pskys2

I have a 5" PC, it's not worth any extra. I bought it wanting the longer sight radius and a lighter balanced barrel. A buddy had a 4" JM, he had to have the cylinder holes polished it was so rough he couldn't eject anything. If you can find a standard 4", that would be the way to go.

I did that and put a thin wire tie around the bottom, so it clamps it down onto the belt. Of course you could get either a Speed-e-Rack from the Aysens or a North Mountain Carrier. Either work great, the speed e rack is a bit faster but less secure. The North Mountain is more versatile.

Nope, now there's only 4 spots left. Dave

You should run a Poll on it. I've tried but I seem to not have a dominant eye and an Astigmatism. So I shut one eye. Every time I've tried, once for a whole season, it was ugly. Would be ok for a part of a stage then totally miss targets because I see 2 of everything. If I slowed down enough to sort it out, I was way too slow. Speeding up kept aiming at the ghost. With 2 eyes open it did seem to help my Auto Reloads, but not enough to give up the points/speed on shooting. IF it works don't worry.

I use the Strong Hand Reload, handle the moonclips with my strong hand. I have fairly short fingers and the finger grooves have a tendnecy to catch wrong on my hands. Tried Miculek Grips with and without skateboard tape, but I just don't like the pounding they give the base of my thumb and don't like the gun twisting in my hand. Also tried the Hogues's with finger grooves and without. I'm now using the Hogue Rubber Grips with the finger grooves dremeled off and shaved down a bit on the sides and where the moonclip hits on ejection. With the Rubber grips smoothed down a bit it doesn't seem to be any worse than Wood grips, with skateboard tape. Common wisdom says if you switch hands during your reload you want a smooth slick grip, if you don't Rubber grips are good. FWIW I do switch hands and still use Rubber Grips.

Yeah, but you're not drinking scotch while you load ammo, Dave. Big difference. I gotta have the auto-indexing. You're quite lucky, I never acquired a taste for those "finer" things in life. But then I've also never been a high volume shooter, and I've been cutting back even more. If I shoot 200 rounds a week, outside of matches, it's a busy week. I used the Gator Bullets last year and liked them. They're just kind of a hassle to order. And they had a funky smell when fired, but they didn't lead and didn't smoke. Wait a minute, you better start doing some shooting if you're going to the World Shoot. You can't expect to keep up with Cliff in the elbow bending department, but you can whup up on him in the match.

Mike, don't scare the guy! fudd, use them up. The first thing to worry about is having fun and getting started. If you have a SDB it is a great machine, use it and don't fret. You put a pretty tight crimp on the Raniers didn't you? I've heard that's the usual problem with them, unless you try to push them over 1100f/s. I wondered if that wasn't what happened at the Nationals a few years back. But I was using GAP brass and a real heavy Roll Crimp, so I got what I deserved but didn't hurt anything. I actually don't like the auto indexing, I even take out the Auto Priming appartus on my 550, I like looking at every station/case keep hoping it will help my visual acuity! I know it's slower but I don't try to rush things and still get a pretty good output. The usual bottleneck is bullet seating and primer tube loading. Need to get one of those Primer Tube Filler Machines. Mike Have you tried Black Bullet Int'l Bullets? Thought about them just haven't yet.

Square Deal is just fine. Ranier 200 grain bullets are good for IPSC, ICORE & Steel, practice or matches. Load them light if you want for ICORE & Steel, say about 720f/s. Sometimes going too low will leave unburned powder granules in the chambers which can then get under the extractor and cause your action to get stiff. 4.0 grains of Clays gave me 740f/s in a 625. A Taper Crimp is fine, you may notice the bullets pull as you fire a cylinder full, this is normal don't sweat it. A Roll Crimp can also be used, finding a Roll Crimp Die for a .45ACP is a bit harder so my guess is you have a Taper from Dillon. Just remember not to get too aggressive with either crimp as the Plating on the Raniers can be punctured causing part of the plating to seperate when firing. If you use a Taper Crimp go between .465 to .469, with a Roll Crimp don't go below .462. Good Luck!

