Shooting SSR in IDPA? Share your views on equipment please.

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HighVelocity

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I've been shooting my 686 in IDPA for a couple of months now, about 7 matches or so I think. It's a lot of fun and I'm doing pretty well with it.

I am curious what equipment other folks are using for SSR as well as what's been tried and NOT liked and why.

Here's what I've been using:

S&W 686-5 round butt (frame mounted firing pin, no lock), 4" barrel
SDM .250 red fiber optic front sight, SW white outline rear .146
Jerry Miculek trigger job (per his dvd instructions) w/spring kit (I did it myself but left the pull at 9lbs DA to lessen chance of light strikes on hard primers)
Hogue smooth wood finger groove grips (just got JM grips in the mail and haven't used them yet)
Comp-Tac locking paddle holster
Safariland 333 speedloader pouch (only using 2 of the 3 slots)
Safariland Comp III speedloaders
Wilderness 5 stitch belt.
Various ammo, whatever I can find that's the cheapest.

This is mostly the equipment I've been using from the start except for the front sight, speedloaders and the grips.
Originally the gun had a black ramp with a red plastic insert and I was using HKS speedloaders.
I replaced the front sight because I just couldn't see the factory front sight very well when shooting indoor matches and the HKS speedloaders, while I like the knurled aluminum knob, would sometimes let go of the ammo before all rounds were headed into the chambers and that's definitely a bad thing.
Probably relative to the way I was handling them but after many hours of practice it still happened so I switched to the Comp III's and it hasn't happened since.
 
Good gun, good sights, good speedloaders, good holster and belt. I think you will like the grooveless grip. Lots of all the above in use.

The smoothest and lightest reliable DA is a big help. I don't know what is in J.M.'s video but you might one day want a full action job. Randy Lee is making them VERY light these days. Don't believe the gunzine crap that only smoothness counts; a light DA is a huge help.

That Safariland 333 carrier does not meet IDPA regs and would not be allowed in a sanctioned match. I don't know what Comptac has, but Blade-Tech and Ready Tactical carriers are good ones.

Very little cheap .38 Special meets power factor 125 requirements, should you get to a match where you will be chronographed. You will have to check around. There is some discussion on the IDPA board
http://p075.ezboard.com/bidpaforum
 
Thanks for the link, I signed up over there and will check it out. Why do you say the 333 is not IDPA legal? I've had several seasoned MD's look at it and say it was fine as long as I don't have 3 speedloaders in it when the buzzer goes off. The ammo is totally covered and if you turned the 333 upside down and shook it, the speedloaders would not fall out.
I wear it on my belt, strong side, right in front of the holster.
The ammo that I use most is 158gr fmj and it chrono's over 950fps avg out of my gun over a Chrony F1 which is easily makes power for SSR. A local supply house sells it to me pretty cheap. :D

As for trigger pull, I'm pretty happy with it at 9lbs (and very smooth), it was over 12 lbs stock and I shot it like that for a while so 9 feels like a dream come true. I'm sure 7lbs would be even better but since I haven't started reloading yet, I worry about hard primers. :uhoh:
I've been saving all my brass and have quite a bit already so reloading is not far away.
 
Holy Christmas, drop down to a .100" or narrower front sight and see all that you have been missing. Precision is VERY hard with a front sight as big as you have and almost impossible beyond 15 yards.......

You will love the JM grips, they flat work. The ONLY thing I have found that I can use anywhere close to as well is the stock service stocks and a Tyler T.

Indoor you will find black on black sights are the only thing you can count on. If you aren't under the light a fiber won't light and it doesn't look like it should, then the next position the fiber lights and you aren't sure what to do. Indoor is probably the most challenging scenario for open sights you will find, black on black is all you can really count on no matter what happens.
 
The IDPA rulebook says a speedloader carrier must:

"D. Either be of open top configuration that holds the speedloader in by tension and covers the full diameter and body of the speedloader or retain the speedloader with a snap or Velcro closure."

The 333 doesn't cover ANY of the speedloader itself or have a snap or Velcro, covering the ammo isn't enough by the rulebook definition. If your MDs don't care, go ahead, but you might run into one who cares about revolvers and has read that part of the rulebook.

