drannor
Member
First, let me state that I'm a relative revolver novice. I mostly shoot and own semi-auto pistols and C&R type rifles. Have mercy on the uneducated! I'm looking for a ammunition recommendation for my ported S&W 686-1 target revolver. Also hoping to get a few questions answered regarding the functioning of the piece so far.
I purchased this gun used while hunting for a new 6" barrelled 686P late last year. (Could not find a 6" model in Austin and the revolver really caught my eye) This particular revolver has led an interesting life I think. Judging by the bobbed hammer, short ejector, and rounded butt grip it started life as a snubbie. Then a massive slab sided and ported/compensated 6" bull barrel and matching underlug were fitted. The trigger has been worked on as well, it has the sweetest SA pull I have ever experienced. The bobbed trigger seemed VERY out of place, so I had it replaced with a blued S&W target hammer. (.500 width) The grips are a nice blondish wood, and look non stock. The shop that sold it to me claimed it belonged to an employee of Thunder Ranch. Someone definitely loved it, that's for sure. The two experienced revolver shooters I've shown it to have been very impressed with it, and remarked that a considerable amount of smithing had gone into the piece.
I digress. On to the problem. This gun spits lead at me, seeing as I'm on the other end of the revolver I find this somewhat bothersome. I checked the revolver out following the "revolver check out thread" (Thank you Mr. March) and the lockup and timing appear fine on all cylinders. I've been shooting a combination of LRN and the partial MJ/HP rounds. I've noticed that lead builds up VERY quickly in the compensator port. After my last range trip and 200+ rounds there was literally a "lip" of lead around the inside of the compensator's exit hole. (muzzle? not technically I guess?) I'm assuming this collection of lead is what is getting blown back at me. .357 rounds do this to a larger extent, but I don't plan on firing them from a target gun anyways. The big flash and boom from the porting is nice though.
Can someone recommend a good .38spl TMJ or FMJ cartridge for target shooting? My goal is to cut down on the leading. I usually shoot Winchester white box, CCI Blazer, S&B, or UMC at the range. I am not a competitive shooter, so expensive match ammo is unnecessary..... I'm not accurate enough at present to justify it.
Any other ideas on why this might be occuring? Special things I should check, measurements to take? The cylinder gap looks good presently.
Oh, a good cleaning agent for removing the leading from the compensator? Hoppes #9 isn't cutting it, and the aperature is too small to get a cleaning brush in there with any effectiveness.
Thanks in advance.
I purchased this gun used while hunting for a new 6" barrelled 686P late last year. (Could not find a 6" model in Austin and the revolver really caught my eye) This particular revolver has led an interesting life I think. Judging by the bobbed hammer, short ejector, and rounded butt grip it started life as a snubbie. Then a massive slab sided and ported/compensated 6" bull barrel and matching underlug were fitted. The trigger has been worked on as well, it has the sweetest SA pull I have ever experienced. The bobbed trigger seemed VERY out of place, so I had it replaced with a blued S&W target hammer. (.500 width) The grips are a nice blondish wood, and look non stock. The shop that sold it to me claimed it belonged to an employee of Thunder Ranch. Someone definitely loved it, that's for sure. The two experienced revolver shooters I've shown it to have been very impressed with it, and remarked that a considerable amount of smithing had gone into the piece.
I digress. On to the problem. This gun spits lead at me, seeing as I'm on the other end of the revolver I find this somewhat bothersome. I checked the revolver out following the "revolver check out thread" (Thank you Mr. March) and the lockup and timing appear fine on all cylinders. I've been shooting a combination of LRN and the partial MJ/HP rounds. I've noticed that lead builds up VERY quickly in the compensator port. After my last range trip and 200+ rounds there was literally a "lip" of lead around the inside of the compensator's exit hole. (muzzle? not technically I guess?) I'm assuming this collection of lead is what is getting blown back at me. .357 rounds do this to a larger extent, but I don't plan on firing them from a target gun anyways. The big flash and boom from the porting is nice though.
Can someone recommend a good .38spl TMJ or FMJ cartridge for target shooting? My goal is to cut down on the leading. I usually shoot Winchester white box, CCI Blazer, S&B, or UMC at the range. I am not a competitive shooter, so expensive match ammo is unnecessary..... I'm not accurate enough at present to justify it.
Any other ideas on why this might be occuring? Special things I should check, measurements to take? The cylinder gap looks good presently.
Oh, a good cleaning agent for removing the leading from the compensator? Hoppes #9 isn't cutting it, and the aperature is too small to get a cleaning brush in there with any effectiveness.
Thanks in advance.
