Combat Revolver choice?

cool. glad i made a good choice. Now about that pesky getting money issue...mmm thats going to be the real challenge. Getting that 19 a couple of weeks ago didn't help.

I have a question about the ammo i was shooting yesterday. My 19 is dialed in with 357mags hollow points. I'm not sure as to the weight but they came with the gun. Anywho. I purchased some UMC 38 specal 158 grain lead round nose and those bullets shot high out of my gun. My 357 shoot to the point of aim or a tad high. But these 38 shot i would say 4 inches high..i had to set the target on top of the post to hit the top section of the paper plate. Is it possible that i was shooting a heavier but faster bullet with my 357 or does my gun just not like my 38's?

Here is a shooting related problem. How do you guys shoot so dang accuractly when your front post covers more that a 1/3 of a target? I was shooting at a 1 inch circle at 40 yards and i couldn't hit it for deer life i couldn't hold the gun on the circle and in trying hard to i would strain and miss by about 3 inches. Should i make the dot 4 inches or use a stardard 25 yard slow fire target to practice with? The funny think is i can shoot at a long that is about 6 inches wide and can hit at the point of aim when i was aiming. Is this just a case of trying to thread the needle to much? This is what upsets me about pistol shooting so dang much. There is a lot of variable and if i hope to hunt with this gun or my redhawk i'm going to need to remedy it before november 15.
 
Higher velocity loads generally shoot lower in a revolver. If you look at the sighting plane compared to the line of the bore of the barrel (put a straight edge on the sights), the barrel points downward slightly. When the gun is fired, it rotates upward while the bullet is still in the barrel. The faster the bullet comes out the barrel, the less time the gun has to rise up, thereby hitting "lower" in relation to the sights. Slower bullet has more "barrel time" and has risen farther "higher" during firing, hitting higher on the target. It's very common. Different shooters with the same gun often have different POI.
 
not to agree or disagree

However,seems to me that the Ruger speed six would fit the bill quite well also,2 7/8" bbl or 3" or even 4" fixed sights,built like a bank vault. Maybe a tad heavy but ready for anything.
Melvin
 
combat revolver choice?

I have owned a Taurus Tracker 627, .357, 4"Br, 7Rd. capacity, and it is a nice wheelgun. I should have kept it.

If you want something exceptional, I just ordered the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan, 2&1/2" Brl, 6Rd. capacity, .454 Casull / .45 Colt, price $615.00.
 
Last edited:
Over the years, I have carried everything from the mighty .44 magnum with long tube, to the 9mm browning and Beretta to the snubby .38 to the 1911 in mil spec and full house persuasion,to the tactical tupperwear of choice for the Mail Order Ninja crowd, the Glunk and the HUSP.

Right now, Deerinator I am packing my favorite "Combat Handgun" a three inch model 65.
I like the fixed sights. I like that its big enough to shoot well, but small enough to be handy and easily concealed. I like that its better balanced than the L frames, which feel like a brick with a handle on em. And I like that if some thug rips me off he will feel like a sissy cuz mine says "Ladysmith" on it, LOL....
I prefer fixed sights for simplicity. I carried guns with adjustables for years (Browning High Powers, L frames, numerous N frames, Python, Anaconda, etc..) and never had a problem with sights breaking.
The big problem is when you fiddle with the sights and get a box of ammo that is different than what you sighted in for, LOL....Ky windage and fixed sights is so much easier on your nerves and your spare tire on a carry peice!
 
Deerinator, looks like I'm late, so I'll assume you haven't bought yet. Nothing wrong with a GP-100, but there are a couple of things I wanted to point out. First think about the term combat. Most encounters are 21' or less according to the experts, problem is few of them have actually been involved in a gunfight. The ones that have will tell you that anything that can snag on your clothing, may be hazardous to your health. Several years ago I bought a 65-5 LS for my wife and well let's just say I borrow it from time to time. It of course is fixed sighted, but it shoots to the point of aim. Regardless of anyones oppinion, I will not limit practice to short ranges for anything. Our range is 50' so that's the distance I shoot at with combat handguns, offhand and rested. Bigbores get shot on the rifle range. Even when I have shot this revolver at 25 yards I was not hampered by the fixed sights. The gun is just flat out accurate.

