Which is your favorite revolver?

[Havasutom]

Retired now, I decided a handgun might come in handy, old people being a target and all. I agonized over what to buy. I read magazines, watched online videos and asked around. I took a Fundamentals course and sought advice from the instructors. While most said 9mm semi-auto was the best choice I started getting vibes from revolvers - they just look like a gun ought to! I finally decided on the Ruger SP101 snub nose (2" barrel). It conceals easily. A Galco "Concealable" holster makes it disappear under a "tall" sized polo shirt. While it's chambered for .357 Magnum, it's a joy to shoot .38 Specials through it and I'm told that a good +P load hollow point has plenty of stopping power. (I chose Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal Protection, 135 grain GDHP.)

It's also a reasonable range gun: if I'm going to use it for personal protection I believe I should gain some competence with it, and Grant Cunningham (in his snub nose book) says the snub nose is easy to shoot, but difficult to shoot well. It's still a challenge for me to put 25 rounds inside a torso target at ten yards, but I'm getting really good at 7. One thing it's not is a hunting weapon, but I'm basically a city boy anyway ;-)
For more accuracy you may want to try 110 grain bullets. I found this weight to really deliver impressive groups at 10 yards from a 2" .38 revolver. The Gold Dots are a great bullet.
View attachment 4171

I upgraded the grips and had the factory main spring replaced by a 12# from Wolff. Note the tiny bit of bright nail polish on the front ramp sight, on advice from an instructor. This is a big help for older eyes. I've had it for two years now and I am very happy with it.

 

[ZoidMeister]

I like them all, mostly . . . .

 

[AlexV]

Thanks for the reply, Havasutum. I should be clear that the Gold Dots are for defense. My target ammo is CCI Brass Blazer 125 grain .38 Special FMJ, but I may try some 110 grain just to see if I get better results.

 

[Capn Jack]

AlexV,

Try 3.5 grs of Bullseye behind a 145gr. Keith hp.
Good on Jackrabbits out to 100 yds. (12" drop)

 

[runeight]

I would have to say my favorite was my neighbors S&W 44 magnum NRA special addition. I hadn't seen him in a while so I checked up and found he had passed. This was given to me by his family as a thank you for what followed after his death. Treasured to say the least.

 

[MadDuner]

Man you guys have some beautiful revolvers!

Here's a pic of my least practical one. LOL

 

[IceAxRiflRvlvr]

I would refer to the "family" as your "friends-in-law". They obviously think highly of you.

 

[Havasutom]

Thanks for the reply, Havasutum. I should be clear that the Gold Dots are for defense. My target ammo is CCI Brass Blazer 125 grain .38 Special FMJ, but I may try some 110 grain just to see if I get better results.

I realized the Gold Dots were for defense. The 110 grain were the only ones I could score expert with when I was a PO 40 years ago with my model 36.

 

[runeight]

Something about a wheel gun. Ya gotta love them.

 

[MadDuner]

Size perspective......
Yes, there IS a wheel gun in the picture. Sorta.

 

[madmike262]

6" 686 and 4" M25-5

 

[AlexV]

Havasutum,

On your advice I did some searching for 110 gr .38 Spl and found two: Hornady and Fiocchi. I ordered 50 rounds of each (not cheap!) and will give them a try some time this week. I plan to use a 5-up bullseye target at 7 yards, with 25 rds Hornady in upper left and 25 more in upper right, 25 rds Fiocchi in lower left and 25 more in lower right. Finally, I'll put 50 rds of my current 125 gr CCI Blazer in the center bullseye. I may not be a good enough shot yet to see anything significant, but if I get any interesting results I'll present them here.

Thanks much - Alex

 

[Whisky Tahoe]

I may not be a good enough shot yet to see anything significant

Alex, I expect you will see 100 holes and may they be to your liking

 

[Havasutom]

Havasutum,

On your advice I did some searching for 110 gr .38 Spl and found two: Hornady and Fiocchi. I ordered 50 rounds of each (not cheap!) and will give them a try some time this week. I plan to use a 5-up bullseye target at 7 yards, with 25 rds Hornady in upper left and 25 more in upper right, 25 rds Fiocchi in lower left and 25 more in lower right. Finally, I'll put 50 rds of my current 125 gr CCI Blazer in the center bullseye. I may not be a good enough shot yet to see anything significant, but if I get any interesting results I'll present them here.

Thanks much - Alex

Keep me advised.

 

[AlexV]

Hvasutum and Whiskey Tahoe,

I'd like to give you both a more definitive report, but I scored equally poorly with all three rounds at 5 yards and also at 10 yards, though by the time I got to the greater distance I was pretty tired. 102 degrees doesn't usually affect me, but this afternoon, without much of a breeze, it wore me doen pretty quickly. Also, that revolver gets really hot on such a day. (I have always thought a thin pair of gloves would be a benefit considering the splinters on Avery's wooden frames. But now I've got another good reason. Extracting the spent casings and loading the new ones was quite a challenge!)

One thing I can say is that Fiocchi's 110 grain .38 Special rounds seemed to shoot "heavier" than the others, but the box I got was +P. (The online ad didn't say that. The website is updating that ad based on my experience.) My long-time favorite, CCI Brass Blazer 125 grain, still felt "right" while the 110 grain Hornady rounds seemed to shoot "light" making it much easier to reacquire the target. If Hornady wasn't twice what I pay for the CCI rounds, I might consider switching.

I've still got some of both left so I might retry the tests indoors. I'll report here if I get anything worth typing about.

Thanks for the tips, all. I would not have guessed there was that much of a difference.

Alex

 

[Steven Bressan]

Smith & Wesson 627 V-Comp with Apex tricked out action set at 4.5 pounds Double Action.

 

[nvshooter]

Had a stainless Taurus M608 in .357 with an 8" barrel. Double-action; eight rounds. It would hang-up between cylinders if I fired it just from the trigger. I liked it because it was so big and I believed its size would cause the anti-Liberty types to soil their BVDs. Don't know if big handgubs actually do that, but I enjoyed the idea. Gub in the attached image is a six-inch...

 

[1971Chevelle]

Had a stainless Taurus M608 in .357 with an 8" barrel. Double-action; eight rounds. It would hang-up between cylinders if I fired it just from the trigger. I liked it because it was so big and I believed its size would cause the anti-Liberty types to soil their BVDs. Don't know if big handgubs actually do that, but I enjoyed the idea. Gub in the attached image is a six-inch...

View attachment 4661

If the revolver with the problem was manufactured prior to January 1, 2017, then it has a lifetime warranty on it. Call Taurus and get it set up for a repair.

 

[nvshooter]

. . . manufactured prior to January 1, 2017, then it has a lifetime warranty on it.

Can't remember when I bought it. I think it was even before I came to Nevada, which was Fall 2004. I think it qualifies for repair; I remember shooting it and having it lock in the warming-up months of 2006...

 

[AlexV]

Last word on the lighter .38 Special rounds: Here's two targets side-by-side, left is with Fiocchi 110 gr +P and right is CCI Brass Blazer 125 gr. Fiocchi, on the left, does look a bit tighter so there is some benefit to a lighter weight bullet. I going shooting with some friends later this month, so I'm saving the Honady 110 gr for then, in case they might talk about a challenge



Note that this is all hand held by an aging novice on a very hot day.

Alex