I've given up on revolvers...

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StrikeFire83

StrikeFire83

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Believe it or not, fellas, this is not a troll post. I really tried with revolvers, I really did. My dad has a beautiful Colt Trooper that's fun to shoot. I bought an SP-101 and shot it quite a bit, and I could never get good with it. But with my semi-autos I'm pretty spot on. Check out my thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=292616

Anyhow, I think I'm going to throw in the towel. I was trying to force myself to be good with something that just isn't coming to me. Yall seem to shoot your wheel guns well, so I guess that means there'll be more out there for you.

Good weapons, just not for me.
 
I guess that means there'll be more out there for you.
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And I appreciate that !

Actualy, I like both, and wether a revolver or auto there is that personal fit that can make all the difference. I have owned a number of both revolvers and auto's and one of the key issues in accurate shooting is trigger pull, the other is grip fit.
 
StrikeFire83,
I saw your post and pics of targets.
Your are doing great with a revolver.

Fess up. You hate cleaning the charge holes on a revolver and that is the "real" reason. ;)

Seriously, some great tips and input were shared by some in regard to revolver shooting.

My suggestion? Yep, once again, get a .22 revolver that fits you, and practice shooting double action only.

Quality Practice with less perceived recoil and less expensive to do so.

Speer Training Bullets , which are primer only , reusable plastic bullets, also give one quality practice with carry guns.

Still, the .22 rim-fire is a proven teaching tool to get the correct basics down pat, and when times occur , and they will, one needs some quality practice to get rid of bad habits, the .22 rim-fire is the ticket.

I'm old school. I still believe in learning to shoot a revolver double action, makes one a better shooter, no matter if they do transition to another platform.


Regards,

Steve
 
A short barreled magnum revolver is one of the trickiest firearms to master, so you were doing fine for starting out with the SP. Though in the end there's nothing wrong with deciding you'd rather not mess with them. I've recently decided to give up on semis. Too many of them bite me, and when it comes down to it I just don't like them all that much.
 
I recently bought a 3" SP and it has been a great shooter.

A couple things. What grips do you have on it? I can't get my little finger on the stock ones and find the Hogue monogrips to be perfect. Second is it the short barrel version? The sight radius is pretty darn small and frankly I would expect a target pattern like yours from such a gun. The other guns mentioned have much longer sight radii and are easier to 'target' shoot with. The SP is a good CC weapon and is not intended to pick a fly off a fencepost at 50 yards.

Also I find my shooting is more accurate in DA mode for some reason. I pull the trigger back until resistance is felt, then slowly let off the remainder.

I just hate to hear you selling the SP, it's such an excellent firearm.
 
the other targets have 50rnds through it. your revolver target only has 30, put another 20rnds through the same target post up same target.

i think you're doing good. im sure if u get a heavier 4" s&w 686 or 4" gp100, you will def hit the spot.
 
I recently bought a 3" SP and it has been a great shooter.

A couple things. What grips do you have on it? I can't get my little finger on the stock ones and find the Hogue monogrips to be perfect. Second is it the short barrel version? The sight radius is pretty darn small and frankly I would expect a target pattern like yours from such a gun. The other guns mentioned have much longer sight radii and are easier to 'target' shoot with. The SP is a good CC weapon and is not intended to pick a fly off a fencepost at 50 yards.

Also I find my shooting is more accurate in DA mode for some reason. I pull the trigger back until resistance is felt, then slowly let off the remainder.

I just hate to hear you selling the SP, it's such an excellent firearm.
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Thanks for the kind words, and yes, it's the 2 inch snubbie. I'm not going to sell the Ruger, I just left it in Texas and prob won't have it shipped to CA (where I'm living and working now) because I don't see the point of spending the time and money to use a gun I can't seem to get proficient with. I've shot about double the rounds through the SP as I have through my CZ-75 and I'm spot on with the CZ and still working a shotgun group with the SP.

I've decided not to sell working guns, though. I sold my Springer XD-45 tactical because I can't afford .45 ACP on my current salary (I'm a writer) and that was a stupid decision that I wished I'd never made.

No, the Ruger will sit back in Texas gathering dust. My pops will take it out when he goes to the range (about twice a year) and that'll be it.

Maybe I'll come back to revolvers some day because I really like the romance of it all, but right now my semis: have more capacity, better accuracy, and are cheaper to shoot.
 
I've shot about double the rounds through the SP as I have through my CZ-75 and I'm spot on with the CZ and still working a shotgun group with the SP.
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I would not compare your accuracy with the two. The CZ is going to be much easier to shoot accurately than the SP. I have a CZ 75 that I can drive nails with, but I cannot come close to that accuracy with my snub nose.
 
