19-5 Snubby Range Report.

gfors · #1 05-12-2018, 06:50 PM

A few months ago, I found this 2 1/2” 19-5, at the LGS. When I took it shooting, she was spitting lead. Turns out there was little to no forcing cone. My gunsmith cut one at 11 1/2 degrees, and reamed and polished the throats of the charging holes. Today, I took it to the range, for the first time, since the work was done.
Wow!
It’s amazing how accurate this little piece is! Using two hands, double action, at 25 yards, shooting 158 grain .38 Special, I put my first string of 5 shots into a 6 inch group. I shot another same size group with .357 158 grain, one-handed, single action. With some practice, those groups will be smaller.
While there is a big difference between .38 Special and .357, the full house .357’s were not painful or unmanageable. The round butt, Magnas and Tyler did a remarkable job of eating up the recoil.
I also shot some .38 +p 125’s; they weren’t as accurate.

scooter123 · #2 05-12-2018, 07:11 PM

I have a 2 1/2 inch 19-3 that has become my favorite revolver to shoot. Because I like it so much I load my own "Magnum Lights" for it that fall between +p and the starting charge for 357 Magnums. As for accuracy, on a good day for me I've managed to put 12 out of 12 into a 10 inch group at 50 yards and 8 out of those 12 into 8 inches. One thing I found helped me a lot in the accuracy department is that the front sight is so close to the rear sight that the front sight nearly fills the rear notch completely. That takes a lot of the guesswork out if a well centered sight picture for me. What a lot of folks don't seem to be aware of that shorter barrels are actually "stiffer" than a longer barrel so they can demonstrate some rather astonishing accuracy if one is careful with the sight picture and the trigger release.

1sailor · #3 05-12-2018, 07:41 PM

Except for the fact that mine is a model 66 2.5" (same gun but in stainless) scooter123's post could just have easily been mine. With the front sight filling the notch and all the weight centered pretty much in my hand I find follow up shots to be extremely fast also. My son fired it for the first time a few weeks ago and he made almost the exact same comments regarding speed and accuracy.I also load about midway between a 38+p and starting magnum loads.

Blueinterceptor · #4 05-12-2018, 07:56 PM

What kind of accuracy are you finding if you bench rest those puppies?

gfors · #5 05-12-2018, 08:24 PM

I haven’t tried shooting from a rest, but I asked the gunsmith (a noted bullseye shooter) if he thought the gun was capable of 2” groups, at 50 yards, from a bench rest. He thought it was possible.

stansdds · #6 05-13-2018, 08:09 AM

That's a nice Model 19!

Is it capable of 2 inch groups at 50 yards? Mechanically, most likely, but you would have to use a machine rest as the short sight radius and light weight of the revolver would present serious obstacles to the shooter.

gfors · #7 05-13-2018, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stansdds

That's a nice Model 19!

Is it capable of 2 inch groups at 50 yards? Mechanically, most likely, but you would have to use a machine rest as the short sight radius and light weight of the revolver would present serious obstacles to the shooter.

Thank you!

I was amazed at how well I shot this snub. As others noted, the proximity of the front sight to the rear notch makes it easier to center. I actually knew where the shots were going when she went "bang". Yesterday, I shot this little gem as well, or better than I shot either my Springfield Range Officer (.45 ACP) or 4" M66 No Dash, guns that make just about every range trip.

Eddietruett · #8 05-13-2018, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gfors

I haven’t tried shooting from a rest, but I asked the gunsmith (a noted bullseye shooter) if he thought the gun was capable of 2” groups, at 50 yards, from a bench rest. He thought it was possible.

I've had several people who had access to Ransom Rest tell me a snub will easily shoot a 2" or sometimes better group at 50 yards. After that the loss of velocity takes a toll on accuracy.