Agree +++
Shooting Double Action
- Thread starter Ganderite
- Start date
Agree +++
Well, I read a lot of what you write and I think you are a fastidious shooter. If you practice double-action shooting and BELIEVE going into it that it can be truly deadly, then you'll be surprised where you end up. Start with lighter loads and work up. When you can "sight in" at 25 yards from a rest single-action and then repeat the performance using staged deliberate double-action and come close to -- or even get -- the same result you'll drive home humming "I'm a believer".
Back in the day (the late 1970's) we had a "communal K-22" that we sort of passed around amongst the small group that became IPSC/Manitoba. People were encouraged to buy a brick or two of Aguila .22LR and shoot the gun double-action until they "got it". Usually one brick would do. Then we'd let the almost-convinced shooter fire a few boxes of 130 powerfactor 150 grain Lyman SWC ammo through my own K-38 which was set up exactly like our communal K-22. Graduation was shooting a nice single-action group from a rest with the K-38 at 25 yards and then matching it or coming super-close using relaxed, staged double-action from the same rest.
On to the next guy.
As I'm writing this stuff in my sister-in-law's patio in Irapuato, Mexico, I had my wife snap a shot of the gruelling conditions I'm corresponding under.
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I don't see the bottle of XX or Corona to help you cope with those conditions.
I just came in from clearing the driveway with a walk behind snow blower. It is a 30" machine and a 1/4 mile driveway. Takes 4 passes to clear it. (Google "snowblower" if you are not familiar with that device. Sort of a winter lawn mower.) We had a foot of snow last night.
Behind those trees you can see a gully. At the bottom of the gully is my range. I can shoot up 200 yards there, but the target backers are at 100, 50 and 25 yards. There is a building at one end of the range with port holes to shoot out of. It is heated for the winter and a/c for the summer. I am retired, so have no excuse for not being a better shot.
I have several revolvers that are DAO with very smooth actions. I will work on shooting only DA for awhile. I am optimistic, given the big improvement in only a few attempts.
In case you forgot, this is what a snow storm looks like.
I just came in from clearing the driveway with a walk behind snow blower. It is a 30" machine and a 1/4 mile driveway. Takes 4 passes to clear it. (Google "snowblower" if you are not familiar with that device. Sort of a winter lawn mower.) We had a foot of snow last night.
Behind those trees you can see a gully. At the bottom of the gully is my range. I can shoot up 200 yards there, but the target backers are at 100, 50 and 25 yards. There is a building at one end of the range with port holes to shoot out of. It is heated for the winter and a/c for the summer. I am retired, so have no excuse for not being a better shot.
I have several revolvers that are DAO with very smooth actions. I will work on shooting only DA for awhile. I am optimistic, given the big improvement in only a few attempts.
In case you forgot, this is what a snow storm looks like.
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calmex,
From your place, you can only dream of early March in Canada. I am quite sure that you would like it. Well, maybe and then maybe not.
Using a rest ? I never ever used any kind of rest. Standing, strong and tight Weaver stance all the time. For any and all handguns. Old habits from forty years ago.
From your place, you can only dream of early March in Canada. I am quite sure that you would like it. Well, maybe and then maybe not.
Using a rest ? I never ever used any kind of rest. Standing, strong and tight Weaver stance all the time. For any and all handguns. Old habits from forty years ago.
I was in Canada until just 4 days ago. Believe me, I know what I'm missing.
You can't learn to shoot fast double action from a rest. Learning to shoot fast and accurate double action is best done on something like the "shoot 6, reload, shoot 6" PPC stage 1 course. Start at 5 yards and try to keep everything in the X ring in 18 seconds including the reload. Too easy? Move to 7 yards. Then 10. Then increase the power of your load. If you can keep a 200 grain PF load in the X-ring in 18 seconds, you're getting pretty good. Practice to just get 6/6 in the X-ring in under 8 seconds and cut that to 6 seconds and then when you've got that down, start throwing in the reloads and try to get 12/12 in 18 seconds. Your speedloads will get faster with this practice as well.