I bought an SP-101 and shot it quite a bit, and I could never get good with it. But with my semi-autos I'm pretty spot on.

Your revolver accuracy is close to what you're shooting with the semi autos. You're also comparing your skill with basically service autos vs a smaller revolver. The autos you mention basically have single action type triggers. Trigger control is harder to master on a revolver but you need to take your time. Did you use magnums in that SP? If so back off and shoot wadcuters and work your way up, wadcutters, std 38s, +P, +P+, magnums.

I was trying to force myself to be good with something that just isn't coming to me.

It takes time to learn a skill. One shouldn't give up learning because some tasks are harder than others. You didn't give up learning to ride a bike because you fell off a few times. Learning to shoot a revolver will improve your other shooting skills.
 
I've converted to all wheel guns. To my way of thinking they have every advantage except one: they take more training and practice. If your interest is targets, not carry, try a 5" N-frame S&W. You'll see what handgun accuracy is all about. A snubbie for ccw isn't about target accuracy anyway, it's about close-range self defense.
 
Grizz is the first to bring it up.

StrikeFire in none of the pictures that you posted do you mention what ammo you're firing, unless I missed it. You mention the extra cost of your wheelgun ammo which leads me to believe that your likely firing 9mm out the pistols and .357 out the revolver (.38 Spl can be had rather cheaply). There is a considerable difference between the two particularly when the latter is tossed out a snubby. 9mm out a pistol is a mild round to shoot. A 125 gr. load at 1300 fps out a snubby could put a fella off revolvers and convince them that they can't shoot so well.

So what were you shooting out of what guns?

As you may know there is also a pretty wide variety of .357 available with different bullet weights and velocities. Some are easier to learn to shoot with than others.

You've said that you like the Ruger, that it's fun. If that's the case why drop it?

tipoc
 
If we were all the same then the world would be an awfully dull place.

I imagine that at some point in the future you might return to revolvers. I know that I have changed interests several times over the past 30+ years. I have "bottom feeders" of all types, there is one in my pocket as my CCW piece, but there is something very special about a fine wheel gun.

One day you might just come back to the light.
 
Don't give up just yet. You gotta try more than one before you give em up. :)
 
I had a 6" Python that I bought when I was 22-23 yrs old. At that time, it was the most powerful handgun I owned and I absolutely could not shoot it worth a darn. Shot my 22's well enough. Years have past and I believe the reason I didn't shoot it well was simple.... I BELIEVED it had a lot of recoil and was a really powerful handgun; I simply flinched when I shot it. I sold it a couple of years ago. Probably shouldn't have, but I still believed it was the gun and not me.

I shoot a 6" Colt Trooper Mark III now as I ran onto one at a gunshow that I felt was an excellent price for an as-new gun. The flinch is no problem on most days. I shoot more 41 magnums now than 357's, so the 357's seem pretty tame to me overall. I did my shooting to qualify for my carry permit with a brand new (never shot by me) 3" Ruger GP100 and it was no problem to qualify. I was a tad nervous at first.

It is really hard to shoot a short barreled revolver well. Defining well is a personal choice. Keep shooting some milder loads and you will be fine with the SP101.
 
The hardest thing about DA snubby shooting is trigger control. Once you master DA trigger control, you can master the gun, in my experience anyway. Anymore, I'm MUCH more confident with DA guns, revolver or automatic, than SA or "safe action" autos. Triggers vary in quality, of course, but once you really learn DA, you can adapt to all, but the worst. Smoothness is far more important than pull weight.

I don't know why ANYone can't learn to shoot a revolver DA, but I guess if you can't, you can't...more likely you won't, I don't really believe in can't. But, that's why there are so many kinds of handguns and actions. Noone is the same.
 
I've been almost exclusively an S&W revolver shooter for twenty years, so I've had plenty of practice, but the day I bought my first CZ 75B I could shoot it better than even my most sweetly tuned revolvers.

Revolvers are fun, so l like to practice with them. However, for defensive purposes, it seems silly to pick guns that are harder to shoot well.

Of course I'm referring to cocked and locked CZ's (and 1911's). TDA and DA autos are much harder to shoot well than revolvers, for me at least, and their crappy triggers aren't fun at the range. I wouldn't own anything in that genre.
 
