Bill Sahlberg

Too bad that USPSA cannot forcast these big matches in advance, wow, what a brilliant concept, that is, to be organized! This is not to put Bruce Gary down but the whole idea of trying to make everyone wait on USPSA before we can make our plans. I have to work with the Fernan Range on dates so we schedule two years in advance except for June because we do wait for USPSA to announce the Area 1 before we commit to any weekends. Here is hoping that the other leaders in USPSA read this and choose to forecast YEARS in advance! Bill Sahlberg LIFE Member L1283

This Match is on Sept 27 & 28 in Coeur d'Alene, ID at the Fernan Rod & Gun Club (www.frgc.org). Entrys are $75 before 9/1 and we have a limited amount of entrys with a waiting liist. Match is online at www.sppl.us under Matches and look for September to download your application. This is a 2 day match with @ 100 rnds per gun, all 7 stages are multi-gun and we follow the DPMS rules from the Tri-Gun Challene (www.dpmsinc.com) This year is the 16th Annual Inland Empire 3 Gun and we awards 30 plaques and a very generous prize table, lunch is included Saturday and you will be driving home by 4PM. Sunday is the last 3 stages, awards, prize table, and a 3 Man Team Event with plaques going to the Top 3 Teams. This is a time plus scoring with 1 alpha or 2 anywhere on the target. Bring 8 slugs and have your rifle sighted in for 10 - 300 yds. DPMS is the match sponsor and has donated several uppers and a complete AR15 rifle. The complete DPMS AR15 rifle is given away at the shooters meeting Saturday before the match begins, by random raffle of shooters number,....you must be present to win. If you have any questions or comments contact me billsahlberg@hotmail.com or 509-924-7230

Great match, squad 44 was the best group of workers in 100+ heat that I could imagine, nobody let down and all worked through the very end. Too bad for the chrono and Matt McLearn, only 19 points away from #1 and shooting minor.....he would have easily won with major but it never bothered him as Matt is a stand up guy. My hats off to the ROs and Match organizers, this was a great Area 1. Next year please order mid 60s instead of 110+ Bill Sahlberg L1283

I just spoke with Norm Bjelland, owner of MG who said that all Montana Gold Bullets are made to shoot. If you do not want to wear your gun out, simply stop shooting it! This hardness issue comes up every year os so and doesn't bother Norm at all. As the sponsored revolver shooter for Team Montana Gold, I put alot of bullets down the pipe of my 627s and 625s. My 627 was bought in 1998 through Lew Horton, I have shot 60K+ of 130 gr .356 Montana Gold RN bullets and the accuracy is still there and I am not looking to replace it anytime soon. Sure there is some wear, how would you feel with 60,000 bullets down your pipe? My son, Sgt Adam Sahlberg, was the first Junior Sponsored shooter for Montana Gold. He has shot 100K+ .38 Super .356 130 gr RN bullets through his Craig Fantom since we bought this inn 1997. We are shooting the same gun and same original barrel and its accuracy has not changed much either. BTW, Adam made GM before his 19th BD is is coming home from Iraq in just 16 days with the rest of the brave men and women from the 4th Stryker Brigade out of Ft Lewis, WA. YAAAHOOOOO!

The Steel Challenge has a lower power factor than USPSA's 125 but I have found a good load for both so I can shoot the same load year round. I am unsure of the other writers accuracy troubles at 35 yads but an 18X24 plate is the only target at that distance in a Steel Challenge. I shot PPC for years with a 148 gr HBWC at 700 fps and loved the lack of recoil was wonderful but anytime I shoot less than 1100 fps I cannot hear the Steel "ring" and it throws off my cadence. Accuracy is the front sight and trigger control, not speed. I like the .38 Colt Short and have perfected a load in 1996 that many people are still shooting today, none that I know with accuracy troubles. Here is that load data: 130 gr Montana Gold RN .356 Bullet, Starline .38 Colt Short brass, Federal 100 primer (ONLY!!!!) 4.2 gr Hodgdon Universal Clays, at 1.100"OAL and a "tight crimp" (.0002, yes, it marks the bullet) This is 1140 fps from a S&W 627-8 Shot .357 with a 5" barrel that has seen 60K of these slide down it and still shoots well. Have fun and shoot often! Herr Sahlberg Wiefeil uhr ist es?