The "shooting from a rest" was just a quick little test we did to prove to the prospective shooter that you could do anything with double-action that you could do in single-action or at least you could sure come close. By the way, pistols that don't misfire in single-action often do misfire in double-action. So stay away from light mainspring action kits. A lightened trigger-return spring on the S&W is okay, but you still want the trigger to snap back briskly enough and not hang up so don't go too light. A six or seven pound double-action that sometimes hangs up is inferior in every way to an eight pound DA that doesn't. Don't get too hung up on lightness. And you want to smack that primer hard so a full-power mainspring in needed on a Combat revolver.
And practice a lot. It's fun. Just piles and piles of fun. Shooting the PPC Stage 1 with a S&W Model 29 using .44 Special or a Model 25 using .45 Colt is a scream and being able to "ace" that 10-yard shoot 6, reload, shoot 6 and keep them all in the X-ring gives you incredible confidence with your revolver. We can't use those higher calibers legally in Mexico, but we can use any .357 gun that's been remarked and registered using a .38 Heavy Duty load putting out a 200+ Powerfactor (factory 158 grain .357 Magnum gives you a 195 PF by their own admission) and that's just about as good -- and just as hard to do. And of course, any actual Heavy Duty or Outdoorsman .38 Special revolver using the Elmer Keith loading is just golden: completely legal under the law, not remarked or faked in any way and it's got the power when you need it.
An interesting shot of 3 of my revolvers and a friend's revolver on an equipal chair in my old patio in San Miguel. From the top, my friend's transitional S&W Outdoorsman in .38 Special with a post-1957 style barrel and sight ramp installed and S&W Coke grips I bought directly from Lee Jarrett, the owner of the S&W Forum. Next is my S&W Model 28 before I remarked it and registered it (Heavy Duty cylinder installed) and had Michael cut and install a Green/yellow ramp into the front sight. 3rd down is Phil Roettinger's Penultimate Non-Registered Magnum which I also still own which was registered on it's own as Phil was the head of the CIA in Latin America until he retired. Finally, my S&W Heavy Duty. The top and bottom revolvers are actual .38 Special chambers and although they can generate the same power as any .357, they will not accept the .357 Magnum ammo due to the chamber-step.
How do I know it's a post-1957 style Outdoorsman barrel? Because I bought a swack of them years back. I took this photo of some barrels just laying in our loading room in San Miguel last winter when I was here. There are a few more in the Custom Shop in Queretero as well as a 3.5-inch Model 27 barrel that's been remarked to .38 Special I am saving for my next special project. The Outdoorsman barrels have ribbed, not checkered, top-ribs and the front sight ramps and patridge sights are pinned. The barrels come rough and are marked .38 S&W Special Ctg. and it's nice to have a supply of them. We have a couple of the 6.5-inch Heavy Duty barrels somewhere as well, but I've never thought of changing my Heavy Duty to a 6.5-incher so they're just sitting there. Wherever the heck we hid them. I doubt you could get a 2.5-inch .357 up to a 200 powerfactor with 160 grain bullets, but a 3.5-incher I'm sure you could. Probably even a 3-incher, although just barely as you need to drive a 160 grainer up to 1,250 fps and in 3 inches that's difficult.
Bowling pins -- 10 pins -- are also excellent targets if you can get them. Placed 3 feet from the back edge of a table, they require a hit of considerable power to make them leave the table without a lot of flopping around drama. About 225 is a good powerfactor and more is better. From the .38/.357 guns this is almost the upper edge of their power range but they can do it. A 2.5-inch barrel probably just won't do it but a 4-incher will. My 1956 era manufacture Heavy Duty using the Elmer Keith load drives that 170 grain LSWC about 1,320 fps or a 224 powerfactor. It's not impressive in blasting them off the table but it WILL do it. And it's very satisfying -- to me -- that it does. Richard Davis (of Second Chance fame) once was holding court in front of a bunch of us at the 1980 Second Chance and he said something like "a load that won't clear a pin off the table from 3 feet in front of the edge is a so-so stopper...." and that sort of stuck with me.