Cosmoline said:
A short barreled magnum revolver is one of the trickiest firearms to master, so you were doing fine for starting out with the SP. Though in the end there's nothing wrong with deciding you'd rather not mess with them. I've recently decided to give up on semis. Too many of them bite me, and when it comes down to it I just don't like them all that much.
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When I took up handgun shooting recently, I bought a Taurus 605 and a PT24/7 in 9mm the same day. I liked the idea of the snubbie for CCW, and high capacity auto for HD. I practiced regularly with each, usually only 30-50 rounds with the 605 at each practice session, versus 120-150 rounds of the 24/7. I've tried mightily to like the 24/7, but find myself being able to control the revolver better. Lately, I've taken to reloading, and with some custom, slightly reduced power loads, both have become much more manageable to me. Still, I like the revolver better. It now has a big brother, a 6" Taurus Tracker in 357. While the 24/7 is still available for HD if I feel the need for it, the Tracker sits in a nightstand drawer as my goto HD gun.

Everybody's different. I like revolvers.
 
StrikeFire in none of the pictures that you posted do you mention what ammo you're firing, unless I missed it. You mention the extra cost of your wheelgun ammo which leads me to believe that your likely firing 9mm out the pistols and .357 out the revolver (.38 Spl can be had rather cheaply). There is a considerable difference between the two particularly when the latter is tossed out a snubby. 9mm out a pistol is a mild round to shoot. A 125 gr. load at 1300 fps out a snubby could put a fella off revolvers and convince them that they can't shoot so well.
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+1

i started on DA revolvers with my 6" model 586. in that gun .357 is quite manageable. in fact, i don't really have any more problem with .357 than .38 special out of that particular gun. long, full underlug barrel and medium-large steel frame to soak up the recoil.

the first time i fired an SP-01, i did "okay" with .38s and horrible with .357s. this was with the snubby version, and a big part of the issue was the short sight radius. but that gun also showed me what the "big deal" was with .357 magnum. previously i had never understood what all the hubbub was with magnum recoil, but that was just because i was shooting with a heavier gun. with the SP101, the recoil was quite uncomfortable, and my accuracy suffered mightily as a result. it has taken me quite a bit of practice to bring my accuracy with the SP up to my own definition of acceptable.

and like others have said, it really isn't meant to be an excellent target gun. it's a short range SD gun. so you have to take that into account when evaluating your accuracy with the gun. sure, i could be much more accurate with a full-size Sig or BHP or CZ...but i's also have a much harder time concealing it with my typical wardrobe in a hot climate. so the SP serves a very specific function.


ETA: try a larger revolver and you might be surprised with the results...
 
I can feel for ya. I shoot revolvers in IDPA and they are just plain hard to work with. I would second trying something other than a snubbie though.
 
Col. Charles Askins (who knew a thing or two about the matter) suggested a training protocol that starts off with .22 and works gradually up the caliber food chain.

It was great advice then and its great advice now.
 
Some things come easy. Makes one feel pretty good to succeed early on.

While other things might be a whole lot harder to master. Makes one feel a tad bit frustrated because it's not as easy. One might spend a lifetime trying, never to feel totally successful due to self imposed limitations when comparing the hard thing to the easy thing.

Sooo... sometimes people, when they face a wall, give up on the hard things and stick to the easy things, yet others keep on keeping on, plugging away, attempting to understand, to learn, to get better. Often, a pause in the action giving oneself time to reflect is a good thing. That pause may be a week, a month, a year, maybe a decade.

You'll never tame a wildcat, not totally. .357's out of a short barrel are kinda hairy, all fangs, claws and spittin', while .38's out of a 6"... why that little kitten just purrs and comes back for more. While I don't claim to be a master of anything, I do claim to be a student. And while I might not shoot my 14-4 or Hiway Patrolman as well as my CZ-75, BHP or 1911's, I know for darn sure I shoot all of those a lot better than my Model 60 w/ full house loads.

So don't throw in the towel just yet StrikeFire, maybe sit down on the beach out there in sunny Cal for a spell, admiring the view and the weather. Some day, maybe... you might just find a real nice shooting wheelgun that calls out to you and wants to purr for you. As long as you feed it something it likes to shoot well.

A boy can always dream. Hmmmm, a 3" N Frame. Ahhhhhh ;)
 
Good morning, I was looking at your groups as it looks like to me that the GP is to lite for you. I would try a different position in a rest mode and some what braced position. Work up from there and try again. It takes 500-600 rounds of ammo to get some what proficient with a snub nose of that caliber. I have to agree with some of the other folks here that you need to start with .38's and work up. Just a recommendation. I diffinently would not like to be the BG with you behind any of those weapons. Not that bad at all.
 
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