Revolvers are great, but how can you stand the gun powder debris hitting your face?

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CountGlockula

CountGlockula

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Can you tell I'm a semi-auto guy? I'd like to discuss this and get opinions from experience wheel dudes. Anyways, I visited a range with a buddy of mine and rented out a Ruger Blackhawk .44 mag.

Great gun, but after 100+ rounds we had a nice make up job on our mugs. More the reason for the purpose of wearing eye protection folks.

But wondering if it annoys revolver owners? Or what causes it? We used the ranges' factory reloads as ammo. Would that cause excess gun powder to hit our faces?

At the end my buddy almost look like the drummer from KISS with nice whiskers.:D
 
Can't say I've ever had that happen. The closest to that would be shooting some LRNs that made a lead cloud with every shot.
 
Nope

My pythons dont do that to me. It was most likely just that particualr gun.
 
Were you perhaps in a shooting booth within an indoor range? If so the powder from side-spit might come back at you. As a rule I don't get "blackface" shooting outdoors - at least with moderate loads, and it beats getting hit in the face with brass. :neener::D
 
not at all. I don't really know what happen to you
Either the gun or the ammo. But usually I fire at least a couple of revolvers when i go to the range and that don't happen to me. Even though that one of my revolvers is ported.
 
Never got that from any of my large caliber revolvers, even after firing up to 200 rounds at a time. This includes 4 Ruger and S&W .357 Mags and 6 S&W .44 Mags. That revolver may have too much gap between cylinder and barrel or the chambers may not be locking up in line with barrel.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB
 
That gun must be shot loose and spittin' lead and everything else. You mentioned it is a rental gun, so it probably is some trade-in gun that the owner didn't have the heart to sell.

This is NOT normal for a revolver! Yes, there is always a little side blast but not THAT much.

However, one should ALWAYS wear eye protection at the range . . . including when shooting those bottom feedin,' brass-pukin' autos!;) Was it spitting lead too? If so you might have felt your hands and/or face get a little "sandblasted" (for the lack of a better word). If so, I'd go back to the range you rented it from and tell 'em they have an unsafe gun that needs retirement or repair.

Another reason the gun my have been shooting dirty is the ammo. It is possible that you were shooting reloads that were loaded with one of the dirtier powders out there that are many times used for loading for handguns for low-velocity plinking use. Maybe you bought reloads from the same guy who rented the worn, out-of-spec. Blackhawk.

Again though . . . just conjecture on my part about the ammo.

T.
 
That gun must be shot loose and spittin' lead and everything else. You mentioned it is a rental gun, so it probably is some trade-in gun that the owner didn't have the heart to sell.
Click to expand...
Spot on. Or the barrel-cylinder gap was too big from the factory.

My first sixgun tended to spit back at the shooter a bit, so for a while I too thought it was intrinsic to the breed.

Not at all true. No more than all autoloaders bean the shooter with ejected brass! ;)

I was just at the range yesterday exercising my S&W 629 (.44 Magnum) and little Ruger SP101 (snub .357 Magnum). Great, smooth-shooting weapons. The little Ruger is well-fitted with a tight lockup, and even shooting full-house magnums in a snubby it does not spit at all. Ditto the big Smith.
 
Thanks guys. Your feedback really helped out. I'm about to apply for a part time position at that range tonight and I'll bring it up.

Yes it's an indoor range. Thanks again folks, keep riding on the High Road.
 
There's a "checkout" process stickied in this forum. It helps :). I'd be willing to bet that range rental wouldn't pass.
 
Not at all true. No more than all autoloaders bean the shooter with ejected brass!

I beg to differ. I've a couple of times shooting at an indoor range had brass bounce off of a booth wall and down the back of my shirt. It'll make you do a real interesting little dance! :eek:
 
My thumbnail turns black but that is because I insist on shooting my wheels with a thumbs forward semi-auto grip, the weak thumb ends up on the frame below the cylinder. If stuff is getting back to your face you need a differeent gun.
 
CountG
Seriously? I thought it was pretty common. Maybe I exaggerated a bit. So you guys don't get those nice black spots on your face after firing your revolvers?
Click to expand...

What about those burn marks on your face from the ejecting brass from your semi????:D
 
My wife still has a slight burn scar from an Al 9mm Blazer case that, ejected from her CZ-75B, bounced off the range divider and lodged between her safety glasses and just above her eyebrow. Of course, it is my contention, as a true revolver lover, that evil-bottom-feeders are indeed quite rude - casting their empties asunder. Of course, being volumetrically challenged, bending over to pick up brass never was much fun.

I would say it's b/c gap is too large - and/or it may just have a timing pattern.

Stainz

PS I did have ejected residue (unburned powder?) with position & volume sensitive powders, like Unique and W231/HP38, in .45 Colt lead loads - remedied here by going to Titegroup.
 
I have had autos bounce ejected casings off my forehead.
I had a .45 ACP arc over my head and land between my collar and
my neck.
A lady at the range caught an hot ejected casing in her cleavage.
None of that happens with a revolver.
 
Either the ammo is bad, cheap, or old, or the gun is out of time, or spec or somehting. Even my little, cheap Taurus 605 snubbie to my Superblackhawk doesn't do that!
 
Stainz-- Wheelies are easy cleanup. Isn't that why the CIA uses them for wet ops--Oh wait they don't do wet ops anymore ;):D!
 
The S&W factory range makes you wear a cap, even if you're only shooting wheelguns. They have disposable painters caps for you if you don't bring your own cap.
 
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