First Time Shooting a Revolver

[fpuhan]

I just got back from the range where I put 50 rounds of Magtech 125-grain .38SPL through my new 360.

I alternated with my .45ACP XD-S to get a sense of the feel, and honestly, couldn't tell the difference. The grip is different, of course, since one is a semi-automatic and I use the "thumbs forward" grip; on the 360, I used a support-thumb-over-strong-thumb grip, which I felt gave me better stability.

Let's just acknowledge that I'm not a great target shooter, I've never shot a .38 before, much less a revolver, and the expectations can be lowered sufficiently. I will say that after reading and discussing with others, I'm going to add a Big Dot sight to the gun. It can only help. Oh, and I'm going to tart it up with some nice wooden grips (it came with the rubber combat grips).

Here are two pics of my results. The first is from 5 yards, the other from 6 (I told you I wasn't a great target shooter). I only had one flyer out of the bunch, so I'm not disappointed.

Any suggestions from the learned wheelgun gurus?

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

.........Any suggestions from the learned wheelgun gurus?

Buy practice ammo in lots of 1,000 rounds.

 

[snubbyfan]

Honestly, I use a side mounted laser and do lotsa dry fire practice. I'll put the red dot on something across the room and hold it there as I press through the trigger in double action.
Really helped me with trigger control and tightened up my groups.

 

[old&slow]

Best practice :
Dry Fire,, make sure firearm is empty,, snap caps if you don't want to drop hammer on empty chamber.. Blank white wall works great,, get a good sight picture,, focus on the front sight,, squeeze trigger & drop hammer without the front sight moving.. Do that for a couple minutes a day for a week or two ,, then go to the range..

Doesn't cost anything except time.. And will help your shooting better than thousands of rounds of ammo.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

... will help your shooting better than thousands of rounds of ammo.

Do both.

I just bought 500 rds of Remington FMJ for $175 delivered. My wife is taking a class with her girlfriend and they won't allow handloads. (The ladies won't need 1,000 rds for the class).

Drills are great, essential even, no one saying they're not, but there's no substitute for trigger time with live ammo. Buy in bulk. It's cheaper. That's all.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

What they said, especially the Kernel.

Practice.

Practice.

Practice.

With one caveat that works for me. I don't do this with any guns:

support-thumb-over-strong-thumb grip

If I don't do it with my wheelguns I won't do it with my pistols. Consistency is the key. Doing it with the revolvers because you can, knowing that you cannot do it with pistols, is just a bad practice in my opinion.

 

[fpuhan]

Do both.

I just bought 500 rds of Remington FMJ for $175 delivered. My wife is taking a class with her girlfriend and they won't allow handloads. (The ladies won't need 1,000 rds for the class).

Drills are great, essential even, no one saying they're not, but there's no substitute for trigger time with live ammo. Buy in bulk. It's cheaper. That's all.

I have snap caps for my 9mm and .45ACP, as well as LaserLyte training cartridges. The latter won't work in a revolver of course (unless one buys one for each chamber). Adding .38 isn't a problem. Dry-firing is something I do every day around the house during idle times.

Since the Model 360 is capable of shooting .38 +P, what's a good range load (not necessarily +P)? I bought the Magtech at a gun show this past weekend simply because I was eager to get to the range. Only the weather kept me from it until today.

 

[fpuhan]

With one caveat that works for me. I don't do this with any guns:

If I don't do it with my wheelguns I won't do it with my pistols. Consistency is the key. Doing it with the revolvers because you can, knowing that you cannot do it with pistols, is just a bad practice in my opinion.

What sort of grip do you use? I know enough to not put any part of my hand beside or next to the cylinder gap. But the thumbs-forward grip on the pistols is the best practice for me.

 

[shotgun693]

I have sat for hours just dry firing. You need to strengthen the muscles that work the trigger and the grip. While watching a TV show I'd dry fire at the bad guys. The more you dry fire the better you will get. BTW, don't ever dry fire a gun when you have ammo for that gun in the same room.

 

[OKFC05]

Looks like a candidate for the old "coin on the barrel" dry fire practice. Look at the front sight, not the target.
Smoothly pull the trigger straight through; don't try to snatch the trigger when it looks just right.

 

[BigBill]

Put some moly on the trigger sear. Then dry fire it. The trigger will feel even more smooth.

Stay shooting one gun till you tighten up the groups. Shoot more, don't rush. Practice, practice, practice and more practice.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

What sort of grip do you use? I know enough to not put any part of my hand beside or next to the cylinder gap. But the thumbs-forward grip on the pistols is the best practice for me.

As a general rule I shoot two handed and I'm a rightie so I simply wrap my left hand's fingers around my right hand's fingers on the stocks, and cover my right thumb with my left thumb on the frame. No fingers are anywhere near the cylinder or the cylinder gap.

Maybe you have really large hands and that causes you to want your non-shooting thumb to stay away from the frame and cylinder but my hands are average and I have no problem.

