I mentioned before that I had purchased a .357 S&W Performance Center Model 327 TRR8. I picked it up on January 16 after the obligatory ten-day wait; apparently Governor Brown decided that I was of sufficiently good character that he would allow me to use my second amendment right. Thank you, Mr. Governor, thank you for your kindness and . . . never mind.
I love revolvers. Can't get over it. When I first started in the Foreign Service I carried my S&W Model 19. As years went by, under peer pressure, I switched to higher capacity semi-autos, a variety of 9s, .45s, and even a .380 for a time. They were OK, and I love the Model 1911, but, but . . . I continued to be drawn to good old style American revolvers. Now that I am retired, and good for nothing, I no longer have to hide in the closet. Yes, I am coming out as a revolver lover! Please, don't hate me for that.
Anyhow, I finally got around to taking my new acquisition to the range. Beautiful gun. It even made me into a good shot, sort of. The action is extremely smooth; the piece is very nicely balanced; I love the fact that it carries eight rounds, and is a whole lot easier and quicker to clean than a semi-auto. I still have not completely mastered a smooth and quick reload with either moon clips or a speed loader, but will keep trying. My enjoyment got a bit soured, just a bit, by some crappy ammo. It was cheap, and I have had no problems with that brand before, but this time, gads! Out of exactly 104 rounds I fed the gun before I switched, I had 13 fail-to-fires (FTF). Now on the range, if the price is right, I guess that's not too bad; you put up with it. In an emergency, however, I think you would want ammo with better than an 87% success rate. I switched to Remington HTP 110 grain semi-jacketed hollow point and ran another 117 rounds through the weapon with no FTFs at all. Very nice. Very clean burn, too, and with a nice roar.
I am still not exactly a crack shot and need some work. At about ten yards, however, my Model 327 let me put in some very tight groups. Beyond that distance, well, let's just say it's a good thing the targets don't shoot back. I have got to get better. It's on my bucket list.
OK, that's it. I will now get back to all things Trump.
You use hollow point for range practice??!!??
ReplyDeleteObviously, your pension is way too high...
Enjoy the new hardware, Dip. My personal conceal gun is a Ruger LCR.
Kicks like a mule, but easy to maintain, no safety to think about.
I LOVE the smell of Hoppe's #9 in the morning.
I generally don't use hollow point but I was so frustrated with the cheap stuff I brought, that I did. My bad. Love Rugers!
ReplyDeleteNothing bad about it, if that's all you had that your weapon would eat. FTFs mean you're wielding a small, if dense, club.
DeleteI prefer revolvers too. Not that I exclude semi-automatics. In fact, I'd like to try out a Desert Eagle 357. Since Trump won the election, I don't have to rush out and buy one without test firing it first to see if I like the weapon.
ReplyDeleteDesert Eagle. I was just looking at one in 44 Mag. The price is a little steep, however, and the Diplowife is starting to catch on to my purchases.
DeleteNah. In that caliber, a S&W Model 29 is the classic gun.
DeleteI like revolvers too. I really need to come up with a house gun as the only gun I currently have shoots .22LRs. I'd like something with more firepower.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I support your second amendment rights, I am personally very interested in guns, and am eager for you to get back to the cleanup at the DoS. Imagine, Trump actually accepted some resignations from political appointees. :)
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Victoria Nuland is out made my (Russian) wife's day (if not her whole week).
Heh. I, too, am a revolver fan. A .38 S & W fits my hand very well, and I feel like I'm in an old detective novel.
ReplyDeleteOops... should be "not very interested in guns."
ReplyDeleteNo problem with those here who are (a quite large and enthusiastic contingent apparently :) ), but the cleanup up of the State Department (which you have advocated for many years) is commencing, and I want a ringside seat (and some popcorn, please).
I suspect that the reason Dip won't return to DC and rescue the State Dept. is precisely because of his fine personal arsenal. He might have trouble getting them out of Ca. and within the Beltway.
ReplyDeleteOh, I thought the personal Arsenal would help with the cleanup.
DeleteIt's always good to shoot in practice the ammo you plan to use in day to day carry (at least every now and then). Stephen Hunter's excellent book, "American Gunfight: The plot to kill Truman-and the shootout that stopped it" discusses one of the post shooting investigations findings that the Secret Service training with light hand loads as opposed to full power duty loads nearly caused one of the shooters to be able to complete the assignation, a practice that stopped after the attempt.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I love about both 0.38 Super and .41 Remington Magnum. )Practice ammo is the same weight recoil as the serious stuff. Enjoy your new Smith, sir.
