S/W - Lifer
Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2005
- Messages
- 375
- Reaction score
- 5
In the spirit of the new S&W forum I'm posting an informal range report on two S&W revolvers I recently tested on my home range. Perhaps this will be of interest to some of you.
The first session was spent with a S&W 640-1 .357 Magnum revolver which is going to my daughter as a carry gun. I installed a Big Dot front sight (compliments of a forum member) and Crimson Trace laser grips on this gun to make it fast and easy for her to use at very close range. Testing was done with factory .38 Special wadcutter loads. Shooting was done at 3 to 10 yards.
The big hit with me is the Big Dot front sight. I found it perfect for what this gun is intended for. The large white dot is very easy to pick up when aiming or pointing the revolver. If you focus your vision on the sight before shooting, fine. If you errantly focus on the target, your eyes still pick up the large dot and you can point it where it needs to go. A plus is the glow-in-the-dark insert in the white dot, which also works quite well. Point of impact on the target with wadcutters is slightly below point of aim, which is acceptable to me. For those of you that shoot bullseye or plink soda cans, you may find the Big Dot to be too much of a good thing. For fast and close self-defense I couldn't be more pleased.
The laser grip is very nice and I expect it to be helpful to a shooter with moderate experience. Where I expect it to shine (sorry) is in fast, close range shooting under stress. I'm not sure the lasergrips are needed by professional gunfighters with a high level of skill. It took some tweaking to get a zero - nothing major - and I need to shoot again to confirm sttings.
The 640 is stainless steel and the weight makes it comfortable to shoot. The internal hammer has advantages as a defensive gun and, as noted, the sights work to perfection. The gun itself is acceptably accurate and it shoots wadcutters well. My focus was on very fast shooting at close range, usually firing pairs, and I was not disappointed with the results. By the time I was finished shooting this little revolver I felt like " I gotta get me one of these." If you can live with a J frame and 5 shots the 640 is not a bad choice. Carry ammo will be Nyclad +P 125 gr. HPs.
With her carry permit and this little revolver, I can't help but feel my daughter is going to be a lot safer.
The second revolver I tested is a new-to-me S&W 25-2 Model 1955 in .45 ACP. The gun appears nearly new, has been Magna-ported, and Armaloy or Metalife plated. As these are two of my favorite modifications this gun really caught my eye. Even the Pachmayr rubber grips add to the overall appearance of the gun. No doubt some among you are groaning about now but it works for me and it is not likely to rust.
This is one big honking revolver. I've used 6 and 6 1/2 inch Model 29s, and 6 inch Model 27s and 28s, and they never felt this big. I can't really account for having this impression but it sure feels big as it sits in my hand.
I loaded up some S&W moon clips with 185 grain factory wadcutters and shot both single and double action groups. I was amazed by the first few shots. There seemed to be less noise, less hop and less pop than firing .38 wadcutters out of the S&W 640. This introductory experience showed me that the 1955 target revolver was going to be a notably softer ride than my 625 Mountain Gun in .45 ACP. Too many years with Model 29s had prepared me for a booming launch and this was totally different.
A temporary show-stopper happened afer 3 rounds of slow fire single action shooting. I saw a bullet hole appear with the first shot, then nothing after the next two shots. I was taken with the notion that I had missed and wondering what was wrong, walked to the target. What I found was one enlarged bullet hole, showing that the gun/load combination is certainly more accurate than I expected. So this new-to-me .45 looks like it is going to be a lot of fun for bullseye shooting and recreational use. I expect to spend some time getting to know it better.
Well, there you have it. Totally informal and non-scientific but all S&W. I thought this might make for a nice first post in our new home.
Thanks to all involved in the hard work that made this transition possible.
S/W - Lifer
The first session was spent with a S&W 640-1 .357 Magnum revolver which is going to my daughter as a carry gun. I installed a Big Dot front sight (compliments of a forum member) and Crimson Trace laser grips on this gun to make it fast and easy for her to use at very close range. Testing was done with factory .38 Special wadcutter loads. Shooting was done at 3 to 10 yards.
The big hit with me is the Big Dot front sight. I found it perfect for what this gun is intended for. The large white dot is very easy to pick up when aiming or pointing the revolver. If you focus your vision on the sight before shooting, fine. If you errantly focus on the target, your eyes still pick up the large dot and you can point it where it needs to go. A plus is the glow-in-the-dark insert in the white dot, which also works quite well. Point of impact on the target with wadcutters is slightly below point of aim, which is acceptable to me. For those of you that shoot bullseye or plink soda cans, you may find the Big Dot to be too much of a good thing. For fast and close self-defense I couldn't be more pleased.
The laser grip is very nice and I expect it to be helpful to a shooter with moderate experience. Where I expect it to shine (sorry) is in fast, close range shooting under stress. I'm not sure the lasergrips are needed by professional gunfighters with a high level of skill. It took some tweaking to get a zero - nothing major - and I need to shoot again to confirm sttings.
The 640 is stainless steel and the weight makes it comfortable to shoot. The internal hammer has advantages as a defensive gun and, as noted, the sights work to perfection. The gun itself is acceptably accurate and it shoots wadcutters well. My focus was on very fast shooting at close range, usually firing pairs, and I was not disappointed with the results. By the time I was finished shooting this little revolver I felt like " I gotta get me one of these." If you can live with a J frame and 5 shots the 640 is not a bad choice. Carry ammo will be Nyclad +P 125 gr. HPs.
With her carry permit and this little revolver, I can't help but feel my daughter is going to be a lot safer.
The second revolver I tested is a new-to-me S&W 25-2 Model 1955 in .45 ACP. The gun appears nearly new, has been Magna-ported, and Armaloy or Metalife plated. As these are two of my favorite modifications this gun really caught my eye. Even the Pachmayr rubber grips add to the overall appearance of the gun. No doubt some among you are groaning about now but it works for me and it is not likely to rust.
This is one big honking revolver. I've used 6 and 6 1/2 inch Model 29s, and 6 inch Model 27s and 28s, and they never felt this big. I can't really account for having this impression but it sure feels big as it sits in my hand.
I loaded up some S&W moon clips with 185 grain factory wadcutters and shot both single and double action groups. I was amazed by the first few shots. There seemed to be less noise, less hop and less pop than firing .38 wadcutters out of the S&W 640. This introductory experience showed me that the 1955 target revolver was going to be a notably softer ride than my 625 Mountain Gun in .45 ACP. Too many years with Model 29s had prepared me for a booming launch and this was totally different.
A temporary show-stopper happened afer 3 rounds of slow fire single action shooting. I saw a bullet hole appear with the first shot, then nothing after the next two shots. I was taken with the notion that I had missed and wondering what was wrong, walked to the target. What I found was one enlarged bullet hole, showing that the gun/load combination is certainly more accurate than I expected. So this new-to-me .45 looks like it is going to be a lot of fun for bullseye shooting and recreational use. I expect to spend some time getting to know it better.
Well, there you have it. Totally informal and non-scientific but all S&W. I thought this might make for a nice first post in our new home.
Thanks to all involved in the hard work that made this transition possible.
S/W - Lifer
