johnmac

I find the the Jerry M stocks work well on my M67 (stainless version of M15) for the reloads with a Comp-3. I sanded the right side of the stocks down a bit for the sake of hand fit, but I think the speed loader would clear, even if the JM stocks were left as-is. John M

sdm fabrication I've used the SDM Fabricating sights, they seem to work well.

John, I have a 686-2 and seems to have fixed front sight..for you is possible under finish there's a pin ? No, the pin will be pretty obvious on a SS gun (686), but sometimes you have to look very close to see it on a polished blue gun.

BTW, sometimes old blued S&W revolvers that look like they have fixed sights, really have a pinned front sight. The polished finish and bluing will sometimes make it hard to see the pin.

I would not mess with having someone do the machine shop work it would take to mill out the fixed front sight on a M19, and add a replaceable sight system. I imagine it would be well over $100, plus shipping unless you could find someone to do it locally. You'd be better off selling it as-is and putting the money towards a gun you could put the FO sights in more easily. Note, there are plenty of used K-frames and L-frames out there with pinned front sights that will shoot as good as an SSR 686, for less $$ than a new SSR 686. I've found there are particularly good deals on used K-frames chambered in .38 SPL. John M

I put a heavy crimp on the Bayou 160 grainers (.358, round nose, no crimp groove) with the .38/.357 Lee FCD, and I've gotten excellent accuracy, and very consistent speeds across the chrono out of a S&W Model 67.

Here's a working "Minor" load for .38 Short Colt I chrono'd this morning that seems promising, YMMV: Brass: Starline .38 Short Colt Powder: 3.5 grains Unique Primer: Federal Small Pistol Bullet: Bayou Bullets 160 grain round nose (.358) OAL: 1.21" heavy taper crimp Shot from a 4" M627, this gave me an average velocity of 795 fps, an ES of 56 fps, and a SD of 22 fps, for a five shot string. Very clean, no unburnt powder I could find anywhere. No pressure signs, very easy extraction. I don't like the high ES and SD, but I think it may come with territory throwing relatively light loads of Unique, which does not seem to meter all that well. But seeing I have about 12 lbs of Unique on hand, I think I can live with it. This load is actually very close to a .38 S&W (aka Colt New Police) load I found in Lyman #47 (3.7 grains Unique over 158 grain LRN, OAL 1.15" supposedly produces 805 fps in a 4" S&W Model 33) The .38 S&W is very similar, dimensionally, to the .38 Short Colt, so data for .38 S&W seems a reasonable reference source for published loads, on the low end of pressure. John MacLean

I like to replace the factory rebound spring with a #14 Wolff spring, it keeps the trigger return nice and crisp. I've experienced (and had to correct) some table-top trigger jobs I've "discovered" in some of my used guns that involved someone trimming too many coils off the rebound spring..resulting in an uneven and "jerky" trigger pull and return. For the mainspring, I've gotten highly satisfactory results by putting a bit of arc, or "bend" into the factory spring. The result is a lower spring rate on the mainspring. Then again, I'm going more for smoothness and consistency than super-light trigger pull, and much of the smoothness comes from careful polishing/stoning of the hammer, trigger and other contact points. John MacLean

I'm very happy with the round nose 160gr Bayou Bullets over 3.3 gr Bullseye in 38 SPL cases. OAL ~1.455. Makes 122 PF (OK for IDPA; just a touch more powder would get you to USPSA minor). Very easy extraction. Not dirty at all, using the coated bullets. I apply a heavy crimp, and the load is very consistent and accurate from my K-frame. BTW, the heavy crimp also helps with dropping the reloads into the cylinder, if you have not chamfered the cylinder.

I run two North Mountain speed loader holders on my right side, in front of the holster. They come with tek-locks which make donning and and doffing simple. I reload strong hand. You really only need two speed loader holders. I ditched the third speed loader holder in favor of right side low vest pocket carry. I found the third speed loader holder behind the holster awkward; and that it tended to catch on chairs and such. Plus, with the speed loader in the low vest pocket, you simply grab the speed loader out of the same pocket you drop the shells into, on a reload with retention. John MacLean

ESR and SSR mostly. Shot CDP once at a club match and classifier, just so I could have some sense of how those bottom-feeder thingies worked. I think I'm the only guy that does not own a 9mm. Much easier to retrieve my brass shooting revolver, it's either moonclipped together for ESR, or in neat little piles for SSR.

S&W Model 19-3, .357 Magnum, DOB circa 1973. I found this cheap at a gun store in Louisville, and dropped in a bobbed hammer and SDM FO sight. This one runs very well, but more often that not, my wife commandeers this revolver for matches so I don't get to use it. S&W Model 64-5, NY-1 model, .38 S&W Special, NYPD issue with factory bobbed hammer, DOB circa 1990...the last standard issue NYPD revolver. Snagged this for $269 from J&G Sales a little while back. Slickest action I've been able to work out on any of my revolvers. Fixed sights detract somewhat, but not a great deal, from this revolver for IDPA purposes. S&W Model 67-1, .38 S&W Special, DOB circa 1984, came DAO, (no single action sear on hammer), with hammer spur from J&G sales within the last few months. Probably a prison or LE trade in . I promptly chopped off the "vestigial" hammer spur and slapped some red nail polish on the front sight. Have not run this one at a match yet, but I think it will work out well.

I had troubles with my 650 not indexing properly occasionally (primer plate would advance, and then get pulled backwards to where it started, by the indexing arm) until I filed and stoned the sharp edges, and rough bottom, of the indexing arm. Smoothing the index arm out seems to have eliminated the problem of the primer plate catching on the indexing arm as the indexing arm resets itself, as the 650 seems to now be operating with 100% reliability. The indexing arm appears to be a stamped piece of sheet metal. and mine was pretty rough before I smoothed it out. John

If my explanation above was unclear regarding rear sight blade height, please see the image below. This is a surplus Model 67 I fitted a .146 height rear sight blade today. I also opened up the notch with a file (I like the notch both wider and deeper). Contrast this with the stock rear sight blade I removed on the left, which measured ~.110 in height.

