festus1

I bought a Ruger speed six in 9MM a year before IDPA disallowed them and sent it off for some work to be done on it. Well, it came back just after IDPA's infamous new rule book took affect. ARGGGGGGG! It was cool gun, but because it did not weigh very much and could not make major I sold it. A 9MM N frame sounds like a great idea though. Chris

Very informative RPM8shot, thanks. Another thought- Brownells and TK Custom have "moon checker" cylinders for checking moons w/o having to use your gun's cylinder. Handy for matches. They come in all persuasions. Chris

I find that it is easier for me to shoot faster and with more precision with a lighter trigger pull. It is probably more apperent now with a good bit of arthritis in my hands than it was several years ago. As long as it goes bang every time I can't see a lighter trigger pull as being anything but positive. The action from Randy Lee is the smoothest I have felt also. You are right about smoothness being just as important as the weight. I have very little cartilage left in either of my knees so for me faster splits is not much of a consideration bacause my ground speed is that of a fast turtle. However, that makes shooting clean all the more important. Chris Speaking of running faster, maybe before getting my knee replecements I could ship the artificial joints off to Randy for his level 4 action job on them before the operations???

Randy, does your hammer setup fit a Rossi? and is it a 7 shot or 8 shot? I'll have to think about it..... Chris

I sent my 66 with a 2 1/2 inch barrel to Randy Lee and it should be back to me the first of next week. It is a carry gun and I had him do the full Chicago action job on it just like he did on my 625 - which is amazing. He said it has a lot heavier pull though at a little over 6 pounds if I recall. Chris

How is the accuracy with 9MM in a 38 Super gun?? I had a 686 in 38 super for a few weeks and it did not work well at all. In fact nothing did. After the 3rd trip back to S&W they offered me a new gun. They could not get it to group under 4 inches at 25 yds. I ended up with a the PC 1911 after kicking in some extra cash. Chris

One can always just buy a 325, switch the cylinders and re-sell the 325 with the stainless cylinder implanted. The 325 was more pleasant to shoot with the heavier cyl. than with the Ti. Chris

What about a larger lead in groove like USFA does on their "race groove competition" package for their Rodeo revolver? Would that help for a more positive engagement of the CS? Here is a link to a pic. Chris http://www.usfirearms.com/cat/rodeo-race-groove-comp.asp

One thing to keep in mind also is that the only brands of brass that I have found that work well with L frame 7 shot moon clips are remington (incl. umc) and federal. I don't know about starline. Winchester is a no go. I use needle nose pliers (leatherman) to load the clips and a screw driver type moon clip stripper tool from TK Custom to unload the clips. Brownells and tkcustom.com are good places to get tools and clips. Chris

I have a 686 7shot cut for moon clips. There is very little space between the cylinder holes the moons hold the cartridges very rigid. With a good chamfering of the charge holes it loads very quickly. Works fine w/out moons too. It is a little cheaper to shoot than a 45 whether reloading or not. Chris

Sorry, but I can't just put the SS cyl back in very well now - it is in the doner 325 somewhere with its new owner in Ohio. NOW S&W will sell the 45 Ti cyl by its lonesome. Oh well. I liked it so much I just received a 7 shot L frame Ti and an 8 shot 327 cyl. I'll report back when Randy gets done with them. Chris

I have about 500 rounds through the Ti cylinder in my 625 using starline brass at about 168 -170 PF with 230 gr berrys plated RN bullets. I have never noticed any sticking at all. I don't think I could shut the cylinder any faster if using the marginally shorter Gap brass. Chris

I found one like you want at a pawn shop in Florida. It came up on a google search last summer. I had looked for over a year. There was a 27-7 6.5 inch on guns am. a few weeks ago. There were only 100 of them made in 2000. There were 200 of the 627-2PC 6.5 inch guns made. Here is a pic of each. Good luck. If I come accross another one I'll let you know. Chris http://www.parkcitiestactical.com/album/00...0_made_1998.jpg http://www.parkcitiestactical.com/album/00..._100_4_inch.jpg

