I’ve wanted a PPC revolver for a while…What are features to look for..?…Who are some of the pistol smith who built good ones…?
I’m not planning on shooting completion with it, but have been practicing double action shooting, and want the ultimate double action range toy.

I guess it should look something like this -

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Bill Davis is the first that comes to mind.

Excellent trigger, heavy barrel and Aristocrat sight rib.

Keep in mind that you'll often be limited to the type of ammo that you can use. This gun started off as a 357 Magnum but is limited to 148 WC for best accuracy.

PPC revolvers are usually "zeroed" for the "neck hold" sight picture on a B-27 target--with a "regular" sight picture your point of impact may be quite low. Just something of which you may or may not be aware.

Have you read this thread? I am pretty sure your question would be answered there.
PPC Revolver Pics

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

What is a PPC revolver? The link AJ put up helps a little. Never saw one like that.

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Waiting For The Sun.

I've had a "no name", indifferently re-blued, Model 10 PPC revolver that is a joy to shoot for many years. It performs better than the visually appealing "Cassavant Custom" Model 66 PPC revolver I got a few years back.
(FYI, Don Cassavant was involved with developmental work on the Harvey Kay Chuk revolver. Link to a little about Cassavant below:
In retrospect: the .22 Jet Model 53 )

Both have the three position rear sight having sight rib, but the M66 also has an adjustable front sight.

Many second-hand PPC revolvers have been heavily used. On the other hand, getting a new one made is very expensive.

Have a look at the classified ads right here on the forum!
Jebus35745 has a very nice looking 4" PPC revolver built by Andy Horvath! It's available right now!
One of the GREAT things about the forum is the used gun opportunities. The sellers are just about always honest, friendly, and knowledgeable.

While true, most of the revolvers I saw in competition and the one I used had quick adjustable sights. On my Davis built revolver, the front sight was adjustable. As I recall, I set it for 7, 25 and 50 yards. 7 yards I held on the “9” on the B27 and the bullets dropped neatly into the X ring. 25 and 50 yards were adjusted for neck holds.

The rifling is usually set for 148-150 grain wadcutter bullets over 2.7-2.8 grains of Bullseye powder. But several fellows were able to shoot there way onto the podium with other combinations. And, I think some fellows have used these revolvers in plate matches or other falling target matches.



I can provide other images if you would like.

Kevin

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[ATTACH]706712

Clark Custom Guns still build PPC revolvers. Clay is their revolversmith and he's a good guy. He built me a 4 inch version and it's a sweet shooter.

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I have shot my share of PPC matches using a M15, M19 or M586. With the exception of a little minor trigger tuning, they are all stock and I just never felt the need for a designated PPC revolver.

Some of the guys did have "PPC guns" and I suppose if you are really 1,000% into something you might want to use the touted official gear as well. I have no issues with guys who use them, I just never felt the need or had the desire for one - but that's just me.

I have never seen a 4” PPC gun kinda cool looking. Do you shoot it competitively? A friend of mine inherited a PPC gun built on a model 15. Was apparently put together by a smith named Eversoll out of Louisiana. Also has the customary Aristocrat rib. The gun is ultra smooth and supremely accurate.

When I started competing in PPC, I used a Model 27-2. After several matches, a retiring competitor offered me the revolver in my above post. I grabbed it. My scores improved to put me on the winners podium.

At some point, I was given a 6” Model 686 no dash with Patridge front sight, I used this revolver in the Distinguished Combat Matches. I used a 4” Model 15-3 for the Service Matches and a Model 36-1 for the Off Duty Legs. Over the course of a year, I noticed my Distinguished scores and my Unlimited scores to be nearly identical. Not surprisingly, the more I practiced with my Distinguished revolver, the less I relied on my David revolver.


I did use a 4’ Model 686-1 in the Service Match but found I preferred the 4’ Model 15-3.

Once I stopped competing, I sold both of the Model 686’s.