As a cowboy action shooter I am a one-handed shooter so shooting any revolver one-handed is a simple thing for me but I don't do it much except to ensure I maintain the skill level that I need. I prefer-two handed with double action guns but if one hand is hurt you might not be able to shoot two-handed so it's good to be able to do both.

I have sat for hours just dry firing. You need to strengthen the muscles that work the trigger and the grip.

I work my hands with hand grips for this purpose and dry fire only occasionally. I'm not a big guy but I'll match hand strength with most anyone my size and that's way more than enough strength to fire handguns for hours. YOU HAVE TO EXERCISE YOUR HANDS.

Why?

Because when you're old and on a walker and limping and everything is "less" than it was you still need to be able to pack a handgun!

Jus' sayin'............

 

[fpuhan]

As a general rule I shoot two handed and I'm a rightie so I simply wrap my left hand's fingers around my right hand's fingers on the stocks, and cover my right thumb with my left thumb on the frame. No fingers are anywhere near the cylinder or the cylinder gap.

This is what I was trying to describe. I actually have very small hands (my wedding ring was a 6.5!), which is probably why I prefer small guns. That, and the concealability factor.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

First off, thanks for sharing your experience. Good on ya'.

This is an assumption; you didn't say, but I'm guessing you put all 50 rounds through your 360 using double action. If so, admirable for a first time out. My tendency would have been to go single action for the first go.

I'm anything but a "learned wheelgun guru," and it sounds like the guys who are have given you some great suggestions. All I can add is this: relax, have fun, and don't take it too seriously (till you get more holes in the paper).

 

[Theoak84]

BTW, don't ever dry fire a gun when you have ammo for that gun in the same room.

Ive heard this before, why is it an issue?

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Originally Posted by shotgun693 View Post
BTW, don't ever dry fire a gun when you have ammo for that gun in the same room.

Ive heard this before, why is it an issue?

Safety. People make mistakes. They get tired, or bored, "Oh, I'm done, I'll load up and put it away........you know, I need to check that trigger one more time........BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!"

If the ammunition is not nearby then you won't load the gun during a dry fire practice routine so no matter how tired, bored, distracted, excited, happy, or whatever emotion or feeling pervades your body you won't ever make the mistake of casually loading a firearm that you're done with and then forgetting you wanted to do it one more time.......

You need to get up and go to another room to store the gun. If it's a home defense weapon then you're going to load it - do it AFTER dry fire practice and after you're in the room you did the practicing in so the whole scenario is different such that when you reload the conditions are different, the room is different, and your mind is back on track.

SAFETY
SAFETY
SAFETY

 

[caleb4387]

Ive heard this before, why is it an issue?

Its not. Its an extra precaution that i dont always take. I unload my gun check it 3 times and i chrck everytime i pick it up. I want my gun ready to go on a moments notice so keep speedloaders handy

 

[theoneff]

This is a very good drill for double action practice. Oh and complete focus on the front sight!!!!

pistol-training.com » Blog Archive » Drill of the Week: The Wall Drill

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Not a "learned wheelgun guru" by any means, but here are some thoughts that I hope are useful:

Grips: I'd stay with the rubber grips for now, unless they don't fit your hands well. Sore/hurt hands are not going to allow a lot of quality practice.

Ammo: I'd stay with standard velocity ammo for now. Try the 158gr. loadings - especially those that have the semiwadcutter bullets:

.38 Special 158gr Lead Semi-Wadcutter "NEW" - Georgia Arms

I find that bullet design is very versatile and excellent for target practice, plinking, or even small game hunting. Don't forget that different bullet weights will have different points of impact on your target. Thus, sticking to one bullet weight and type will make things easier for you as you are acquiring skill with the revolver.

Practice: dry firing as recommended by others. Additionally, I'd also stick with DA (double action) only firing for now. Once you have become more familiar and proficient with the piece, you can add SA (single action) to your practice. Also, I'd stay at the 5 to 7 yard range you are shooting at now. You will be surprised at the distance an experienced (or lucky) shooter can shoot at with a snubbie - the late Bob Munden could break balloons at 200 yards with a snubbie. Most folks would be happy if they could make hits at 25 yards or so with a snubbie.

Log/journal: if you keep some kind of record of your shooting (weather, wind, time of day, lighting conditions, brand of ammo, bullet weight, etc.), you can start to see patterns and identify things that work versus those that don't.

It sounds like you are already experienced with a semiauto pistol, so I don't imagine learning a wheelgun is going to be that difficult for you.

Best of luck,

Dave

 

[fpuhan]

Thanks, folks. A lot of good advice and tips. Keep 'em coming!

I was shopping for .38 Special ammo today (it's not the easiest to come by; they sell two brands at the range, but even at member prices they're pretty steep). I came across the wadcutter and semi-wadcutter and after reading more about them, believe I will land some.

I did come across a nice deal on some Federal Hydra-Shok .38 SPL 110gr JHP Low-Recoil today, so I ordered four 20-round boxes. I already have some Hornady Critical Defense 38 SPCL 110gr FTX that I bought to carry as a SD load, so what I really need to do is find a good deal on a 500 or 1000 round box of good target ammo...