Model 56 at the range

[DCWilson]

I'm always surprised when a short-barreled revolver delivers acceptable accuracy, and I am astonished when that happens while the gun is in one of my hands. So I was pleased to see how my new M56 performed on its first range outing.

12 shots, single action, 10 yards, two-hand standing: the group is loose by target shooting standards, but I am happy that five of 12 stacked pretty much where I wanted them to hit, and every other round landed within a couple of inches of that large hole.

When I shot 12 more in slow and deliberate double action, the group was a little more spread out and slightly shifted to the right. But this is still the best DA group I have ever shot with any revolver, and I am again pleased to see that a few rounds stacked close to the POA. The first six on this target hit a little high and right. I was using Jerry Miculek's recommended grip with the web of the thumb right up on the frame knuckle behind the hammer. For the second six I moved my grip down about 3/8" and hit closer to the center.

Call me satisfied with what this little gun can do. Since I am an optimist, I suspect that if I keep practicing with this gun I will eventually produce tighter groups at distances up to 50 feet. At distances approaching 75 feet I'm not so hopeful because my eyes can barely see the small red blob at that distance.

 

[44wheelman]

Impressive- given the short sight radius.

I generally don't shoot for accuracy past 40 foot because I can't see either.

 

[ColbyBruce]

I will never understand the attraction of a Tyler T.

That said, it appears the 56 is a fine shooting revolver. Snubbies are capable of greater accuracy than most folks give them credit for. When I was a young man a buddy and I bought a ransom rest with a huge box of grip frame blocks (or whatever they are called). We mounted up several snubbies and shot them out to 100 yards, just to see what sort of groups we could get. I was amazed at some of them.

 

[DCWilson]

I can't speak for others, but in my case my hands just can't comfortably grab a K-frame stock with standard magnas. T-grips are a welcome way to ameliorate the problem.

If the guns have target stocks on them, no problem. But with magnas or similar stocks there's just a big gaping hollow up there that my fingers won't fold into or avoid properly. I actually have a spectacularly clumsy-looking grip that I sometimes use: it involves moving my ring and little fingers far up the grip so the ring finger is almost contacting the trigger guard, and then putting my middle finger on top of the ring finger so it presses against both the ring finger and the bottom of the trigger guard. It's actually a fairly stable grip and avoids the knuckle-slam problem you can get with spicy loads. It deals with the hollow by setting up a kind of logjam of fingers that won't allow any digit to slide away from its position even in the moment of recoil.

I have seen this grip used by actors in TV shows who are asked to wrap their large hands around the diminutive grips of a Chiefs Special or some oher small-frame revolver.

I'm still designing my own custom revolver grip in my mind. One of these days I am going to break out scroll saw, rasp and gouges, and actually set about producing a specimen set of what I want.