Carmoney

yeah, well, there's cold and then there's cold. (-3 F. here this morning, warmed up into the low teens....no grease on the guns in this neck of the woods....)

dj, trigger reset can indeed become sluggish if the rebound spring tension is reduced without a corresponding reduction in mainspring tension. They have to be "balanced" together. Properly balanced, the trigger rebound will stay nice and snappy even though it's lighter. Even Jerry has figured this out, for years he insisted on leaving the rebound spring stock, he now says he's "outgrown" that ! Cuz, I hear ya. For competition shooting and Federal primers, the Pickett spring recommended by AzShooter is probably the way to go for a drop-in replacement. I know DougC has been making his own F/O front sights recently on a mutual friend's mill. I believe he drills it for the F/O rod, then mills out an area on top so the F/O can gather sunlight.

There are a number of methods to reduce mainspring tension, but the worst of them is to simply loosen the strain screw. Even when loctited in place, loose strain screws can sometimes gradually back out under the vibration of firing the gun, then you get a click at an awkward moment. On my S&W revos, I usually use a combination of shortening the strain screw and re-bending the mainspring, to achieve the proper tension (which for a competition revolver is as light as possible and still get 100%--not 99%--ignition reliability). Even the aftermarket springs will often need additional adjustment to accomplish the goal--given that reality, I prefer not to spend hard-earned bucks on spring kits when I can get delicious results using the factory parts. The tension on the rebound spring should be reduced proportionally. Replacement with an aftermarket product is an option, but here again, the existing factory rebound spring can be easily cut to the right tension, so why bother? Mike

I shot a USPSA area match earlier in the year where 6 out of 10 stages had minimum rount counts that fell right into these groupings! A potential savings of 6 reloads across a 10-stage match would be well worth the minor scoring penalty. Then again the other area match I shot had only 2 out of 11 stages that fit the description. In that situation I would probably go with major. So I guess my prediction is that if single-stack becomes a bona fide division at bigger matches, there will be lots of noise from single-stack shooters clamoring for stage descriptions ahead of time, so they know which gun to bring!

As you can see, I'm "not so new" anymore..... <---------

"Why does Sam's dad keep chasing me around with one of those home paternity test kits?"

Very interesting question and some thoughtful responses so far....I'm looking forward to hearing more opinions on this topic from everyone! Looking at most of the dedicated single stack matches out there, it appears most of them have been set up to ensure that 10+1 would not create any untoward advantage over the .40/.45s that most people own and shoot. However, in the routine USPSA match, local or major, it appears that 10+1 would allow the shooter to eliminate one or two standing reloads, even for the reliable steel-shooter. That's enough of a time advantage to make things interesting, even with offset of minor scoring. I've thought about this quite a bit, and am intrigued enough with the idea that I traded off one of my nice hunting shotguns last weekend for a .38 Super single-stack. Shot a match with it the next day and really, really liked how it worked out. Talk about a comfortable, pleasant gun to shoot! I think for me it may be a pretty close call.....and perhaps somewhat match dependent....I've always shot a .45 in single stack matches, but I'm definitely going to keep my options open and keep experimenting with the minor option. (Speaking of revolver, I think USPSA should take this same concept into revolver division and allow 7- and 8-shot revolvers to compete, but scored minor only......again, I'll bet it would be a close call for most.) Mike

Here's what I'm hearing: Limited, Limited-10, Revolver PASA, Barry, IL Wed. Sept. 13, AM registration, shooting starts after lunch Sat. Sept. 16, finish shooting around noon, awards and prize table that evening Open, Production Tulsa, OK Wed. Oct. 11, AM registration, shooting starts after lunch Sat. Oct. 14, finish shooting around noon, awards and prize table that evening

Cliff is using a Blade-Tech kydex rig of some sort.....I use a CR Speed and like it a lot, although I'm not sure my draw is all that much faster than it was from my old Safariland 002. Before you attack your rig with the Dremel, get out your hairdryer first and use heat to re-shape the kydex. I've done this to adjust Blade-Tech stuff with excellent results. Draw speed is probably a little overrated in IPSC shooting--remember that you're never going to draw the gun more than once per stage--while you might be reloading a wheelgun 5 or 6 times! Plus most of the bigger matches will have several stages where you start with the gun out of the holster anyway. In steel shooting, the draw becomes much more important, simply because you have to draw the gun so many more times during the match! (By the way, I use a Kydex Uncle Mike's rig for my 1911 single-stacks also, what a great holster for $15!!)

I've messed with lots of different kinds of rimfire ammo in my 617 (and several predecessor K-frame .22s I've owned over the years). Among the reasonably-priced ammo on the market, I have consistently found CCI Mini-Mags to be the best in terms of ignition reliability. However, I must say I have never seen a S&W rimfire be reliable at anything close to 6 pounds DA. I'd love to know how to accomplish that, though!

Mike -- looks great, man! That set-up can take you anywhere you want to go in the Revo division. As that trigger job smooths itself in, and the DA muscles in your shooting arm get toned up, it will all just keep getting better and better! Whatta ya got for a holster and stuff?