Larry, LE needs this type of training badly. I am the Marketing Director at MGM Targets, let me know what I can do to help you pull off these matches. Bill Sahlberg MGM Targets Marketing Director 208-989-7511 bills@mgmtargets.com

Art, I have 60K+ on my 627s and they only show a light "peening" as do all well shot revos. The stainless guns are harder by nature of the extra nickel (5%) added to the original steel. This helps it to be harder as well as keep it from rusting. BTW, you cannot hardchrome stainless steel, however, this peening is "work hardening" the cylinder already. You sould contact S&W with some good digital pix of this cylinder and request an RA so they can see this and possibly replace your cylinder if it is proven to be of an inferior hardness. Anytime that I have worked with S&W they have been most gracious and work to resolve any troubles. 100% customer satisfaction with me since I started shooting revos in 1975

Art, I have 60K+ on my 627s and they only show a light "peening" as do all well shot revos. The stainless guns are harder by nature of the extra nickel (5%) added to the original steel. This helps it to be harder as well as keep it from rusting. BTW, you cannot hardchrome stainless steel, however, this peening is "work hardening" the cylinder already. You sould contact S&W with some good digital pix of this cylinder and request an RA so they can see this and possibly replace your cylinder if it is proven to be of an inferior hardness. Anytime that I have worked with S&W they have been most gracious and work to resolve any troubles. 100% customer satisfaction with me since I started shooting revos in 1975

Art, I have 60K+ on my 627s and they only show a light "peening" as do all well shot revos. The stainless guns are harder by nature of the extra nickel (5%) added to the original steel. This helps it to be harder as well as keep it from rusting. BTW, you cannot hardchrome stainless steel, however, this peening is "work hardening" the cylinder already. You sould contact S&W with some good digital pix of this cylinder and request an RA so they can see this and possibly replace your cylinder if it is proven to be of an inferior hardness. Anytime that I have worked with S&W they have been most gracious and work to resolve any troubles. 100% customer satisfaction with me since I started shooting revos in 1975

This is a great scenario and I too have shot this stage. I think with my 3 second reload and this stage being about 3 seconds in HF for a miss it breaks even. ' My thinking was to shoot the steel first as fast as I could and if I fhit it on the first shot just hose the other 5 shots and take the miss. However, if I missed the steel with the first shot and had to shoot 2 at it then the reload was planned.] Either way it is a "gay" stage for anyone shooting a revolver anyway. WWJD (What Would Jerry Do?) He would shoot it with a reload, all A's, and still kick everyones ass!

When I first started to develop my loads for my .38/.357 guns I had many of the same questions and had the "experts" tell me I was barking up the wrong tree. Have you ever tried factory .38 Super in a .38 or .357 revolver? They shoot just fine....I have always thought outside of "their box". When I spoke to the Production Mgr at Starline Brass, he told me that ALL .38 Short, Long, S&W, Special and .357 is exactly the same specs, drawn and formed on the same machines with the only difference being the headstamp and the length of case. From here I started looking at faster ways to reload with the shortest brass possible. The .45 acp was very short and loads faster that the .45 Long Colt so I bought my first 1000 cases of .38 Colt Short from Starline and was on my quest to making major (kinda like 9MM major) but the cases swell so bad that you cannot easlily eject them. That directed me to loading for minor and I was off to the races. I did look at 9MM specs to start my load development but was told that the 3/4" of "freebore" to the forcing cone would cause too much wear and accuracy could not be achieved with the promise of bullets tumbling. FALSE, as I have 50K+ through my first 627 and also my old rugged Taurus 608 where I had first started. It is the "end" of a barrel that achieves accuracy, not the beginning or middle. When you "re-crown" an old shot out barrel the .0005 that is taken down leaves you the same results as a new barrel as far as accuracy. The "Myth" of .355, .356, .357, and .358 bullets and having gasses by-pass the bullet leading to poor accuracy is also FALSE. Have you ever seen bullets tumble from revos and autos? This is usually NOT the gun but cheap and poorly shaped bullets whose back edge is not squared perfectly and or the bullet is loaded way too hot. The accuracy achieved by PPC with a 148 gr WC is at 600-700 fps, nowhere close to the 1100 fps that I shoot my .38 Colt Shorts. BTW< I have NEVER trimmed any pistol brass in my life, this is a waste of time. My .38 Colt Short brass has 17+ reloads and I have very few cases starting to split. I DO NOT bell the cases at the powder drop station as the few .000" allow a .355 bullet to load in snuggly already. This information is not found in books and most people are afraid to "experiment" with their guns. I have never had any problems nor have I blown up any guns and I started shooting PPC in 1975 and IPSC in 1988. One must take caution whenever you develop any handloads for any gun and starting off with "known" information is better than winging it. The following .38 Colt Short load data has worked for me in all 6 of my .357 Revos for more that a decade. .38 Colt Short Starline Brass, Montana Gold .355 (9MM) 130 gr RN bullet, 4.2 gr Universal Clays, 100 Federal Primer, at 1.100" OAL with a tight crimp .0002-.0004 This is an accurate IPSC load and is 1135 fps from a S&W 627 5" bbl

