Need rec for new IDPA revo

[19852]

For the past few years I have gotten a kick out of shooting my revolver in IDPA competition. IDPA for all its fleas is still fun and currently the main gun game in town.

Always been a K frame Smith guy. Both my revos are fixed sight K frames, the very simple M10 and 13. Now I am looking to invest more in my revo battery since I enjoy it so. I have been looking at the Ruger GP series, used K's and used L frames. Willing to move away from the K frame for a little competitive advantage if need be. Although I can get a very high grip on my K's.

What needs to be done to a Ruger? If anything? I've heard both good and bad and I tend to run my K frames as is. I would like a FO front sight if possible.

I briefly had a new M67 that shot way left so I took it back to the shop for a full refund. So for that reason I am leery of the new Smiths.

Thanks,

19852

[lee blackman]

I was surprised to see the Ruger's Match Champion. I was looking for a S&W 686 SSR on gun broker, when I bumped into it. I had no idea they would jump into the game like that.

[Racinready300ex]

I wouldn't spend any money on a wheel gun for IDPA right now. With the announcement of dropping ESR, and the possibility of letting ESR guns into SSR I'd wait for the next version of the rule book to make any major purchases. You wouldn't be the first guy to loose good money because HQ changed the rules.

[GOF]

The standard GP-100 4.2 inch model is IDPA legal. It is available with a very good interchangeable front sight system. Hi-Viz makes a drop in FO front sight with quickly interchangeable FO rods. I love it. Bowen makes a great adjustable drop in rear sight (Rough Country) that I prefer over the Ruger factory rear sight (which can 'bounce' and change adjustment on you).

Wilson Combat and Wolfe both make a spring kit for it. I prefer the Wilson. With the 9 pound mainspring and 8 pound trigger return spring, and a little bit of polishing on the internals my GP-100s (a 4.2 for IDPA and a 6 inch for ICORE) I have a glass smooth have 8 pound DA pulls that will even light off CCI primers ... although I prefer Federal.

The GP-100 is more accurate with lead or plated bullets than the 686 I started IDPA with, although are equally accurate with jacketed bullets.

The GP-100 doesn't take much to be competition ready. I shot S&W guns when I started IDPA but I like the Ruger better. It's put a lot of trophies on the wall, including one from the 2011 IDPA Worlds. My current gun went over 30,000 rounds before it needed a tune up (timing) and Ruger turned the gun around in two weeks ... and it's like brand new -- and still winning SSR at club matches.

[GOF]

Mike's post came in while I was preparing mine... and his advice is excellent. We really don't know what IDPA HQ is going to do on revolvers... so waiting is smart. But, if they don't screw things up too badly, I'll keep shooting my standard GP-100 (not the new Match Champion).

[Fordfan485]

Assuming nothing drastic changes with the rules for SSR, get a S&W 686 SSR out of the box it is ready for IDPA.

[19852]

Thanks all. I will be waiting for any rules changes to settle out. But I will be doing research for when the time comes.

[Tom Freeman]

I have a 686 SSR and wish I would have just got a plain jane 4 inch 686.

[Fordfan485]

I have a 686 SSR and wish I would have just got a plain jane 4 inch 686.

I could be wrong but I think all of the current production plain jain 686's only come with a 7 shot cylinder which would give one quite a headache when doing reloads in IDPA since they limit you to 6 rnds in the gun.

[jhgtyre]

I have a 686 SSR and wish I would have just got a plain jane 4 inch 686.

I could be wrong but I think all of the current production plain jain 686's only come with a 7 shot cylinder which would give one quite a headache when doing reloads in IDPA since they limit you to 6 rnds in the gun.

The seven shooters are the 686+. The 6 shots are still in the catalog http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_764964_-1_757769_757767_757751_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

[afoulk]

I know both Smith and Ruger have their special "competition" models, but I'd take the plain jane full lug 686 or the Standard GP-100 and put the cash I saved into action work and new sights. Fact is that neither is "ready for competition" out of the box.

I think it's appropriate to be leery of new Smiths right now. I'd give everything a good once over in the shop before taking anything home.

Also, take Mike's advice and wait.

[Racinready300ex]

+1 on getting plain jane over the competition model.

I have the SSR and love it, but it was a waste of money.

[GOF]

On an upper competitive level, no factory gun - Ruger or S&W - is "ready to compete out-of-the-box".... unless you're a IDPA MM or USPSA/ICORE D Class shooter.

They all need some tweaking .... chamber polishing, action work, positive adjustable sights with a FO front, and maybe grips that actually fit your hand. In that respect, I happen to find the GP-100 easier to tune for "upper level" competition" than the current S&W guns (easy internal polishing and a simple spring kit)... and the Rugers are more accurate with lead bullets than the S&W guns built after about 2000. It seems that they did some rifling changes then, and they didn't favor lead or plated bullets.

