I've thrown this question around to several forums. What say you ?? TIA

Depends, how much do you want to spend on ammo? and how accurate do you want it to be? if i was going cheap, wanted something accurate, taurus made that big 22lr revolver. a friend of mine picked one up last year and its a lot of fun to shoot.

For target shooting revolvers: cant do any better than a S&W Model 17 in .22 or, Model 14 in .38.

Second on the two Smiths. If you should ever luck into an old Colt Officers in .22 or .38 they also shoot very well.
If you keep your eyes open you can find M14's that were police trade-ins at a very reasonable price.
C.G.B.

Depends on how serious you want to be...Our reigning ISSF (olympic) Centre fire champion uses an old Smith 66. For Bianchi I use a smith 686 and for IPSC I shoot a smith 629 Classic and used to use a smith 610 (until revolvers using full moon clips were banned for local competition).

I have never liked colt double action revolvers- but the officers match is a very accurate gun- if you intend to shoot it single action in olympic style matches. If you intend to shoot double action- buy a smith, get an after market competition spring set, and take it to a good gunsmith for a polish. On all my revolvers DA trigger pull is arround 8lbs and they work with any primer. If you use federal primers only you can go lighter.

Dan Wesson (one of the old ones, not familiar with the current) in 357. My absolute favorite gun I own to shoot.

What caliber?

That would be my first question. For general all-round "plinking" shooting it's hard to beat the 38 Spl / 357 mag.

Ammo in 38/357 is easy to load, cases last forever and seem to be plentiful as "range pickups." Factory ammo is plentiful and not expensive as ammo goes.

That said I'm a big fan of the Smith & Wesson. I have a J Frame Mod 60 snubbie (not for plinking) and a K Frame Mod. 10 or 14 (I can never remember) blue, in 4" ported, with a trigger job. It was someone's IPSC gun. I got it for less than $200 because it's chambered in 38 Spl and won't shoot the .357 mag. Pachmyer grips. One of my favorite shooters.

As noted above, the Smith 66 and 686 are great too. Both K frames, 38/357.

I have a Smith 629, 4" bbl, 44 mag. It's a bit big for a "shooter" but it's a hoot to shoot. I think that's an N Frame.

Also in 38/357 an older Ruger Security Six. Bbl on this one is about 6". Only critique I have on this gun is that the grip ergonomics is "high" and the gun rolls up in my hand when I shoot. They don't make the Security Six these days.

Get up to speed on Smith & Wesson frames --

J Frame is the five shot "snubby" also the "Lady Smith. These come in hammered, enclosed hammer, hammerless.

K Frame is the standard size, six shot, 38/357. Numerous models, barrel lengths. Most of the differences are in the lug under the barrel on this frame, also blue/stainless. Models starting with 6 are stainless.

N Frame is the 44 mag. Largest frame. -- Except now they have the S&W 500. I'm not up to speed on that frame designation.

-- Can't go wrong with a K Frame Smith in 38/357, 4" bbl for "carry/defensive" and longer for "target/plinking".

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Or you could go for a single action "cowboy" style revolver, but you'd be either 22 cal. or 44 Spl, 45 Colt for these.

Manurhin MR-73.

Target shooting revolver:
6" S&W K 22.
6" S&W K 38.
6" or 6.5 [older issue] S&W Mod 25 in 45 ACP.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
Target shooting revolver:
6" S&W K 22.
6" S&W K 38.
6" or 6.5 [older issue] S&W Mod 25 in 45 ACP.

Exactly.

TH

I'm kind of new on buying handguns, but I bought a 6" S&W 686 in .357 and I love it. Good accuracy and not a whole lot of recoil. I've even found some cheap ammo for it, so when I first bought it, I was shooting it a lot. Good luck, they're a lot of fun!

I bought a Ruger GP100 stainless with a 6" barrel with the thought of using it for paper punching. It was ok with .357's, but with .38's shooting for target accuracy, I wasn't impressed. My old Highway Patrolman with a 4" barrel did better.