Revolver Opinions

[BehindBlueI's]

I actually haven't fired mine yet. I hear they don't work properly after cleaning. I did get 4 more speed loaders for it though.lol

, yeah, but they recover.

Here's 6 of my reloads (7.2 grains of Acc#5 and a Missouri Bullet's 158gr LSWC)

7 yards, shooting pretty quickly. The small holes are from my son shooting his .22.

 

[byhova]

So is the 4" suppose to be a little more accurate because if the longer barrel, longer sight alignment vs the 3" of the ruger? But all the pictures posted of shots with the ruger look to be good, close groupings.

I will definitely check the ruger out at the next gun show if I can find one...or if someone knows of a shop that may have one close to Kokomo so I don't have to travel 2. Hours to find it just to see how comfortable it feels when holding it

 

[SERparacord]

, yeah, but they recover.

Here's 6 of my reloads (7.2 grains of Acc#5 and a Missouri Bullet's 158gr LSWC)

7 yards, shooting pretty quickly. The small holes are from my son shooting his .22.

Good grouping, has the trigger pull lighted any with use?

 

[SERparacord]

So is the 4" suppose to be a little more accurate because if the longer barrel, longer sight alignment vs the 3" of the ruger? But all the pictures posted of shots with the ruger look to be good, close groupings.

I will definitely check the ruger out at the next gun show if I can find one...or if someone knows of a shop that may have one close to Kokomo so I don't have to travel 2. Hours to find it just to see how comfortable it feels when holding it

The longer the barrel the better, but for self defense short barrels are just fine. You'll not likey have to make a Hollywood long range shot.

 

[Hookeye]

Having a Colt Python and not shooting it is like marrying a supermodel and being asexual.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Good grouping, has the trigger pull lighted any with use?

Thanks. I called the flier as well, 4th shot in the string and I knew I threw it.

If so, its been very marginal. I did have the innards polished by our armorer, which resulted in an improved trigger feel, though. I liked the factory trigger, but with the polishing it breaks a bit cleaner. You don't really see any difference except at about 75%-95% effort.

So far the round count is:

250 factory .357 158 gr (Blazer Brass, my standard practice round at the moment)
12 factory .357 125 gr (evaluating carry rounds)
35 factory .38 +P 158 gr (15 of of the box went to my BUG)
35 factory 38 158 gr LSWC (15 of the box went to my BUG)
48 reloaded .357 158 gr LSWC (reusing the Blazer Brass, will be cranking out more reloads)

I don't keep count of my dry fires, but I'd estimate in the neighborhood of 300.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

So is the 4" suppose to be a little more accurate because if the longer barrel, longer sight alignment vs the 3" of the ruger? But all the pictures posted of shots with the ruger look to be good, close groupings.

I will definitely check the ruger out at the next gun show if I can find one...or if someone knows of a shop that may have one close to Kokomo so I don't have to travel 2. Hours to find it just to see how comfortable it feels when holding it

All else being equal, you should shoot the 4" marginally better due to the longer sight radius. You will also see better velocity, how much depends on what ammo, but figure 150 fps for easy figuring.

That said, I shoot my 3" better than any handgun I've ever touched other than my full sized 1911. I believe the Novak sights with the brass bead is a big part of the reason. My eyes and those sights just click. I'm strongly considering replacing the factory night sights on my P220 with a similar set up and seeing if my groups with it improve, and its just slightly behind the GP100 right now.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

I carry an LCR .357 because it's a great carry gun. When I go recreational shooting .357 though, I bring the 3" SP101 or the 6" GP100. I will be selling the SP101 and GP100 though to buy a 4.2" SP101. I have a problem with what I view as firearm redundancy in my own collection and the 4.2 inch will fulfill the roles of the 3" and 6" just fine.

 

[bgcatty]

Without question a S&W 586, 686, 19, 27 and you have the bases covered. Also don't forget a Ruger GP101, SP101 or Blackhawk. Six inch barrels if you are worried about carrying the revolver - 4" or less to carry. But if you are going to have mostly a target revolver a 6" gun is the one to get and you can hunt with it also. Can't go wrong with any of these revolvers.

 

[bgcatty]

No need for a 686+ with the 7 round cylinder. Stick with the good old six shooter and keep some speed loaders at hand and you are ready for anything.

 

[LtScott14]

Had a few of the above(19, 66, 686, GP100,) all fine shooters. As the ammo got more expensive, started using a S&W M10 w/ 4in bbl(38 spec). Great balance, old school revolver, easy to change grips, and speedloaders everywhere. Mine is the "skinny"barrel, but the heavy barrel is cool too. Like the M64 you wrote about. Find one while you can.

 

[byhova]

As far as the DA trigger I know not any handgun is alike, but should I expect the revolver in DA to be similar to my DA Sig P250? I am comfortable with this gun and have been pretty accurate with this gun as well but was wondering how the two would compare as far as the trigger pull or is this something you cant compare since 1 is semi auto & the other is a revolver.

 

[SERparacord]

As far as the DA trigger I know not any handgun is alike, but should I expect the revolver in DA to be similar to my DA Sig P250? I am comfortable with this gun and have been pretty accurate with this gun as well but was wondering how the two would compare as far as the trigger pull or is this something you cant compare since 1 is semi auto & the other is a revolver.