It's the height of the blade that differs with the replacement blades. The notch is somewhat deeper on the taller blades, but not necessarily as deep as it could be (all the way down to the sight base). The taller the blade, the greater potential for the depth of the notch when you go at it with a file. So get the tallest rear sight possible, not the shortest. I you prefer a "U" notch, I think you could create one by using a round file, or half round file, of the correct width, to deepen the notch to your liking.

If the bottom of your rear sight blade (the sight picture) is not already flush with the top of the rear sight assembly, take a file to it...make it deeper. Slap some cold blue on the area filed, if desired. There is the option of installing a new sight blade kit, like this: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/173968 If you go this route, get the whole rear sight blade kit for $11.49, not just the blade "only" for $7.49, as you will need to replace a part that will be sheared off when you remove the old blade that is included in the kit. The sight blades come in different heights, and more than one height will generally work, although you might be on the "top" or bottom of the elevation adjustment. The right rear blade height will be driven by the height of your FO front sight. The .101 and .126 blades kind of suck, too shallow for a nice sight picture. The .146 blades are nice, and the .160 blades are probably nicer still ,in terms of sight picture, if you gouge them out to for max depth, but I'd suspect a .160 would be too tall for your revolver. Although I suppose you could always take a file to the top of a replacement rear sight that is too tall, to take it down a bit.

Ordered a 650 Caliber Conversion (.38 SPL), 650 Quick Change Kit, and primer pickup tubes from Brian's store a week ago (2 July). Package from Dillon with all contents arrived today (9 July)

Today, as I was walking down the sidewalk in downtown Cincinnati, I noticed how nicely the parking meters were lined up, evenly spaced and all...I could not help counting them off in groups of 6, and contemplating where I'd make a reload....

I use a Dillon 650 for "bulk" loading of 45ACP, and a LCTP for everything else. Before I got into "volume" pistol shooting a year or so ago, I did all my loading on a LCTP. The ammo I get from my Dillon is no better than from the LCTP. Actually, I need to need more careful about QC with ammo coming off the Dillon than LCTP, because there's so little that can go wrong with a LCTP. That being said, unless you want to spend more time reloading than shooting, a progressive is the only way to go to support "volume" shooting. After getting a Dillon 650 ,I've come to appreciate more greatly the following in the LCTP: Very versatile, cheap and fast to change calibers. A caliber change costs like $50 tops, for a Lee 3 or 4 die set, and a turret to screw the dies into into. And changing from large to small primers takes about 2 seconds. Also, if I'm doing load development for 45ACP, which I load in bulk on my Dillon, I'll do it on the LCTP, because it it much easier to load a few rounds, adjust, load a few more, and experiment with than the progressive. With the double disk kit, you can even load some lighter rifle rounds without having to hand-measure.

I've used 2400 with success in "hot" 38 Special loads, and .357 Mag loads. H110 if you want some real screamers in .357 Mag. But these two powders don't work well at all for 125 PF. Unique works OK for lower-end .357 Mag loads. Bullseye works fine for 125 PF, but isn't the best powder for the pressures that will bring the comp into play Are you trying to make a particular power factor?

Nope, if you want to use two of the North Mountain Moon "double" moon clip holders, with more than one moon clip in either holder, the way to do it would be one "double" moon clip holder in front of the holster (charged with two moon clips), and one "double" behind the holster or behind the hip bone weak side (charged with only one moon clip after LAMR), because, per the current rule book: Two full speedloaders/moon clips may be worn directly in front of the holster and they must be positioned as close to the holster as possible. One additional may be worn behind the centerline on either the right or left side for a total of three speedloaders/full moon clips on the belt. proposed rule book says the same thing: Two speed loaders/moon clips may be worn directly in front of the holster. The speed loaders/moon clips worn in front of the holster must be within 1” of each other, and the speed loader/moon clip nearest the holster must be within 1” of the holster. The shooter may wear additional speed loaders/moon clips behind the hipbone on the weak side or behind the holster. I used to go with a double North Mountain in front of the holster (charged with two moon clips) and one behind the holster (charged with only one moon clip), then decided that just keeping the third moon clip in my strong side vest pocket was probably a better option for me. That moon clip holder behind the holster was getting in the way when getting out of a chair, rolling on my side, etc.

I went out in the back yard a little while ago and tried the "Bill Drill" at about 7 yards, on an IDPA target, with an M-1. Results: Shooting somewhat wildly, with one miss (-5) and a bunch of (-1)'s, my splits were between .30 and .32. Splits were .64 - .76 when I kept all six shots in the (-0) circle... Jerry was demonstrating something like .17 splits AND transitions on that 2-2-2 drill, seemingly with ease, keeping all shots pretty much on the center of the target...

I've never measured it; I adjust and "just right" is just enough so seating the bullet is not difficult (this may vary depending on the design of the bullet base). The less belling you have to use, the better, in my opinion...because the less you work the brass, and the more reloads you'll get before you start to see cracks at the top of your brass.

I'm psyched for the new single action division. I foresee the "gamer" gun will become the S&W Schofield, modified for moonclips. Would reload just about as fast as a 625!

"gun control compromise" legislation proposed in US Senate to restrict sales of firearems between law-abiding residents of the same state: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/gun-background-checks-deal-89856.html In my opinion, this sounds like compromising with a thief by only giving up your TV when he breaks in, not the rest of your possessions. I suggest forum members contact your US Senators to voice your opinion on this matter.