Taos

So, Elder Statesman CAN NOT be collapsed to Silver Senior? That right? What if the Category is ES Frontier Cartridge? Can it then be collapsed into SS Frontier Cartridge?

Heck, if I were an Aussie and that was my only choice to continue to shoot, I'd do it. Assuming the volunteer shot shell is a 12ga.: 20gr of powder in a Cowboy 12ga load is kinda hot, but not hot for a hunting load. From that I "assume" the powder used is nothing unusual. Shot shell powder is used a lot in light cowboy pistol and rifle loads. You already know the powder is a shotshell powder, it's not something like H110 or similar. If the volunteer powder is not a flake powder I would maybe do a little more investigation. Say a .38 load; we know 3gr of any noteworthy pistol or shotgun powder will work. I'd start with 1 gr of the unknown powder, I very much doubt it would cause any problem other than a squib. Then work up .5gr at a time from there to get a comfortable load. You said you had a chronograph so tracking velocity should not be a problem. Of course we all know what the first three letters in "assume" are.

I bought an AWA Lightning in 44/40 just for sport. I like messing with guns and getting them working like they should. But......the Lightning kicked my butt!! Try this, try that, make a load like this, make a load like that, pump it like this, pump it like that, the gun don't care. It'll work fine one stage and then find a new and interesting way to jam up. UUUUURG! I know I could send it to Lasseter, I could also just leave it standing in the corner. Or hang I could hang it on a wall, someone else's wall because it would just piss me off every time I saw it!

If it were me? I'd visit a few hardware stores or auto part stores and buy a piece of rubber gasket material and cut my own new gasket.

My Buckaroo grandson uses a Yildez. 12ga now, had a 20ga but sold it for the 12ga. Seem to be good guns. Very light, much lighter than a Stoeger. He also has a very slicked up 12ga two trigger Stoeger and MUCH prefers the Yildez. Both his Yildez have had a few problems, nothing unusual for a lower dollar gun, and nothing that myself or most any gunsmith could not handle. Build quality is way above Stoeger. My biggest fear with the Yildez is getting parts if I need them. The 20ga is a different gun than the 12ga, different mechanisms (don't know why that is, but is). We seemed to have more problems with the 20 than the 12. The 20 had problems locking the barrels, had to get a gunsmith (Boomstick) to weld/work on the barrel locks. It also would light strike the left barrel, but that was pretty rare. The top lever that opens the barrels had problems too. The internals of the opening lever on his 20 was apparently made of soft metal and it wore completely out to where the gun would not open. Had to get it repaired with a hard weld and ground back down to specs. IMHO based on my experience with the 20ga, I'd stay away from it. The only problem with the 12 was it not opening far enough and staying open enough for easy load and shuck. An easy but careful fix. There is a lug on the barrel, between the barrels, that cocks the hammers. The lug was too long and was over-cocking the hammers. This caused the hammer springs to keep tension on the lug and barrels not allowing he barrels to stay fulling open. By removing the butt stock I could see how far the gun was over cocking. Marked the hammers to where they cocked and carefully ground down the cocking lug on the barrels to reduce the over cocking problem. I just had to be very careful not to shorten the cocking lug too much, or the gun would be gunsmith bound. Works like a charm now. That and the regular lightened hammer spring, polishing and chamber honing/widening. Overall the Yildez 12ga is a great gun. IMHO The internals of the Yildez are very similar to a Stoeger, so if you can work on a Stoeger you should be able to work on a Yildez.

I wet tumble using dish soap and Lemeshine. After tumbling and rinsing I put a couple capfuls of my favorite car wash soap in a bucket with just enough water to cover the brass. Swish it for a few seconds, drain and lightly rinse. Then I dry in a case dryer. I rarely get water spots. The slick ceramic coating also seems to help make reloading easier, slick in the dies I guess. I use Turtle Wax Ceramic Hybrid Solutions. I've tried a few others, didn't work as well. Used to be able to get it at Walmart, now I have to get it through Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Wax-53411-Solutions-Ceramic/dp/B07XYQNZ2R/ref=asc_df_B07XYQNZ2R?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=79989588515103&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583589115104599&th=1