Kevin

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LGS find
15-4 w/ Hurst stocks

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If I was you I would keep an eye on the gun for sale forums or put an ad here and watch for a decent used one. Just because a gun has a "Davis Model" aristocrat rib doesn't make it a Davis built gun. If you just want it to shoot at the range like a normal revolver , an older gun with a Bomar type rib would be fine. As others have stated the tri-set front or rear sight is to shoot dead on #1, neck hold at 25 yards #2, and neck hold at 50 yards #3. This was a good remedy for older eyes that can't pick out the lines on a B-27 at 25 or 50 yards. It also had the added benefit of not staring at the hole you were shooting and chasing it.

The guns can vary greatly in weight, so have some idea what the gun you are buying weighs. My main gun was 62 OZ empty. Some had heavier, others lighter. I had lighter guns built, when tendonitis hit me bad, but just could never switch over to them, on a permanent basis.

You might contact "PPC Shooter" here on the forum he is a long time serious PPC shooter from Chicago PD. Retired now by the Quad- cities, he would probably know if any smiths in IL still built guns or if anyone in your area had one for sale. Most new shooters have little interest in revolvers, partly due to ammo cost.
Most of the guns I see for sale online are made by-who knows- which could be alright if you knew how it shot. The biggest problem is they want way too much for an unknown quality gun.
If you see one you are interested in online, PM me and I could look it over for you, to see if I could supply any info. if you like.

I haven't shot competition for a UH--few years but just can't seem to part with any of mine yet. I still do shoot a couple of them.

Funny, I went to the range with a friend a few weeks ago. He is an ok shot. He was lamenting that he had just sold his one revolver, a good gun, because he couldn't hit anything with it, especially in double action.
I loaded six into a Davis gun I had taken that day and told him just keep the trigger moving on each shot. You should have seen his smile when he was done. He stated, well maybe I just need a different revolver.
The weight and smooth trigger does help with the sight movement.
Good luck

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The several years I competed in PPC for my department I used two completely stock revolvers, a ca. 1948 6" K-38 and a 4" Model 14-1 Hanen/Dayton. My usual scores ran 585 to 595 of the 600 point possible total score for the full course, in either practice or competition. Competition scores were usually higher than practice.

I never have seen the need for an expensive custom built revolver to shoot PPC! Neither did any of the other shooters on my team.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

This is my PPC revolver. https://smith-wessonforum.com/141234221-post189.html It was well used when I bought it. It was purchased for $175.00 a few years back. It came with a Pachmyer three gun pistol case with a spotting scope and 1000 rounds of 148 grain wadcutters. Look around there are some deals out there.

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The good used ones have light and smooth trigger pulls, great sight rib, are accurate to at least 50 yards with the right ammo, but are super HEAVY! You have to be independently wealthy or a reloader to shoot much quality .38 SPL ammo.

ALK, I think you are right to a degree. I tell new shooters today, that mostly compete with a semi-auto, to get a nice L-frame or full lugged 14 to start with a revolver.
You can still get neck hold at 50 yards if the gun has a tall set of sights.
They can shoot the gun in the open and Distinguished match until they feel they need/want a better gun.

There are more advantages to a full blown PPC gun than just the weight and rib. Some of it has to do with ease of use and keeping the shooter relaxed during the match.
In the old days, at the bigger events, the PPC 1500--150 round match was shot one phase at a time. Match 1-24 rounds, stop,score targets, let other relays shoot. Match 2 -18 rounds repeat same etc.

Matches are not shot like that anymore. When you walk to the line you have to be prepared to shoot all the matches back-to-back. The only time you have to reload speed loaders/magazines or make sight changes, or blacken your sights, or anything else, is the time it takes for everyone to change their targets. A "good" range office will hold up a little bit for the 50 yard phase to give shooters a minute to put down their mat adjust sights etc.

