Dusty Devil Dale

It might have been a target failure-- most probably was. The wheel settled to a slow pendulum with one plate at the bottom. The shooter's hits simply tilted the plate back against the frame. But in a shoot-off situation, with two shooters in direct competition, how do you do a fair re-shoot. The point is that the shooter was prevented from moving on to other targets by the shoot until down Stage Instruction.

Have you seen this verbiage in Stage Instructions? I see it often. So what does it really say? On its face, it says the shooter MUST re-engage the target until it falls down. Because it is a "Stage Instruction", it technically overrides the permissive language in SHB and in other places, saying knockdown shotgun targets 'MAY' be re-engaged. By this Stage Instruction, dropping the plate is REQUIRED. So shooters technically cannot just accept a miss and stop the re-engagement. I guess if/ when they eventually run out of ammo, they get the miss -- or is it also a Procedural (failing to follow stage instructions)? It isnt just an inconsequential piece of rhetoric. I recently watched a shooter fire 8 extra shotgun rounds, trying to drop a single target. They consistently shot over the top. They stopped when their ammo was exhausted. Several years ago, I also watched a very good shooter competing for fun in the day-after shoot-offs of a Western Regional SASS Match (that he had won the previous day). He engaged and hit the last plate on a T-Star repeatedly, but it did not detach. He exhausted his ammo. That brought loud laughter from the crowd, but the shooter didn't enjoy it as much. So with the above instruction, was dropping the plates actually required? Just reading the instruction, I would say yes, it was. A better-written Stage Instruction might be: "Engage the Shotgun targets. Targets left standing are misses. Any shotgun target may be re-engaged" Comon sense is that nobody intends for shooters to have run the clock out or to exhaust ammunition, rather than just accept a miss. But shouldn't we we say what we mean in writing our common-usage Stage Instructions? Just my thoughts. (Others' mileage may vary)

Just a word on "bonuses". They have always been unpopular here on the wire and generally are not used in the bigger matches. But most shooters do enjoy earning them in annual or monthly matches. They represent opportunity for a lesser penalty for a miss on a difficult target. The target is designated "no-miss-counted" and If nobody hits it, the bonus is moot. If only one person hits it, then everyone else has a penalty. But if the bonus is 1 second, the miss differential costs the shooters only 1 second instead of 5. That can be a useful tool for including some fun, more difficult targets without them being major game changers. Another place they are useful is where a target like a T-Star is placed in a 10-round shooting string. A following bonus dump (say 1 second per hit) for any left over rounds can offer a reward to the shooter who drops all of the T-Star plates with fewer rounds. Otherwise, a shooter who misses five shots dropping the plates has no miss penalty. But I do agree that bonuses invite scorekeeping complexity errors. That problem is pretty unavoidable and very significant, and that issue alone might exclude them from major matches.

TiteGroup powder. The bullets are cast hard lead -- from Badman Bullets. Like you, I've never experienced this in the past. I might have to switch to coated bullets, but I have about 11,000 lead bullets on hand that I would like to use. AND, if it was the bullets, the other revolver should be affected. So I'm looking into smoothing the bore in the problem gun.

Two weeks ago, my wife wanted to go up to the range and refresh herself with her cowboy guns, prior to shooting the Kings River Regulators Fort Miller Shootout. I went with her to test a new 1873 extractor, and to do some revolver live fire. I set out five 12" square targets at 7 yards, and we blazed our way through a couple hundred rounds. Partway through, I began to miss badly, but with only one of the pistols. After several rounds, missing 3 or 4 out of five shots, I stopped shooting fast and tested the gun. Steadying it against a post, and then a table, I continued to miss. My wife asked if cleaning the gun would help. I retrieved a bronze spiral brush from the cart and scrubbed the bore. Then put on a jag and pushed 4 or 5 dry patches through the bore. Lots of lead schards apeared on the patches. When I fired the cleaned gun, it resumed its former precision. I guess I never worried very much about leading in a revolver bore, especially shooting such close targets. We all respect the effects of leading on rifle precision. But I confess I often cleaned the revolver receiver and cylinder, but usually neglected to clean the bore. I learned a painless lesson in our practice. But then, last weekend at the Shootout, I had the same problem occur again with the same gun, costing 4 misses on close targets in the second to last stage. The missing immediately corrected when I scrubbed out the bore. From now on, I will carry the tools and solvent and scrub the pistol bores each time I clean the shotgun during matches. I wonder how many of my misses over the years, were contributed to by barrel leading. Friends are saying to shoot a couple jacketed rounds through the bore to shoot out the lead. But you can't exactly do that between stages in a match. In my case, during the Shootout match, consequential leading re-deposited over only 9 stages (45 rounds). I never would have expected that.

Several years ago, when the federal Covid relief checks were being mailed out, one of my State retirement paychecks was stolen in the mail and cashed locally. (I will spare you that other long story). The local law enforcement fraud investigator directed me to report the incident to the U.S. Auditor General's Office, Postal Division, which I did. Surprisingly, they took keen interest, saying postal employee mail theft was rampant at the time, with the unaccounted Covid checks being the principle target. They stated that my local post office was a national theft hot-spot. A sting operation was set up which resulted, seven months later, in fourteen felony mail theft arrests among carriers from this one post office. (I did get my paycheck reissued, after a year and a half.)

I'm still waiting for my state tax package to reach Sacramento -2-1/2 hours away -mailed registered mail in Fresno, Ca, (return receipt req and tracking) on April 2 (20 days now in transit). The tracking is useless. I think we are seeing employee or agency management backlash and work backup in response to our new Administration talk of privatization or layoffs. The service suddenly stalled right after Trump's inauguration.

Hopes #9 takes the buildup off in a few seconds of rubbing and it doesn't remove metal/round off edges. Spray carburetor cleaner or brake cleaner also cleans deposits off quickly and thoroughly Tumbling with any abrasive or other tumbled part that is capable of scratching the aluminum surface is removing metal and modifying tolerances.

Thank you. Any stage writer or MD would appreciate your directness. Stage writers are always the last ones to hear either praise or criticism. We know at the onset that we're not going to be carried down the street by a cheering crowd. But hearing criticism directly, rather than second hand is hugely helpful, because it can be a discussion rather than just incoming anonymous arrows. The two way discussion can improve stages and shooter fun for future matches.

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.

The front of the cylinder has to be very clean to be able to see or read the numbers.

Colt Blooded

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.