SWCHP

Some of my earliest recollections (What? 2.5 years ago?) of which ammo to select for use in a .38 snubbie was "Go for SWCHP!"

Huh? Whazzat? Well a little looking back then found that SWCHP or even LSWCHP stood for Lead Semi-Wadcutter Hollow Point.

What is that type of projectile supposed to do? Well, the semi-wad-cutter part means the bullet has a little shoulder on it. Like other wadcutters this will make a neater hole in the target paper, but in a defense situation it will supposedly punch through tissue better, leaving a more permanent hole in the bad guy. In other words it will make a more effective wound and be more likely to stop the fight and put the bad guy in the hospital and let the good guy go home.

The hollow point does something similar in increasing effective hurt. It helps the projectile flatten out when it meets resistance. When it meets meat. An expanded bullet makes for a more effective wound. An expanded bullet also is more likely to not exit the bad guy and travel on to hit bystanders.

All good things. You want the most effective way to conclude a deadly confrontation in your defensive favor, and the marketing for SWCHP projectiles indicate that they may be in the top tier of what you can select. Is it the best? I dunno! I'm just a blogger. The other hollowpoint ammos developed to FBI standards are presumably good too. Here's the thing: fewer ammo companies pay as much attention to .38 special development since the FBI and other police orgs don't use revolvers much anymore.

So finding SWCHP can be a problem. I currently carry 129 grain Hydra-Shoks, and I am sure they are fine. Mostly. They were certainly available everywhere. But with my expanded mail-order abilities, I can look around and notice a specialty maker does indeed have SWCHP with a thought toward snubbies. Buffalo Bore. The bullet weight is higher at 158, and that is good. So is the stated muzzle velocity of 1000 fps and 351 muzzle energy. [Note, that that is still half the muzzle energy I am probably getting with my .357 magnum in my S&W 686 6" barrel. Yikes.]

Still I may give this a try. It may be too hot a +P for me, but we will find out. No word on whether there is excessive flash with the powder... Or if they get that 1000 fps out of a 2 inch barrel or a 4 inch barrel... A lot of known unknowns here.

So what IS the better ammo type, designed specifically, for a 2 inch .38? Everything I look at are either inappropriate, or THEY say, 'this is ok, I guess.' Folks have no problem warning you away from marginal performers but can never agree on the exemplary ones. No one knows FOR SURE what is best, and they aren't going to make my choice for me and they aren't going to be there in the dire situation where I'd actually use said ammo, 'for keepies.'

Other reviews? Well, maybe Speer Gold Dot. Many different sources have a high opinion of this one. 125 Federal Nyclads are also highly regarded. I'd try one of each type (buffalo, hydra-shok, gold-dot, nyclad), but what is that going to tell me apart from flash and felt recoil? Not enough after action reports where bad guys said, "I HATED getting shot with brand X... More than all the others I was shot with... Brand Y almost tickled, and brand Z was kinda middling." If there was that kind of information out there the choice would be easy.

What Would Tam Do? In 2003 she said, "I, too, prefer 158gr LSWC-HP +Ps." but that was then. I wonder if she has changed her mind or sold off all her .38s and uses .41's and .327's now?

[I know, I know, I've talked about this before. But I never resolved it. And I'm shopping.]

January Range Report

Well, after waiting for my new pistol, and then waiting for the range to fix its ventilator, I FINALLLY got a chance to try it out Friday the 30th.

As an aside, I don't think I am cut out for target shooting. It is so easy for me to just relax my concentration. I still get hits, but they fall off quite a bit in accuracy. The first couple in a string are often the best. Then I start jerking the trigger or letting my stance slack or rush the shot... just to be done. It's fun, my way, but flawed. You'd think I'd be better by now. I'm not such a NEW New Jovian Thunderbolt. I am pleased about my trigger control improving, though.

I was lucky enough to drag another co-worker/colleague and his girl friend to the range. We'll call this friend, and we DO really call him this, The BEARD.

The BEARD is recently out of the military. He's been out long enough to grow a majestic, tremendous, intimidating, and, some say, SENTIENT beard. With his life settling down to the higher pay and less authoritarian hassle of civilian life, AND with me talking a good game, he thought it time to get a firearm or two. His first purchase, picked up on the 27th, was a .22 Ruger Mk III Target. Just a plain Jane Mk III with adjustable sights and a bull barrel. An excellent choice, I thought.

He's never fired anything but the M-16 with the military before this. So he knows what to do, and can shoot safely, but he has the whole world of range fun ahead of him.

His Girlfriend, the Companion Of BEARD, has something a little bigger. Her pistol is a blued .357 S&W Model 327. Early 90s manufacture. So NO trigger lock. It's a very nice looking gun, too.

