Question for owners of S&W 317

[WC145]

Finally got my wife outside yesterday morning and she shot 20 rounds thru my LCR with some sub-standard 38 reloads and did reasonably well. Was not at all intimidated with the noise or recoil. Next time I'll work up some standard loads for her. She also wanted to shoot the P22 but afterwards said she liked the 38 much better. I made it a short session this first time and she was pleased with herself that she got a number of the shots in a 10 inch circle on a piece of cardboard about 12 feet distance. I shoot in my yard with a pile of dirt as backstop.

WC145: I still like the 317 and may eventually get one for myself to plink with but would prob go with the 3in barrel with better sights. Wheres the hammer spring located? Under the grips or inside?

I'm not real enthused with the close range accuracy of my new P22 but the functionality has been excellent. I have noticed a vast difference in brands of ammo so I've ordered 4 diff kinds to try to see if that makes a diff. I had Aquila, American Eagle and Mini-mags. The latter were by far the most accurate but a little pricey for plinking. The AA's were all over the place. Aquila's were so-so.

We shoot out back as well (love living in the country!) and went out today to work with the 317 and a couple of my 1911's. I had her shooting at 5yds and she was doing okay but her shots were spread out in an area the size of a paper plate. I put used a black marker on the front sight and told her to put the front sight where she wanted to hit and just like that she was grouping 8rds in a few inches. I was happy with that considering I'm only having her shoot it double action. I also had her working at about 2yds drawing it from her pocket with her thub on the hammer so it won't hang up and then emptying the gun into the center of a silhouette. She did well with all of it and the gun worked perfectly. I tried a number of different brands and weights of ammo and settled on CCI MiniMag 40gr solids for a carry load for her.

The best part of all this is that my wife absolutely loves this gun, more so because it's personalized for her with the grips. She's not intimidated by it, she shoots it well, and enjoyed being out there even though it was only about 30 degrees. She has no interest in other platforms, I tried to get her to shoot my .22lr 1911 and she wouldn't do it. She's happy to have one gun that is hers and only hers, that works good for her, and that she can shoot well. As far as I'm concerned if she can hit with it and she'll carry it I'm happy.

ulflyer -
The hammer spring is under the grips and took me about 30 seconds to change out.

My Dad has a P22 and he likes it a lot but I haven't shot enough to have an opinion.