What are you competing with?

backtrail540

Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2022
Messages
8
Reaction score
17
What S&W's are you competing with?




Currently my only S&W for matches is a 686 SSR in ICORE.

686 SSR
TK Customs 9mm rechambering and moonclip conversion
Revolver Supply Co/Dave Parker extended cylinder release
Nills
Revup Action k/l frame hammer
Allchin mount for Vortex Compdot


Running a 6 shot gun in open is not the best strategy but i enjoy it quite a bit.

A quick shot on the bench after scrubbing it a bit after the match.

 
Register to hide this ad
I bounce around a little, but for years my go to gun for competing is this 625. Deluxe tuned by Andy Cannon, Millett rear sight and Hogue stocks. With the right loads its capable of 1 hole groups at 25 yards.

Y5u8FjAh.jpg
 
I bounce around a little, but for years my go to gun for competing is this 625. Deluxe tuned by Andy Cannon, Millett rear sight and Hogue stocks. With the right loads its capable of 1 hole groups at 25 yards.

Y5u8FjAh.jpg
Nice! I world like to eventually get something for Big 6 in ICORE! A 625 variant is right up there at the top of the list.
 
I try to shoot one gun per season & am blessed to have several :)

For ICORE this season I’m primarily shooting my 581. I’ve used my 625 JM in the winter ( easier to find moonclips than single cases in the snow) and occasionally shot my m 21-4.

Been using my CZ75 in USPSA & IDPA this season as well.

While I’m competitive in nature, I shoot to have fun with like minded folks. So far I’m achieving my objective
 
I have different specialized custom guns for different matches, but also shoot stock ones sometimes. There's a 686 with 6" slab barrel for PPC and a matching 625, a 5" ported 29 for bowling pins, chambered in 44 Auto Mag, a 6" 686 40 S&W for a local Monday night league, a 686 4" 40 S&W for IDPA, a 929 4" with comp for ICORE, a 686 and a 627 for Bianchi Cup, and a 6" 686 for Swiss Pistol. The last one is known as a Swiss & Wesson.
 
I have different specialized custom guns for different matches, but also shoot stock ones sometimes. There's a 686 with 6" slab barrel for PPC and a matching 625, a 5" ported 29 for bowling pins, chambered in 44 Auto Mag, a 6" 686 40 S&W for a local Monday night league, a 686 4" 40 S&W for IDPA, a 929 4" with comp for ICORE, a 686 and a 627 for Bianchi Cup, and a 6" 686 for Swiss Pistol. The last one is known as a Swiss & Wesson.
Very intrigued by the 40s&w 686's and the 4" 929. Who did the work on these? If you find the time I'd love to see pics.
 
I try to shoot one gun per season & am blessed to have several :)

For ICORE this season I’m primarily shooting my 581. I’ve used my 625 JM in the winter ( easier to find moonclips than single cases in the snow) and occasionally shot my m 21-4.

Been using my CZ75 in USPSA & IDPA this season as well.

While I’m competitive in nature, I shoot to have fun with like minded folks. So far I’m achieving my objective
That's what i find to be the best part. I enjoy the competitiveness, but talking with other passionate folks makes the day, especially after i blow a stage/ match etc... the comraderie saves it.
 
Very intrigued by the 40s&w 686's and the 4" 929. Who did the work on these? If you find the time I'd love to see pics.
As a tool & die maker with a complete machine shop, I build all my own custom guns. I invented and make the RevUp Action hammers. I hope you like yours.

S&W made a 4" L frame 40 called a 646 in very limited numbers. The 646 is a 686 SSR in .40 cal. If you can find one for sale, it will have a very high price tag. So I made my own. That worked out so well that I made a 6" one. They are 2 of my favorite guns.
 
Last edited:
We have an outlaw match monthly that the RO calls “Combat Bullseye”. It uses the standard Bullseye targets with stages for rimfires, center fire and compact pistol. I use a M-41, either a M-52-1 or a 945, and a Shield.
 
I shoot steel challenge.

S&W FPC with a Holosun red dot for PCCO
FPC & 510c.jpg

S&W M&P Pro 2.0 9mm with a red dot for CO
M&P Pro CORE 01.jpg

S&W 422 sometimes in RFPI
422 Pic 01.jpg

If the 422 doesn't look quite right that's because I had a dovetail machined for a fiber optic front sight. It's too much fun to shoot to let it sit in the safe because I couldn't see the sights.
 
As a tool & die maker with a complete machine shop, I build all my own custom guns. I invented and make the RevUp Action hammers. I hope you like yours.

S&W made a 4" L frame 40 called a 646 in very limited numbers. The 646 is a 686 SSR in .40 cal. If you can find one for sale, it will have a very high price tag. So I made my own. That worked out so well that I made a 6" one. They are 2 of my favorite guns.
Excellent! I've only had it installed for a few range trips and one match but so far so good. If/ when the next batch comes in I plan on snagging another of each size. Thank you for your contributions!
 
