[Newguy1]

I am looking into getting a new six gun. I have some familiarity with shooting “wheel-guns”, when I went through my corrections fire arms course we shot S&W M10 and I do some CAS shooting now. We transitioned to Baretta 92FC and I carry a Colt Gold Cup. I am AD in the military now and while in Iraq I used an M9 (yes I am a desk weenie).

I have an older Taurus 65 that was my first firearms purchase. I enjoy it but it is momma’s nightstand gun now so if I want to carry/shoot I will have to buy my own.

I “know” that I want to get a 4 inch barrel, because I think they look cool, and adjustable sights, but I haven’t decided on the make or caliber. I have looked at:

Ruger GP100 (357/38)
S&W 625 (45 ACP)
Taurus Tracker (45 ACP or 45 Colt)

I want to try out moon clips and speed strips. I have used speed loaders with the M10 and I like them, but they are a pain to carry concealed. Which rounds work best with moon clips?

Has any one used XS (used to be Ashley Outdoors and then AO) big dot sights. Are those legal for any of the shooing game? (IDPA or other practical shooting games)

[Preacherman]

Welcome to THR! I hope you'll enjoy learning from all of the expert advice offered here - and contribute some of your own! :D

As to your questions: I think either the Ruger or the S&W are excellent choices. I am not so comfortable with the third, having had some pretty negative experiences with Taurus customer service. On the other hand, there are those who have nothing but good things to say about them - so it's up to you.

The Ruger has the advantage of using either .38 Special or .357 Magnum loads, so you can get cheaper stuff for lots of shooting. However, moon-clips are an additional conversion expense (I seem to recall about $90 to have the conversion done, plus the cost of the clips). The S&W comes "moon-clip-ready", but is a higher priced gun: so the actual cost of the two will probably be pretty close, figuring in gunsmithing charges on the Ruger. .45 ACP ammo is pretty cheap in bulk, but not as cheap as .38 Special. I own both .357's and .45's in revolvers, and like them all - so it's really a matter of personal preference as to which is best for you. However, if you're going to get into Cowboy Action Shooting, you can get single-action revolvers and lever-action rifles in .38 Special / .357 Magnum chamberings: so this might be a better solution for you from that perspective - ammo commonality.

As for the Express Sights for IDPA, I'm afraid not - according to their rule book, only a "Change of sights to another notch and post type" is allowed. This would rule out the Big Dot system, I think. Check out their rules on their Web site (http://www.idpa.com/menu.htm).

[ChristopherG]

Hey, Newguy,

No one wheelgun is gonna be the best at these two things. Hands down, imo, the best wheel for the shooting games--at least idpa & ipsc--is the 625. When I wanted to get into competitive wheelgun shooting, I decided to go with a 4" 357--the S&W 66. It's a great gun, and I got to the point where I could SHOOT it competively. But for the reloading, there's just no comparison to the 45 acp in full moonclips. Now I have a 625, too. I read a review of this year's IDPA national finals a while back--don't know now where I found it--and something like 46 of 50 revolver shooters were using the 625. It's not just me who's learned by experience; it works.

On the other hand, I would NOT want to CCW my 625. My 66 is great for that (though if I had known how things would end up, I would have gotten it in a 3" or 2.5" version). So my advice would be that if you will end up with more than one revo (and you will), make your initial choice based on whether carry or competition is more important to you. If you just want to play at competition and think you can refrain from the drive to get too into it, get a 357 (and do look at the S&W before buying the Ruger, though lots have seen both and ended up happily with the Ruger). If you want to get right into competition, save time and get the 625. Either way, good luck and have a great time.

Oh, yeah--for sights, try the SDM front sights: either the gold bead patridge or, more popularly, the fiber optic sight, available from Brownells.com