January 2026 Newsletter

Welcome to our first newsletter of this year.   The Board of Directors wishes all of our shooters and your families the very best health and happiness for 2026.

by EJ Waltermire H3G #6

Greetings from the Oklahoma Rough Riders.   I hope that Santa has treated you better than you deserve.  God knows I rely on this very reason to keep coal out of my stocking – and I’ve seen a lot of your acts!

With that in mind, here is my plug for donations to H3G. We are a fledgling organization, looking for revenue.  As a non-profit 501(c) 3, every cent goes to promote and grow our sport.  Every board member is a volunteer.  We will be good stewards of any support you can give.

I am not providing tax advice, but I would like to make you aware of a big change for the 2026 tax code as mandated by President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”.  Beginning in the 2026 tax year, a reinstated deduction allows non-itemizers to deduct cash donations to charity—up to $1,000 for single filers or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. This provision is permanent and is not indexed for future inflation.

If you itemize, there is very little change for deducting charitable donations.  If you contribute to Historic 3-Gun, you will get the deduction.

Bottom line, if you usually take the standard deduction for tax simplicity, you now can pay Uncle Sam a little less and support your favorite pastime.

Again, this is a plug for H3G donations, but with the benefit of potentially lowering your tax bill.  Full disclaimer: I AM NOT A QUALIFIED TAX ACCOUNTANT!   The above information is for your consideration for the 2026 tax year.  Please consult with your accountant to see if the non-itemized tax deduction of $1,000 individual or $2,000 joint, is right for you.  If you itemize, please add H3G to your list.

Here is a link to a good article by Fidelity that explains in detail what I am trying to convey.

In the November newsletter, we outlined the three phases of the Range Officer Certification Course, home study, classroom and real range monitored practice. For members who are interested in becoming RO certified, there will be a phase II classroom practical course at the Historic 3-Gun Texas International in Bowie, TX on Saturday, March 21, 2026.  This course will be 1 ½ to 2 hours.  Another phase II course will be held during the Historic 3-Gun World Championship at the Oklahoma City Gun Club, Arcadia, OK in April 2026.  If you are interested in taking either of these courses, please let us know by sending a message to members@historic3gun.com. We will then send you the PowerPoint presentation and exam for you to complete phase I of the course, prior to attending phase II in either TX or OK.  The cost of the course is $30 to be paid during the classroom session.  This fee includes all three phases of the course and the RO badge pictured above.

For those who are already qualified H3G ROs, we will be sending you an email on how to get your RO badge.

by Dusty Boddams H3G #9

March 20-22, 2026
Bowie, Texas
Hosted by the Texas Doughboys

Looking back at 2025, all those present enjoyed a challenging and fun match at the Texas International ’25 last March.  Food, fun, fellowship and firearms makes for a great 3 day weekend. The match featured Friday specialty matches and an extra favorite specialty match on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday evening there was the awards banquet for the specialty matches along with a sit-down catered dinner at the Artillery Museum in Saint Joe, TX, a must-see.

Sunday morning the balance of stages were shot and winners were crowned.

That being in the past let’s talk about the future.  The Texas Doughboys like creating a mixture of stage designs at The Texas International. For 2026 this will continue. The Texas Doughboys always maximize fun and entertainment! We like adventurous stages that have movement and lots of shooting, along with great target presentation. We always like working around walls and other obstacles, while giving competitors the latitude and flexibility to allow them to solve the challenge on a particular stage.

Our stages feature generous TEA (target engagement areas) to allow shooters of various skill levels to compete at their best. Our TEA allows shooters to decide between time, distance and the shooter’s own ability that you will find fun.  There are plenty of reactive targets along with static targets.  Our belief is that a target rich environment is enjoyed by our competitors.

Friday, we have a great lineup of specialty matches including

• BAMM (bolt action military match)
• GAMM (Garand action military match)
• SLAM (speed lever, pistol caliber)
• SAMM (sniper action military match)
• CAMM (carbine military match)
• LAMM (lever action, rifle caliber)
• POPGUN (pocket pistol)
• TEXAS 36 (1911 pistol and 36 targets)
• WHEELIES (1917 revolver with full moon clips)
• THUMB BUSTERS (pair of single action revolvers)
• TEAM MATCH
• TRENCH SWEEP (pump shotgun)
• PCC4ME (pistol caliber carbine) – to be held Saturday afternoon

There will be at least one food truck on the grounds Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for you to purchase lunch.

We will be shooting the main match adventure stages on Saturday and Sunday and will have a banquet Saturday evening which will include award presentations for the specialty matches along with costume contest awards and a SWAP meet for anything you want to trade or sell. (we will have tables) Sunday we will shoot the balance of stages and afterwards we will have an awards ceremony.

There will be an RO course on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

If you want lots of great, entertaining shooting, come on out to Bowie, Texas at Gun Runner Shooting Sports Complex, March 20 – 22, 2026.  Don’t miss it.

I’m Dusty Boddams and that’s the Boddam line.

This is a non-technical review of the Model 12 firing pin made by Boggus Deal. He sells these as a replacement firing pin made from tougher material than factory. His firing pin is actually a genius redesign of the firing pin.

As a background the Model 12 Winchester is a brilliantly designed shotgun that had a long production cycle. It saw use by sportsmen the world over as well as with competitive shooters, military and law enforcement. The shotgun has been reconfigured multiple ways to enhance each application. There are hundreds of thousands of these guns in circulation, and they are extremely tough except for the firing pin. The firing pin is quirky in that sometimes, when it breaks, the gun will continue to operate, although you can feel a problem.   Other times it just ceases to fire. Over the years gunsmiths and entrepreneurs have tried their best to solve this issue with the Model 12 and have had varying degrees of success. I have tried several different pins from various makers, and all have broken after different amounts of shooting.  This experience has included more than a few new factory pins! If you are wondering, I don’t dry fire practice. All my shooting is done using live ammo. Yes, I do shoot a fair amount, but there’re lots of competitors that shoot more.

If a shotgun breaks down hunting, that’s bad luck. If a shotgun breaks during competition in the middle of a stage, that is a catastrophe It tends to lead into train wreck territory. No one wants to be in train wreck territory! Until now, no one has improved the reliability of the firing pin by enough of a percentage to conquer the problem.

Finally, when Boggus Deal started making replacement firing pins, I bought 3.  Friends and other folks bought them too. What we have all experienced is that the Boggus Deal firing pins are not breaking. These pins are built from tougher steel and that’s a great step forward.  But Boggus has also redesigned it to be more robust and operate differently than the original.

I’m not trying to be funny, but if it involves a gun and a gunsmith, whatever they do “always” makes the gun slicker. Install front sight; “slicker”. Re-blue; “slicker”.  In this light, I was told this firing pin would make my action operate smoother.  Me being me, well, I just smiled in a doubtful way. Now I must take those thoughts back.   My gun, with the new firing pin is most assuredly “slicker”. The reason is in the redesign. See also step number 4 on the instructions page.

Boggus deal has actually increased the reliability of the Winchester Model 12 and I for one congratulate him.

 I’m Dusty Boddams and that’s the Boddam line