Believe me there is nothing worse for your heart rate than trying to count clicks on a factory rear sight, even if you mark the spot it should end at. Especially when you are older, wearing shooting glasses that DONT have bifocals to see what you are doing. Hence the tri-set front or rear sight. One second-click- you are done. Match over-click, back to normal. Really a BIG advantage. Same with speed loaders and loading blocks. I finally went to just 28-29 loaded loaders/magazines. Just way easier and relaxing than rushing to do everything.

Of course, I appreciate the competitors that shoot plain revolvers/autos, don't change sight position or smoke their sights. They do not suffer the time constraints. Unfortunately, they rarely win either. In older days there was only one class of gun. I was like that too at first, thought I would set the world on fire with my 4" Python. And in the 70's at local matches, I did ok. I was actually doing it just to improve my skills for work. No IDPA or IPSC in those days in Iowa at least. Then got caught up in the "competition thing" which was a great hobby and a lot of fun and friends over 35 years of shooting.

I don't think you will break 1490 with a M15.

If you plan ongoing higher than Master Class you need a real PPC gun.

Great point.

My first PPC revolver was a used one. The previous owner got a lot of use out of it and kept it well maintained. It served me well until I decided I want to get a new Davis revolver.

In reflexion, it was the people I met that really made competitive shooting great! I met a lot of generous and genuinely nice people. With a lot competitive shooting disciplines on the decline, the younger set (just about everyone these days) don't know what they are missing.

Neck hold is usually only used at the 50 yard line. Everything else is a dead center hold. That's why the Aristocrat rib has three positrons on it for yardage. The 50 yard sight setting radically lowers the rear or raises the front, depending on model, so the point of impact is 10-X ring with a neck hold. You always have to remind yourself to reset the sight after the fifty yard line or your next 6 rounds at 25 will be right in the crouch.

People who go shooting tend to be nice people.

That was what was so great about the Aristocrat ribs. The sight settings were really quick to adjust and you didn't have to count "clicks". Leonard Taritelli (sp?) Was an LA County reserve deputy and owned a big commercial machine shop. He shot PPC and realized the problems with trying to keep track of your "come ups or downs" in the middle of a match. He designed the Aristocrat rib with quick set yardages and it became the standard for PPC. Before that we used Bomar ribs with all kinds of clever (and not so clever) ways of stops and gadgets to preset yardages on those old Bomars.

Yes Sir. If you wanted to be a Grand Master and compete with the big boys, you needed the right equipment. A faster twist barrel with the extra weight was a necessity to be competitive. In the old days, shooting consistent 1480s would get you in the 1480 club. Then it was 1490s if you wanted to win something. I managed to shoot a 1491 with a stock barreled model 14 but it had a Bomar rib on it. I think that was pretty much the max for that gun. 148 grain wadcutters like a 1x10" twist and in those days, Douglas premium barrel blanks were the first choice . I built a ton of them in those days.

After being a member for several years and reading posts this is my first time replying to a post. I have been shooting PPC for 40 years and have been one of the governor's 20 8 times in the past 10 years. I own three very fine PPC guns two of which were made by Joe lenninger that built custom PPC revolvers and revolvers for the bianchi cup under the name Mojo's guns since the early '80s until a couple of years ago he has retired. If you can find a mojo they will usually sell for a reasonable price and are really second to none. Other than that Bill Davis made great guns and pioneered the windmaster in the '80s that has now become a barrel contour that is standard for outdoor shooting.
Sadly it seems like the PPC sport is slowly dying I see less people every year.
On the other hand I shoot three gun and there's more and more people every year.

Friends and I shot PPC back when the PMA was less picky about LE credentials than the NRA is now.
We shot tuned Pythons in the pre-L frame era to get the heaviest gun we could enter both open and distiguished with. With Elliason rear and post front, they would just come down far enough for a neck hold at 50. 13 clicks back up for center at 25.

I had one that was built on a 686 with Wichita 4 position rib ( eliminated the neck hold ). Mine was built by Warren Moore of Protocol Design. Around here Power Customs from Ron Power were the cats meow.

I shoot a joe Kassay model smith wesson 19 he was a great pistol smith out of Perth Amboy nj shooting it for 30 years still shoots great.

