festus1

I shot it yesterday PM. Very challenging. MichiganShootist, you might want to try a Ti cyl. After several thousand rounds I have not seen any problems with the cyl stop. Oh, and I did not make major - bummer. I thought I was over but I guess not. I shot the IPSC match on Th and Fri also. That was also very challenging.

I tried American Eagle 230 gr ammo which has the Fed. 150 primers in my Randy Lee 625 and it went off about 50 % of the time the first hit. I've never had a failure to fire my loaded ammo in many many hundred rounds. So, try a box and see. I can tell you that 230 gr round nose lead takes care of pesky ground hogs quite well.

What is the asking price? There aren't many of those up for grabs.

Uh, I probably shouldn't tell you that it was new in the box. Don't worry though, I'll get the Ti cyl coated w/ black T to match.

I'll let you know how Randy Lee does with that. He has gotten all A's so far, so we'll see how my 25-5 eight inch comes out. I had an extra Ti cyl so what else to do?

A very good friend of mine sometimes uses his 27 no dash 3 1/2 inch for IDPA matches and does just fine. He is a little faster on the reloads with his 686, but the 27 more than makes up for that with panache. It is probably the most expensive gun at the match. I doubt very much that the difference between the sl variant loaders and HK's would matter very much at all in the scheme of things in a match.

I am going to give this a try next month and I'm going to use my son's Legacy Puma 454 model 92. I trust you don't have to load on the clock?? If you do, then I'd be faster with the other rifle we own - a 308 encore.

I would like 4 of the model 277 (for 629 and 625 auto rim) and I will check with several of the other rovo shooters here and probably come up with some more orders. Chris

I believe that there is a dash .25 which is several iterations before our 625 dash 6's. It is pre lock, pre MIM, and has the Cylinder and Slide extreme duty fixed rear sight.

I got the OK for them from headquarters after the new rule book came out and I was forced to get rid of the Ruger 9MM (illegal as of the new rules). You could give them a call to be sure it still is ok - 870-545-3886. I think the body is covered enough and they are retained enough (for government work anyway).

The Safariland 333 is fine and legal for IDPA as long as you cut off just one of the holders and put it behind your holster. The other 2 (as one unit) can go just in front of your holster. Pust some super glue on the ends of the threads to seal them after you cut off one of the holders. Chris

I ordered 3 moon clip holders for my 625 about a year ago. After several emails over that time period I finally reached the owner by phone and he put 6 in the mail that day for no charge. I got them 3 days later. Very good equipment but again, hard to get.

My experience has been that the Ti cyl I put in my 625 allows for less torque and movement of the gun (off aim point) when shooting fast. My gun had an unfluted cyl so the diff was probably a little more than w/ a fluted cyl. The Ti cyl is easier to get moving. I had the cyl coated w/ the Birdsong coating and have not had any probs w/ sticking cases and the cleanup is very easy. Cost was less than $20. (for the coating). I think opening and shutting the lighter cyl is going to put less stress on things in the long run too. I have purchased several Ti cyls from S&W and when I called I just told them I was having a gun smith install them and they said ok. As an aside, I had one put in my 3" L-comp and now it weighs 32 oz. compared to 33 oz for a 3" 66 - plus there is an extra shot. When my sons spend over $100 for soccer shoes that maybe last one season, things like Ti cyls and Hearthco moons don't seem so extravagant. And when I think of the $$$ to get into tractor pulling - especially modified- well, I think I'll order some more Hearthco moons.

I should add that Mr. Birdsong said to avoid using any steel or brass brush on the Birdsong coating also. He said if you need to use a brush use nylon. So far, just an oily rag and patches have worked fine on the finish.

Chris, did Birdsong coat the inside of the chambers? (That would surprise me.) Yes, the inside of the chambers were coated too. That was what really sold me on getting it done. My original intent was to make cleaning easier but it turns out coating the insides of the chambers was a more valuable thing. When they coat an entire gun the only thing that does not get coated is the bore.

