Dusty Devil Dale
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Posts posted by Dusty Devil Dale
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I am sure many folks will benefit, while many others will not. I feel sorry for shooters in Alaska and Hawaii who want to shoot Regionals !
It is what it is.
As today, individual members' interest, economics, available time, and physical condition realities will determine their regional match attendance and, therefore, the matches' viability. I think as time passes, needs will be perceived and changes will be made however needed to keep the regionals viable.
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15 hours ago, Assassin said:
The answer is "yes". Many shooters stopped attending regional matches when they changed the map.
I agree. I suspect State Matches and club Annual Matches are likely to see a boost in attendance now, while Regionals may wane -- possibly to a point of questionable viability. Drives of 1000+ or 1,500+ round-trip miles will likely be a stretch for many western area shooters.
Were TGs actively involved in these boundary decisions? I cannot speak for states other than my home state of California, but I suspect there are California venues who are capable of holding a regional event. But were they made aware that boundary and venue changes were under consideration?
The scheduling of Regional Match events is also a very big question. Local people from all clubs need to be a part of scheduling discussions for Regionals. In most cases, neighboring clubs have avoided overlapping matches through long established schedules for monthly and annual matches. Nobody is going to enjoy having a Regional Match event planned by folks located 700 miles away and dropped on top of their long established club annual. Individual club viability often depends on income from their annual events. If local clubs become inviable, I suspect our game, overall, will not last very long.
But with all of that said, the realignment appears to be a done deal at this point for 2026. So let's just see what succeeds and what doesn't. As I understand it, it is basically a trial run, only for 2026. So let's all just chill a bit, decock, re-index, reholster and wait to see. If clubs do step up to host Regionals, I expect we will see changes for future years. Hopefully so.
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Today is the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere. That means each day for the next 6 months will get longer north of the equator by very roughly a minute or two, depending on latitude. For those of us with cabin fever from loooooong nights, it will feel like a blessing.
I'm in California. I can't imagine what it's like to live further north. Seeing the Aurora Borealis would be redeeming for a while, but I think I'd be moving back southward very soon. There is a limit to how much reloading, gun cleaning, fly tying, woodworking or Internet surfing a person wants to do. I'm personally ready for a bit more sunshine!
Merry Christmas everyone!
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1 hour ago, Frontier Lone Rider said:
Replacing the Cylinder Rod is no longer my issue, I will replace it eventually. My issue is I won't have a buggered-up screw on one of my firearms. So, my focus is removing that screw. The heat did not work, or I didn't get it hot enough. Today I will drill and use an
Easy Out Screw Extractor to see if I can remove the screw or what will be left of it. I have already ordered two new screws from two different vendors to ensure that I will have the correct replacement.
To continue my luck with this revolver, while replacing the Hammer Spring my vise grip slipped, and the new spring went flying. I still haven't found it, but I had already purchased multiple springs, so I already have a replacement, and it is in the revolver.
The Cylinder Throats are way under sized at .4250'', which will cause High Primers when firing. So I have contacted Ruger's Customer Service to have them re-bore the cylinder. Once that is done, I will true the Cylinder Throats by reaming each Cylinder Throat to .4300" with my Manson Reamer, but my smallest Pilot is .4270" and they will not enter this small of a Cylinder Throat.
This revolver will be a back-up, but it will have a history.
The saga continues.
I've used a drill press with a screwdriver bit to apply heavy down pressure, with pretty good success at removing the screw. You simply hand rotate the very tight chuck. But you normally need to replace the screw afterward, because just about any stuck screw will get its head marred during removal, regardless of driver fit..
The drill press does control driver position and angle better and keep the driver head from slipping & marring the rest of the firearm.
But do try heat first. Also a penetrating lube soak overnight.
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Is shortening of a revolver base pin a SASS- permissible external mod?
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Newsom is definitely headed your way in 28. Get the word out !
Election reform needs way more action and way less media rhetoric. Tell/write your Congress-people to the busy NOW!
