357454

As I mentioned in an earlier post, sixinch enjoyed shooting revolver so much at the Memphis St Judes charity match that he talked me out of one of my 6 1/2" 625 hybrid. When we got back from Memphis my quest was on to replace the gun with something comparable which is quite a chore lately due to availability of barrels and the price of new guns. Looking thru the safe I found a very nice model 28 that hadn't been used much and honestly I had never fired as well as the 5" barrel I had removed from my first 6 1/2" conversion. Looking in gunparts I found a cylinder for a model 625 in 45acp and plans for a new gun qere quickly put into action. First step was to rebuild my 625 as a stock 5", the second part was to rebuild the model 28 as a 6 1/2" 45acp with stainless cylinder, green fibre optic front sight and Millett rear. Along the way I had to build a new frame stud as the one I ordered from Brownells allowed the cylinder to move too far to the rear when reloading, I also modified a set of Hogue "auction" grips to suit my preference. Last night I got a chance to shoot the gun and set the double action pull which came out at a smooth 6 3/4 lbs. Accuracy at 10 yards shooting off hand with less than ideal lighting produced 1" 12 round groups using 230 cast bullets and 3.8 grains of clays. Looks like I might have a keeper, now if I can only remember to look at the front sight while shooting a match my scores should improve. As soon as I can figure how to down load images I will attach a pic. Good shooting!

First, I am assuming you are using 38 special brass, second seat the bullets as deep as possible and put a firm crimp on them . If you are seeing powder residue on the fired cases you will want to try different powders. I have had success with @ 4.0 grains of Bullseye and E3 as well as 4.2 grains of red dot. I have used Berrys bullets for years and seat them past the ogive with a firm crimp with no extraction of loading problems at all. I have found the the Comp 3s do speed up my reloads. Also are you using the correct comp 3s, they make different loaders for the K and L frame guns.

Sixinch has downloaded Jerry and a few others shooting the Polish Plate Rack at the Memphis St. Judes Charity match, here is the address

Hey 357, Is this a better sight than on my 25-2? and if so order 2 if you do The sight is similar to the Weigand blade on your 625 however the fit is tighter and perhaps tougher, the only ones I have been able to find are their white Outline, I will probably paint mine matte black. I will check this PM and see how many they have left.

Thanks all for your replies. I finally read the instructions that came with the sight using your advice from I measured twice and drilled once, the fit is perfect. I am now trying to decide if I should purchase another set and fit them to my 625 with the new style mounting, hmmm.

I am in the process of converting my Model 28 to 45ACP and decided to order a set of Millett sights for it, well they came in the mail today and the front screw hole has not been drilled. The question is, should I send it back and hope they have a good one in stock or should I try to drill the sight hole? Does anyone know how hard the metal is on the Millett tang? I have a drill press with cross slide and am not worried about drilling it in the correct location.

Will, if you are looking a little more light around the front sight, you could just open up the rear sight notch. This would give you the option to change back if you wern't satisfied and the fincncial downside is less than $20.

I don't see any problem with the speed loaders, just an very good reason to purchase another revolver, either a second Colt or something that offers easier and speedier reloads.

I am thinking of setting the headspace to .007" and the barrel to cylinder gap at .004", I generally set the endshake at .001"; does this sound about right to you? Patrick I have your book on gunsmith and find it very informative and interesting, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for me!

After sixinch talked me out of my back up 6 1/2" 625 I have decided to build another, looking in the safe I have a very nice Model 28, a 5" 625 barrel from my main gun and I found a 625 cylinder at Gun parts. After a few minutes looking at the parts it appears I need to change the frame stud that limits cylinder travel when it is open. Aside from fitting the cylinder and barrel what else am I missing?

To Sam and Crew: Thanks for a great match. Sixinch and I are already thinking about next year, in fact he is the new owner of my backup 625, I promised him that I had used up all of the Mikes in the gun with my less than spectacular performance last week ! One of my concerns is that with his new interest in revolvers and winter coming on he may come up with something even more diabolical than his polish plate rack. Hope to see you all soon.

If you are shooting 45 with 230 grain bullets the 11 lb limit for airlines amounts to 200 rounds, Six inch and I should each have @ 100 rounds extra. Loads are 230 Berrys with 4.0 grains clays and fed primers for me and 230 Rainier with 4.1 grns clays, fed primers for six inch. Give me a call on my cell if you need some. Roger 801-550-8438. If I recall round count is @225

I think Boats has the right idea; is the strain screw screwed all the way in? Has it been shortened? Has the main spring been bent or ground on to lighten the action. You should answer all of these questions before doing anything else to the gun.

