Model19

Foredom, boys, Foredom. Makes a Dremel look like a toy.

Thanks for the advice guys. I don't own any autos other than a 22/45, so I'll stick with my Smith's for practice. I buy 'em to use 'em so what the hell if I wear one out. It's all fun no matter what.

I've been dry firing like crazy this last month after getting a new to me 2.5" M19 for IDPA use. This will be my second season of wheelgun competition and I'm at the point were I'm refining my technique. I've stumbled on a method that seems to be a fast way to get that first shot off, where once I establish my full grip and am extending my arms toward the target I start to stack the trigger up so that when I reach full extension and have my sight picture I break the shot. This is one fluid (most of the time..practice practice) motion. I used to stay off the trigger until I was set up and sighted and then pull through the whole stroke in one go, but this other way seems faster. Is what I'm doing now a common practice and/or even advised as a technique? There are VERY few revo shooters in my club and at our matches so there are few chances to compare notes. Any input?? TIA, Geoff

Factory square butt wood with the Tyler t-grip works for me on a model 37. I've got big hands but have no problems going through cylinders worth of ammo at BUG matches with it. As far as accuracy goes...they are as accurate as they were intended to be for their specific use. Love 'em!

I scorched my left hand (I'm a rightie) pretty good a week ago after doing a bunch of reload drills. That forcing cone gets freakin' hot in short order. I'm going to wear a Blackhawk nomex air-force style glove on that hand this week at practice to see how that feels. If it does not make me clumsy I'll stick with it despite the abuse I'll take from the other guys. Now they'll get their chance to pay me back for the ribbing I give them when their bottomfeeders malfunction in mid string.

OK, I'll bite.... why is it that only Lefties are approved for reloads this way? Is there a faster method for us right handers? And as far as reloading on the run goes, it aint that hard, try it and see. Your focus will be on your hands and your feet will work by themselves.

I put 100 rounds downrange Thursday night after upping the powder charge by 2/10th's and increasing the crimp. The old 19 was cleaner by far this time. I might up the charge a little more, as I'm still well below max load limits and see what that does, but I want to keep muzzle flip minimized so that might be my limiting factor. So thanks for all the input. It does appear that Unique can be a clean powder to use, it only gets real dirty at low pressure loadings. I'll burn up this bottle for the time being. Next it's on to coated lead bullets as an experiment.

My turn I used a Lee Turret for three or four years for .45ACP, .45LC and .38Spcl. It's a very simple system that allows changing calibers very very easily. Get a turret, powder charger and dies for each caliber and you're in business with 2 minute swaps. It never broke. The dies are easy to adjust, and the powder charger is consistent. I never found that the chart provided with the discs was as close as I'd hoped, but you weigh everything to be sure, right? The biggest drawback I ever found was speed, but it still beats the heck out of a single stage set-up. Once you get at routine down it goes easily and fairly quickly. I could make 100 rnds in an hour no problem. I could whip out 50 on my lunch hour for that evenings shooting and still have time to eat and get back to work. For a plinker, or more casual shooter there is nothing at all wrong with that set up. If you shoot 50-100 rnds a week you'll be more than happy. Yeah, people will give you a hard time about it, but who cares, it's your life, time and money. But... last Fall I got interested in IDPA and knew my useage rate was going to increase significantly. I also sold my 1911 and the old single action was long gone, so I was done to .38 target shooting and in the market for a .357 for IDPA. After being beat on at the club by the Dillon users I stopped by the Dillon booth at SHOT and got the run down from the factory guys. I now own a Square Deal and am mostly satisfied with it. At first the plan was to use it for both loads, but the adjustments are just not built for easy changes, so it does .357 exclusively and the Lee will be dedicated to .38 target loads if I ever do that again The Square Deal is not the fastest or flashiest Dillon, but it can make you 100 rounds really fast, like 15 minutes if you're organized and is capable of a lot more in an hours time. It appears very well built and should last a lifetime. My conclusion is, if you need maximum production in the shortest amount of time, Dillon wins no sweat. But if you are a newb on a limited budget or shoot more than one caliber in smaller quantities you will not go wrong with the Lee Turret.

Umm... dumb question coming.. I thought that higher velocities caused leading and this is why gas checks are so often mentioned when velocities creep up to 1100fps.

The more I've looked into this, I can see that getting a more complete burn from any powder has everything to do with pressure. This got me thinking about the last session I shot and now I remember that there was less unburned powder evident. The only change I had made was to increase the crimp and that was simply to help loading with my comp3's. Previously I had been loading with only a VERY light crimp, like a bullseye load for my old K-38. So I think the tighter crimp has cleaned things up a bit. I just loaded 100rnds of ammo today and increased the crimp a tiny bit more. I plan on a practice session tomorrow afternoon so I'll see how clean things are after that. Otherwise I'm happy with Unique in my .357 so far. The load is 5.8gr Unique behind a 158gr LRNFP in .357 brass with CCI primers( a whole separate subject). I was using 5.6gr of Unique, but the Chrony showed a spread that might not always make the PF for SSR in IDPA. This is still light loading for .357 but uncoated lead means I need to load that way. Other posts here have got me thinking about coated lead like Bear and others make, so I plan on getting some of those bullets to use as I get some leading now as it is. If the Unique is still shooting dirty after tomorrow's session, I'll start experimenting. I have some Bullseye on the shelf from my .45 days to try right off. I just hate resetting the Square Deals powder thrower.

This is probably an old and beat to death subject, but I need the help. This was posted in the IDPA section recently: 22) Also for SSR shooters - Work up/choose a load that doesn't require brushing out your chambers for the entire match...and brush out your chambers every chance you get. I'm an IDPA newbie using a model 19 and loading with Unique (some of the old timers at the club call it "oink") because it is what I have used in my slow fire casual shooting .38 loads (different pistol used) for a few years. This is a whole different game, and I've had the revolver get dirty enough to act up after awhile in practice. So what's the overall opinion on the cleanest powder you might find for a .357 or similar? Geoff PS: I'm enjoying IDPA so much I've put Highpower aside for the summer. I get the usual jibes from my Hi-PO pals, but I can take it!