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I only shoot green STS hulls and they ALMOST never stick on shucking. When I do rarely get a hull that is sluggish coming out, I clean the chambers between stages and the problem disappears. Clean chambers seem to be very important when using light loads that seal less tightly to the chamber walls, thus allowing significant blowback cellulose and powder residue accumulation.
I tried cheap Remington Light factory ammo once, with steel case heads. Every round stuck, as reported by others here.
I do use a taper tool, but I think that has much more to do with quickly inserting unfired rounds into double guns than it benefits extraction or case shucking. I cannot imagine the compressed crimp end from the taper tool lasting through firing (fire forming). I could be wrong.
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3 minutes ago, Texas Maverick said:
When a match is proud to only have 5% clean shooters and I personally saw a few laugh when the number of procedures were announced then you have a match that is not fun. We try to shoot for 20% clean shooters and don't want it so difficult that we see a lot of procedures because the stage was confusing. Now flame on.
TM
With a bit of careful effort and control of excessive creativity, you can almost eliminate procedurals and DQ penalties -- at least among more experienced shooters.
We work to do that by limiting memory tasks -- use simple sweeps, similar for rifle and pistol. Use color to help guide shooting order. Design scenarios to work simply for all categories. Set targets with consideration to both tall and short shooters. Minimize movement requiring odd muzzle angles, etc.
Hitting targets is a core function of shooting. Better shooters acquire targets faster and have shooting skills to miss less, and that wins matches. That is and always has been the game. So our club does not try to make the targets easy. Everybody shoots the same stages and the good shooters do it faster and better. That is optimum. Normally we will see 10 to 15% clean shooters.
In our case, fun comes from imaginative western themes in the stages and fun props, like swinging targets, shooting from a wagon or from a rolling ore cart, or shooting clay birds. I listen for laughter and pay attention to those stage designs.
The competition comes from stages that are possible to shoot fast and well, but are not so easy, big, and close that we neutralize whole elements of shooting skill. The good shooters can win, middle shooters have a good chance at doing well. Others get practice and can always slow down and shoot clean. Quite a few shooters do the latter. We have a wide variety of skill, physical capability and personal goals.
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7 hours ago, Creeker, SASS #43022 said:
Yup, that's why Bordertown is dying and all the known small, far and challenging matches have thrived.
I don't understand when it is so obvious.
I also wonder if any of these folks that claim some great insight into the "decline" of SASS have ever actually ran a successful club that attracted or retained shooters.
Actually some clubs that still shoot more traditional and slower stages --ones with story lines and some challenging shooting, using moving targets or longer shooting -- are enjoying reasonable growth and new, younger recruitment. I know of at least two trad clubs who are rapidly growing.
Our club, Kings River Regulators, has a well known "signature" of shooting traditional CAS stages. Our Stage Scenarios are published ten days in advance of matches, so people can make their decisions to shoot or not shoot. We usually put out a variety of 16"-ish targets (some moving), usually at 6-8 yds for pistol and 8-12 yds for rifle. We frequently use story lines.
Our stage times range from 13+ sec up to 40 or more sec, depending on shooter skill and targets. We try hard to focus on shooting skills rather than memory capacity, so scenarios are usually simple and easy to remember under the timer. Usually we see only 6: or 8 Procedurals in a 10 stage weekend (2 separate 5-stage matches) with 30-40+ shooters/day.
Our membership has gone from 44 to over 70 members in the past 1-1/2 years. Most new folks are in their 30s -early 50s. They tell us they like the strong cowboy flavored matches. Most came to us from other shooting sports, looking for something different and more interesting.
It's easy to assume that all clubs must be failing if they shoot the old way, as the SASS norms seemingly move toward more speed, enabled by easier matches, with popularity measured by attracting numbers of shooters. But match attendance doesn't measure the same thing as club recruitment. Single match composition can be important, but location, seasonal weather timing, scheduling, and lots of other things affect individual sign-up/attendance decisions. On the other hand, club new recruitment requires large investment to join into a club with all-year matches in a single venue and with a particular style. New shooters join because they see and enjoy what you do.
What we find is that our shooters like variety and a bit of challenge -- more so than super fast stage times. Some of our monthly shooters drive very long California distances to repeatedly shoot our trad matches (3-5 hours one way). Some often camp overnight to shoot our second day.