Jonas: One thing to test before you send it back is to load a few empty shells into the cylinder, then test as mentioned above. If it still fails to carry up (cylinder stop does not engage before hammer drops) then by all means contact Smith and Wesson. They will send you a shipping label for return. If the cylinder stop locks in with the empties in the cylinder go ahead and shoot it.

I have been using Bobs four post for the last few months, our local club does have stages where the round count exceeds 54, and that is if you don't miss or drop one . I will be shooting on Bob's squad at the upcoming St. Judes match and will buy a single post for those times when it is needed. Were I to do it again I would buy the five post, you never know when you might need a few extra rounds.

Count Sixinch, myself and the wives in for 4. 357454

I should have explained that my reason for using standard Hearthco clips in my 627 was partially I am a tight ******* and secondly I can use them for 38 short colt 38 special and 357 magnum brass in the same guns. I use my 627s for ICORE, our local speed shoots and bowling pins.

Chris: I have been loading the 158 grain Berrys plated in my SCs. For dies I would suggest using a 38 special resizing die and 9mm seater and crimping die, or you can buy the LEE 38 short colt die set. I have both for my Dillon 650 and prefer the 38 special and 9mm combination. I also use a 9mm powder die for a tighter bullet fit in the case. If you do not over flare the case for bullet seating you can get good life out of them. My first batch of Starline brass have all been reloaded at least five times with no signs of case cracking.

Chris, you are going to love the SCs, I have been using them for the past year with Starline Brass and standard hearthco 38 spcl moon clips. I prefer them to be slightly loose as they have a tendency to self center when I drop them in. If you find the cost of the Hearthcos too much I have used moonclips from a company in Ohio (Ranch Products) and found they work pretty good for less than a buck each. I try to use the less expensive moon clips when there is a good possibility they will be stepped on.

Mike: I just finished our state match where I fired over 300 rounds without cleaning or brushing, no problems with extraction or loading. I use a 230 grain plated bullet with 4.0 grns of clays. I did give the gun a thorough cleaning prior to the match and wrapped a piece of lead away cloth on a brush then used my hand held drill to polish the chambers . For what it's worth I also polish all of my match brass before I load it, if I am using cast bullets I polish and then hand clean each one before loading them in my moon clips.

Sounds like a great Idea, count us in for Four either way.

For those of you that have not had the opportunity to experience the polish plate rack there is a short video on You tube, use Polish plate rack for your search criteria. Farley Collins the evil wizard who designed the P.P.R. will be at the match shooting a revolver for his first time in a USPSA match. I have heard buy him a few Brewskis he will divulge the best way to "shoot the rack". We will be arriving Thursday afternoon and will be staying at the Holiday Express just a few blocks from the Match Hotel.

I use my 629 for our local pin shoots, I load a 240 grain to @ 800 fps, it does a great job clearing the table. A few years ago I had it cut for moon clips, now when I need to reload, six additional rounds are just a few seconds away.

Loading as long as possible will lower the pressure in your gun, I loaded some 158 RNL for my XD using 231 and was very pleased with the results although I had to resize them to 356 to get the gun to run reliably. My AOL was 1.200" I use the same OAL for 38SC loads in my 627. I have had good success with 3.2 to 3.8 grns of red dot using plated bullets as well. I found some old cast bullet data for the 9mm with 158 grain lead loads in an old Lyman manual I have, it lists a starting load as follows with an OAL of 1.169 3.0 grains for bullseye with a max of 3.5 869 to 961 FPS 3.0 grains Red Dot with a max of 3.6 858 to 963 fps 3.5 grains unique with a max of 4.5 883 to 1039 fps 3.6 grains Herco with a max of 4.6 840 to 1010 fps

Hello Hop: We may be getting closer to Farley shooting a wheel gun, at our local matches yesterday I let him fondle my 6 1/2" 625, his response was, If I had a gun like this I think I could shoot it, I then handed him its twin, my backup gun and asked him which one he wanted. Just my luck he picked my main gun because it has a green fiber optic front sight, I then handed him a holster and speed loaders. Keeping my fingers crossed!