What of the Medusa???

V

VaughnT

New member
I've been thinking about getting a Medusa (by Phillips and Rodgers) but haven't been able to find out much about it.

Is it accurate with all the various calibers? Does a .380 round go the same place a .357 does? Is the craftsmanship up to par with other makers? You get the idea.

This would be a great weapon for home defense, but I'm looking at it as a duty weapon because my company requires that we be qualified on each caliber we wish to use. One gun and a dozen working calibers.... you can see why I'm thinking of picking up one. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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When Reason Fails.....
 
The only review I ever read on the Medusa was not very positive, and this was in a mainstream gun rag! (I can't recall if it was G&A, CH, Handguns or some other title)

All I remember is poor accuracy and light primer hits/misfires with anything that wasn't .38/.357.

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Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war.
 
I appreciate the info, Rex. It's not exactly what I wanted to hear, but.....

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When Reason Fails.....
 
They have or had a web page. I've talked to the dudes and they were very nice and polite.

They had a deal with Colt but that seems to have been a flop.

Search and write them.
 
Sorry to be a killjoy. I considered the medusa BUT...at ATF's request, P$R has agreed to put a special marker in the barrel that id's a round as coming from a medusa. Why be a poster boy for ATF? If you still want it, the best thing is get a conversion cylinder from them for you 686, does the same thing.
 
dear Vaughnt,

Regarding accuracy, the 9 mm bullet
dia is .355 and the 38/357 bullet head dia.
is .357

In some reloading experiments that I conducted last year, I was loading 380 auto bullet heads at .355 dia. in 38 special cases
and firing them from a .357 bore dia
.357 mag.

Because of the .002 dia undersize of the .355 bullet head shooting through the .357 dia bore, accuracy really stunk.

The taurus mod608 8&3/8 4 ported
357 revolver I fired them out of is a real tack driver, usually shootin under 1 inch
groups at 15 yards; but, with these expermental
bullet head loadings , I found a 8 inch group
getting printed,instead and with some shoots totally missing the target.

I had severe gas blow by problems with the .002 undersized .355 in a .357 bore
which sometimes resulted in a squib load type condition where bullet heads got stuck
in the bore & I needed to stop shooting and
remove the lodged bullet heads from the bore with a wood dowell.

Velocities were all over the place from
800 ft/sec down to 100ft/sec depending on if the bullet head centered in the bore so that there was only .001 all around the bullet head of if the bullet head stayed on one side of the bore ,thus allowing .002 clearance for gas blow by on the other side
of the barrel and resulting in a squib load condition.

This bears directly on the Medusa"s decision to make their barrel with a
non standard .356 dia bore which is .001
oversized for 9 mm bullet heads and .001
dia undersized for 38/.357 bullet heads.

It would therefore stand to reason that the Medusa would have poor accuracy with
.355 bullet heads such as 9 mm and 380 auto
and "PREHAPS" better than average accuracy
for .357 bullet heads which would be .001 oversized for the Medusa's .356 bore.

A .356 dia. bore would dig deeper into a .357 bullet head by .001 of an inch and
this would give more resistance to the bullet head traviling through the bore as well as greater/faster-- land wear and
possibly tramitize the bullet head as it passes through the bore. This could also increase recoil.

In conclusion, I would think all of the above
would tend yield reduced accuracy.
In my unsurported by actual test firing for accuracy of the Medusa "OPINION",
this is a trade off gun, which trades off accuracy in order to accomidate multiple
cal. chamberings.

I have never fired or otherwise tested a Medusa, so I could well be wrong and I am stating here that this is an unsupported opinion only.
 
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