Good Morning - I want to begin competing in steel challenge and ICORE, do not have a centerfire revolver at this time, but do have a 6-shot 6" model 617. I'm looking for comments/suggestions about the practicality of shooting steel and ICORE with the 617 (getting used to the draw, courses of fire, etc.) Who makes and what type of holster (does it have to meet certain requirements for each game?) would you recommend? I plan on purchasing a 929 when they become available, but would like to practice with the .22 in the meantime.Thanks,
Dr.J

I went thru this a year or so ago. I had a CR Speed holster. Sold it and replaced it with 2 DAA Racer holster/belt setups. One for my K frames with speed loaders, a second for N frame moonclip guns.

The DAA L frame holsters work on the K frames as the trigger guards are the same.

Alternative is the Racemaster and a second insert.

4wheelguns is a great source for moonclip or speedloader holders.

FWIW a 10 shot cylinder can be fit to your 617 6 shooter making it much better for steel... A holster is usually irrelevant for steel as it's normally a "gun in hand" low ready start for rimfires.

DAA Racer Holster - Light Weight USPSA / IPSC / IDPA Holster for All Levels

DAA Race Master Holster

4wheelguns.com - Quality Products for the Competitive Revolver Shooter

tomcatt51 - Thanks for the information. I was unaware that my 6 shooter could be converted to a 10 shooter. Does S&W do the conversion? If not, who? Thanks again, Tom

Yes, S&W will do the conversion. It's really an easy conversion EXCEPT for fitting the ratchets, different hand also. I hate fitting ratchets (except for minor corrections) and have sent mine to S&W. Downside is that currently there's a looong wait in their service dept.

FWIW I really like my DAA Racer holsters and highly recommend them or the pricier Racemaster...

Tomcatt51 - Thanks again

OP:

I'm one of those Cowboy Luddites who simply prefer the old leather holster. At my state of creakiness, that extra time isn't going to make much difference in my score anyway.

I had one custom made for around $40, that fits my shorty N-frames, and the 617 fits nicely for the ICORE purpose.

I shoot the ICORE regularly with the 4" 10 shot 617 and recommend it highly. Also, steel challenge, which is an in-hand no-draw start for 22s, at least at my club.

The magnificent speed loaders and loading block is most useful. I got the 100-round block a couple years ago, but that really is a bit more than needed. And don't try to economize on the Pelican case. While other methods are 'doable' (such as the old-sock approach) they have their downsides.

Cheers on your shooting adventures.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

DR J
I suggest getting a leather holster as well. I carry my 617 in a pancake. AS for ICORE you can do just fine with a 6 shot. At the moment 1 have a 6 shot 4 Inch, Andrew has a 6 shot 6 inch and Chuck has a 6 shot Model 17 with I believe a 6 inch barrel.
We are all using HKS K22 Speed Loaders carried in Kydex Belt Carriers that I make.
You will probably be shooting ICORE with us, unless someone has added another ICORE Range that I do not know about. The Big Piney Sportsman's Club in Houston Missouri should be the closest ICORE Range to St Louis.

You can get the push to release speed loaders and carrier for the 6 shot also. Do some reading on them.

ICORE at Big Piney is a lot more Practical Tactical than Run & Gun. WE also shoot the same course of fire with both Rimfire and Centerfire, so you will be doing reloads on the clock.
Another thing we do a little different at Big Piney is throttle down the Stage Round Count. The only time we ever go past an 18 round Stage is on the November Postal Match, where someone else provides the Stages. Most all stages are either 12 or 18 round. Normally 6 Stages with a total match round count of 100 maximum.
We do shoot Steel Targets in ICORE. How we handle this is keeping all steel in either 1 or 2 Stages. This way Rimfire either skipps shooting steel or just Pings it.

We also have a Defensive Pistol Match Bi Monthly on the Saturday infront of the ICORE Revolver match. It is loosely based on IDPA minus about 80% of the IDPA Rule Book. We have a Rimfire Division as well as a BUG Division that IDPA does not have.

Come on down and play. We can loan you HKS Speed Loaders and Belt Carriers for the match.

We also have a local holster maker Rocky Hill Leather who is pretty reasonable on a Pancake Holster.

Bob Roach
[email protected]
President Big Piney Sportsman's Club
http://www.bigpineysportsmansclub.com/

05 April Saturday Reactive Steel Challenge
06 April Sunday ICORE Revolver starting around 9 AM

03 May Revolver Nationals Berry Ill *****
10 May Defensive Handgun Match 9AM
11 May ICORE Revolver 9AM

Bob

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ICORE MO2908