Here is mine from Randy. The lack of torque (from the cylinder) is very very noticeable. I am very happy with it. In fact I ordered a TI 357 cylinder from Smith for my 627. Chris

I just joined an IPSC club this fall and look forward to shooting there. My son and I have been shooting IDPA for the last 3 years. I just got this back from Randy at Apex - I hope it helps me. Very different than my old 686. Chris http://www.parkcitiestactical.com/album/00...03/IMG_1579.JPG This was the doner. http://www.parkcitiestactical.com/album/00...03/IMG_1524.JPG

I ended up (like several other of my revolvers) having a Weigand interchangable front sight base put on my V-comp. My Classic DX came with one back in "92 and I got spoiled. Then depending on the desired mood I can put any color fiber optic, gold bead, or I even ordered an XS sight systems trigicon small dot front insert. www.weigand.com is the web sight. Chris

There is a 627 v-comp on the S&W forum classified and a 27-7 on Guns America # 976658354. There were only 100 of the 27-7 's made with the 6 1/2 inch barrel. Chris (Let me know if referring to other boards is not OK.)

If the date works out it would be me plus 1 or 2 of our boys. I am in MI - my folks are S of the Quad Cities so should be a nice trip. Chris

Check the ICORE website later this winter - Berrien County Sportsman's Club (so they said at the last match) is planning a match in the Spring in addition to the Summer match. I am from SE MI and there are several places here for USPSA - I am not sure about SW MI. Chris

I will second all of the above. The 625 Vcomp he did for me is amazing. In addition to being one of the best, Randy Lee's turnaround times are quite fast. Just wait until after next week though (I will have sent him my 66 by then). Chris

Patrick- I had D&D Gunsmiths in Troy, Mi (248-583-1512) cut a 586 for moon clips and they did a great job on it. You probably will be limited to using only Remington and Federal brass and then only with a loading tool or needle nose plyers. TK Custom has clips. Chris

I tried cutting a 686 six shot for moonclips - it worked reasonably well with moon clips but not very well with speed loaders. There is a lot of play in L frame moon clips and the holes are farther apart than with the 625. The speed loaders worked only fair because of the cylinder surface being so uneven compared to a flat regular cylinder with chamfered holes. By far the fastest gun to reload (at least equal to the 625) is the 7 shot L frame cut for moon clips. There is NO play in the cartridges and you can literally throw them at the cyl and they go in. The only brass that will work though in the 7 shot moon clips is UMC Rem and Federal. That is it. And you (I) have to use needle nose plyers to snap them in place. I'm going to shoot a 686 with speed loaders in both SSR and ESR. For now. Chris

Does anyone know if .44 Russian will work in a 629? I'd like to use my 629 for ESR div. in IDPA and I'm wondering if that setup will work. It looks like it is a lot shorter than 44 mag or special. Thanks. Chris

I have a Para LDA 9mm that weighs 41.695 ozs. The grips and 4 screws weigh .765 oz, the FL guide rod is 1.595 oz. and the mag is 3.160 oz. I need to cut 2.695 oz. for SSP. Yes I know I could use it in ESP, but I have other guns for that that are better suited. As someone else said also, I am making this work come Hell or high water!!!!! I also have a Ruger speed six 9mm that I bought last Apr. and sent off to get it to work correctly and a few other things $$$ and I may not get it back before the new rules go into effect. As you probably know now when the new book goes into effect it is illegal for IDPA - period. When I called HQ they said that changing the mag is ok. Aluminum??? WHAT A STUPID RULE just to rule out the LDAs and stainless sigs that were mentioned BY NAME in the former evil rule book. What did HQ have against Para and Sig? As if 2.695 oz. would have helped me beat all the glocks all of the time! Well, there, I'm done venting. Chris