is the lever safety operative or disabled? All of those things affect firing pin forces --- and there are a number of remedial measures for each of them. It could also be shooter timimg error, especially with a removed lever safety. The bolt might not be fully closed when the trigger sear is released. Try levering and shooting it very slowly to see if it detonates all of the primers, or have another experienced shooter test fire the gun.

Wow! Sorry!

That is useful input. Stage/match writing is a balancing act, any way you look at it. No matter what you do, there will be people out on one or the other end of the curve who will either like or dislike it. I've found most (not all) of our shooters to be pretty tolerant and accepting. If somebody seems to have real heartburn, I usually invite them to write the next match. They usually do a good job of it.

CBB, You just nailed what is the hardest part of stage writing. In every club there are different people, with different skills and interests, and they will prefer almost every different style of stage. I say 'almost', because I don't believe anybody likes stressful stages with brain-teaser scenarios that are hard to remember and invite Procedurals, or that distract from serious competitors' concentration. Likewise, nobody likes shooting a clay bird at 50 yards with a pistol, with misses counted. An occasional shooting challenge is fun, if it can be done without materially affecting match outcomes. People LOVE hitting that 50 yard bird and hearing a 'whoop' out of the posse, but they hate getting assigned a miss if things don't go well. But at the other end of the scale are the people who are there purely for the fun of challenging shooting, who don't care so much about the timer or score sheet. Some people are mobile and like shooter movement. Others want fast 'stand and shoot'. Some people also shoot trap, so they love clay targets. Others not so much. (But everybody seems to like shooting the Texas Star at reasonable distance !) There is a point where creativity can outstrip peoples' capability and interest. That destroys both the fun and the practice and/or competition value of the match. (and I admit to doing that a time or two-- live and learn!) Searching out all of those threshholds is not easy. Stage writing is difficult, and sadly, most people seem to be more open about stage criticism with other shooters, than they are with the person who wrote the stage and needs to hear what shooters honestly want. People come up and say they really enjoyed the match, but then you hear that they told other shooters otherwise. And without real feedback, a stage writer cannot provide the variety that people like. When I took the job writing stages for our club, I knew full well that I was never going to be carried down our Main Street by a cheering crowd--except to a gallows. But I have to say I did not start out with an understanding of the difficulty of gearing stages to such a broad field of likes and dislikes. So like everybody else, I can only do my best. I try to: 1.) write and set up stages with an eye toward equity for all shooters, 2.) Avoid safety hazards and operational rule glitches. 3.) balance the western thematic things against stage difficulty, 4.) avoid building in likely misses or penalty traps, 5.) have stages reviewed in advance by a varied group of reviewers (WHO WILL COMMENT CANDIDLY! ), 6.) Pay attention to the comments received, and 7). I try to post our stages to our club website about 10 days before the match so people can come prepared with what they need and they can decide whether or not the match will be what they are looking for. For me, hitting the shooter preference targets in stage writing is a lot more difficult than shooting the match itself, because it has consequences for everybody. It cannot be just a casual -- or overdone-- process.

Our club, Kings River Regulators, has a long standing reputation for traditional cowboy matches with a strong historical western flavor. Our stages are often rich in props, moving or unusual targets, off-the-clock extras, shooter movement, occasional longer targets and occasional shooting from a moving ore cart. We usually have historical but short story lines and related start lines. Our membership has grown in the last 2 years from about 55 in 2022 to 88 today. About half of our new shooters are younger, between 8 and 45. Some of the shooters drive 2 to 3 hours, one way, to shoot our monthly matches. Not everyone in the club loves the traditional shooting, but to our knowledge, nobody has vacated our club or matches because of it. Our growth shows that there are still a number of folks who want more imagination in the game and stages. Their equation includes more than just fast stage times on big, close targets, wearing cowboy hats.

I do use bonuses occasionally as a means to lower the penalty for a miss on a more difficult target where you expect some shooters to have problems. For example: "No miss counted on flying clay bird, shot with the rifle, but a 2 sec bonus if hit." The miss on the bird is then only a 2 sec loss (only if somebody else hits it), and shooter does not incur a scored miss to mess up an otherwise clean match. But if a shooter can hit the bird, they get a small gain. (We actually did that clay bird rifle shot and saw about 20% hits --and a LOT of fun !). But I do avoid bonuses for non-shooting tasks or large bonuses that, of themselves, are likely to decide matches. I once shot a match that had 15-second bonuses for both, a hand axe throw and a knife throw. As soon as someone got both bonuses, the match became pointless, IMO.

