Bill Sahlberg

I have shot 38 Colt Shorts since 1997 in my 8 shot .357s (Taurus and S&W) There is a 3/4" freebore jump before engaging the forcing cone (funnel) but does not affect your accuracy as earlier stated. I won the standards COF at the Area 1 in 2008 shooting this round in minor.... I have also shot 50 yd PPC with my 5" bbl gun with 592/600. Look through the BE archives and you will find lots of loading info and others experiences with the 38 Colt Short.

Drilling holes or EDMing holes in the barrel of a revolver only makes gas vent off and lowers the speed of the bullet. The same thing can be accomplished by removing some powder and reducing the speed of the bullet. A true "compensator" has a flat surface that actually stops the gas and forces it upward reducing the muzzle flip. The "jet action" of venting via holes or a larger venturi is minimal in comparison. Below is a 627 with a 6-1/2" Shilen barrel and a true integrated compensator. It works best with hotter loads but I only shoot 130 PF loads and find that it is faster on target without the excessive muzzle blast that a 1300 fps 130 gr RN 38 Super or a .357 round will produce. The bottom gun is just the 5" slab bbl on my other 627 and with my minor load I cannot tell any difference except that the dot gets my 57 year old eyes on further targets better and faster :-)

You might want to try out Paintball. You can use all types of defensive tactics and last awhile, however, you will get shot and eliminated. Nobody in his right mind wants to practise with real ammo..... Father of an Army SSG Ranger

I have not had to deepen the knotches, only widen them. I hold point of aim, not the 6 O'clock hold......

My 625s and 627s with iron sights, both S&W & Millet have all been opened up with a file to .250 (yes, 1/4") and it has improved my speed a great deal without compromising my accuracy.

Do not spend money on making your gun better, either buy or load more ammo, and go practice more :-) Adjust your sights to "pumpkin on a post" where you can put the front sight on the bottom of the plate and you can see the entire plate with that sight picture. Be sure to shoot the plates both right to left and not just left to right. After you master the plate rack, then get some trigger work done and you will surprize yourself how this helps in all your steel shooting. The Texas Star is actually very easy...start at the top and go to one side or the other and keep your sights in the same spot and WAIT for the next plate to reach your sight picture. Get use to never pulling the trigger if you know the plate is not going to fall, this is just a waste of time and ammo. A discipline that truly belongs to a Master...Simple huh?

Woohoo! Count me in....

I have used both and use 38 Colt Short in both guns in MINOR. 4.6gr Universal Clays, Fed 100 primer, Montana Gold 130 Gr RN .356, at 1.100" OAL, Starline 38 Colt Short brass and a tight crimp (.0002-.0003) The Brownell's 38 Super Full Moon Clips allow both 38 SUPER in MAJOR to be used in both guns too when using an EGW 38 Super undersized die(and yes I realize that the 38 Super has a slightly tapered case, just telling you what works)

Send me your address and I will send you a full moon clip for 38 Colt Short, these should fit the 38 Super without making any changes to your cylinder. The Brownell's 38 Super full moon clips will fit my 627 .357 and make major but I still shoot 38 Colt Short in minor and have 100K+ on my gun without any bad signs of wear.

I go to matches to shoot, yep, shoot targets with whatever gun I can use. I love Combat Shotgunning because you are using a great "power tool" and you can shoot much faster than you can trying to throw one small piece of lead downrange that scores 1-5 points or knocks a piece of steel over. Shotgunning in every sense of the word is fast, furious, and fun. A target is just what we call something that we shoot at. What is a good clay target? Who cares, it is just something to shoot at! On shotgun stages do I care if it is steel, flying clay, stationary clay, or flip up clay? No, a target is a target to shoot at! Every match that I have been to there are variations on non-stationary clays due to the wind. How much advantage or disadvantage do I have with a stage flipping up a clay at 50" or 70" or faster / slower because of the wind? Dunno and don't care, it is a target worthy of my shooting at so that I can score without a penalty! Taller and shorter people also have these same issues of advantages or disadvantages with some stages. So What? Either you came to shoot or came to complain. I go to shoot! If I have a bad day of shooting, it still beats a good day of complaining. If you really do not like the stage, for any reason, just take a zero and don't shoot it :-)

Darn hard to shoot out a PPC bbl, however, you may want to have a gunsmith "recrown" the bbl. The forcing cone and throat can be very used but it is the last .005" that steers the bullet in flight when it leaves the bbl. I have had great luck (since 1975) with 3.2 gr Bullseye under a 148gr HBWC. Unsure of speed but have shot a 596/600 several times "back in the day".

USPSA had no limits on Shotgun capacity in the 1991 3 Gun Nationals and 2" SG shells were also legal to use. What happened was they started copying SOF rules and wanted to keep the magazine tubes (B4 box mags) just 1" past the barrel. That year shotguns barrels (34-38")started getting longer to get approved capacity by another dumb rule. Same had happened with AR15 comps, the 1" x 3" is an old SOF rule which was only intended for the AR15s. Now that same rule applies to 308s by USPSA.

1. Long stages that are designed for the 19 year old high school track stars. 2. Not having the scores ready in a timely basis. 3. Targets that you can't see, make the timer your enemy, not hunting around for targets to shoot. 4. AMEN Jesse! Slugs targets over 50 yards. (isn't this what a rifle is for?) 5. Having a 100 rnd Beta-Mag OK with iron sights but limiting how many rnds can be loaded in an Open shotgun :-)

Earlier post: The FNH USA 3 Gun Championship scheduled for 10 - 12 November 2011 in Glengary, West Virginia

You can actually shoot this in every division with all 7 rounds EXCEPT revolver division.

John, I have shot both through my 627s, since 1998......I reload Montana Gold .356 130 gr RN in both my 38 Super AND my 357. Brownells sells a 38 Super full moon clip that will allow the 38 Super to tun in both guns....the factory S&W will not as the diameter of the FMC is too big. I have shot .355 (9MM) bullets also in both without any accuracy issues but settled on the .356 just so I can use one bullet in my 627s and in my 38 Super for 3 Gun.

K Frames grips cannot fit an N-Framed 627PC, are you sure this is a 627PC? What are the numbers by the yoke and under the bottom of the grip?

Do not cut them down, just use shorter ammo as it will load in faster and eject faster! I use 38 Colt Shorts and have mastered the reloads as they drop right in! Starline Brass, 130 gr .356 Montana Gold RN, Federal 100 primer, 4.6 gr of Universal Clays, at 1.100" OAL with a tight crimp is 1100fps in a 5" bbl and very accurate. I can shoot 15 stages and not have to clean or brush my cylinder even once!

No Freebore issues with shorter ammo in my 627 since 1997 and I have 100K+ through the gun. My load is 4.6gr of Univ Clays, 130 gr Montana Gold RN, Fed 100 primers, Starline 38 Colt Short at 1.100" OAL. I have 100K+ shot through this gun and am still using the 1st 1K of Starline Brass that I bought in 1997. These load in fast, eject fast, and I can shoot a 15 stage match and never once have to wipe or clean down my cylinder. Yes, this shoots minor @ 1100 fps in my 5" bbl. and I won the Standards 50 yd stage at the 2007 Area 1 with this load :-)