Most any well made PPC revolver will probably fill your needs as you say you are not going to shoot competition with it. Look around for a good used one and I think you will be happy.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Hey Sniper, great to hear from you...I'm not there anymore. But in CA about all the police ranges have stopped letting their teams or anyone host a match there. Just NO support. really sad.

AC , been checking the net. I found Frank Glen in AZ still advertises building PPC guns. Looks like a complete build is 800 plus your gun. He describes the work. Maybe you can work out details like what rib etc. He builds a good gun. Watched Brian Enos win the Bianchi cup with one many years ago, and several PPC shooters from that area use his guns.
Of course it could be an old website or something.

If I was going to build one, I would put Aristocrats new rib that also has a rail for scope /dot mounting built in. The ability to put a scope or dot on the gun without having to remove the sight rib and put a rail on top would have been great when I was shooting a bunch. All on Aristocrats website. FYI

In Louisiana the place to go is Clark Custom Guns

Clark Custom Guns | Established 1950 | Princeton Louisiana

Check them out ... 5 Star and 10 rated ... they have always put
A smile on my face I can't wipe off !
Gary

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Id suggest Frank Glenn.

I always wanted a PPC revolver , finally broke down and went to gb , one of two purchases there . If I remember right , Sevens pointed it out to me . He warned me about light strikes , but this thing will shoot anything , but it does like wc's . I don't know who built it , but they definitely knew what they were doing .

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Bring it down the next time you come to the gun show here. I will bring my Behlert PPC.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Some , not all Davis Company guns have the builders initials on the frame. This gun was built by Craig Maraviov hence the C M marking. He still has a shop up by Sacramento, Woodland ? . Built my wife's gun years later and does the same great work.

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The barrel profile, especially the under lug... the grips and the quick adjust front sight on your rig are all items casting a vote that you have a Davis Custom. From one picture, I can't be certain. Hell, if it were in my hands, I could not be certain. But if it is not a Bill Davis gun, then I would say that the builder held Bill Davis and Davis Custom in very high regard.

For some guys, they hit middle age and buy a sports car. For me, there was a fire lit inside the first year I began shooting (later than most hardcore gun guys... I was 15) and at the sportsman's club we joined, all the local cops shot PPC on Saturday mornings on the indoor basement range. I was allowed to watch 'em, but only sworn LE were allowed to shoot.

Most all of those guys were running custom guns. This was 1988 to 1990 and this was PPC in those days. Go back to the 1960's and probably nearly all of the 70's when PPC was still in it's original form and yes, you would have seen duty guns and not a half ton of custom gear and leather and gadgets all dragged around in a Pachmayr shooting box with stacks of speed loader trays and Comp-III's.

PPC got "gamed" the same way IPSC got gamed, USPSA, you name it. They start out one way and after a stretch it becomes an arms race. It's the natural evolution of shooting competition.

I've got six custom PPC guns now and I thoroughly enjoy them. I'm usually feeding them BBWC, sometimes they get HBWC, but always lead bullet, always .38 Special only and usually 800fps or under. And most of mine demand the Federal 100 primer because the DA trigger stroke is genuinely that smooth & light.

My favorite is a Travis Strahan build on a 1977 S&W Model 64, but there were dozens of excellent custom PPC builders. I might argue that Ron Power/Power Custom and Bill Davis/Davis Custom would vie at the very top for most known, respected and perhaps also by sales volume, but there's a long list of builders and shops that made top-notch custom PPC guns.

Other names to look for -- and when I say "other", I do NOT mean "lesser." Bob Day, Ken Eversull, Royce Weddle, Cheshire & Perez, Austin Behlert, Travis Strahan, Lou Ciamillo/Maryland Gun Works, Lin Alexiou/Trapper Gun, Ikey Starks/Sports West, Schneider Custom, Jerry Moran, MOJO Custom, J Post Custom and plenty of others.

