I snagged this one off the forum classifieds recently:
Took it to the range and while it is much more accurate than I am, I noticed the action seemed kinda stiff. Not unusual in a gun from 1962 that appears to have had little use, I'd bet. I also noticed that ammo cases got a bit difficult to extract after several cylinders. I read here that's a common problem with these guns. Some guys recommend just take a tooth brush with you to the range to brush off the residue during a shooting session. Or, you can chamfer the chambers.
I've never had a sideplate off, and didn't want to learn on this beauty, so I took it to a gunsmith and asked him to clean up the innards, chamfer the chambers, and remove the ridges, smooth, the trigger face.
Picked it up the other day. It's a whole bunch smoother. The smith said it was full of ancient, hardened gunk. In addition to the above, he also polished the hammer and trigger for a smoother pull.
I'm pretty pleased with how it feels, and am looking forward to taking it to the range. I've been training recently, shooting .38 spl, and at ~$30 a box, that's gotten pretty pricey.
The gun came with the proper diamond magnas, but for shooting I like the larger grips.
When I was younger, I gravitated toward the bigger bores. I find the older I get, the more I prefer the elegance and inexpensiveness (of the ammo) of the rimfires.
And what I especially like about the M18 is that it provides the weight and heft of any 4" K-frame, so great for training, but it's cheap to shoot.
Took it to the range and while it is much more accurate than I am, I noticed the action seemed kinda stiff. Not unusual in a gun from 1962 that appears to have had little use, I'd bet. I also noticed that ammo cases got a bit difficult to extract after several cylinders. I read here that's a common problem with these guns. Some guys recommend just take a tooth brush with you to the range to brush off the residue during a shooting session. Or, you can chamfer the chambers.
I've never had a sideplate off, and didn't want to learn on this beauty, so I took it to a gunsmith and asked him to clean up the innards, chamfer the chambers, and remove the ridges, smooth, the trigger face.
Picked it up the other day. It's a whole bunch smoother. The smith said it was full of ancient, hardened gunk. In addition to the above, he also polished the hammer and trigger for a smoother pull.
I'm pretty pleased with how it feels, and am looking forward to taking it to the range. I've been training recently, shooting .38 spl, and at ~$30 a box, that's gotten pretty pricey.
The gun came with the proper diamond magnas, but for shooting I like the larger grips.
When I was younger, I gravitated toward the bigger bores. I find the older I get, the more I prefer the elegance and inexpensiveness (of the ammo) of the rimfires.
And what I especially like about the M18 is that it provides the weight and heft of any 4" K-frame, so great for training, but it's cheap to shoot.
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