In Cliff's defense, the subject line is "what's everyone's favorite goo?" So although it's perhaps a bit stomach-turning, it's really not a thread drift situation after all.

Sweeney, I had an 8-3/8" 25-5 barrel on my 25-2 for awhile (with set-back shoulder and shortened ejector rod, of course). I stole the idea from Herb B. I always figured it might be a little too muzzle-heavy for IPSC, but maybe not.....let me know if you want to borrow it and try it on one of your guns sometime.

Sam and I shot a whole lot of lead bullets through our .45 revolvers this year with no problems at all (other than a little smoke!) No functioning problems of any kind like you're having, Dave. I always shoot a moonclip or two full of jacketed stuff after a match to strip the lead out of the barrel, and I'm not afraid to use stainless brushes on the cylinder face, chambers, etc. to remove the lead and powder residue. I do use a pretty heavy crimp. My IPSC load is 230 RNL over 4.1 gr. of straight Clays. Either gun can easily shoot a 2-day match without any cleaning or brushing. I do not think your problem is typical, Dave. Something isn't quite right. OK, I thought of one other thing....my old Baumannize custom M-27 I bought from Brian E. all those years ago has one chamber that's misaligned just enough that some types of lead bullets will shave just enough to leave a silvery lead smear on the cylinder face in a nice circle around that chamber....after several hundred rounds it will build up enough it starts to contact the back of the barrel and make the action feel sticky. It doesn't happen real bad with the 230-gr. "Lincoln Log" pin bullets, which is all I've regularly shot in the gun, so I never worried about it. Probably not the same problem, Dave, but have you checked the front of the cylinder to see if you have the silver-colored build-up?

Wonder if the bullets could be moving forward under recoil enough to push against the chamber ledge and press the whole moonclip back against the frame??

Tom, thanks for firing up some conversation...things have been a little slow around here recently! My thoughts: 5" 625 Advantages: Easier maintenance stainless, slightly faster handling around doorways and ports, trigger doesn't need to be altered (if you like smooth/narrow like me), reasonably accurate with cast lead or jacketed/plated bullets, frame-mounted firing pin is an option if you want to Randy-ize the action. Disadvantages: Newer specimens have lock "zit" on the side (no big deal if you ask me), and they're sorta boring--same old thing almost all the other Revo guys are shooting. 6.5" 25-2 Advantages: Longer sight radius, cool retro style (perfect for a Harley man like you), trigger's already serrated (not my style, but some folks prefer that), target stocks can be taken off and sold to some little old lady collector on the S&W forum for about $50, which will pay for the Jerry grips or rubber Hogues. Disadvantages: Most are only accurate with jacketed bullets, wide target triggers and hammers need modification or replacement, longer barrel might be a little unwieldy sometimes around doorways and ports. Conclusion: Price is about the same. General feel and handling is about the same. Working on them and parts availability is about the same (at least in the U.S., at least for now). They both need action jobs and chamfering, and both take aftermarket F/O front sights and Millett rear sights. It's pretty much a wash, I'd say. Hell, they're basically the same gun. Sam and I spent the last half of the shooting season with a 25-2 and a 625 (respectively) both in CR Speed rigs set up for the different barrel lengths, and I'm quite convinced that we could've traded guns and holsters right in the middle of any of those matches and it wouldn't have effected either one of us in any meaningful way. Mike P.S. When looking at older 625s, make sure you avoid the "Model of 1988" 625-2 unless you can shoot the gun first and confirm that the chambers have been reamed and the floating hand replaced......

Saw a new recent-production 627 .357 at the gun show in Des Moines today for $799. Saw another one for $899.

Para products have continued to steadily improve over the years, and they are a major sponsor and supporter of our sport. My own Para P14-45 Limited has been an excellent pistol (and I tend to be fairly critical). I'm looking forward to seeing the new catalog! Mike

At Area 5 this year, Hopalong was cleaning his revolver with some sort of volatile fluid that Rodney May had in a Crown Royal bottle (the same bottle Cliff kept drinking from, in fact). The hilljacks were using some sort of strange-looking lube, too.....I guess I really don't want to know what that stuff was.....

The 627-4 is the .38 Super version. It has the thingie. The 627-5 is the 5-inch "standard" version in .38/.357. It has the thingie, too. Not sure if there is a 627-6......

Hold on now.....the .38 Super cartridge is not rimless, it's semi-rimmed. Loose rounds will not fall through the chambers. However, the 627-4 (the .38 Super 8-shot) will properly headspace the ammo only when moonclips are used. Loose rounds will sometimes fire, but not reliably.

Tom, I must take very strong exception to those words.........he is not blind.

So I take it from your post that you are going to show up and shoot revolver at Area 5 against all of us northern wheelgunners in August, right Hop?? Or are you just barking from your porch again??

For the record Sam, as I am now completing my first full year of shooting USPSA/IPSC, I will no longer be referring to myself as a "new guy."

Dang, Jeff, you don't know an underdog when you see one!