Carmoney

Hell, no, I'm done shooting revos at the Big Dawg. (Although I will admit that I've enjoyed kicking a whole bunch of bottomfeeder ass on the Sunday shoot-offs with the wheel.....) I'll be blazing with my hi-cap STIs. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!!

Make sure you remember to count to six!

.....and in that 3.11 seconds, he probably ripped off 15 rounds!!

I expect we will be shooting the same stages on Sat. and Sun., but the difference is that in order to meet ICORE rules, all ICORE stages must be 6-round-neutral. That is certainly not true in USPSA, and I'm certain we will not make any effort to devise 6-round-neutral stages for our July event (particularly in light of the fact that everybody will be shooting the same type of gun each day). To my way of thinking, the 6-round-neutral requirement in ICORE is stifling. I like having multiple ways of engaging the stage, and enjoy the challenge of figuring out the best (for me) of several different possible strategies--that's why USPSA Revolver remains my primary game. One thing you'll notice at ICORE matches--everybody shoots every field stage pretty much the same way. When you set out to make the stage 6-round-neutral, there's not a whole lot you can do to create multiple engagement options. The good news is that shooting a 6-round revo in ICORE really is a viable and competitive option. When I shot the '07 IRC with my 625, I never once wished I had an extra round in the gun. (However, I did wish that I had shot more A's and X's, and I did wish I hadn't fired an overtime shot on the par-time standards stage--but that's a whole different matter, isn't it?)

The Big Dawg was originally presented as a match in which a revolver or single-stack could compete heads-up, and I think the organizers believed that to be true, but it hasn't turned out that way. Every year after the Big Dawg I ask myself why I once again shot the thing with an 8-shooter, once again trying to fight a battle that absolutely cannot be won. It's my own damn fault for refusing to switch to one of my hi-caps after the first year. But I'll guarantee you if I shoot the match this year I won't make the same mistake again. I'll be hosing them down with a hi-cap along with the rest of you maniacs--which, I have to admit, does sound like fun!

It's all about the barrel length. If you are comfortable with a 4" tube, the 627 Pro will save you some bucks. If you prefer the 5" barrel, you're going to have to spring for the 627PC. Either one will need an action job. The PC guns do not have better factory actions--if anything, they are typically worse than the regular production guns.

I would rather shoot a 625 than most .38s because of the superior reload speed. A 627 with short cartridges (.38 Short Colt or .38 Super), high-quality Hearthco moonclips, and a good chamfer job can approach (but never quite equal) the reload speed of the .45 revolvers, and the difference is small enough that the extra 2 shots are probably worth the trade-off. When I shot the IRC a couple years ago I used my 625, and finished 5th out of 106 Limited shooters.

And with that, your honor, I rest my case.

Unfortunately, that has never proven true on those particular stages, Howard. Believe me, I've tried year after year. (And I'm not too bad of a steel shooter!) Actually taking the time to aim at the "steel" parts (instead of the "air" parts) of the letters and numbers turns out to be much, much slower than using raw firepower to literally strafe back and forth, blazing away like a maniacal M.F.er, until they're down. Obviously, this mode is only viable if you're shooting a hi-cap gun, and it's not unusual to see the big dawgs of the Big Dawg burn up a huge pile of ammo on those stages. That is what wins this match. You cannot survive this match with anything other than a hi-cap gun. And that's been a real downer for a lot of people who have tried to shoot damn thing with a revolver or single-stack steel gun. I should probably shut up before I start sounding ungrateful to the fine folks who designed and operate this match. But I know for a fact I speak for a lot of other shooters who find the whole hi-cap equipment race really discouraging.

How about this being the year you guys succumb to popular demand and get rid of those frickin' letters and numbers targets? They create way too much of a luck factor, and they tip the match strongly in favor of the hi-cap shooters who simply blaze back and forth and back and forth.... It's a fun match, but I have yet to talk to anybody who truly thinks the letters and numbers are a real test of shooting skill.

Yeah, I spent most of this past weekend dinking around on 617s, and I could never figure out a way to get the trigger pull all that much lighter. I tried the Carmonized hammer to no avail. Then I tried jmax's technique of beveling the firing pin, and in my gun it made no perceptible difference. I've pretty much decided that with a 617, about all you can do is clean up the action, reduce the spring tensions a little, and call it good. You can improve quite a bit over the stock action, but a rimfire revolver is never going to feel like a top-notch competition action job on a centerfire wheel.

When Sam was first starting out, I had him shooting a 4" skinny-barrel Model 10. I figured out a load that hit right to point of aim, and he had absolutely no problem shooting that thing, routinely cleaning Texas Stars, etc.

We're already more than two-thirds full. If you want to shoot this thing, get your entry form and check mailed in NOW.

Oops, yep, brain fade. Edited to correct.

Driving home tonight, I also noticed a glow in the sky to the west. Must the 61 candles on jmax's cake! Happy Birthday to you also, John!

I met my revolver-division idol Cliff Walsh at the Florida Open in 2005. Now he's my bitch.

Steve, it would totally depend on the cost of the cylinder assembly. Dealer price on a 617 from most sources is right at $600 now (everything gun-related has taken a price jump). If you can get a 10-shot cylinder relatively cheap, the conversion might be worthwhile. In my post above, I was just pointing out that you'll need to buy a 617 hand as well as the cylinder and extractor.

My wife's been keen on sass for as long as I've known her.

OK, that makes more sense. I always heard it pronounced "Ma's Douche" and, well y'know, just assumed.....

Wow. Hard to believe he's actually younger than me! Happy Birthday, Sam!

OK, I'm gonna go ahead and say what a bunch of us are probably thinking--a 7-year-old is awfully young to be handling and shooting handguns. I'm a big advocate of getting kids involved in the shooting sports, and have gone through the process myself as a parent/coach, but I really think 10 or 11 is about the minimum age I would be comfortable with for handguns. When you talk about handing a loaded handgun to a 7-year-old, that horrific incident involving an 8-year-old boy at the shooting club in Massachusetts keeps coming up in my mind. I'd suggest something more like a small single-shot .22 rifle and have him shoot targets off a bench rest with nobody else around, for at least a couple more years.

Keep in mind the hand is different (although the hand for the 6-shot gun can be modified to work, it's a tedious time-consuming SOB of a project).

Bill....buddy....here we go again. How old is your rule book??????

How long is the hair??? Maybe we can work a deal. Man, your obsession with pubescent boy hair is scaring me. Better hurry up, CJ, before you're too old to make a deal with Cliff yourself! That mop of yours should be good for at least a hi-cap frame.

Nope. Different unit.