ReplyDeleteBy the 1911 in Super my EDC , but sometimes, there's something about an N frame ,,,,
I had a lot in common with the gun fads you listed. Congratulations on the new acquisition. Thanks for your posts on the Foreign Service and Foggy Bottom.
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with wheelguns. I have several. I also have several semiautos. I have slightly different use cases for every one of them.
ReplyDeleteI don't worry too much about distance shooting with pistols, though. I regard them as short-range defensive weapons. Much beyond 7 yards and I'm thinking either retreat, or where's one of my rifles? (Given that on occasion my "EDC backup" is a Kel-Tek SU-16 folder in my duffel bag this isn't as crazy as it sounds.
Jeff Cooper said that you own a pistol to fight your way to your rifle.
DeleteCarried a pistol for years in the military. Never fired in anger as I had been issued an assault rifle for the real work.
Love my 1911 also. But hey...Revolver, Semi-Auto, Shotgun, Rifle, cannon. Whatever floats your boat. As long as you're a safe and trained shooter enjoy the Freedom that everyone else in the world thinks is insane...and envies that their Governments dare not grant them that Right.
ReplyDeletehow many guns does a man need?...always just one more ☺
ReplyDeleteHandguns are works of art. I have a .357 Ruger GP100, a 9mm STI Taurus and a .22 Browning Buckmark with a red dot scope for target shooting. I like them all.
ReplyDeleteSorry, STI Trojan.......
Delete..."the Freedom that everyone else in the world thinks is insane...and envies that their Governments dare not grant them that Right."
ReplyDelete10-4 KJ ... US Americans are certainly blessed that our founders recognized and codified our unalienable "natural rights" before the King and his inalienable spawn were able to steal them from US! Still, the bastages keep trying to blame those pesky pistols, rather than, recognize the accidental misdeeds and mayhem as inflicted by 'unsafe/ untrained' operators, over-prescribed PSYCHIATRIC MEDs, and unleashed jihadi jackasses! On Watch~~~
"Let's Roll"
P.S. Oh yes, let US not forget the Thugs and Criminals practicing their deadly craft in the Democrat and Gun Control enclaves(kill zones), such as Chicago!
DeleteWe are even doubly blessed that the Bill of Rights was passed at all. If you read "The First Congress" by Bordewich, you see just how much of an afterthought the BoR was.
DeleteJust think of what a dark hole we'd be living in without those guarantees of freedom.
http://a.co/0FwlrnE
Perhaps less an afterthought, and more a brief consignment to the political backburner? Do agree Colo, divine providence and the 1st Congress founders served up an 'exceptional' concoction! Pray we the progeny will always deserve such blessings. . .
DeleteP.S. Tks for the link~~~
From the Amazon blurb:
"Fortunately, James Madison,John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and others less well known today, rose to the occasion. During two years of often fierce political struggle, they passed the first ten amendments to the Constitution; they resolved bitter regional rivalries to choose the site of the new national capital; they set in place the procedure for admitting new states to the union; and much more."
"Let's Roll"
Thank you for increasing the stock price of Smith and Wesson fractionally. You made me a little more money.
ReplyDeleteI love my S&W 686. Even with a heavy .357 load, the gun is so heavy, it has very little substantial recoil. I have long coveted some good ol' cowboy reproduction guns.
ReplyDeleteJacquejet,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say you need to have the same ammo for practice all the time, but if you do subsitute "range/practice ammo" it needs to be as similar in recoil and other characteristics as your carry ammo. And yes, shoot some of the actual carry ammo now and then too.
But that doesn't mean that the crappy ammo is a loss... shoot some of that too! You can get a perfectly valid FTF drill every now and then--something a bit harder to achieve via cap-and-ball drill on a revolver as you can sometimes see the edge of the round coming up in the next chamber and unless you loaded them yourself with used cartridges from your regular practice ammo, you can tell...
I have 4 revolvers, all S&Ws - a 642 .38 Special, a 640 .357 Magnum, a M&P340 .357 Magnum, and a 5" Model 29 Classic .44 Magnum. My two favorites are the M&P340 and the Model 29. But, I rarely ever shoot these guns anymore. I've carried .357s, various .45s (I own 5 of them from 3 different makers, in 4 different platforms), and 9mms. In the end my daily carry is a Glock 19 with two backup mags. I own more than one Glock, but I keep coming back to the 19. Ugly as a fencepost, but reasonably accurate and completely reliable. It's the kind of gun you don't mind that it gets honest holster wear or a few scratches in the finish. It's a tool. Nothing more. And modern 9mm ammo with contemporary bullet designs perform so well these days that there is little advantage to be had by carrying anything more powerful........unless it is a long gun.
ReplyDelete