After buying small and medium frame revolvers, I want a large frame to occasionally use in IDPA ..etc. l like the 627 and it is approved for purchase in CA..gee thanks for your approval. Unfortunately, it only comes in a 5" barrel. I was thinking more like 4". I don't even know if barrel restrictions in IDPA apply to revolvers. Any suggestions?
Which Large Frame S&W??
- Thread starter Gary H
- Start date
Radicalcleric
New member
I suggest moving to a state where freedom is still legal and buying any damn pistol you want. I quit my job, sold the house, and left California in 1992 when I saw how the winds were blowing on gun control. I knew that I could not continue to live there with the Draconian laws and a commie government supported by a liberal, welfare-freeloading population.
Guy B. Meredith
New member
Gary H,
I will be shooting my first IDPA this Sunday with my new M66 (hopefully), so I am just now going over the rulebook.
I am assuming the 627 you mention is an 8-shot as I've not heard of any other configuration in the last 4 years. IDPA allows only 6 rounds to be loaded into a 7-shot or 8-shot revolver. This means either indexing on reload or clicking past empties. Makes a 6 shot worth while.
A 625 would be one of my choices, but don't care to add another caliber to my reloading gear. For this reason I traded a 686+ 6" prize gun for a 66 4" for use in IDPA. (Already have a 686+ 6".)
A 4" barrel will be required later this year. You can buy a 627 in 2-5/8".
I will be shooting my first IDPA this Sunday with my new M66 (hopefully), so I am just now going over the rulebook.
I am assuming the 627 you mention is an 8-shot as I've not heard of any other configuration in the last 4 years. IDPA allows only 6 rounds to be loaded into a 7-shot or 8-shot revolver. This means either indexing on reload or clicking past empties. Makes a 6 shot worth while.
A 625 would be one of my choices, but don't care to add another caliber to my reloading gear. For this reason I traded a 686+ 6" prize gun for a 66 4" for use in IDPA. (Already have a 686+ 6".)
A 4" barrel will be required later this year. You can buy a 627 in 2-5/8".
I have been looking, but so far "no cigar".
We have a local expert (one of the top revolver competitors in California) who is always very generous with new and inexperienced shooters. He spent forty-five minutes with Amy (my wife), helping to improve her technique. When he finished, she was hitting a 2" orange sticker at thirty feet with her M-66. His intervention really got her excited. I think that real progress gets us all enthused.
Anyway, he suggested an S&W Model 25 in Long Colt. He said that it was very accurate and could be loaded through a great range of power factors. Of course, haven't seen a 25 locally. In fact, so far I have only found "approved" guns that pass California "muster". I forgot to ask what speedloading device is available for this gun. Anyone using the Model 25 in competition?
We have a local expert (one of the top revolver competitors in California) who is always very generous with new and inexperienced shooters. He spent forty-five minutes with Amy (my wife), helping to improve her technique. When he finished, she was hitting a 2" orange sticker at thirty feet with her M-66. His intervention really got her excited. I think that real progress gets us all enthused.
Anyway, he suggested an S&W Model 25 in Long Colt. He said that it was very accurate and could be loaded through a great range of power factors. Of course, haven't seen a 25 locally. In fact, so far I have only found "approved" guns that pass California "muster". I forgot to ask what speedloading device is available for this gun. Anyone using the Model 25 in competition?
As Sam so eloquently said.
"29 in .44"
The 27 is just too much gun for a .357, imho. There is a whole lot of extra metal that just doesn't need to be there. Like a Cadillac with a Vega engine.
The .357 was introduced in 1935 and they probably needed the extra metal due to types of steel and heat treating at the time but modern technology has dispensed with the need for excessive amounts of steel to contain the .357 Magnum.
"29 in .44"
The 27 is just too much gun for a .357, imho. There is a whole lot of extra metal that just doesn't need to be there. Like a Cadillac with a Vega engine.
The .357 was introduced in 1935 and they probably needed the extra metal due to types of steel and heat treating at the time but modern technology has dispensed with the need for excessive amounts of steel to contain the .357 Magnum.
Mike Irwin
Staff
"Like a Cadillac with a Vega engine."
Hehehehehe.
NOT!
Especially if you shoot ammo that comes close to approximating the original ballistics of the .357 Mag.
Then you'll be very glad for all of that extra metal.
Hehehehehe.
NOT!
Especially if you shoot ammo that comes close to approximating the original ballistics of the .357 Mag.
Then you'll be very glad for all of that extra metal.
Big G . . .
I, respectfully, take another view. Smith developed the N frame specifically for the .357 magnum. However, over the last approximately seventy years, the potency of new, factory .357 magnum loads has decreased. The S&W 27/627 are probably the proper design for maximum pressure .357 rounds, but you have to "roll your own" to get those pressures (there might be a few commercial exceptions, such as Cor-Bon).
Regards.
I, respectfully, take another view. Smith developed the N frame specifically for the .357 magnum. However, over the last approximately seventy years, the potency of new, factory .357 magnum loads has decreased. The S&W 27/627 are probably the proper design for maximum pressure .357 rounds, but you have to "roll your own" to get those pressures (there might be a few commercial exceptions, such as Cor-Bon).
Regards.
Mike Irwin
Staff
RWK,
"Smith developed the N frame specifically for the .357 magnum..."
That's not correct.
The N-frame was already about 30 years old when the .357 Magnum hit the streets around 1935.
The N-frame started out life as the New Century, Triple Lock, or whatever you want to call it, in .44 Special and .45 S&W.
In 1917 it was chambered for the .45 ACP for the US Military.
And in the 1920s, it was chambered for the .38-44 Heavy Duty, the hot loaded .38 Spls. that were the predecessors of the .357 Magnum.
"Smith developed the N frame specifically for the .357 magnum..."
That's not correct.
The N-frame was already about 30 years old when the .357 Magnum hit the streets around 1935.
The N-frame started out life as the New Century, Triple Lock, or whatever you want to call it, in .44 Special and .45 S&W.
In 1917 it was chambered for the .45 ACP for the US Military.
And in the 1920s, it was chambered for the .38-44 Heavy Duty, the hot loaded .38 Spls. that were the predecessors of the .357 Magnum.