.44 special revolver for PPC and IPSC?

[welder179]

got the chance to shoot some revolvers lately, and I like, really like. so I'm now in the market for the perfect investment, there are weekly fun matches where I live for both PPC and IPSC and I was hoping to get a revolver that would be well suited to both. I've been looking at the S&W 629 Competitor, S&W is marketing the 686 Competitor and 629 Competitor as PPC guns but the 629 shooting .44 Specials can very easily make Major power factor for IPSC and from what I've read about the cartridge is it has a lot less recoil than a .357 Magnum (also makes major power) so would be more comfortable to shoot for extended periods. just looking to get some feed back from other target shooters on my train of thought as most articles out there are written full of American mentality about concealed carry and stopping power and that kind of bull#### that no one in Canada should be concerned with. I just don't want to have different guns for different styles, id rather have the one gun and just spend my time getting good at shooting that one gun rather than changing back and forth all the time.

on a side note, I've heard the argument about the IPSC revolver to get a 929 in 9mm, shoot minor power and get the 8 shots. but the 929 doesn't fit within the rules of PPC as the barrel is to long. so something that fits within the rules of both is what would interest me most, thought a 686 and shoot .38s for PPC and .357 for IPSC, but when I shot the .357 it had a considerable kick for me that would make it uncomfortable for a full evening of shooting. so that's why I maybe thought the .44 Special would be nice, for comfortable recoil (from what I've read) and a single recipe of homeloads can make for a familiar shooting experience, that can make major power, or two recipes one for major power one detuned for PPC.

so what are your thoughts? am I insane? or is there a method to my madness?

 

[VanMan]

If you are going to be shooting IPSC, you will want to get something moon-clipped or you will be going through a lot of expensive brass. I also shoot PPC and you can get away with speed loaders and dumping your spent cases in to a dump pouch.

You can get the cylinder on a 629 modified to accept moon clips. I picked one up, but more as just a novelty to go along with my 610, 625, 929, and 64. If I were to have just one revolver for IPSC and PPC, I would probably go with a 627. It's moon clipped, and the barrel is 5" so within the PPC regulations.

 

[GLS_1956]

I am a fan of the 44 Special ever since I read about the round in the late gun writer Skeeter Skelton's articles. I've two 44 magnum revolvers that I really just load with the 44 Spl because of the recoil and because I just don't need that much gun, I've also got a Taurus 5 shot in 22 Spl with 3 inchish barrel that is great to shoot and gets carried concealed on occasions.

 

[welder179]

If you are going to be shooting IPSC, you will want to get something moon-clipped or you will be going through a lot of expensive brass. I also shoot PPC and you can get away with speed loaders and dumping your spent cases in to a dump pouch.

You can get the cylinder on a 629 modified to accept moon clips. I picked one up, but more as just a novelty to go along with my 610, 625, 929, and 64. If I were to have just one revolver for IPSC and PPC, I would probably go with a 627. It's moon clipped, and the barrel is 5" so within the PPC regulations.

The fun matches are indoors so retrieving brass is no problem, but yes getting some machine work done for moonclips and headspacing is someshting ive considered for the gun.

And the 627 has to much going against it, shorter barrel and sight radius, and minor power factor for IPSC even if i use magnums cause it holds 8 shots, so while it does fit in the rules of both, IMO there arr options that do a better job of filling the gap.

 

[enefgee]

8 shot revolvers are a bit of a drag for PPC - you can only load 6 and there aren't a lot of speed loaders out there for 8 shot guns. Ideally, a 625 or 25 in 45 acp would be a good gun.

 

[welder179]

So would i be accurate in my belief from what ive read that the .44 special in a 629 competitor be a mild load for recoil? I get that it wont be .38 or 9mm soft, but surely it is less than the .357 mag? And as ive more recently educated myself a .44 russian will work also which is a nice short cartridge that woukd work well with moonclips. But would it adversely effect accuracy having the bullet stting so far back from the rifling

 

[coldestcanuck]

So would i be accurate in my belief from what ive read that the .44 special in a 629 competitor be a mild load for recoil? I get that it wont be .38 or 9mm soft, but surely it is less than the .357 mag? And as ive more recently educated myself a .44 russian will work also which is a nice short cartridge that woukd work well with moonclips. But would it adversely effect accuracy having the bullet stting so far back from the rifling

Length of cartridge is not the factor to consider when turning a cylinder down for moonclips. It's about the rim thickness. Look up 45 autorim vs 45 acp. PPC is oriented a little more to precision than IPSC so, going to anything on the heavier side for recoil is not going to yield particularly satisfying results. I don't want to be discouraging but, should you decide to drop one discipline in favour of the other, make sure you're not left with a gun that is not well suited to either.

 

[hatman1793]

Welder179, step up to the space bar a little more.
44 Mag & 44 special is not an officially allowed caliber for PPC. In today's climate though, some friendly leagues should allow you to practice with 44 special, 44 special loads in 44 mags cases, and reduced 45 Colt loads.

If you cannot/do not find the 586/686 revolvers or "K" frame revolvers to your suiting, you can employ a quality semi-auto pistol for PPC.

 

[welder179]

Welder179, step up to the space bar a little more.
44 Mag & 44 special is not an officially allowed caliber for PPC. In today's climate though, some friendly leagues should allow you to practice with 44 special, 44 special loads in 44 mags cases, and reduced 45 Colt loads.

If you cannot/do not find the 586/686 revolvers or "K" frame revolvers to your suiting, you can employ a quality semi-auto pistol for PPC.

I've looked through the rule book, I see nowhere for open class revolver that restricts ammo to .38's, just says no magnum or +p ammo. so they way I see it .44 special would be in the spirit of the rules regarding ammo for PPC, and yet still make major power for IPSC. so where is the restriction you speak of stating that .44 special is not allowed in PPC please?

 

[VanMan]

The fun matches are indoors so retrieving brass is no problem, but yes getting some machine work done for moonclips and headspacing is someshting ive considered for the gun.

And the 627 has to much going against it, shorter barrel and sight radius, and minor power factor for IPSC even if i use magnums cause it holds 8 shots, so while it does fit in the rules of both, IMO there arr options that do a better job of filling the gap.

If you are only going to shoot PPC at the indoor range, a slightly smaller sight radius with the 5" barrel won't hurt you that much. I've shot PPC with guys using that who score very well at 50m with theirs. These guys can also do quite well when they shoot their snub-nosed course of fire too lol

I've shot qualifiers with my 625 and my 929. The 8 shot minor is definitely the way to go.

I find the two types of shooting are different, I've set up revolvers specifically for each one. For PPC, I like big blocky sights. Having them adjustable to 3 preset distances (7m, 25m, 50m) really helps. I've got fairly large hands, but I found shooting left hand barricade a challenge with a big N framed revolver. Much easier with my K framed Model 64.
For IPSC, I like a bright fibre optic front sight, and a rear sight with a wider notch. The fibre optic is faster on target, but in some lighting it can be too bright and wash out the sharp edges of the front sight, so I'm not as precise with it.

 

[VanMan]

here's a pic of ammo for my 929, 625, 64, and 629. I don't have any 44 special brass as I would just use develop a lighter load using the 44 mag brass.





You can see that the 44 mag brass is significantly longer and the most common bullets available for it are flat nosed. Moon clipped 9mm and 45acp rounds drop into the cylinder really easily, because they are shorter and you can get bullets with a round nose profile. The 38sp wad cutters using a speed loader definitely take a lot longer to load, but in a PPC course of fire, there's usually a lot of time so it's not a huge problem.