The Dirty Revolver

[ADulay]

All,

With January comes a month with 5 Saturdays in it and here in my neck of the woods, the 5th Saturday of the month becomes an available date for the annual IDPA Classifier to be shot.

Actually we shoot it twice a year and August was the last one for us.

My classification for the semi-autos is current until August but my Revolver rating needs to be renewed so I went out and shot two practice Classifiers today. 180 rounds total.

Did pretty good as I had forgotten just how nice it is to shoot a heavy gun like the GP-100. Nice and smooth.

Missed "Expert" on the time by two seconds or so on the first try and nailed it by about a half second on the second try.

Why is this being posted up?

Because after 180 rounds of 38 special run through the gun, my hands were absolutely FILTHY and it took several minutes at the wash tub at the range to get my hands clean!!

Revolvers are fun to shoot and load and mess around with but run a hundred or so rounds through them and your hands WILL be dirty. Big time!

So who was out shooting wheel guns this week?

AD

 

[oldman10mm]

planning this upcoming week for the Eastlake indoor range with 3 44Mags,1 41Mag,and 1 10mm. all revolvers.

 

[daniellawecki]

Andy you are 100 % right I have shot that many rounds and more out of my wheel gun in one session. But washing your hands after shooting is a most wheelie or a auto. Picking your shot brass up loading cast bullets which I shoot thousands and thousands a year. There is always a risk and always keep your hands off your face. Even when you think your clean your clothes get burnt powder or unburnt powder on them.

 

[bambambam]

I used to have to deal with this same problem until I went to the coated bullets.Now my barrel does not lead up and cleanup is a lot easier.Accuracy is not affected by the coating.And if these bullets are good enough for Jerry Miculek maybe some of his magic will rub off on me.

 

[daniellawecki]

Well I haven't crossed over to PC bullets yet.

 

[bambambam]

The cost is not much more than cast and a whole lot cleaner

 

[bambambam]

Bayou Bullets is the ones that I use in GSSF in my Glocks.Reload the same as cast.

 

[ADulay]

Well, I'm back on the dirty revolver band wagon again.

Got the itch to "up my game" so to speak and bought a S&W 686 this morning.

It will be a nice transition gun along with the GP-100 to shoot in IDPA and USPSA's revolver divisions.

Had to order it as they only had the 586 model at the store (blued steel and not stainless like I wanted).

Already ordered up an extra holster, another batch of jet loaders and a holder.

I figure with all the loaded gear on my belt (six loaders) along with the holster and sidearm, I'll wind up looking like Rambo or something.

AD

 

[diesel]

I'd end up with a very sore back tote'n all that weight.

 

[ADulay]

Luckily in IDPA you only need the 3 loaders on the belt.

For USPSA it's more like SIX and that's pretty much my limit for crap on the belt.

AD

 

[oldman10mm]

S&W 586/686-6 rd cylinder,S&W 686+ has 7 rd cylinder,S&W 627 and 327 R8 & TRR8 have 8 rd cylinders.

for S&Ws' 9mm revolvers,986 is 7 rd cylinder,929 is 8 rd cylinder.

The 9mms' and the PC Pro 686+ are setup for moonclips providing for fast reloads.

 

[ADulay]

The 8 shot revolvers have pretty much taken over in that division of USPSA.

As it is a speed game, the 6 shot revolvers (even at major scoring) are at a huge disadvantage.

At least there's still a few places where the traditional six-shooter can play, it's just not USPSA anymore!

AD

 

[ADulay]

Ran a 100 rounds through the new 686. Very nice.

Accurate and tight.

The trigger is still new so it's a bit stiff but it is a sweet shooter.

Looking forward to some good revolver competition with this one.

AD (at least in my "Super Senior, Classic" divisions.

 

[ADulay]

Well, an update on the S&W 686 revolver that I'm running at the local IDPA match looks like this tonight.

Not bad if I don't say so myself.

Now get out there and beat up on some of your own buddies.

AD

 

[ADulay]

Guys,

Did a stupid thing a few weeks back and kind of tossed something "hard" into my crappy range bag and evidently it hit the edge of my rear sight on the S&W 686 and broke it off. I really didn't notice it until I was doing some warm ups and couldn't get the grouping anywhere NEAR what it normally shoots. Started checking around and sure enough, I had cracked the right rear edge of the sight blade.

OK, not a big deal. I should be able to purchase a new blade, pull the old one, install the new one and I'll be right back in business. Decided to check YouTube for "how to" videos. How hard can this be?

As it turns out, it is a big deal. Not so much taking all kinds of things apart, but more like having to break some things, play with some very small components and then assemble it back together with a bit of "staking" that I really didn't want to deal with, especially with my tool set around here.

Fast forward a few days and I see that pulling the entire sight assembly takes all of ONE SCREW and it all comes out very nicely. Of course I immediately order up one from Brownell's.

Yes, it is more expensive but the last thing I want to do is have a dead gun laying around for the rest of the summer while I figure out how to replace the blade, screws, spring and button in miniature.

Yesterday's mail brought my new rear sight assembly. Took the old one off. Put the new one on. Literally one screw.

Told the wife I was off to the range to sight it in. This took all of 6 shots. Literally one click to raise my normal point of aim and I was dialed in for tomorrow night's match.

I wimped out and purchased the entire assembly instead of just the blade but at least I'm back up and running AND I can use the old (broken blade) assembly to "practice" on for the next time this happens!

Guys! It's July already. Get out there and beat up on one of your buddies in one of the shooting sports!!!

Put down the phone. Pick up a gun!

AD

 

[oldman10mm]

I would have done the same thing,replace the entire sight,too easy. Then repair the old sight whenever.

 

[ADulay]

Still another update on the S&W 686 4" revolver.

Just finished up a six stage ICORE Classifier match.

9 of us were in the "Classic" division (where I shoot) and the rest were in "Open" and other high dollar divisions.

I swept all six stages in Classic AND finished 4th out of 29 overall!

Not bad for a factory stock 686 right out of the box.

AD (get out there and shoot up some of that ammo in the closet!!)

 

[ADulay]

Just an update on how the revolver shooting went this year.

Just came back from the Int'l Revolver Championships in Frostproof, FL. A pretty significant collection of shooters from "all over" including some Euro shooters.

Anyway, the "old guy" (that would be me) took 2nd place in the Classic/Super Senior division and 2nd in my "C" category overall.

Not bad for a stock 686 with about 4000 rounds through it.

Get out there and shoot with your buddy. Get away from the keyboard!

AD