SauconValley Shooter

Good Evening, Five division expert as of Saturday at the New Holland Spring Shootout, via 1st in CDP SS.

Good Afternoon, I have two 629s that I was using in SSR. One was a custom gun I found on Gun Broker. It looked like someone took the PC heavy barrel version and cut it back to 3.5 inches. The name on the gun is Custom Thoroughbred. I had to make quite a few lightening holes in the internal parts to make weight. I drilled "cooling" holes in the trigger, hammer and hand. It was fun to shoot but if there was a scale at a match, I wanted to have the gun weighed before the match while it was clean. The second 629, was a four inch half lug barrel. I also had to put cooling holes in that one to get it under weight. As I said, both were fun. I won SSR MM at S&W a few years ago with the 3.5 inch and I won SSR SS at Blackwater with the four inch. I used Comp I loaders and kept them in my vest pocket as there were no speed loader holders I could find. I shoot a 686 now to be competitive, but I may take out one of 629s for a local match or two this year. I still have a lot of ammo loaded.

Good Afternoon, My 686-5 will be at my FFL next week. I will set it up just like the 686-6 that I have been using for a few years. I plan to shoot the 686-6 for local matches and keep the 686-5 for major matches. I shot my pre-lock 66 at the S&W match. It was OK, but I prefer the 686. On stage four after engaging targets at the salad bar, I dropped one round onto the floor while reloading. I do not know how that happened, but I do not recall it happening with the 686. The K frame cylinder is so small! I dropped to one knee, loaded the dropped round, closed the cylinder and ran as fast as I could to the next shooting position to finsh the stage. They did do a visual inspection for lock parts at the chrono and equipment check station, but they did not function check the lock. I am set now for IDPA. I will shoot a pre-lock 686 in SSR and pre-lock 646 in ESR.

Good Morning, I used to use any brass for both 1911s and my then new 625. After getting a pin hole in the firing pin bushing, I bought new Starline and Magtech brass and I keep my revolver brass and pistol brass separate. Now I have more than one 625 and no new pin holes. Ken

Good Afternoon, The question had been asked. When I contacted Robert Ray, I copied for him a section of the S&W website that warned not to lock or unlock a loaded gun. Robert's response was that the text was on the "Safety" web page and therefore the device is a safety. I then copied text from the owners manual that, in capital, red, letters also expressly warns against locking or unlocking a loaded gun. The manual refers to the device several times , but always as a lock. It seemed quite clear to me that the device has nothing to do with firing or carrying the gun, and that is it for storage of an empty gun. Robert replied that the lock is for the "safe" storage of the gun and therefore the IDPA rule still applied. I tried. Even though I agree with Carmoney that the chances of the lock activating are slim, this morning I was thinking of shooting my 66 at S&W instead of my 686.

Good Morning, Now before you bestow this honor on me, you should check Brian's post in this thread, on January 31. Ken

Good Evening, I put the flag back in my 686 this evening. It actually went in quicker then they come out. Ted, I only take the flag piece off as it is only held in with a spring. I leave the other parts so that I do not have an open hole in the side of the gun. I am now in the market for an older 686. For ESR, my 646 does not have the lock. I have a 586 that I would use, but I have been putting the X frame grips on all of my guns, and the square butt will be a problem. Ken

Hello Bill, Was it difficult to replace the flag? I assume that you insert the straight end of the spring into a hole and then wiggle the pivot into the frame. Ken

Good Afternoon, Jerry, right you are. I shoot a 646 as well and there is no lock. I will have to call Josh and ask him to which gun this happened. Perhaps I can get him to post the occurance himself. He has been shooting SSR with a 686 SSR lately, so maybe that was it. I will find out. Ken

Good Morning, Gregg, we will see you in just a few weeks at S&W. I am going to be in San Antonio the week before the S&W match but I am flying in Monday, flying out Friday and I have a feeling I will be putting in long hours between. I meant why take the chance of the lock catching at a major match and ruining any chances of a win. I still cannot believe anyone at HQ would consider it a safety instead of a storage lock. Ken

Good Morning, Josh shoots a 646, which because of the titainium cylinder is also a lighter gun. The rest of the gun is stainless steel so it has some weight. Why would anyone want to take the chance at a major match? Ken

Good Morning, I do not see mention of the S&W storage lock in the rule book, regardless of what Robert Ray may have said to anyone. I know that this is a rhetorical question as far as this issue is concerned, but who would carry their revolver with the storage lock engaged? I will have to check my owners manuals but I do not believe S&W recommends the gun is loaded while enabling or disabling the lock. I would not care if the mechanism was removed at any match which I run as I consider it to be a storage device until the rule book specifically mentions it. Steve, Josh Lentz was asking me about this issue a couple of weeks ago because he said that one of his guns locked up during a match. Josh is member of this forum, so perhaps he will post the details. Thank you, Ken