Ron Schol, Brandon gunclub president at the time, clears the table using his Model 29 with Elmer Keith's load of a Lyman 429421 245-grain SWC and 22 grains of 2400 powder. Ron shot them hot. This was at the 1980 Second Chance in Central Lake, Michigan. I was most frustrated that both Ron and Ivan, two of our 4-man Canadian team got their photos shooting pins posted in American Handgunner ads for the Second Chance shoot during 1981. Why them? Massad Ayoob hung around with our little group quite a bit during that match, and perhaps he took the photos A.H. used. I dunno.
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calmex,
More than very interesting. I think that I have read all your posts regarding handguns and especially revolvers on CGN. If I missed some, I don't know where they are. Experience on top of knowledge is priceless.
Come to think of it now, maybe early March in Mexico is better than early March in Canada. But just maybe. I am the one who is dreaming now ... !
More than very interesting. I think that I have read all your posts regarding handguns and especially revolvers on CGN. If I missed some, I don't know where they are. Experience on top of knowledge is priceless.
Come to think of it now, maybe early March in Mexico is better than early March in Canada. But just maybe. I am the one who is dreaming now ... !
Random thoughts about guns while waiting for my ride to Salamanca....
Thank you. Trust me that weatherwise, it is.
Mexico has some weird laws and one of them is that hollow-points are prohibited. In Mexico, if something iffy is not prohibited (in the Firearms Law) then it's a misdemeanor. If you, as a foreigner, are caught carrying an unregistered .38 Caliber pistol, you're going to jail. If, on the other hand, it's registered, you'll have to pay a fine and you'll probably even get the gun back. If you shoot an intruder in your home, the authorities will check that the gun is registered and of "legal" caliber and if it is you're good to go and probably won't even need to leave the house. On the other hand, if it's unregistered, you'll have to use the "Constitution claim" that allows you to have up to 3 unregistered guns (of any caliber) in your house and you'll probably still skate free. Don't ever get caught with any of those guns outside the house, though. That, again, would mean jail.
But if you use hollowpoints, things become "iffy". Hollowpoints are the force multipliers of the pistol shooting world. An inadequate caliber using solid shot can suddenly become a quite reliable caliber using the expanding bullets. I have been told by close Mexican friends that using a hollowpoint round in an action actually occuring inside your house will be "okay" under the Constitution (in other words, "you'll walk") but outside your house it would mean jail. I like the MP Molds and especially their 170 grain Keith bullet which comes with the pins to make it a 162 grain Hollowpoint. I think that will solve the "house defense" issue, and I intend to get myself such a mold to run experiments on just as soon as the handgun ban goes away and I can buy myself a 4.25 inch .357 to shoot in Canada. (I realize that there is a chance that the handgun ban won't go away, but I like to try to be positive in my outlook and I think that Spanky is circling the toilet bowl right now and Canada's future might -- just might -- be a little brighter ahead. I sure hope so.) And if I'm wrong, I'll just have to get the molds into Mexico and run the experiments here. There are easy work-arounds to some problems.
As to the auto-pistols, I fancy myself a Commander in .380 Cal for here in Mexico. The Critical Duty ammo looks promising and I think they'd "get around" the hollowpoint ruling with that polymer filling in the tip. I realize one would have to pull the bullets and reload them again but I don't think that's going to affect them. I sell the Critical Duty +P rounds in my work and will buy a box for testing. I can shoot 5 or 6 over the chronograph and group them at the same time. Then I can pull some, reload them normally and re-check those to the same velocity and accuracy out of my Beretta 92FS. I would assume all should work fine. You'd never have enough around to actually practice with, but I have the MP Mold for a 135 grain 9mm bullet (two of them, with 8-cavities each!) and hopefully the POI would be close enough as well. Testing, testing. These would be reloaded in the .380 Cal guns, of course, giving them equivilent power to their 9mm +P originals.