The first PPC gun that I found and brought home was a gem that I stumbled across at the Gun Library at Cabela's and this was ten years ago. This revolver is phenomenal... and I have no idea who built it and I doubt I ever will. Slab side barrel on a 1956 pre-Model 10, and it's at the same level as my Strahans and Davis guns.

Here's my Davis built PPC revolver. It's built on a 10-7 frame. It was a prize at the Four Queens Desert Regional in Las Vegas. On the right side of the barrel it is engraved with the Roadrunner shooting the Coyote.

Cherrypointmarine. Your revolver is an earlier model since it had a pinned barrel. It looks like the yoke locks into the underlug. My yoke ball lock is in the top of the yoke and locks into the frame. Both of our guns have the early version of the Aristocrat Rib that adjusts on the front compared to the later version that adjusts on the rear. Hope you enjoy it.

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Oh I do . And AJ , I'll make sure to bring it . I'm not much of a revolver shooter , I prefer my semi auto PC guns . But this one talks to me , really , to miss with it you have to be blind in one eye and can't see out of the other .........

A teammate of mine won a 4-Queens Davis gun just like Sandbagger's.
Only made in 32 cal. Guess it was made from a 16-4. It was really cute...
Think he wanted 500 for it, no one was interested. DUH..

I started shooting PPC in 1975 with a stock M19 4" the first year. I met Royce Weddle from Norman OK at the Nationals in Jackson MS that fall. He built my gun on a M15 frame I had traded for. It had (and does to this day) a 1" douglas barrel and Bomar rib. None of the sliding sights though. They came along a few years later. A bunch of the guys in the NC league made fun of my paint job on the rear sights, but it worked well enough, I guess. I had a 3 color scheme that was designated for 7/15 yds, 25 yds, and 50 yds with the number of full revolutions from bottomed out that gave me my zero. I and most of our league used center hold at 7 and 15, and a neck hold for 25 and 50. I went through several revolvers for the Distinquished match before S&W finally came out with the right one for me. I shot my 19, 28, 27 target (borrowed from our Highway Patrol) for my only points out of all of these, and even went over the hill and tried a Colt Python that one of our best shoooters used for his Distinquished badge. When the 586 came out, I got one and 3 of the next 4 matches leged out. The inside has never been touched except for cleaning and oiling. You don't have to have all the bells and whistles, just ones that are good and work for you. Good Luck.

Great State of PPC Report. Thank you for sharing.

And thank you — I was 15 in 1988 the first time I watched a bunch of Flint City, Flint Twp and Burton cops (and other localities!) shooting these matches and I have just tried to read old articles ever since.

But it was the folks like you and other contributors on these PPC discussions that actually shot those matches back in the day. That’s where the real meat & potatoes comes from!

It’s an interesting sign of the times these days in the “information age.” Anything that has happened (on any subject!) in the last 25 years is well documented on the internet. However, esoteric stuff from before the age of the internet is far more scarce.

We need more folks that shot PPC in the 60s, 70s and 80s to wax nostalgic and get these experiences documented so it never gets lost in the future.

I shot PPC Marches in the late 70’s and the early 80’s and would like to shoot in them again but I can’t find any matches locally. I will go to my former PD’s range and stay tuned up in case an opportunity presents itself again. I like PPC you can track your progress, emphasis on accuracy. I shot USPSA matches for years at the local state and national level but as I have grown older it just doesn’t excite me any longer.

I’m waiting for my buddies estate to settle and hope to purchase his model 10 ppc gun. I have no idea who built it. The rib is unmarked. No non factory markings anywhere. It shoots great.

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This is the Davis built revolver I used to get to the Governor’s 20.





A great revolver back then now I rate it merely good because of the weight.

Will it still plop them all in the 10 ring? Sure, that is what it was designed to do. And more than 1/2 will be in the X ring. Maybe more with someone else on the trigger.

Kevin

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I feel the same way about my old Behlert PPC gun. Not really a "Looker", but will get the job done with a good shooter on the trigger. Wish I had found all the games when I was much younger.

AJ

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.