I like Smiths and Rugers too, but you can't get a Smith trigger on a Ruger. You can get a trigger job if you want to spend the money you saved when you bought the Ruger to begin with. You can lighten the trigger on a Ruger with Wolf Gunsprings, but I would not reduce the weight of the hammer spring! It will also slow the guns locktime (elapsed time between squeeze and bang) and the Ruger is already at a disadvantage here. Just replace the trigger spring. You can also get the fixed sight GP-100 in a 3" model and it will be more comparable to the L Frame Smith than the K Frame 65 or 66 in durability.

The key element in developing the necessary skill to use a combat revolver is in mastering the double action trigger pull. If your gonna shoot combat targets almost anyhing is appropriate. If you're going to carry the revolver in the real world, you want something fast handling and snag free as possible. I would forget about adjustable sights unless you will always be wearing a holster and even then, you have a shirt or jacket to consider. With the 65, I put in a lot of time in DA fire and generally like to end the session with it by making head shots DA as fast as I can fire the gun at 7 yards. Don't worry about how it goes in the beginning, you will get better with time, but the better the trigger, the smoother the learning curve. It is a necessity, not an option. A while back my shooting partner and I had the range to ourselves and were shooting tin cans in DA mode. I was shooting the 65 LS and he was shooting a SP-101. We were both using magnum level handloads that I do in .357 cases, but trimmed to .38 special length and low flash and faster powders like VV3N37 are used. I won't bore you with those details, but the reason for this load is absolutely reliable extraction of the cases. Hopefully none of us will have to reload during a gunbattle and hopefully if we do it won't be slowed by sticky extraction that can be encountered, especially with 7 shooters and small framed .357's. I say avoid them. The 65 would eject full length cases that would almost need a hammer and punch to extract from a 7 shot Taurus Tracker. Advantage: GP-100. The excellent trigger on the 65 allowed me to pop cans that we had managed to bounce out to about 40 yards and at ranges under that, I feel pretty comfortable.

I have owned Tauras revolvers and a 4" stainless SIX-shooter is the only one I would even consider for this, but I have a better idea, a Rossi. True, Tauras now owns 'em, but the only thing that's changed is the addition of the hammer lock. The Rossi is a closer rendition of a S&W revolver. Only drawback is that the 4" is not available in stainless and if I bought any revolver smaller than an L frame Smith or a GP-100, I would want the extra strength and durability of stainless in these lighter guns. Rossi only offers stainless in the 6" Target Revolver and the 2.25" version and you may not want a barrel that short, but they are better quality, IMNSHO, than a Tauras. To me the best barrel length for a true combat revolver is 3". The world is full of compromises, but fast handling is not one of them here! So, if you don't think you'd like the 2.25" Rossi, that takes us back to Smith and Ruger or the 4" Stainless Tauras (which I've already eliminated myself) Either will get it done. There are 3" model 65's on the police trade in market and at NRA excellent, I wouldn't bat an eye since K Frame Smiths are being discontinued. There is no 3" L Frame to my knowledge and the 2.5" Smiths use a shorter ejector rod. NOT! For me anyway. So I guess the thesis will conclude with a 3" GP-100 or a 3" Smith 65 trade in. 3" Smiths do have a full length ejector rod, but I'm not going to try to start figuring out the logic in Springfield Mass. except to say they ain't usin' any! If you go GP-100, consider the 3" with the full lug and install a Wolf spring of lighter weight only on the trigger. There are 3 different weights in the package and all of them will provide positive return and yes, I have done this before! Dry fire hell out of it and smooth that trigger, unless you want to get it slick as glass from Actions by T, in Sugarland Texas. Not sure about the price, but it ain't cheap and neither is your life! My apologies for the legth of this, but I hope it helps! ;)

Don't mean to burst anybodies bubble, but Navy SEALs carry the Sig-Sauer P-226 and have since the mid 1980's. It's also used by the British and Australian SAS. Before that, they did carry L-Frame S&W's BHP's and 1911's. The 226 is what is issued as their PDF and of course for selected operators the HK Mk23 is used primarily to take out sentries and can be operated as a single shot pistol by locking the slide!
 
My vote would go for S&W 581 4" , just yesterday my wife and I did a little bank fishing,and walked up on a gator he was about 9 to 10 feet long it was nice to know if that lizzard started to eye us for lunch I had that big old smith on my hip
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top