gamestalker
member
I was out at the range today shooting a couple of my wheel guns, had a really good time.
I had an opportunity to enlighten a couple of other fellows on the line about barrel length and it's perceived effect on accuracy. One of the revolvers I was shooting was my S&W 66-5, which is a snub.
I was shooting my own reloads, using a long time, as well effective recipe of 140 gr. and 158 gr. XTP HP's, with a max charge of 296.
Initially, one of the guys on the line made a comment during a cease fire, that although that snub with those loads sounds impressive, but I bet it's about as accurate as sling shot at 100 yds.. He was obviously being sarcastic. So when we went green, I picked up the 66-5 and started shooting the target at 20 yds., which I was shooting off a sand bag rest. He was watching intently as I emptied the cylinder twice, producing a near single ragged hole in the bull. the groups was so consistent, that of the 12 rounds I fired, only 8 discernible holes were visible. Honestly, I didn't measure the group, but it was about an inch, and dead center of the bull.
As I was extracting the last cylinder of brass, he walked over and apologized for having under estimated the accuracy potential of both the 66-5 and full house 296, jacketed loads. I then went on to shoot back to back cylinders with similar groups, this time with some 110 gr. and 125 gr. XTP's, also loaded with 296.
The expression on his face was priceless, to say the least. But he did have the decency to walk over to me and apologize for his arrogant remark, and then complimented my shooting skills. As it turned out, he himself was a darn good shooter, as I discovered when I let him shoot a few cylinders of my full house loads using the M66 with a 20 oz. trigger, and my 4" Taurus 608. And rather than let a remark like that cast a dark cloud on my day, we ended up trading stories and interests, along with a friendly hand shake.
Later in my shooting session I shot at 50 yds with the same loads, and by golly I shot a really nice group at that distance also, not an inch, but dog gone nice, none the less. But today was one of my good days, something I've come to appreciate as my vision continues to degrade with age.
GS
I had an opportunity to enlighten a couple of other fellows on the line about barrel length and it's perceived effect on accuracy. One of the revolvers I was shooting was my S&W 66-5, which is a snub.
I was shooting my own reloads, using a long time, as well effective recipe of 140 gr. and 158 gr. XTP HP's, with a max charge of 296.
Initially, one of the guys on the line made a comment during a cease fire, that although that snub with those loads sounds impressive, but I bet it's about as accurate as sling shot at 100 yds.. He was obviously being sarcastic. So when we went green, I picked up the 66-5 and started shooting the target at 20 yds., which I was shooting off a sand bag rest. He was watching intently as I emptied the cylinder twice, producing a near single ragged hole in the bull. the groups was so consistent, that of the 12 rounds I fired, only 8 discernible holes were visible. Honestly, I didn't measure the group, but it was about an inch, and dead center of the bull.
As I was extracting the last cylinder of brass, he walked over and apologized for having under estimated the accuracy potential of both the 66-5 and full house 296, jacketed loads. I then went on to shoot back to back cylinders with similar groups, this time with some 110 gr. and 125 gr. XTP's, also loaded with 296.
The expression on his face was priceless, to say the least. But he did have the decency to walk over to me and apologize for his arrogant remark, and then complimented my shooting skills. As it turned out, he himself was a darn good shooter, as I discovered when I let him shoot a few cylinders of my full house loads using the M66 with a 20 oz. trigger, and my 4" Taurus 608. And rather than let a remark like that cast a dark cloud on my day, we ended up trading stories and interests, along with a friendly hand shake.
Later in my shooting session I shot at 50 yds with the same loads, and by golly I shot a really nice group at that distance also, not an inch, but dog gone nice, none the less. But today was one of my good days, something I've come to appreciate as my vision continues to degrade with age.
GS