Good Afternoon, You already bought the gun so this information is a little late, but I bought two 686-7 38 Supers last year for about $750 each. I have a minor load that works well with Berry's 158 DSRN and Winchester 231. I am still working on a major load while trying to stick with 231. I hope that you enjoy your new gun! Ken

Good Morning, Dave, are you going to shoot your 940 at Hellertown? If so, I can bring my 547, with a 4 inch barrel, and satisfy your demands, but as the MD I would recommend that you shoot in SSR for no score. We would record all of your times and targets but I would list you as DNF when scoring. This would allow you to see how you scored but you would not place. Before anyone gets all upset about the rules, I do my best to follow the rules at all times. I have been the PA state championship MD and I am MD at three clubs. Sometimes, however people would like to try something that does not "fit" within the rules. I have no problem allowing people to shoot something outside of the rules at a club match. I will ensure that they know why they are outside of the rules and I will recommend that they make whatever changes are required. I believe that March has five Tuesdays, so I will schedule a BUG match at Hellertown for that day and you can compete with your 940. Until then, you can shoot your 940 at matches for no score. Knowing Dave, he will probably be fairly competitive even with the five shot, unless I make a lot of six shot stages! Ken

Good Morning, David, Joanna has a 3" 625 and I have a 2.5" 325. I do not have a 940, but I do have a 547. I think that I am doing OK with Smith's. I was being vague when I wrote that I have a "few". I hope to see you at Hellertown some time. I have always wanted to have a Colt, just to have, not for competition. So it seems that an early Python is the nicest example of a Colt. Thank you for the information gentlemen! Ken

Good Afternoon, I have a couple of S&Ws and a Ruger and I was thinking of getting a 357 Colt or two to round out my collection. What is the difference between the Python, King Cobra, Boa and so on. I believe that the Anaconda is like a N frame S&W as I only see them chambered in 44 magnum and 45 Colt. Thank you, Ken

Good Evening, I was inspired to do the same thing on Saturday at the Phillipsburg IDPA match. It was one of my stages. Start in a dark room arms length from two threats with a non-threat covering both. On the start, engage in tac sequence while retreating through the open doorway. Then there were two targets to "pie" on a left corner and three targets to "pie" on a right corner on the other side of the doorway. So, I did a tac reload when at the left corner and again before moving to the right corner. I did the "whole mess" into my pocket for the first and did drop the live rounds, eject the rest on my second tac reload. It worked out pretty well. Josh L just reloaded when empty (after the first left corner target and after the second right corner target) and was about 3 seconds faster. Of course Josh may have been faster even if I was using an eight shot (I know, not legal for IDPA) revolver! Ken

Good Morning, I perform tactical reloads occasionally. I practice them for that reason. I agree with Steve in that I feel it is faster to do a tac reload and shoot three targets, then it is two shoot one or two targets, reload and finish the remaining targets. A stage requiring the use of the stowed rounds would have to be set up just for that purpose. Why would anyone fumble with loose rounds or a partialy spent moon clip when they should have a third reload on their belt? In wheel gun world, we say that if you need your third reload, things are not going well. If you then need your stowed ammunition you are ... well, you know. Ken

Good Morning, Congratualtions on SSR! ESR sharpshooter??????????????????????????????????????????????????? Thank you, Ken

Good Morning, My right thumb is on the yoke retention screw and my left thumb is pressing on my right thumb. This is very much like my grip for a semi auto. Ken

Good Morning Dean, I have a stage that I would like to submit. Will you supply an email address please? Thank you, Ken

Good Morning, I just recently aquired a 627 and 686 in 38 Super. Since I have lots of Berry's 158 grain plated round nose bullets, that is what I am using. I also use 231 as much as possible. I am still working on a major load for the 686 but it will be around 5.5 grains of 231. I have settled on a minor load with the 627, of 3.8 grains of 231 and the 158 grain Berry's bullet. The minor load came out at 813 fps average in my 627, for 128 pf. I am loading both loads to 1.3" OAL. Good Luck! Ken

Good Morning, If you do not want that trigger, I will take it! I put the 400 wide serrated trigger on several of my S&Ws. I have done about 15 trigger swaps and I had to do some fitting only once or twice. You have a good chance of just dropping in the new trigger. You may want to think about getting the special tool to remove the rebound spring - it makes life much easier. Watch that the spring does not fly out into your face! Ken

Good Morning, This sounds great! Not that you will plan your match around me, but IDPA is my main game as ICORE and USPSA clubs are not as prevalent in my area. IDPA Nationals, the Blackwater Shootout, and the Connecticut and Maine State Championships, as well as the East Coast ICORE Championship, are all in or just before October, when in October would you be running this match? Thank you, Ken

Good Morning, Tom and Josh have opened up a Saturday afternoon session as many people were unable to make Sunday. The round count is 178. Ken