That.

 

[SERparacord]

Thanks. I called the flier as well, 4th shot in the string and I knew I threw it.

If so, its been very marginal. I did have the innards polished by our armorer, which resulted in an improved trigger feel, though. I liked the factory trigger, but with the polishing it breaks a bit cleaner. You don't really see any difference except at about 75%-95% effort.

So far the round count is:

250 factory .357 158 gr (Blazer Brass, my standard practice round at the moment)
12 factory .357 125 gr (evaluating carry rounds)
35 factory .38 +P 158 gr (15 of of the box went to my BUG)
35 factory 38 158 gr LSWC (15 of the box went to my BUG)
48 reloaded .357 158 gr LSWC (reusing the Blazer Brass, will be cranking out more reloads)

I don't keep count of my dry fires, but I'd estimate in the neighborhood of 300.

I just need to go fire mine then do the trigger work. I already have a Wolff spring kit in different pull weights.

 

[in625shooter]

@in625shooter thanks for the insight, as i said I'm new to the revolver market so these speedloaders i understand what they are. Are these mainly used for compatition as along with faster reloads at the range? I think i wouldn't want to load as fast as possible at the range with 357 mag running about $30 a box (50).

However what would you suggest as far as a 6 round revolver with the same feel as the 686+? I am completely open to any suggestions because I have not set my sights on 1 particular I just held the 686 @ the Indy Show & loved the feel of that 1...Where I live there is nowhere I can go to try or hold different revolvers.

For a dedicated 357 I would recommend the original 6 shot 686 with a 4" barrel. There has been some fuss made over the newer ones with the lock and while I personally don't like the idea of a lock there is nothing functionally wrong with how they operate. Jerry Miculek runs them just fine. The Ruger GP 100 is a close 2nd and they (686 and GP100) use the same speedloaders.

The Ruger has both the regular catologed 3" GP 100 which is fixed sighted and a few special distributor WC GP 100 with a 3" barrel and novack rear sights.Either of them are great revolvers but the WC GP 100 (if you can find one) will be a lot more $$.

The 686 in 6 shot comes in 2 1/2, 4" (which I recommend) and 6" with adjustable sights.

The speedloaders are used to help you rapidly reload all 6 chambers of your cylinders at one to get the gun back into action as quick as possible. They are used for duty and compitition and general plinking.

As far as saving money you can run 38's (and reload 38's for it) and if you want to practice your reloads without shooting a bunch it is a little labor but good practice. Take some spent brass and put in in your chamber but have 1 or 2 live rounds. Shoot those two and perform your reload with the speedloader that has all live rounds but only shoot 1 or 2 only. Then reconfigure the gun with all spent brass except the one or 2, reconfigure your speed loader with live ammo and do the same thing. That way you are getting the reload practice but not expending a ton of ammo. Quaity practice vs quantity practice.

At work we do the same type reload drills with our autos except you have one round up the pipe and 1 round per spare magazine. You then shoot the one round (slide locks open) you reload shoot the 1 round same slide locks open and continue through your mags. You get to practice the motions and it doesn't take a lot of ammo. with only 3-4 tounds per run etc.

So if you know some techniques like what I explained you can get more bang out of a box of ammo. Believe it or not there is more fun shooting than just ballistic masterbation like what I see at most IPSC matches anymore.

 

[byhova]

So it is true, you do learn something new everyday! The idea (simple yet I have not thought about) is the loading 1 shell into a magazine so that you can practice the simple task of reloading while engaging a target (range target) but it does allow for the practice of unload the mag & loading a new 1....And the same with the revolver which I think would take more time to get use to of opening the cylinder, dumping the shells and loading the new 1 & like you said you are not blowing through hundreds of dollars in ammo just with the simple task of reloading!!! *that should be the tip of the day* (for newbies to practice unloading & reloading)

 

[actaeon277]

Having a Colt Python and not shooting it is like marrying a supermodel and being asexual.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

So it is true, you do learn something new everyday! The idea (simple yet I have not thought about) is the loading 1 shell into a magazine so that you can practice the simple task of reloading while engaging a target (range target) but it does allow for the practice of unload the mag & loading a new 1....And the same with the revolver which I think would take more time to get use to of opening the cylinder, dumping the shells and loading the new 1 & like you said you are not blowing through hundreds of dollars in ammo just with the simple task of reloading!!! *that should be the tip of the day* (for newbies to practice unloading & reloading)

Practicing with a revolver on the cheap is easy if you can find primers and a block of paraffin wax.

How to Make and Reload Wax Bullets

 

[byhova]

@BehindBlueI's
Have you ever shot wax bullets? That was a very interesting read. But my question that I didn't see was the effects of the wax on the inside of the barrel. I understand wax probably will not damage the barrel but would it make it hard to clean especially if it were to harden inside the barrel?

I love this idea though definitely something to consider once I get my 357

 

[TheDude]

I'm 100% sure I'm getting a 357 revolver but they are harder to find than I thought I found a S&W 64 4" barrel (but it was a 38 special) but it felt really comfortable....

So my question is what 357 revolvers should I look into?

Most 357 owners end up shooting 38s anyways. Nothing wrong with straight 38 wheelguns