My 2005 S&W 686 couldn't hold a four inch group with the same lead bullet handloads load that my GP-100 would do 2.5 inch with. Both shot jacketed slugs well.... but most competitive shooters in revolver opt for lead or plated bullets (cost factor) and the Ruger wins that fight.

Weight, balance, and speedloaders are the same for a 686 and a GP-100. I'll stick with the GP-100.

[BillR1]

I also preferred my 686-5 to the 686 SSR I had. When it came time to sell one of them, I kept the full-lug gun.

[MWP]

Big fan of the standard 686 here. The weight of the full lug on a 4" gun is nice.

And I'm going to have to argue that the Rugers don't tune up as well as the Smiths do.

Edited November 18, 2014 by MWP

[GOF]

Rugers tune up quite well. My GP-100 has SSR/EX trophies from the 2011 IDPA World, and over a half-dozen state championships and regional championships And, it always seems to work with nothing more than basic cleaning.

[Cherryriver]

I've detested Rugers since forever. Then a lady came to one of our Women's Intro to Handguns classes with a brand-new, still oily GP100. I was shocked at the trigger- I could have gone to an IDPA match with it right then and there and been happy.

I have been snobbily using a 586 for many years since retiring a battered old police Python (with which I did finish higher..?) but holy smokes. And, the Ruger's trigger reach is shorter for those of us with non-lengthy digits.
And Rugers can't be broken hardly at all. One of our old-timer gunstore associates (and former Highway Patrolman-carrying LEO) tells of how the Ruger rep would arrive at police ranges, take his Security Six out of the box, throw in down on the range floor, pick it up, check it, and holster. Then he'd turn to the agog watchers and say, "Okay, now do that with your Smith & Wessons." And the Ruger would always still work just fine.
Got to love durability.

We instruct at a range with a whole shelf-full of GP100s we can use. Never cleaned, treated brutally in the old Chicago Permit Class (couldn't even bear to watch what was done to those things), and all are excellent runners. With decent triggers.

Then, range buddy Mike, a near-GM in Limited, went all Ruger and is wearing me down further. At this very moment, he's skulking about the Cheeseland forests with a GP100 looking for a venison-chili provisioner. With some staggering handloads in the thing. Want to say 300gr somethings hauling along at 1400fps.

Can't bend that tank-with-a-handle.

Honestly, I think my snooty 586 is starting to hear footsteps.

P.S.- Yep, skip the skinny-barrel marketing things and get the fattest barrel you can. In a sport with a two-shot paradigm, your second shot matters.

[treis]

Does anyone think that the new model S&W 66 has a chance of making it into the new IDPA rule book?

Edited December 13, 2014 by treis

[Cherryriver]

Quite the opposite- I see no reason why it wouldn't be accepted. 66s have been in the game since the beginning.

[Jim Watson]

The new 66 is cataloged with a 4.25" barrel. Just a silly millimeter too long.

[GOF]

The rules say 4.2-inch. I'm not sure that anyone in Berryville understands revolvers enough to accurately measure a barrel according to their written Rules. I think they just go by the manufacturer's specifications. If that's the case here, the M66 is not legal. But, since S&W is a major sponsor, it is quite possible that Berryville will "interpret" S&W's 4.25-inch barrel catalog description and allow them in. But, I wouldn't buy one just yet.

Maybe a email to IDPA HQ, and a 'Ruling" would be in order?

[Cherryriver]

Oopsie... forgot about the Dominion-pleasing barrel length.

[robertbank]

Oopsie... forgot about the Dominion-pleasing barrel length.

They make the 686 with a 4.2" barrel; so why they decided to go 4.25" is beyond comprehension other than they wanted to protect their 686 sales. I have a 686 no dash 4" 686 with a barrel length of 10517MM ir just over 4" and legal in Canada. There are a lot of the "4 inch" Smiths with legal 105MM+ barrel lengths up here that have been reclassified.

I use my Ruger GP-100 in SSR with the 686 as back-up. I think the Ruger has a smoother trigger. I did have the cylinder throats reamed out to .358 to accommodate lead bullets.

Take Care

Bob

Edited December 16, 2014 by robertbank

[19852]

OK guys as an update I found a S&W 686-1 . Great condition, 4" tube, W/O rear sight with red/orange front insert. Seems great and I can't wait to sight it in.

[Cd662]

Robertbank -

Really? You really think a think tank at Smith and Wesson rubbed their hands together and developed a dastardly plan to list the barrel length of the Model 66 by an extra 0.05 to make it illegal for IDPA to force people to buy L Frame? Why would Smith get out the tooling for the K-Frame again and make that investment, and then not want to promote it? How would "robbing" sales of the K Frame to the L Frame make any real financial different to Smith? The 686 is probably the most popular full size S&W revolver for the general market right now, aside from the goofy novelty guns.