Good Luck Guys, it will definitely be an experience. Looks like that Carmoney guy is the rookie on the team too. The only question is can he take his Dremel with him? Maybe the issue of IPSC teams needs addressed in the upcoming elections? Could it be a way to increase participation in "other" Divisions?

You must have been preparing for, thinking of or just completed the classical USPSA Classifier 06-03 Can You Count. It's exactly as you shot it, well at least the five and five.

Make sure you seat the bullet with no crimping at one stage and crimp at another. You can get WC Seating Stem from Dillon also for their dies. I think it comes standard with .38/.357 Magnum Dies.

Actually I'd kind of like the idea of a .40 S&W Ruger GP100 or something similar, but then RN bullets are hard to find for a .40. Yep the .45 has so many logistical pluses it's hard to not want one. Kind of the chicken or the egg, not much need to make a Revo with little demand and no demand if there's no compelling interest. Until we have a big circuit or a populus movement towards a Revo (by the non shooting masses) there will be little new firearm entries and that leaves S&W with a lock and no reason to expand its activities in that area. Marketing always trumps desire. NOTE: It's the OPEN/LIMITED 10/REVOLVER Nationals this year.

Actually whenever you have a captive clientele it stifles competition. Why should S&W even worry about it when it's what every body already uses. I'd like to see a Ruger, Kimber or some other .45 Revolver in competition. Maybe a .40 caliber Ruger? If that would start who knows what could happen.

Mike, I agree with not wanting 6 round neutral nor dumbing down the Match. But, it looks as if the SS Nationals may be in the process of being changed. They are even going a Slot route for some of it this year. I didn't realize it lacked challenge in its present format. If Memphis could pull that one off, with USPSA sponsorship, it would be great. But I doubt if it will ever happen. The best that could be would to have it paired with something that doesn't pull away competitors. Yikes, isn't it the Open/Revo Nationals this year? That might be interesting.

After reading the latest Front Sight Magazine, it has an article articulating the issues facing Revolver Competitors, especially at the National Level. It should be required reading for anyone interested in National Level Revolver Competitions. Sam the dream has now found some new personalities to help along a better Revolver Nationals. I like the idea of a Single Stack/Revolver Nationals. That idea would lend itself to splitting up the Nationals Formats into 3-2 Division Contests. I doubt if it would take any more effort than the existing formats. But may meet with some resistance from the hardcore Single Stack competitors. One of the reasons Sam started pushing the Memphis Match was to show the true desire of Revolver Competitors for a National Event. So if you like the idea, let USPSA know and head to Memphis in November to support it. It's been a great match the last 2 years and drawn in between 68 and 75 competiors. The Wheels just keeps turning oh so slowly, but it's still turning.

Got mine on Monday! Wow, 2 Articles Dedicated to Revolver. Sam the dream has now found some new personalities to help along a seperate, or semi-seperate, Revolver Nationals. I like the idea of either a Back to Back, doubt if that will happen though, or maybe a Single Stack/Revolver Nationals. That idea would lend itself to splitting up the Nationals Formats into 3-2 Division Contests. I doubt if it would take any more effort than the existing formats. But may meet with some resistance from the hardcore Single Stack competitors. One of the reasons Sam started pushing the Memphis Match was to show the true desire of Revolver Competitors for a National Event. So if you like the ideas, let USPSA know and head to Memphis in November to support it.

Life Member, Revolver Competitor and a magAzine with !2! Revolver Stories. Yea haven't got one yet either. I'm sure with those credos and a last name with a "W" I'm one of the 1200 who didn't get mailed out. Oh Well hope they catch up before summer.

When you first pick up a Revolver how do you naturally, without thinking, open the cylinder and load it? That's what started me on which method I use. It just seems natural. Though learn to use both methods, they both have their merits and challenges. There are fantastic competitors using both methods and I think mindset and confidence reign over technique in gauging effectiveness in this area.