Once I spent a whole day trying to get Michael's 2.5-inch Model 19 up to 1,200 fps using a 162 grain Lee TLSWC and the best I could get was 1,180 fps with a lot of fanfare and recoil and blast. 1,150 was more normal using most powders and 1,125 was the best some would do, albeit with considerable pomp and ceremony all the same. Vicious little beasts. All the same, they are more compact than most weapons of their power that one might have at one's disposal under Mexican Law. (And I adore them visually.)
For around the property, I think loading some of the 162-grain MP-Mold SWC hollow-point bullets -- perhaps powdercoated only on the parts touching the barrel itself -- to be used from the baby magnums would do for the wife and kids. Down here, if you are carrying "off property", a registered pocket-snubby in .38 Special is the best way to go. Without HP ammo. A 160 LSWC at around 900 fps will get the attention of both your target, and you yourself once you touch it off. This is the sort of stuff I think about a lot, how to make something that's probably inadequate into "adequate under Mexican Law". Because where we live -- and where I am right now -- this "self-defense isn't an option for civilian" crap is just crap and anyone living here knows it. Any lawmaker, or attorney pushing that argument in any society is "working for the other side". You simply cannot be in that job -- either or -- and be that naive and if you truly are, that's no excuse. Get out and live a little before you spout such silliness.
Although I think they probably don't put out enough "poop" to be effective to the level I'd like, I adore the .357 snubbies. I do not own one but think that one or several would be nice to have around. I spent a whole afternoon with this one, trying to get it up to 1,200 fps using a 162 grain TLSWC without success. Although I was shellshocked from the concussion under the hot tin roof sun shelter at the range, it's a day I remember with a smile.
Micheal's 2.5-inch Model 19 nickel finish. He installed his own green ramp as he did on my 28. I do, however, think that a medium-soft LSWCHP bullet of 162 grains at around 1,150 fps would suffice as the HP is a "force multiplier", and it would be legal enough for around the property. This now sits hidden on his sailboat in the Mazatlan marina.
The Model 66 is another snubby .357 that I'd grab if I found one. This one is similar to the one Allen Galindo uses as his daily carry while working in his restaurant in San Miguel. It's the "Gauntlet" or "Tightrope" gun for sure!
Truly one of my favorites is friend Harold's Colt Python 2.5-incher that we remarked as a Diamondback -- and then, get this, installed a blued .38 Special-only cylinder from an 8-inch .38 Special ,Target Python when he went to register it. Once the paperwork was done, of course, the original .357 cylinder went back in. But this one, I truly covet. I'd love it if he'd sell it to me. I'd love it even more if he'd hire me for bodyguarding work like he used to and just pay me by giving it to me. Well, I can dream, can't I?
Once, on a particularly disgusting Gringo website that exists only for ex-pats, and American resident in San Miguel published this photo, with the caption: "A Canadian house-defense kit: a 9mm, a box of shells, and a couple of magazines." There were several very positive comments from the usual POS's who can't speak Spanish and think their poop doesn't stink that inhabit the ex-pat community in that town.
I uploaded this photo, with the comment: "Yes, that's cute. But you got the wrong photo. I'm Canadian, I live here, and this is my actual house-defense kit: a 9mm, a box of shells, and a couple of magazines. Note that I would not dare publish this unless I had absolute certainty that the 'authorities' will do nothing about it." That sort of ended that thread. And here's my ride...
Thank you. Trust me that weatherwise, it is.
Mexico has some weird laws and one of them is that hollow-points are prohibited. In Mexico, if something iffy is not prohibited (in the Firearms Law) then it's a misdemeanor. If you, as a foreigner, are caught carrying an unregistered .38 Caliber pistol, you're going to jail. If, on the other hand, it's registered, you'll have to pay a fine and you'll probably even get the gun back. If you shoot an intruder in your home, the authorities will check that the gun is registered and of "legal" caliber and if it is you're good to go and probably won't even need to leave the house. On the other hand, if it's unregistered, you'll have to use the "Constitution claim" that allows you to have up to 3 unregistered guns (of any caliber) in your house and you'll probably still skate free. Don't ever get caught with any of those guns outside the house, though. That, again, would mean jail.