I shot .22, mostly. Though I did put some mags through the SIG P229. I need more practice with it, anyway. Except where my concentration fell off, I was pleased with the .40's performance. But I am not going to win any accuracy prizes with that.

Nor am I going to win any with .22, but I will come MUCH closer. The S&W 617 shoots well, and it shoots like my 686 does, so, except for the recoil difference, I feel the .22 will translate to a great practice gun for the .357. So I am pleased with that. Very.

I also shot the 1911 with its .22 conversion kit. I'm starting to get the groove of trigger control down with a 1911. Hope to have some more "All .22" range days, now. I can also have the "All 6" stainless steel revolver" range day, too. When I go to the pistol range, I prefer to only go with 2 firearms. On weekdays, at least. If it's an introductory to a newbie range effort, more guns get brought. Or a weekend trip. But those sessions last longer.

One purpose of the this trip was to try out a speed strip with the .22 revolver. Meh. Useless to me. Maybe with my practice.

Another thing to investigate was some 50 year old ammo of my father's. They .22s had developed a ring of corrosion, probably due to mismatched metals, where the lead round met the brass case. And they were impossible to seat into the revolver cylinder because of this. So I poop-canned them.

Anyway, the BEARD and his Companion both tried the .22s I brought a long. They had more jams with the 1911 than I experienced. And the BEARD tried the .40 as well. I didn't spend too much time watching their lane, but they shot the bejeez out of that new .22 and ran a box of .38 through her revolver. They shot as well or better than me, which is typical.

I can tell that someone that is a better shot could be spot on accurate with this 617 revolver. No yard squirrel would be safe. You wouldn't need to break out the rifle.

How to overcome my lack of self-discipline while shooting? Practice, naturally, but it should be GOOD practice, not the kind that reinforces my impatience. Maybe set up reactive targets. Spent shotgun shells on a fence rail make good .22 targets.

I did notice I'm shooting high, 1 O'Clock while going DA with the revolver, and to the right at 3 O'Clock when shooting SA. Though I accidentally left the target with good SA shots behind at the range. Top left is DA with revolver, there are some .40 on the splatter targets, top right is conversion kit, bottom left is SA revolver, and bottom right is BEARD's work. He's left handed too.


High on DA means... I dunno. I'm not jumping the gun or anything. It's .22. Shooting to the side on DA means I need better trigger finger placement and polish that trigger pull a bit more. Straight and back and smooth and surprisey.

The BEARD would love to figure out a way to have less take up and trigger travel on his Mk III. How much more can you want with a SA trigger?!!!

Big Honking Snubbie

Saw an interesting revolver on the consignment shelf while out with MBtGE last weekend.

It's a snubbie.  Or 'snubbie' really.

I coulda swore I saw it in Tam's Arms Room on a Sunday-Smiff post.  I figured it was something they stopped making back in 1996 or something and Tam picked it up from a good friend at a gun show for 3 bills.  The price, used, in the case, for me was $1000.  But I couldn't find it on her site...

8 shot... it looks like a half inch barrel, but that's deceiving as it's on a largish frame.  Waitaminnit, they still sell those.  It's a 327.  And I've admired the longer barreled version in the past.

I got to handle a brand new one 2 days ago.  Nice features?  The cylinder gap is tighter that a frogs 5th point of contact and there is a little metal guard you can just make out in the picture that protects the top strap from fire cutting out of that gap.  It's very lightweight and comfortable, but it's not for pocket carry.  Too big.

With my recent issues with the 1911, sometimes an idea like this revolver makes me want to chuck it all, sell off every semi I own, and just carry a wheel gun.  I'll get over that sentiment soon.

Regret? Naw...

But if I was starting up an interest in firearms NOW, instead of 10+ years ago, and I was true to form, my first handgun purchase would be the same as back then: A .357 revolver. Back then I got a 686 that I am VERY happy with. Like I said in the header, this is not a regret.



But if I was starting out NOW, I really look hard at the new revolvers available. Particularly the 327 M&P. I got to handle one at the Fun Show last weekend. It can shoot 8! shots of .357. You can use Moon Clips with it (though I'm not sure how, with a rimmed case...) It has a tritium front sight (the one at the show had it at least), and you can hang a light on it. A revolver like this could give semi-autos a run for their money in police departments. I guess Smith and Wesson should have come up with this in 1983. Had they, I'd probably own one now instead of the 686.

I noticed something else about the Gun Show a bit over a week ago. The plastic guns are invisible to me. So are the ARs for the most part. Why? I'm not in the market for a plastic gun, so my eyes pass over them. I can't tell you if I saw a XD, Glock, S&W, of BlurfleBoomer brand pistol. But I CAN tell you if that last table had Smiths or Tauri or Rossi revolvers.