Yea, Mike I'm guilty of opening up my Revo's too much. Though Jerry has had it happen at least once. I'm sure that's what caused my problem on one of them. But after the 1st one I've been real careful to not put strain on the pins, and yet I still had 2 more break, on different guns. I've finally trying to control my desire to see the insides again! It's probably a crap shoot if you send them in a tuned gun, and it still has all of it's tuned parts in it. There are 2 kinds of fixes though. The best looking fix has a Flushed Stud being soldered in and requires refinishing, costs more with Blued guns but Stainless still need repolished. The quickest fix is what's called a Crowned Stud, they drill the hole out and install a stud that gets crimped in. It leaves a dimpled looking spot on the exterior of the frame. I actually think this is a stronger fix as I've never had one go bad. Oh and it usually takes quite a bit longer to have the Flushed Stud done vs the Crowned Stud. If you want to try to send in a frame only, make sure the side plate and all the screws are there. You might have better luck doing this if it is sent by a Gunsmith, business address and all. If the Studs not broken you might try a good Gunsmith and see if he can just Silver Solder it back in. Trouble is if it's been loose I'd wonder if it was also cracked, even a hairline will show up eventually. If you really want to go cheap try using a Bearing and Stud Loc-Tite. I think it was #695, it's Green and requires baking in an over to set. Used to use it to lock Compensators on 1911 Barrels. I've had a M28 and 625 done with Crowned Studs and a M29 with Flush Stud. All of them had broken, not loose studs. I seem to remember paying for all of them also. On the M29 you can still see a very small ring of solder but it looks neater than the Crowned. On the 625 the Crowned Stud looks good to me.

Buying a "?Pound?" container of Clays, which is also only 14 oz. isn't the way to go. Last time I bought an 8# Keg of Clays I spent $108 + $20 Hazmat for a cost of $128 total. 128/8=$16/lb. or 128/9.14(#of 14oz containers in Keg)=$14/14oz. At the time N320 was, from the same dealer, $90 for a 4#Keg x2=8lb.= $180+ $20 Hazmat=$200/8lbs. It also seems that N320 runs out more ofter than clays, plus in a pinch you can usually find Clays locally. Nobody in my immediate area carries N320. But lord if it works and you feel it helps, it's worth the cost.

Clays works good, is clean and cheap. N320 is expensive, but I've heard a lot of good things about it. WST is Reverse Temperature Sensitive, meaning it will lose velocity as the Ambient Temperatures increase. And it does it very consistently and with very large differences. I would get 880 f/s at 35 deg and struggle to get 820 f/s at 90 deg. All in .45 Autos. Do a search on it and you will probably run across quite a few who have also noticed this.

If they let you shoot IDPA with your 629 I'd use .44 Special cases with speedloaders, the length is a good fit. Might check though and make sure there is no weight restriction on it. If you cut it for moonclips you will have your best luck with .44 Russian cases. It's just the moonclips are more expensive for them than for a .45. I used a 4" M29 for the 1st 5 years I shot revolver in USPSA and never felt outgunned. I've since moved up to a 625 due to the cheaper moonclips and more selection of RN bullets. Try a "Search" on .44 Russian and you might glean a bit more info overall.

I'd keep sending it back until the Action is timed correctly and the chambers are acceptable. You're just out of luck on a competition action job from them. Once you get it back to a good solid stock firearm, send it to Carmoney or some other good smith in the know. It's hard enough getting S&W to do the basics, let alone finesse one.

If you use the Switch Hands method start nearest the holster and work CCW on the top row. If you use the Carmoney Technique, gun stays in the strong hand, I'd start on the Left Side and work CW on the top row. Reasoning being that, as with Autos, start at the end closest/facing your reloading hand and work from there. The grabbing 2 can only be solved by practice. Even then I still on occassion get a finger hooked on the lower one and it comes up to the top of and/or off the holder, that's why Bob gave us the 5 poster.

Classic case of "Limp Wristing" a Revovler.