Age & infirmity have me coming to the end of my time competing, but I still manage a match or two per month for now. Usually one USPSA and one IDPA. I have done ICORE in the past as well as falling plates.

Here is my current S&W battery...
Slide1.jpg


I also use a Ruger (blaspheme) Match Champion in 10mm using .40 S&W ammo

These are retired guns - they've just gotten too valuable to beat them up competing with them - but they occasionally come out to play...
Slide2.jpg


Adios,

Pizza Bob
 
I have different specialized custom guns for different matches, but also shoot stock ones sometimes. There's a 686 with 6" slab barrel for PPC and a matching 625, a 5" ported 29 for bowling pins, chambered in 44 Auto Mag, a 6" 686 40 S&W for a local Monday night league, a 686 4" 40 S&W for IDPA, a 929 4" with comp for ICORE, a 686 and a 627 for Bianchi Cup, and a 6" 686 for Swiss Pistol. The last one is known as a Swiss & Wesson.
Tell me more about the .44 Auto Mag Model 29! Is this a modification to the existing cylinder? Some years ago I asked Hamilton Bowen if he could make me a spare 6 shot cylinder in .45 Winchester Magnum for my .45 Colt Redhawk Alpine Conversion. Starline brass fits ACP moonclips perfectly and it seemed like a good idea to me. He told me he had never done that before and as such it would be terribly expensive and then finished by saying that .45 Winchester Magnum is an inferior cartridge when compared to the .45 Colt. So that was the end of that.
 
I got a 44 AM chambering reamer, maybe a Clymer, and RCBS reloading and case making dies. This was mid 1980s. There was little loaded ammo for $1 to $1.50 a round, and no empty cases available. I reamed the chambers to 44 AM and cut the cylinder for 45 ACP moonclips. This is a Bowling Pin gun, so it has to clear the pins off of the 4 x 8 foot table quickly.

I had to make the cases out of .308 rifle brass. It took 2 months to make 500. First, with the cutoff die in the Rock Chucker, cut all the cases slightly long with a hacksaw. Then with the press clamped to the mill table, inside ream all the brass. The reamer was taking out so much material that it took 4 passes each case of ream, clean out the brass, ream a little deeper, clean out the brass, etc. Then trim all the brass to length with a piloted hand cranked trimmer. Then deburr each one inside and outside by hand. I'm never going through all that again to make brass!

Then the moonclips wouldn't go on over the .308 extractor cut. It was .005 too big. So I made a hex shaped arbor that the moonclip would just slide on and put 50 at a time on with a nut and washer to compress them together. Then put that in an indexing jig with a tailstock on the other end on the milling machine. I used a thin slitting saw to cut slots midway between each cutout for a case to allow it to spring open enough for the case to snap into place.

For the gun itself, I made a custom 5" slab sided barrel with 2 comp ports near the muzzle. I cut down a Wichita Arms PPC rib to fit on top. I made a steel underlug for the bottom of the barrel, welded a finger hook on the bottom front of the trigger guard, did an action job, and had it electroless nickeled.

The gun shoots great. I was running 300 grain cast bullets at around 920 fps. That gives a little over 275 power factor. Major PF in USPSA is 165. If 2 pins were laying down together, one shot would clear them both immediately. I was running around 4.5 to 5 second times. The guys with 45 autos were faster, but I was having fun my way. The recoil wasn't too bad with all the weight, porting and trigger guard hook. I'll see if I can find some pics of this one.

44 Auto Mag trigger guard.jpeg

44 Auto Mag.jpeg

44 Auto Mag 2.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Wow, that's pretty hardcore! I shot a few bowling pin matches with my .45 Colt Redhawk before Ruger ever offered such a thing. My standard load was 240 power factor and it worked very well but pin shooting pretty much disappeared shortly thereafter. I did use the same gun and load for a year in the early days of IDPA. I suffered a lot of grief because it was a custom gun and thereafter a violation of the rules, even though it was my carry gun at the time.
 
I also had a 627-4 8X.38 Super. It was one of the original runs and also the worst S&W revolver I ever owned. All manner of cast bullets keyholed badly and that revolver was very fickle with regard to fit of the brass in the moonclips and the powder used. Most combinations caused very difficult extraction. I eventually found one great load but got tired of the limitations and traded it away. I then bought a 627-5 8X.357 Magnum and that has been one of the best revolvers I ever owned. Funny how that works...

I've been shooting some Steel Challenge again and now that the rimfire divisions are so popular I plan to use my 43C one of these days.
 
I've been shooting some Steel Challenge again and now that the rimfire divisions are so popular I plan to use my 43C one of these dadays.
You know, I recently considered a 317 in SC. Not as a 617 replacement, but as a fun challenge. I've got a nice set of nills for a j and i think it would be a nice and shootable package. 43c would be fun too!
 
Back
Top