Nothing can be assumed about CAS shooter preferences. They are fun people because they all have slightly different likes and dislikes. To me, our club recruitment success speaks loudly, despite the fact that only a few of our stages emulate the popular close, fast style of shooting.
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On 10/30/2025 at 2:32 PM, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:
That's basically 6 yards for rifle and 4 yards for pistol for "near" and 7 yards and 5 yards for "mid." SASS really is getting old.
I hope folks can hit 24" square targets at 6 or 7 yards with a rifle. Wow! It's becoming a pretty dumbed-down game. Not all shooters want or enjoy that. Folks' mileage differs, and some variety would better serve those differences.
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7 hours ago, Lucky R. K. said:
As in many other cases, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I have described a process I have used for shotguns and pistols for years. The results of the process has always been successful. You do it your way and I will continue to do it mine. Do you really believe that the zillions of cans of WD40 are bought just for water displacement?
Lucky
As you said, "You can continue to do it your way". (I promise not to lose too much sleep.)
If you choose to, you can look up and read (or not) the manufacturer product spec's for WD-40. If honing pistol chambers works well for you, then I encourage you to continue.
As for me, I'll use precision reamers or have an experienced gunsmith do it and preserve the firearm's value.
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On 9/17/2025 at 6:27 AM, Lucky R. K. said:
This a really good fix. If the chambers are not too tight you might try sandpaper wrapped around a mandrel and lubed with WD40. I have used this method to loosen up shotgun chambers,
Lucky
Keep in mind that WD-40 is intended to be a moisture displacer and not really a lubricant. It's much better to use a high quality gun lubricant intended for honing. Brownells and others sell those products.
But importantly, keep in mind that honing as described is imprecise and results will not be parallel cut as with a reamer. That's a recipe for a lot of blow-back gasses and the metal erosion damage that they can gradually accomplish. I would not recommend honing on a revolver or rifle chamber.
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On 12/6/2016 at 6:08 PM, Deuce Stevens SASS#55996 said:
There is nothing stopping a local club from offering a sub category like you propose. But in my experience of match directing even the most casual of competitors will not like placing below a adult shooter be it a man or woman who is shooting .22's when they are shooting centerfires.
Especially if knockdown targets do not have to be dropped -only hit. Fortunately, most plates can be adjusted so .22 L or LR will knock them down. They really do not lack that much in power factor, considering their velocity.
Our club does have what we call Plinkerton Category for .22L/LR.
It adds a burden for a T.O. where there are make up rounds required for knockdowns left standing. If the plates are hit by a .22 round, but not knocked down, no make up is needed. But those need to be distinguished from misses requiring make up. And the misses have to be called by the T.O., on the clock, without consulting spotters.
A lot of small brass lying around also adds time to brass picking for larger calibers.
But all of those issues already exist for Buckaroo or Buckarette shooter categories, so they are not new problems. We have seen a lot of interest in our new Plinkerton Category, and it has been one of the reasons why our club has been rapidly growing.
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On 1/28/2017 at 4:09 PM, Butch McGie, SASS#71758 said:
And the new model has the last three serial numbers engraved on the cylinder.
The front of the cylinder has to be very clean to be able to see or read the numbers.
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Colt Blooded
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On 1/17/2017 at 8:34 PM, Yul Lose said:
Be sure and remove the butt stock if you flush out the rifle and oil it heavily. A lot of the old long guns you see have weakened or ruined stocks because of the fluids that have gravitated into them when the guns were stood up. The stock comes off very easily on Pedersoli Lightnings.
An easy way to avoid the oiling of rifle and shotgun stocks is to store the guns muzzle down. It looks funny, but the oil stays on the metal parts, where you intended it to go. I usually run a swab or bore mop down the barrel after storing for any length of time. The oil can accumulate and gum up in the chamber.
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A message to SASS' Western Members
in SASS Wire
Posted
By SASS' published 2018 numbers, the now eliminated Western Region had 3,764 members which was almost 1/5 of total 20,595 members nationwide. Have those demographics changed significantly since then?