Alrighty, so I got to take her out to the range today, and I am pretty in love at this point. Excellent Valentine's day romance haha. It is still early and the honeymoon phase obviously, but if I really were ever forced to choose a single handgun to own, this might have just jumped to the top of the list. I shot 100 rounds of Prvi Partizan 240 gr JHP .44 magnum ammo today. Based on PPU's website, the spec is full-strength though my chrono (as well as all my reloading supplies) are in Georgia, and I'm in Texas right now, so I couldn't do any checking or experimentation.
I put about 1000-1500 dry fires on it over the past week. I am still not nearly as familiar with the Smith DA trigger compared to the Ruger DA, but the Smith SA is excellent no matter what you are used to. I find the Ruger DA a little easier to stage at this point. Shooting it in DA, it has a bit of sting to it, but nothing too bad. Shooting it SA was no problem at all. I don't know if that is normal, but I always feel like DA shots tend to sting a little more than SA whether it be from the muscles in my hand being tensed or the grip being pushed into the web a bit harder at the moment of discharge. I wasn't sure how I would like the grip, but it turned out to work great for me. It is tacky enough to give secure grip but without grabbing skin. On my SP101 and Ruger Alaskan, I usually can't go more than 50-75 rounds before I get a blister in the web of my hand with stock rubber, Hogues, or Pachmyrs. No such problem with the stock Smith grip. I thought I felt it offering just a slight bit of cushion too deforming under recoil, that but that is hard to say for sure.
I attached the target from my last 20 rounds. These were all fired at 15yds, offhand, SA. The first group on the target is on the right, the last group is on the left. My focus started to wane a bit as 100 rounds is about my limit for this recoil level before things start to get sloppy, so you'll notice the 4 fliers. I still think it highlights the accuracy potential of the revolver. The black square is 1" x 1". I don't know if that is a testament to a two-piece barrel's accuracy or not, but that is about as good as I can shoot in general, especially with a big bore.
I did have the same findings as Paul 105. These rounds were landing 6" or so high at this distance. I was actually aiming at the bottom squares for each group. I suppose the groups might have been a tad smaller were POI=POA just because any variation in the rotational level of the gun would cause some left-to-right dispersion. I assume as he did that they are sighted in for .44 Special. I'll probably try it out at 25 yds next trip to figure out how high it is landing at a relatively "standard" distance and see if I can give S&W a phone call to get a new front sight mailed out. Other than that, no problems. Hard to believe but my greasing of the cylinder didn't make it bind
. Nor did the two-piece barrel fall off (at least today). I couldn't perceive any loosening up though I wouldn't expect it after 100 rds. I do think I noticed a small gremlin peak out of the lock hole and wink at me, but I guess he was taking the day off as there were no problems to note.
In short, this is definitely one of my current favorites. Hopefully a long-term romance is born