But if you use hollowpoints, things become "iffy". Hollowpoints are the force multipliers of the pistol shooting world. An inadequate caliber using solid shot can suddenly become a quite reliable caliber using the expanding bullets. I have been told by close Mexican friends that using a hollowpoint round in an action actually occuring inside your house will be "okay" under the Constitution (in other words, "you'll walk") but outside your house it would mean jail. I like the MP Molds and especially their 170 grain Keith bullet which comes with the pins to make it a 162 grain Hollowpoint. I think that will solve the "house defense" issue, and I intend to get myself such a mold to run experiments on just as soon as the handgun ban goes away and I can buy myself a 4.25 inch .357 to shoot in Canada. (I realize that there is a chance that the handgun ban won't go away, but I like to try to be positive in my outlook and I think that Spanky is circling the toilet bowl right now and Canada's future might -- just might -- be a little brighter ahead. I sure hope so.) And if I'm wrong, I'll just have to get the molds into Mexico and run the experiments here. There are easy work-arounds to some problems.
As to the auto-pistols, I fancy myself a Commander in .380 Cal for here in Mexico. The Critical Duty ammo looks promising and I think they'd "get around" the hollowpoint ruling with that polymer filling in the tip. I realize one would have to pull the bullets and reload them again but I don't think that's going to affect them. I sell the Critical Duty +P rounds in my work and will buy a box for testing. I can shoot 5 or 6 over the chronograph and group them at the same time. Then I can pull some, reload them normally and re-check those to the same velocity and accuracy out of my Beretta 92FS. I would assume all should work fine. You'd never have enough around to actually practice with, but I have the MP Mold for a 135 grain 9mm bullet (two of them, with 8-cavities each!) and hopefully the POI would be close enough as well. Testing, testing. These would be reloaded in the .380 Cal guns, of course, giving them equivilent power to their 9mm +P originals.
Once I spent a whole day trying to get Michael's 2.5-inch Model 19 up to 1,200 fps using a 162 grain Lee TLSWC and the best I could get was 1,180 fps with a lot of fanfare and recoil and blast. 1,150 was more normal using most powders and 1,125 was the best some would do, albeit with considerable pomp and ceremony all the same. Vicious little beasts. All the same, they are more compact than most weapons of their power that one might have at one's disposal under Mexican Law. (And I adore them visually.)
For around the property, I think loading some of the 162-grain MP-Mold SWC hollow-point bullets -- perhaps powdercoated only on the parts touching the barrel itself -- to be used from the baby magnums would do for the wife and kids. Down here, if you are carrying "off property", a registered pocket-snubby in .38 Special is the best way to go. Without HP ammo. A 160 LSWC at around 900 fps will get the attention of both your target, and you yourself once you touch it off. This is the sort of stuff I think about a lot, how to make something that's probably inadequate into "adequate under Mexican Law". Because where we live -- and where I am right now -- this "self-defense isn't an option for civilian" crap is just crap and anyone living here knows it. Any lawmaker, or attorney pushing that argument in any society is "working for the other side". You simply cannot be in that job -- either or -- and be that naive and if you truly are, that's no excuse. Get out and live a little before you spout such silliness.
Although I think they probably don't put out enough "poop" to be effective to the level I'd like, I adore the .357 snubbies. I do not own one but think that one or several would be nice to have around. I spent a whole afternoon with this one, trying to get it up to 1,200 fps using a 162 grain TLSWC without success. Although I was shellshocked from the concussion under the hot tin roof sun shelter at the range, it's a day I remember with a smile.
Micheal's 2.5-inch Model 19 nickel finish. He installed his own green ramp as he did on my 28. I do, however, think that a medium-soft LSWCHP bullet of 162 grains at around 1,150 fps would suffice as the HP is a "force multiplier", and it would be legal enough for around the property. This now sits hidden on his sailboat in the Mazatlan marina.