Since 1996 I have used .38 Colt Shorts with Starline Brass and Montana Gold 130 gr 9MM RN bullets. The .38 Special dies work fine all around on my 650 with only a 9MM crimp die on the last station with a .002 crimp on the bullet. (tapered crimps will not hold!) I use 4.2 gr Hodgdon Universal Clays at 1.100" OAL and of course only Federal 100 primers. This load is accurate, clean burning, and @ 1130 fps. I have 20+ reloads on my brass with only an ocassional case mouth starting to split. Do NOT bell the cases as these are .355 bullets, not .357/358

Do a Google search on Powers Custom

An oder M-25 will be just as accurate as a Mod 10, 14, or 65 in Bullseye if you reduce the load to an acceptable PPC 700 fps like the M-14. The 6" sight radius will help alot, especially if you fit on a good Bullseye / PPC sight like a Bomar Aristocrat. Accuracy comes from lots of practice, a good trigger job, a very clear sight picture, and the correct load. A Ti cylinder, and crane yoke detent will do nothing for this and cost you alot of money. Now this gun is set up for Bullseye and PPC, NOT IPSC / ICORE / or Steel. After shooting this gun in Bullseye, your 4" gun will start grouping better as any good Bullseye/PPC revo shooter should be able to hit 'A' zone shot at 50 yds offhand with no problem. Leave the 6" for your accuracy sports and the 4" for IPSC/IDPA. Practice is what we all need to improve but practicing with a decent gun, very good ammo, and good drills makes anyone improve.

The Bomar Aritocrat is the King of sights for PPC because you are shooting at both 25 & 50 yds. This adds 6+ oz to your gun and must be put on by a competent gunsmith (@$250). The large blade Millet sight and SDM fiber optic sight adds no weight, can be seen much quicker, and will cost >$100 and you can install these. I cut my rear blade to a squared .250" yes, 1/4" as ICORE, Steel, and IPSC are about speed not making a nice small group :-)

I would assume that 9MM in Major would act similar to the 38 Colt Short and swell so badly that the cases become harder to eject. I had these same issues when I was shooting Major in 38 Special in 1996 as these longer cases allowed more powder but were hard to eject just like the .357 cases loaded hot. I would assume 9MM in major is going to be hard to eject......I hope that Lawman keeps us all informed! As far a 'bullet jump' from 38 Colt Short in a .357 cylinder, this is about 3/4" jump, I have never had any accuracy troubles as the forcing cone (funnel :-) is designed to help 'steer' the bullet into the barrel. A bullets accuracy is not dependent on the beginning of the barrel but is the last .005" where you may need to recrown it if you are having accuracy troubles. My 627 has over 60K down the pipe in .38 Colt Shorts and is still accurate at my 50 yd PPC loads and targets.

9MM Crimp die

For falling type rifle targets that can be reset at long distances with 550 cord (can be draped over any terrain) R&R Targets have been working on a self leveling base to hold up the steel and let it fall. This is a mechanical reseting mechanism and fail proof as Kurt had suggested earlier. For info go to www.randrracingonline.com The resetting targets are great for practice and at certain places in a match but when you have multiple targets downrange even with good RO / shooter communication on the order of engaging when Murphy's Law happens even the best/fairest RO can make mistakes both in your favor and against your favor. The Ephrata 3 Gun match in the spring of 2008 is suppose to have some of these targets set up and on display. This is Carl Carbon / Pat Kelley's great one day, no prize table, 3 Gun match in mid Washington that always sells out months before the match!

