Even if you have antiquated technology, you can still be a formidable opponent with the right revolver skills.
According to the local gun shop expert revolvers are 19th-century technology and completely useless for anything except making noise. If you hear someone say this, ignore him. If he says that “IPSC will get your killed”, move to the opposite side of the gun shop. Your brain cells can be damaged if you are too close to mall ninja-ism. Double-action revolvers may be old, but the gladius used in Roman legions’ combat operations is also old. It’s dangerous to meet someone who can use it. Even if they have “obsolete technology”. You are what matters. Get good grips
Get the right grips. Good shooting is almost impossible with the standard, elegant and well-designed grips. The classic “cokes”, on a high gloss blued S&W.44 Magnum, are beautiful to look at. But they’re a pain to shoot. It’s not the best grip, especially if you use magnum ammo. You can get better grips. When I competed at IPSC, I used a set Miculek smooth-wood grips for my.45 ACP revolvers. These grips were exactly what I needed to bring home my Team Gold medals and a set of Miculek smooth wood grips. You can choose to have yours checkedered or smooth. The smooth allows your hand to slide on the grip to locate the draw. They’re also shaped to hold your grip when you shoot. The rubber used in the Pachmayrs softens recoil. There are many styles to choose from. There are many styles to choose from, so I switch to the Pachs when I am shooting pin loads or magnum ammunition. VZ grips can withstand heat and are almost indestructible. This will vary depending on the size of your hands, the revolver size and the power you are dispensing. There is no “one size fits all.” Get a good grip
Second, make sure you grip it correctly. Your unloaded revolver should be held in your hand. Take a look at the web in your hand. It is located at the top of the frame’s backstrap. If your hand is not touching the top corner of the frame, it’s not right. You can raise your hand as high as possible and still reach the trigger. Recoil can actually get worse if you give the revolver more leverage to produce muzzle rise. I grip revolvers so high that the hammer touches the web of my hand when it comes back in the DA cycles. According to some, pressing the trigger at an angle is dangerous. It hasn’t been a problem while I won heaps of loot, and two Gold medals. Keep your hands on the frame and away from the man I’m describing in this article. The higher you can hold your hand, the more room the hammer has to pivot. Use The Clicks
Pistols have one click when dry-firing. One striker falls on pistols and then you need to hand-cycle the slide again. Despite the Foley artist (the guy who makes sound effects in movies) making a pistol click repeatedly we all know that they don’t. Exceptions are rare, but they do happen. Revolvers? You can click as many times as you like. Mike Karbon, my boss at The Gun Room spent the slow times in the shop dry-firing a Colt Python. Click, click, click the wheelgun…He did it until it became background noise, something we didn’t notice until it stopped. He even broke the firing pin on one, which was rare and unheard of. One pistolsmith replied, “Those things don’t break.” You’ll improve your skills and be able to burnish the parts against one another.
This is the fourth rimfire on our list. While all ammo these days is more expensive, rimfire is still cheaper than centerfire. Even reloaded centerfire is cheaper. Get a rimfire and use it as a sub-caliber trainer at your range. Yes, it can be expensive. Jerry Miculek suggested it to me. I bought an S&W M-617, which was a huge help. A metric carload with.22 LR ammo will improve your revolver skills. It’s also cheaper than buying.38 or.357 ammunition. Let’s assume that.22LR ammo is $140 per 1,000 rounds. These will vary depending on the current ammo prices, but they won’t be too much. It’s easy to see the difference if we compare it to a.38 Special that currently costs $650 per 1,000. Even bigger bores will be more expensive. A.38 Special costs $510 per thousand rounds, compared to a.22 LR. You start to get your investment back after 1,500 rounds. The difference between the prices drops, but you would still get your investment back in 2,500 rounds. You will become a better shooter if you practice double-action at the range at speed and accuracy.
It’s not just that loading your ammo yourself is cheaper than buying factory ammo. (As long as you have enough components, you can laugh through ammo panics. You can tune your ammo to suit your gun, practice or match requirements. You can have the power you need. You can have power if you know what you are doing. Tip: Buy bulk…5,000 primers and 8-pound kegs powder, as well as bullets in multiple-thousand-shipping shipments. A good press can load 400 to 500 rounds per hour. This and the rimfire are an investment. Positive thinking is not enough to make you successful.
You can do other things, but they won’t provide the same immediate return on your investment as the previous tips. You can save them for later. A pistolsmith can clean up your revolver. This is only possible after dry-fire practice and range trips with the the rimfire. Although slicked up actions can improve your shooting, it is only a small improvement. If you are 2 percentage points behind the match winners and you are using a box stock action, getting yours slicked-up will make a big difference. A slicked up action won’t make enough difference to move you into “B” class if you are still trying to climb out of “C”. Mag-naport is a great place to work with. But, like a slicked up action, it won’t make much difference until you’re at the top or shooting magnum loads. It’s sometimes essential. I won’t shoot pins with a revolver which hasn’t been Magna-ported…no way. In my case, however, I want to win and will have to push some very enthusiastic shooters out of my way. They’ll all have the advantages of practice and gear.
Get grips that fit and feel comfortable. It is important to know how to hold it correctly. Dry-fire your revolver until it is fast enough to work. Keep the sights buried in central “A” zone or locked onto “X” rings. Take your rimfire to the range and test your revolver skills. After that, you can go to matches at the gun club and start to lose weight. Then, consider having your wheelgun cleaned up and ported. If match rules allow porting, you can. It is the skills that win matches and fights that matter, not equipment. Equipment can only be used when two opponents are evenly matched. You can improve your revolver skills by learning how to upgrade your equipment. The Storm Tactical target pack contains 62 printable targets for rifle and handgun range usage. Target grids and bullseye sizes can be found in MOA. Get Free Targets
