bigarm Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 (edited) Thinking about getting a revolver for competition. I am no great shooter and never will be. It is for fun for me. I shoot USPSA and may try IDPA but the IDPA club near me won't be using strict IDPA rules this year so that is not real important. I have been shooting 40 major with an STI, but don't really care what class I shoot as I will never be good anyway, if that matters. I recently became interested in Smith and Wesson revolvers. Only other experience with revolvers really was cowboy action shooting with Colts. Did have a couple other revolvers, just spent most of my time with 1911's. What revolvers do you all recommend? I handled a 986 yesterday and it seemed nice, but was a 7 shot I think. I have heard of the 929 and I think there are a couple of 625's. I think there must be some in .357 but I don't know what they are. Can you give me some information or lead me in the right direction for information. I do reload in many calibers so that is not an issue. While cost is not a huge factor, it is a factor. Edited March 13, 2015 by bigarm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWP Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 For USPSA 8 shot guns are pretty much the standard now. Check out a 929, and 627. There are several 627pc guns in stock online, and the 627 Pro can be had for a little less money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revofan Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 +1 on the 627pc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I have a 627pc.. if you wanted to try it out I can bring it to a 3Gun match at Boulder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty79 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 If you are a 1911 guy and you don't really care about winning, you can get a 625 and shoot major. Major revolvers aren't competitive but you don't have to reload another caliber. I bought a 625 to have a revolver. I figured all gun guys need at least one 1911 and one revolver. About the only time it gets shot is when I take someone who doesn't shoot much to the range and I let them try everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigarm Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 The 627 looks pretty good. I assume it is cut for moon clips. Is that correct? Since I am not going to be competitive I have considered the 625 as I do love the 45 acp. Keep the information coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWP Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 (edited) The 627, 625, 929, 986 are all cut for moon clips out of of the box. I've heard stories about early 627 Pro's not being cut for clips, but never did see one that isn't. Edited March 13, 2015 by MWP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigarm Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Great! Now I need to convince the wife I need another gun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revofan Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Good luck with that one !!! My mato is its better to ask for forgiveness then permission ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alecmc Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Good luck with that one !!! My mato is its better to ask for forgiveness then permission ! The good thing about collecting / shooting competition revolvers is that the wife really never knows when you buy a new one - " they all look the same to me " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revofan Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Good luck with that one !!! My mato is its better to ask for forgiveness then permission ! The good thing about collecting / shooting competition revolvers is that the wife really never knows when you buy a new one - " they all look the same to me " Soooo true ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scootertheshooter Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Good luck with that one !!! My mato is its better to ask for forgiveness then permission !The good thing about collecting / shooting competition revolvers is that the wife really never knows when you buy a new one - " they all look the same to me " But when there is a depletion in the bank account you have to come up with something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigarm Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Good luck with that one !!! My mato is its better to ask for forgiveness then permission ! The good thing about collecting / shooting competition revolvers is that the wife really never knows when you buy a new one - " they all look the same to me " The problem with that one is that she shoots with me and knows I have never used a revolver in competition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 If you are a 1911 guy and you don't really care about winning, you can get a 625 and shoot major. Major revolvers aren't competitive ... I disagree. My match scores are maybe 3% better with an 8-shot. Unless you're exactly the same skill level as another shooter, major or minor won't make a bit of difference in your match placement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmca Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Good luck with that one !!! My mato is its better to ask for forgiveness then permission !The good thing about collecting / shooting competition revolvers is that the wife really never knows when you buy a new one - " they all look the same to me " But when there is a depletion in the bank account you have to come up with something That's easy....just tell her you're being blackmailed because of the dead hooker in the trunk of the car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 (edited) Bigarm, What sport will you be shooting? IDPA? USPSA? Both? Something you need to be aware of regarding IDPA is that while you can use an 8 shot revolver you can only load 6 round in it. Edited March 14, 2015 by Grim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigarm Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Bigarm, What sport will you be shooting? IDPA? USPSA? Both? Something you need to be aware of regarding IDPA is that while you can use an 8 shot revolver you can only load 6 round in it. Good information and good question. Mainly USPSA. The only IDPA club near here will not be using IDPA rules this year. Not sure what their rules are but I will check them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glock34Guy83 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I just started shooting revolvers and I picked up a 627 pro series. I now see what I have been missing out on. They are a ton of fun to shoot. I now want a 625, 617 and 929. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alecmc Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 If you are a 1911 guy and you don't really care about winning, you can get a 625 and shoot major. Major revolvers aren't competitive ... I disagree. My match scores are maybe 3% better with an 8-shot. Unless you're exactly the same skill level as another shooter, major or minor won't make a bit of difference in your match placement. I Disagree 1000000000 % Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 If you are a 1911 guy and you don't really care about winning, you can get a 625 and shoot major. Major revolvers aren't competitive ... I disagree. My match scores are maybe 3% better with an 8-shot. Unless you're exactly the same skill level as another shooter, major or minor won't make a bit of difference in your match placement. I Disagree 1000000000 % I sort of agree with alecmc just not quite so emphatically. In the run up to the rule change I ran 23 stages (across several club level matches) with both 6-Shot Major vs 8-Shot minor (http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=182053) and scored it as a large extended match with two competitors. In the end 8-Shot Minor won the extended match but by less than 1%. However when I shot Nationals there was no doubt that I would be shooting 8-shot. Two things make me say that. First I was still learning the 8-shooter both in loading ammunition for it and reloading the it on the clock. I suspect that if I repeat the battle of Major vs Minor after shooting the Minor revolver as much as I have the margin would be larger. Second the stages I shot in that test were club level stages and compared to the stages at the Nationals (and other big matches) they are for the most part much simpler and more 6-shot friendly. The Nationals loved to give you arrays of 6 difficult shots with hard cover or similar unfriendly arrays. Having that 7th and 8th round made a huge difference to how aggressive you could be on some arrays knowing you had a makeup shot or two in the cylinder vs the 6-shot guys that had to shoot the array perfect or pay for it with an extra reload. If every thing is nice and "revolver friendly" then maybe I can see it being a toss up. On moderate range targets in the open I can probably shoot Major Cs fast enough to keep up with Minor A's but as soon at stages get more complex than 6-shots in-the-open arrays the 8-shooter starts to dominate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsg Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 if you are mainly shooting USPSA, go with an 8 shot S&W. If you are going to do a significant amount of IDPA, I love my 625. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I've been shooting Revolver since it became a division, and at times even earlier in Limited and before for fun. Started with a 6" M28 and speed loaders at major PF, not fun. Went to a M29 cut for moon clips and using Russians at major PF, great fun to shoot and made Master with it. But moon clips were costly and easily damaged and combined with limited choices for bullets decided to switch to a 625. Even with minor loads it feels like it thumps me a bit. But loved the strategy and effort it took. Switched to a 627 38 sc and found it's fun to shoot again, not work. It's really not the 8 shots. The recoil and tracking of the gun just fits. That I don't have to do the convoluted strategizing is nice, but if we went back to 6 shot I'd seriously consider getting a 6 shot L frame. Remember you get your brass back and 38 sc data has been detailed in other posts, so there is not much to gain from going to 9mm for any competitive advantage. But it's not a bad choice either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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