I am unsure what part of Oregon that you shoot at but I would start attending some 3 Gun Matches to see how they set stages and run their matches before striking out on your own. Everyone makes mistake in the beginning but these are learned over time and not repeated. Once you have a decent match, like what was said above, "they will come". Very few 1st time 3 Gun matches are set up or run very well because of my above premise.....mistakes. It just happens this way without assaulting blame on any one person nor group of well meaning shooters. Match experience is the best tutor you can find. The Albany Rifle and Pistol Club has monthly 3 Gun matches that Robert Wright of R&R Targets runs, You may learn alot from offering to help him set up his matches and help him mentor you until you gain the confidence that you can pull it off. This will also get you elbow to elbow with the competitors on a first name basis, afterall they too will be your customers too.

The 38 Super is a novel idea for IPSC shooters who need a 165+ PF. USPSA will only allow a .40+ cal to make major except for the .357, this excludes the revo in .38 Super. Since ICORE is a 125+ PF the 627 .357 makes alot more sense with the .38 Colt Shorts that was previuosly mentioned. I had originally developed the .38 Colt Shorts for my revo in 1997. The Colt Shorts make this PF floor with no trouble, shoot accurately, and load quicker that the .38 Super or .38 Special, since they are shorter (1.100"OAL) The .38 Super is a much harder gun to resell as very few revo shooters have jumped into IPSC with this gun as the 625 dominates the field easily making major, very little muzzle rise, is very accurate, quick to load, and is a very popular caliber. The 38 Super in a revo is a bastard caliber and I am not saying that because I do not like Super. My boys and I own several hi-cap .38 Supers and one of my boys made it to GM by his 18th BD. BTW, I have shot many of the 627s in .38 Super, both when they first came out and just last summer with my 130 gr Montana Gold .38 Super at 1350 fps. Every gun that I have shot my Match Super ammo in grouped as good as any .357, .358 bullet I shot and these were .356 bullets. 99% of all pistol accuracy rides with the shooter and good ammo, seldom is the inaccuracy caused by the barrel or gun...usually it is the shooter yanking the trigger!

First of all, since you are using this for IPSC neither of the guns you listed are "IPSC revos" like a S&W 625 vs 25 that easily make major and are factory full moon clips. Secondly, stainless steel at the same cost as carbon will not likely take place as stainless costs alot more and is more difficult to machine. Stainless steel in 20 years of no use will still be stainless steel and not rust. Carbon steel, even with good blueing will deteriorate over time. Thirdly, accuracy is more dependent on your relaoding skills than the modern machining of the internal barrel grooves. I have never heard where stainless steel was inferior as rifles would be the true test at several hundred yards. IPSC pistol is measure in feet and most targets being @ 50 feet and IPSC shooting is fast, barrel accuracy is your least problem. Even if the barrel only is capable of shooting a 6" group at 50 feet, you have lots of A Zone to hit. BTW, most revos are more accurate than any bottomfeeders and will usually shoot under 1" at 50 feet. The analogy above was exaggerated to show that even a crappy revo will hunt in IPSC competition!

The 002 Cup Challenge was my first holster and worked great on all my IPSC/PPC/ICORE revos (Taurus 608, S&W 14,27, 64, 66,686,627,& 629s) I since have switched to a better holster in retention for my 5" 625 and 627 with BladeTec. They also make some awesome Tek-Lok full moon clip holders that you put just 2 rounds in and they are very fast to reload from. I have 5 of these and it holds 40 rounds for my 627 and 30 for my 625 (these are 2 different styles) I still have my Safariland 002 but it is modified for a longer 7" Shilen bbl revo with a built in comp that I only shoot steel with.

If anyone wants to shoot this match, I would suggest getting the "lottery" in right away and start making plans to travel as this is one match that has no difficulty filling up. 90% of the shooters live within a 4 hour drive of the match and have one of the best facilities for 3 Gun anywhere in the USA. "3 Guns are 3 times the Fun"

For IPSC the 625 is the right revo because it easily makes major. If you wish to shoot ICORE or the Steel Challenge the 627 rules with the 125 pf. IDPA is not favorable for either but if the 625 has a 4" bbl it qualifies and can be used for both IPSC & IDPA.

Hey LeRoy, Please put down the contact info or website for these DS-10 revo speedloaders. I have never seen one before. Revo shooting is easy, reloading is what takes the time and these sound like a great help. Bill Sahlberg thesahlberg7@webtv.net