PPC's Anyone?

[Jimmymac46]

There was undoubtedly a thread on these gun in the forum in the past, but I have not seen one recently. I chose this venue in that I believe most PPC's were built in the 60's and 70's, with some earlier perhaps.

I had this gun built by a great gunsmith in San Diego County in the late 70's. I initially purchased the base gun from a retiring Deputy Sheriff. He had carried his 19-3 4" for years and it had been modified. The entire action was built with a target hammer and a smooth semi-target trigger. This gun possessed the smoothest, lightest double action I had ever handled and I purchased it quickly before others learned of the sale. I was carrying a model 29-2 so I did not need or want it for duty carry. I had always wanted a PPC gun and thought this would be a great base. The magnum chambering would cause an additional 'leap' to the forcing cone and some argued that a 38 might be a better choice. I had no model 10's, 14, or 15's and after discussing it with my gunsmith, a PPC competitor who had built many others on 19 frames, he stated that it would not be factor so we went ahead with the project.

The results are in the attached (poor) photos. It was completed in 1978. I shot regularly in those days and it was and probably still is my most accurate 'target' handgun. For those of you who own one, or had one built, you can undoubtedly confirm my opinion. I never competed in PPC events, having a stronger preference for IPSC and related combat events at that time, but I always wanted one so I went ahead with it. Today, I shoot it when I am in the mood for a relaxing day at the range and desire to punch one hole targets on a lazy afternoon.

In summary, it is a model 19-3 with a Bomar Rib, and Douglas barrel with machined slab sides cut to 6 inch's. If you look closely at the fifth photo, you can see spring loaded bearing that assists in locking the crane to the frame, similar to the Triple Lock feature. My smith said that was a standard and necessary modification for PPC guns and would enhance repeatable accuracy. The action was done many years earlier and my gunsmith told me there was no need to mess with it in that he could not improve it.

Any others out there?

 

[ric426]

Any others out there?

Absolutely! I shot in a local PPC league in the late '80's and early '90's then drifted off to other activities. I had a Model 10 based PPC gun that I sold back then.
Recently my son got me back into shooting and I remembered how much fun I had shooting PPC. I checked around and found out that the league is still active at the same gun club. I dropped in one evening to check it out and found a bunch of the friendliest folks I'd met in a long time. One thing lead to another and I wound up buying another PPC gun a few weeks ago, this one based on a '77 Model14. I don't know who built it or what kind of barrel it has, but it's got a Wichita sight rib, slab sided 6" barrel, underlug with a crane lock plunger in addition to the usual ball detent, a parkerized finish and jeweled lockworks. I haven't taken any photos yet, but I'll get some up here some time soon.
I was able to shoot a few practice PPC lines at the club before the winter league ended and it was every bit as much fun a I remembered. I'll be joining the next league and have started building up a new reloading rig. Heaven knows I'll need to be reloading a lot. Thank goodness I've got a supportive wife who likes it when I have hobbies to keep me busy.

 

[Bert Man]

I shot PPC regularly on my dept. pistol team from 1974-1980. Had a revolver built by Ron Power of Power Custom. Had round 1-inch diameter Douglas 6" heavy barrel, full Bomar Rib, cut-down speed hammer, double action only with 6 lb. DA pull, ball-type cylinder/yoke lock, cylinder chamfered for speed loaders (Dade) and Hogue hard nylon finger groove grip Monogrip. Would reliably pop factory wadcutter ammo used in major matches. Reloads required Federal primers.
Far and away the most accurate handgun I have ever shot. My only regret is that when I had it built in 1976 I based it on a pristine M15-3 of 1971 vintage. Yeah, I know. If hindsight is 20-20 I must have been going blind.

 

[lawdog45]

PPC

Mine is built on a 10-5 frame. By Patton's guns in Houston. I believe he was the smith for the Border Patrol probably back in the 50s. Built in the late 70s early 80s as I remember. Bomar Rib and Sites, Slab Side 6" barrel. Very accurate. I've killed two turkeys with it, it loves 148 WCs. Never shot it in competition but had a lot of fun with it. I haven't has any luck posting photos or I would.