I have a couple of carriers made by The Bear (leatherworker since deceased) using two of the 333 cups on a leather belt loop, spaced out more for a fast grab. At the time, Ken Hackthorn said they would be The Thing To Have for revolver shooters. But that was before the 2005 rulebook, which they felt had to ban the spring steel Safariland CD carriers and some IPSC magazine carriers without calling names. The 333 WAS banned by name in earlier editions of the rules.

Sorry, 'bout that.
As I said, use it if your MD doesn't mind, but it might not fly everywhere.
 
Thanks for the clarification Mr. Watson. I will start looking for alternative carriers. OTOH, if I were to add leather to the 333 that covered the body of the speedloader, would that make it legal? It seems strange that the 333 is not accepted but the Shoot The Moon moonclip holders are, even though ammo is exposed. :confused:

HSMITH, the .250 front sight measurement is height, not width. IIRC, the width of the steel is .125 and the fiber is .080. :D
Black on black in low light? I can't even see the sights. Even in extremely low light I can still see the red fiber optic front sight. The majority of the matches I shoot are indoor under poor lighting conditions. The SDM fiber optic front sight was reasonably priced and easy to install myself. Cheap and easy is good sometimes. ;)
It may not be the best but for me at least it definitely beats plain black or black with red plastic ramp.
I am looking fwd to trying the JM grips. I put them on the gun last night and my natural grip on the draw is definitely higher than with the Hogues. I plan to hit the range for some practice drills on Wednesday.
 
Oh OK, still a big front sight but not as bad as I thought. I have seen some HUGE sights, thought maybe you had one...

If you don't mind the width of the current front sight a tru-glo TFO might be the ticket for indoor matches. It uses a tritium light and a fiber, and the fiber lights in total darkness. I don't think it is made for your gun yet, but a good smith might be able to work something out.

Fiber sights work OK sometimes indoor, what drives me nuts is sometimes the fiber will light and sometimes it won't. My little pea brain needs consistent appearance of the front sight. I run a .090" wide black on black and it works good, enough blade to find and narrow enough for precision. Our indoor season is starting now, if I could get along with the width of the TFO I would have one....
 
I don't see why you couldn't put a modesty panel on your 333 to cover the speedloader bodies. As for the StM clipholders, don't apply logic to the rules, it seldom works.
 
Once again, Jim is correct about the rules. However, I competed in four sanctioned matches this year with the 333 carrier, and never heard any complaints (except an RO that didn’t know you could carry 3 speed loaders). I guess that’s one good thing about not having any “lists”. I have been using pretty much the same gear that you have. Exceptions being, I like a smaller fiber, rubber grips, bobbed the hammer (required for the grip I use), and I load weak hand (all 3 loaders on the left). I feel shooting a revolver helps my auto shooting by requiring more attention to trigger control. I can get a better trigger out of the older hammer mounted firing pin 686’s. If you reload you can use federal primers to get reliable ignition with the lightest pull. Practice your reloads and have fun.
 
I'm toying with the modesty panel idea as I really like the 333 and don't want to lose it if I don't have to.
Jmorris, I hear you. I've seen CDP shooters with brass bases on their mags at sanctioned matches and they didn't get a second look from SO's at equipment check. :eek:

I shot SSR in a classifier on Saturday and just saw the "official score". My time was 127.48. I'm happy with that. :)
 
:) Good....I will know where to look when I am ready for the big switch! Glad to see you ordered the plastic!
 
The ammo that I use most is 158gr fmj and it chrono's over 950fps avg out of my gun over a Chrony F1 which is easily makes power for SSR. A local supply house sells it to me pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

Mind sharing the brand/ more info on this ammo?
 
If you already have a gun that shoots .45 ACP from moon clips, you might check into .45 auto-rim. You could buy new ammo and start reloading later, or start with auto-rim brass and reload. If you already load .45 ACP, you may just need a new shellplate holder. You can shoot moon clips for ESR and .45 auto-rim with speedloaders for SSR.
Richard
Schennberg.com
 
Ultimately, I want to shoot my 625 in ESR but would love to play with it in SSR with Auto Rim ammo. Who sells factory auto rim ammo? I have some auto rim and acp brass hoarded but haven't started reloading yet. It's looking like I'll have to suck it up and call dillon soon for a 550b or something like that. :uhoh:
 
I wanted to do the above, as I really enjoyed shooting 125pf 45 ammo but I couldn't get Safariland to make comp III speedloaders for autorim.
 
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