I think you might make an excellent Secretary of State. You absolutely hammered the needed solutions!

As a rule of thumb, a pencil sharpener cuts about 5 degrees from each side, so the pencil taper is (about) 10 degrees.

I think we all get a lot of different signals telling us whether or not rounds hit the targets. The signals all come at once in a split second and our brain has to take in all of that data and spit out conclusions -- and for 20 or more rounds in fast succession. When you think about it, that's quite a task. I guess that's why there are three spotters who hopefully make calls independently. For me, a big part of spotting is positioning-- not just standing in position for seeing the targets, but moving with the shooter where possible, staying where I can see misses hit the ground behind target plates. Many times I've seen bullets hit far up on berms at obtuse angles and had to check targets with the other spotters for edge hits. I've also called some hits after only seeing bullets hit the ground at those seriously obtuse angles (benefit of doubt to shooter).

Sound is not always a reliable indicator of hits or misses, particularly with hearing impaired, ear protected spotters. Also, when plates are set close in, loud rounds that miss can echo off of plates in a way that resembles the sound and pitch of a hit. We tested it one day while setting up a match. Shooter fired 45 Colt, deliberately missing some of the plates. Two spotters, standing behind the shooter with eyes covered called hits on about half of the missed rounds. I don't call misses unless I see a round strike something that is not the intended target. I don't call misses based on things I did not actually see -- things like not seeing the target move or not seeing the bullet strike the plate. Too often a bullet strikes a prior hit mark and does not leave a new visible mark. Splatter on the ground directly below and/or beside a target is usually a good hit indicator.

Blind spotters

Start lines obviously are intended to let the T.O. and spotters know when the shooter is ready. But they can also add some laughs to the game, especially when shooters individualize. But (and this is a question) was the addition of start lines originally intended as a stage "task", i.e., to level the playing field by all shooter's having to deal with the same distraction from their "zone" as they approach the stage? Was the line intended to be a "Stage Direction", or just a fun and useful informal stage feature? Stage writers usually handle all of that by just keeping lines short, fun for the posse, loosely managed, and by posting them conveniently for shooters. It seems like it is working OK in most matches I've attended. I've seen a lot of cases where the Stage Direction just said "indicate ready". In one case it said "Indicate ready by saying the posted line". I've also seen some really fun lines, like a stage in a Halloween themed match where the Stage Direction called for holding up a witches broom and saying, "Of course I can drive a stick!" Simple and fun is most popular, but is the posted line a requirement?

Don't underestimate the technical difficulty of measuring and boring a (hopefully true, round) hole to precise depth on a cylindrical workpiece. A tiny side shift on the cylinder or flex or dullness in the bit could cause the edge of your bit to break through into the pistol rifling. Larsen's advice about boring it with a rigid end mill is very good advice. If you do not have a milling machine with very precise x-y positioning and precision boring depth control, I would consider spending a few $$ and having the boring and tapping done by a qualified gunsmith. At the very least, make a solid, accurate drill guide and practice on scrap round stock until you can get it right every time. Just my $0.25 worth.

Browning BSS. More expensive up front, to be sure, and a bit heavier than most, but you'll have to buy only one. I've seen a number of shooters go through several shotgun upgrades, looking for something dependable. They spent way more than I spent for the Browning. In ten years now, I have never had one malfunction. SKB would probably be my next choice, followed by Baikal. The Baikal seems to be a Russian made Browning knock-off. Nice, lightweight gun, if you can get parts.

Two questions: 1) Was the shooter the only person swept by his/her rifle, or did a T.O. also get swept in following the shooter? My understanding has been that a shooter sweeping themself is a no call. Not so for sweeping a T.O. 2) What do you mean by "slightly to the right"? If the stage requires the gun to be restated in a position that places the shooter's required movement within the 170 degree range, I would absolutely call that a defective and unsafe stage design.

I once made the mistake of calculating (estimating) what I would have had at my retirement from 44 years working, if I'd been allowed to keep and invest my payments into SS. It would have been mine to invest through the 70s and 80s, when the compounding interest rate on simple CD savings was well over 10% and you could buy Microsoft for $1.75/share. Don't go there. Your calcs will make you I'll !

Last time I lost one (and Ive lost many!), it turned up a week later stuck to a magnetized screwdriver on the workbench. Yes, it is a magnetic stainless steel alloy-- at least mine was.