s&w model 642 - tame recoil?

[rp85]

hello;

might be a hopeless cause. have a s&w model 642 (airweight) with a set of hogue grips. trying to find a practice load for the wife.

not worried about self defense loads because simple fear of situation she will not notice recoil.

shooting a 140 grain bullet and 2.5 grains of red dot, wife still can't handle the recoil.

have a mold that cast a 125 grain bullet but don't know how far
down in powder charge i can go with red dot.

any suggestions.

thanks for any input.

rp

 

[h2htusk-chicago]

Just for fun....why not a .22 Taurus or Smith j-frame for learning grip, trigger modulation and sight picture? Then work her into the small .38?

 

[Rule3]

After hanging out in the gun shop most of my life There are not a whole lot of women who like a alloy J frame in 38 special.

They are hard to shoot, not accurate and women get frustrated with them (this is not sexist, just fact according to me) I am sure there are women out there that shoot them just fine.

If you stay with the J frame, buy some good Pachmyer grips instead of wood or the junk Houge grips,

You can load mouse fart loads with HP 38 or Bullesye but I doubt she will like it even then.

Enter the 32 caliber or 22 Mag.

 

[Moonman]

Try 2.8 grains of BULLSEYE WITH a 148 grain DOUBLE ENDED FULL WADCUTTER LOADED almost flush or close to flush.

Use a Roll Crimp.

Some people load to a crimp groove leaving about .100 of wadcutter above the brass.

The DEWC bullet resembles a Soup Can and leaves a good blood channel.

The ladies like the S&W Model 642 with it. I have one with the longer Crimson Trace Laser Grips on it.

I also have a Ruger LCR with Big Dot Sight and rubber grips.

2.7 or 2.8 grains of Bullseye is an old target load with full wadcutters.

 

[TAROMAN]

LGS called me last year with the same question.
My recommendation: Use .38 Short Colt.
its puny to start with and you can load it down even more with TB.

 

[Rule3]

Bulleye and HP-38 are the same powder.

No they are not! HP 38 and W 231 are the same powder.

 

[Moonman]

MY MISTAKE, I'll correct it.

Thanks for catching that.

 

[TACC1]

rp,
I don't have a recoil issue with my 642, but I did have an issue
with my new 442. You'd think they'd be identical, but not so!
I tried a couple of different bootgrips, and then went with C-T
Laser grips. They're a little bigger, and have an enclosed back-strap.
Not too big for carry, and recoil is reduced to acceptable levels.
The factory grips once gave me a blister, and popped it, in
one cylinder of firing. Don't know why, but the C-T's stay on.
TACC1

 

[papajohn428]

One of my latest students is about 4'09" and with no prior shooting experience, handled my 642 with +P loads just fine. The gun recoils but the longish Crimson Trace grip is enough for her to hang on to. Try something bigger, and softer than wood.

 

[goldenbb]

Mine is kind of punishing with 158s loaded to +P. I have a new set of practice loads to try, basically standard 38 Special loads from the Speer manual using Bullseye. The 158 LRNs I loaded last time leaded up the barrel something fierce! Oddly, the same ammo out of my Model 10-8 showed no leading during the same shooting session.

 

[riverrat38]

You will get the least recoil with the lightest bullet, using the slowest safe velocity. I would try 125 gr soft lead with a minimum load of Trail Boss. This should give less recoil than the 148 gr HBWC over 2.7 gr BE. Lighter bullets will give even less recoil, if you can find them.

rat

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Lighter bullets will tame the felt recoil.

Try a 125gr lead bullet with 3.0gr Trail Boss. If your wife can't shoot that load she can't shoot an Airweight. You might have to buy her a all Steel revolver that weighs 21oz or more. (M36, M60)

 

[681ismyfavorite]

MagNa-Porting!

 

[JoeHatley]

Mid-range practice loads for the 642.

158 grain FP plated bullet
3.5 grains Bullseye
Federal 100 primer
Starline brass
OAL 1.465"

Accurate, soft shooting but with enough "pop" to work a legitimate practice loads, and they shoot to almost the same point of aim as full power carry loads.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

I have several J frames and I don't enjoy shooting any of them but I don't want to sell any of them. I carry a Kahr P380 in my pocket and it's not bad to shoot. The Kahr CM9 would be a good gun to shoot. There is a lot of small carry guns that are softer to shoot than a J frame. By the way let her pick out the gun she wants. You wouldn't want her picking out what you carry. Ask me hoe I know? Don

 

[TaxPhd]

This is a gun problem, not an ammo problem. Lightweight J frames are a pain to shoot, and most women won't like them, regardless of the load. Why men keep insisting that their women have these revolvers is a mystery to me.

A much better choice would be a 3" model 60 if a J frame is necessary.

An even better option is to go to an indoor range that rents guns, and let the wife try out a variety, and let her pick what works for her. If you insist on the 642, you will likely end up with a wife that will never want to shoot.

 

[AZretired]

My wife has a similar issue with my 642. Solved it by getting her a 2" M-64 from J&G. the extra weight helps alot. She loves it!

 

[Edmo]

Years ago my wife transitioned from a J frame model 60 to a baby Glock G26 in 9mm for CCW carry and has never looked back.

Twice the ammo, much better trigger, better sights, and much easier recoil impulse. Over all, it is much easier to shoot well and with a little training she learned to run the gun. She liked it so much she had me get her a mid-sized G19 for the night stand.

If you are S&W brand myopic, you might look at the new Shield in 9mm...

Edmo