I have a Ti cyl in my 625 and have not had any problems of sticking cases. I have always soaked the cyl in hot water before cleaning and that was getting old. So, I had the Birdsong coating put on the cyl and cleaning is very simple now. As to your heat theory, the only thing I can add is that last week just before I packed up to go home I shot 8 moon clips as fast as I could and did not experience any sticking after 48 fast rounds. Not very scientific, but I think the coating has helped a good bit. Chris

I have taken a rat tail file to both a S&W and a Millet rear sights with success. It leaves a rounded bottom which I like. Both of those guns have a tritium dot with a white ring front sight and it sits perfectly in the half moon shape rear notch. I also have a C&S fixed rear that I had a gunsmith open up to .140 to add some light to the sides of the front. Most fronts are .125 wide and can be taken down to .100. With a fiber optic front I guess you would have to open up the rear.

+1 Amen. That works pretty well.

I'm sorry! I meant to carry- and maybe for some IDPA I bought a 325 to swap cyls with my 625 vcomp in order to get the Ti cyl that S&W would not sell my at the time. I only put about 18 rds thru it before changing the cyl and about 50 thru it after the change. It was very unpleasant with the Ti cyl and bearable with the steel cyl. For a carry gun you might want to think of a Ti cyl in a steel frame.

The address is: WE Birdsong & Associates 1435 Monterey Road Florence, MS 39073 601-939-7448 If I remember right the cost is about $160 for a whole revolver and every single part is coated except the inside of the barrel. I have one of the PC 681 Birdsong guns with the green frame and black cylinder and it feels very slick. Mr. Birdsong said that they primarily do work for the military.

Why did Birdsong take so long and charge so much to coat your hip? You know, I'm going to check the paper work because in the mornings it doesn't feel like they put a very good coating on the hip joint!

When I got home from the hospital the other day the Ti 625 cyl I sent to Birdsong for their black finish was waiting for me. It only took 2 weeks and $20. My new hip on the other hand, took 3 weeks and $56,000 give or take. So far I like the cyl better. I have not been out to shoot it yet but dummy rounds really slide in and out. I have not had any problems with sticking cases but for those who do I think this would be a good fix. They coated the chambers and star too. Cleaning should be a lot easier - they said just wipe out with a lightly oiled patch. No more wories about scratching the Ti finish. I will report back next week when I can go out and shoot it. http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f220/Festus1/IMG_2315.jpg

If you have the interchangable front sight base then you can order a blank front insert from S&W the height that you need to match your rear and have a tritium insert installed in it with a white ring. On my carry guns I take a round file and round out the bottom of the std smith rear blade and it works great. Tool Tech in Oxford, Michigan can do the tritium insert work for you. Their # is 248-628-1811. At the state IDPA match 2 mons ago they had a dark stage and I wish I had a tritium front insert with me. Chris

You gotta try this one Like shooting Plus Ps Well, I would not go that far to compare it to +Ps, but the magnaporting I had done on my 340 makes it so I can shoot 357s and not give up after 1 round. It does make a big difference. I checked it (ported 340) and a 3 inch non-ported 66 over a chrono a couple of weeks ago and found the following: UMC 38+P 125 gr. 340 = low: 818 high: 837 ave: 825 66 = low: 857 high: 928 ave: 898 Speer 38+P 135 gr Gold Dot 340 = low: 840 high: 859 ave: 851 66 = low: 915 high: 956 ave: 939 Speer 357 short barrel 135 gr. Gold Dot 340 = low: 867 high: 944 ave: 909 66 = low: 972 high: 1044 ave: 1028 Federal Prem. 357 Personal Defense Low Recoil 130 gr. Hydra Shock 340 = low: 1067 high: 1178 ave: 1109 66 = low: 1268 high: 1332 ave: 1294 The Federal 357 box lists the velocity as 1300 fps and the 3 inch barrel hits it and averages just under it. As for double tap speed, if you carry +P 38's in a 340 it is true you can double tap faster than with 357's, but you only have 2 1/2 double taps till empty. I'd rather have 5 full power 357's to divvy out if I ever needed to.

If the .250 sight doesn't work out you can order a taller rear blade from Smith. I can't remember the height, but they make a shorter and a taller blade than the stock one. Millet makes different height rear blades for their sights too.