Looking for some wisdom

H

HALLAUSTIN

New member
I might be able to get a revolver for christmas. I would like to shoot in competition with it. I was thinking either a 686 or a gp100. I do not know which would be better or if it is a personal preference type thing. Also is it worth it to get the DAO conversion? What does that do to help? And would a trigger job be a priority or should I just let it wear in?
 
Either revolver would be a good choice. In IDPA stock service revolver the S&W 686 has always been a good choice. Some years back the S&W 66 also was popular. The Ruger GP100 is starting to get popular at matches. I have one and if I were to seriously compete IDPA I would get a action trigger job done. Its legal and does make a difference. Most the time S&W 686 has a great double action trigger out of the box. I like the older 686s myself and have owned two older ones.
Good luck,
Howard
 
Idpa, things like that. Shoot and scoot.
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Even among the runnin' & gunnin' games, there's no single perfect revolver. The best all-arounder, IMO, would be a moonclipped 4" S&W .45acp (models 625/25). If you don't reload, though, it can get expensive.

If I were to buy a revo purely for Steel Challenge or ICORE Limited, it'd be the 8-shot 627.

A 4" .357mag (e.g. 686 or GP100) is a great choice for IDPA SSR & ICORE Classic, but not as good for USPSA. In most cases, you can shoot .38spl, so the ammo's cheaper, and has less recoil.

As far as conversion to DAO, the lighter hammer allows one to tune the action a bit more aggressively, but I wouldn't worry about that initially. You will need a front sight you can actually see, though, so at a minimum, I'd install a fiber optic front sight. Next highest would be chamfering of the chamber mouths and smoothing of the action by a gunsmith. And while I'm a big fan of dry fire, it's no substitute for a bona fide action job. As you progress, you can lighten the action and possibly convert to DAO.

The 4" GP100, 686SSR and the 625JM come with an interchangeable front sight, which is a very nice feature. I'd immediately chuck the front sight, and install an interchangeable FO. If you knew you were going to immediately send it to a gunsmith for a full tuning, I'd skip the 686SSR and get a standard 686.
 
I have found wisdom is hard to find. Especially on these type of forums. Best you can do is read the comments and try the options. Then choose for yourself. (My preference is the 686) ;)
 
The actions are different, I'm used to the S&W but the Ruger can be tuned to be quite good. You probably need to shoot both if possible. I really like the L frame guns and the 625. In IDPA they are in separate classes so the .38 isn't shooting against the 625 with the moon clips. Both are great fun.
 
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