Good start with a Smith 69

E

ECVMatt

New member
I have wanted a compact .44 Mag for a while that carries easy and shoots accurately. I almost held out for the new Ruger GP100 in .44 Spl as a compromise, but living in California it will be some time until it gets approved for sale. I then started looking at the Smith 69. My only other Smith is a beautiful 27-2 5" that is one of my all time favorite revolvers.

So I read up on the Smith and decided to give the new design a go. I was able to shoot about 200 rounds of .44 Spl and .44 Mag this past weekend while shooting with my son and I have to say that I am really impressed. The gun was very accurate during informal shooting and I got several 3" offhand groups at 25 yards. I was able to easily hit an old propane bottle out to 75 yards. So the Hillary Hole, two piece barrel, and MIM parts so far have impressed me. While it is definately different than my 27-2, it is still a great gun thus far. I look forward to putting a couple more hundred rounds through it this upcoming weekend between the rains. The only thing I will change are the grips. I think I will order a set of X Frame grips. My hands are kind of large and I lose contact with the backstrap as I grasp the grips firmly.

To prevent this thread from being worthless, here are some pictures:







 
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I agree, my Smith 69 is a sweet shooting revolver...from rest, sub-2" groups at 25 yds are the rule with both cast and jacketed bullets and tuned loads. I'm especially fond of Skelton's much copied day to day load of 7.5 gr of Unique with Keith's 240-250 gr LSWC in Special brass. It's a 950 fps load over my chrono and about all I carry here on the farm.

But I do have a question for you...how are those 6-shot speed loaders working out. My M69 is a 5-shooter!

Best Regards, Rod
 
Good catch on the speed loaders....I was having an all .44 Mag weekend and those are for my Redhawk. I just thought they looked cool in the pictures, so I left them.

The holster is a Bianchi 111 Cyclone that I bought for my 4" GP100 many years ago. It fits just about right and is both strong side and crossdraw. I have begun to really like crossdraw when riding ATV's or mules. When I am hiking, I usually put it behind the hip; it's a versatile holster. I also have a newer Galco Phoenix that I really like as well. It works both strong and crossdraw as well.
 
The m69 has been interesting to me since it came out. I don't think I've read a negative owner review, glad you are liking yours. Kinda funny, once you get past the stigma of the hillary-hole and MIM parts and actually shoot the thing, we find that despite those modern "undesireable" traits Smith still makes a good firearm. :)
 
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