The Model 66 is another snubby .357 that I'd grab if I found one. This one is similar to the one Allen Galindo uses as his daily carry while working in his restaurant in San Miguel. It's the "Gauntlet" or "Tightrope" gun for sure!
Truly one of my favorites is friend Harold's Colt Python 2.5-incher that we remarked as a Diamondback -- and then, get this, installed a blued .38 Special-only cylinder from an 8-inch .38 Special ,Target Python when he went to register it. Once the paperwork was done, of course, the original .357 cylinder went back in. But this one, I truly covet. I'd love it if he'd sell it to me. I'd love it even more if he'd hire me for bodyguarding work like he used to and just pay me by giving it to me. Well, I can dream, can't I?
Once, on a particularly disgusting Gringo website that exists only for ex-pats, and American resident in San Miguel published this photo, with the caption: "A Canadian house-defense kit: a 9mm, a box of shells, and a couple of magazines." There were several very positive comments from the usual POS's who can't speak Spanish and think their poop doesn't stink that inhabit the ex-pat community in that town.
I uploaded this photo, with the comment: "Yes, that's cute. But you got the wrong photo. I'm Canadian, I live here, and this is my actual house-defense kit: a 9mm, a box of shells, and a couple of magazines. Note that I would not dare publish this unless I had absolute certainty that the 'authorities' will do nothing about it." That sort of ended that thread. And here's my ride...
Calmex,
You have obviously done much more with some revolvers that I could have ever done in all my life, like the Smith & Wesson Outdoorsman revolver for example. I know very well what a Smith & Wesson Outdoorsman revolver is but I have never seen one in the flesh. Not a single one. Double Action revolvers are quite rare nowadays in my part of the country - Eastern Canada. Some younger shooters are surprised when they see me - the older shooter - with a Double Action revolver on the firing line and especially with a Double Action snub nose revolver. They have never handled or even seen one before and that always puzzles me. And the mere fact that such a revolver can be fired in the Trigger Cocking mode eludes them. "Why don't you use the hammer for cocking like they do on TV all the time ?".
When it comes to firearms, I am always learning. So, I am actually rereading some of your revolver commentaries from way back to November 2019. The kind of hands-on experience that nobody can get in gun magazines - and definitely not at ordinary gun clubs in Canada, where most shooters have limited experience with any kind of revolver. Very limited experience.
You have obviously done much more with some revolvers that I could have ever done in all my life, like the Smith & Wesson Outdoorsman revolver for example. I know very well what a Smith & Wesson Outdoorsman revolver is but I have never seen one in the flesh. Not a single one. Double Action revolvers are quite rare nowadays in my part of the country - Eastern Canada. Some younger shooters are surprised when they see me - the older shooter - with a Double Action revolver on the firing line and especially with a Double Action snub nose revolver. They have never handled or even seen one before and that always puzzles me. And the mere fact that such a revolver can be fired in the Trigger Cocking mode eludes them. "Why don't you use the hammer for cocking like they do on TV all the time ?".
When it comes to firearms, I am always learning. So, I am actually rereading some of your revolver commentaries from way back to November 2019. The kind of hands-on experience that nobody can get in gun magazines - and definitely not at ordinary gun clubs in Canada, where most shooters have limited experience with any kind of revolver. Very limited experience.
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Calmex has inspired me to shoot Double Action. My initial attempts were at 10 yards and were much better than I expected.
I returned to the range yesterday and tried again. But the 10 yard range was not available. IPSC was in progress, so I went next door where the shortest range available was 25 yards.
Once again, I surprised myself. Groups were fairly good and certainly good enough for any anti-social purpose.
Two of the revolvers (Ruger Speed Six and S&W M60) are DAO. The Smith M38 is intended as a pocket gun and I shot it DA.
The Charter Arms Undercover is a cheap snubbie that has always worked well. The double action feel is quite good.
The Ruger a very heavy 38 Spl. Calmex would like it. He could load it like a 357, no problem. But never a carry gun. Would be good in the truck. I have no idea why this one was made in 38Spl. It could have been chambered for 357M like most others.
M60 DAO
M38
Charter Arms
Ruger Speed Six
And for comparison, here is a Mauser HSc in 32 Auto. It was jamming. The round would half feed and stop. I finally figured out that there was a little burr around the firing pin hole and the round was sliding up the breech face and hanging up on the burrr. I kissed the burr with a drill and gave it a very slight champfer. Now it feeds perfectly.
I returned to the range yesterday and tried again. But the 10 yard range was not available. IPSC was in progress, so I went next door where the shortest range available was 25 yards.
Once again, I surprised myself. Groups were fairly good and certainly good enough for any anti-social purpose.
Two of the revolvers (Ruger Speed Six and S&W M60) are DAO. The Smith M38 is intended as a pocket gun and I shot it DA.
The Charter Arms Undercover is a cheap snubbie that has always worked well. The double action feel is quite good.
The Ruger a very heavy 38 Spl. Calmex would like it. He could load it like a 357, no problem. But never a carry gun. Would be good in the truck. I have no idea why this one was made in 38Spl. It could have been chambered for 357M like most others.
M60 DAO
M38
Charter Arms
Ruger Speed Six
And for comparison, here is a Mauser HSc in 32 Auto. It was jamming. The round would half feed and stop. I finally figured out that there was a little burr around the firing pin hole and the round was sliding up the breech face and hanging up on the burrr. I kissed the burr with a drill and gave it a very slight champfer. Now it feeds perfectly.
Early revolvers were hammer-cocked because they had to be; the double-action linkage hadn't been invented yet. So a lot of Wild West and other 1800s drama depicts that level of technology. And that's the reason the Cowboy Action organization is called the Single Action Shooting Society, focusing on the era before double-action came in.
From roughly the early 1900s onward we had double-action revolvers and that spawned a whole different shooting discipline as that enabled a much greater rate-of-fire which you might even direct accurately if you were good with that heavier trigger, and that's what this thread is all about. Swing-out cylinders also arrived, making speed-loaders and moon clips part of it too.
Most DA revolvers can be fired SA too, although some are DA-only due to having a bobbed hammer and/or no SA step for the hammer to hold on.
Rodger Kotanko smoothed out this M66 for double action shooting. It is lightened and ported. In 357M, it is the kind of gun that I think Mr. Calmex might find useful.
That is a sweet little wheel gun right there. I have always enjoyed the K frame 357's over the L frame 357's and the 66 holds a special place in my heart.
Rodger Kotanko smoothed out this M66 for double action shooting. It is lightened and ported. In 357M, it is the kind of gun that I think Mr. Calmex might find useful.
Very nice. Roger did nice work. I have model 19 and 13 k frame snubbies. Fun guns to shoot. - dan
S&W lock systems are pretty easy to "stage" that way. Colts are different, I have heard it called stacking, which makes it a little tougher to do. Dan Wessons are a short stroke, so I find they take more concentration to get the trigger to break when you want. - dan
When I used to shoot PPC, I had a pencil eraser glued to the inside trigger frame so that the trigger would come back and stop. Then it just took a squeeze to fire.
Is the video showing this? Or is it done by feel?
Is the video showing this? Or is it done by feel?
I will try to make you a video tomorrow to show you the trick: the tip of your trigger finger against the frame itself IS the trigger stop. And as Dan says, different guns with different actions affect the technique. You can't use little bits of erasers or stuff that can fail on a combat gun - remember where I am - so it's all in your technique.
I just got my old Model 49 Bodyguard back tonight after 7-shot years so I am celebrating with friends. Imagine how people in Canada will celebrate if we can flush Spanky and his degenerate bans. Well, I'm feeling pretty pumped tonight to have my Bodyguard back, I'll tell you.
My Model 49 Bodyguard as it sits beside me tonight. After 7 years, it's like having an old-dear-friend back at one's side.
It's a first-year 1959 Bodyguard with the flat latch and a Model 49 with no dashes.
The same gun taken in a "selfie" on the rooftop in the house we used to live in on a warm evening in 2014.
If I was a Vogon Poet, I'd probably wax philosophical and write something like "Ode to the little Bodyguard I carried all over Hell's Creation that never let me down..." or some such rot. But here it is, having fallen into my lap again and now it's staying with me, oh, I am so pumped! I can't believe I left my pocket holster in Canada! I just never truly thought......
One of the very first and oldest images I have of my Model 49, when the grips were still sharp and unworn and the gun was less scratched. About 1993 or early 1994, sitting on the side-burner cover of my old Gas BBQ when I still lived on Avenida Allende near my Ice Cream Store. Phil Maher had just gotten it for me out of the effects of a dead (natural causes) American and told me to get it registered ASAP. I ran home and took this photo, it was my first gun in Mexico, and I was oh-so-proud. To this day, I love movies or TV shows where the hero has to solve all the world's problems and all he has is a small 5 or 6-shot .38 Snubby. I can sort of relate to that, I lived a bit of that movie....
I just got my old Model 49 Bodyguard back tonight after 7-shot years so I am celebrating with friends. Imagine how people in Canada will celebrate if we can flush Spanky and his degenerate bans. Well, I'm feeling pretty pumped tonight to have my Bodyguard back, I'll tell you.
My Model 49 Bodyguard as it sits beside me tonight. After 7 years, it's like having an old-dear-friend back at one's side.
It's a first-year 1959 Bodyguard with the flat latch and a Model 49 with no dashes.
The same gun taken in a "selfie" on the rooftop in the house we used to live in on a warm evening in 2014.
If I was a Vogon Poet, I'd probably wax philosophical and write something like "Ode to the little Bodyguard I carried all over Hell's Creation that never let me down..." or some such rot. But here it is, having fallen into my lap again and now it's staying with me, oh, I am so pumped! I can't believe I left my pocket holster in Canada! I just never truly thought......
One of the very first and oldest images I have of my Model 49, when the grips were still sharp and unworn and the gun was less scratched. About 1993 or early 1994, sitting on the side-burner cover of my old Gas BBQ when I still lived on Avenida Allende near my Ice Cream Store. Phil Maher had just gotten it for me out of the effects of a dead (natural causes) American and told me to get it registered ASAP. I ran home and took this photo, it was my first gun in Mexico, and I was oh-so-proud. To this day, I love movies or TV shows where the hero has to solve all the world's problems and all he has is a small 5 or 6-shot .38 Snubby. I can sort of relate to that, I lived a bit of that movie....
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They are the same gun, just yours has the lightweight and mine doesn't.
Yours has the aluminum frame and is not really rated for +P ammo while mine has a hard steel frame, weighs like 21 ounces instead of 16 ounces and is rated for +P ammo. You know we shoot loads that are really quite hot -- I have a speedloader here of 158 grain Lead SWC bullets loaded over 4.5 grains of Bullseye. You would not want to shoot those out of an older Model 38 (the newer Model 638 will handle them but you'll regret firing one in such a light gun the instant you pull that trigger). Firing a hot load in mine hurts but it's got the power to "maybe" get the job done.
Now that I have my baby back, I'll order myself a set of Altamont Falconia grips in a color scheme that suits me and when I come back down in November, well I'll be set for more adventures. Real adventures, you know? Where you might need a snubby in your pocket?
Altamont Falconia grips.
Yours has the aluminum frame and is not really rated for +P ammo while mine has a hard steel frame, weighs like 21 ounces instead of 16 ounces and is rated for +P ammo. You know we shoot loads that are really quite hot -- I have a speedloader here of 158 grain Lead SWC bullets loaded over 4.5 grains of Bullseye. You would not want to shoot those out of an older Model 38 (the newer Model 638 will handle them but you'll regret firing one in such a light gun the instant you pull that trigger). Firing a hot load in mine hurts but it's got the power to "maybe" get the job done.
Now that I have my baby back, I'll order myself a set of Altamont Falconia grips in a color scheme that suits me and when I come back down in November, well I'll be set for more adventures. Real adventures, you know? Where you might need a snubby in your pocket?
Altamont Falconia grips.
