This is a post about two guns and some brands of .44 Spl.
The guns are a S&W M 629 Magnaport Custom. If I remember right it is their Defender Model with a 2.5" barrel. The other is a S&W 624 from a run for Lew Horton distributors a decade or so back with a 3" barrel. Both have very good triggers and obviously had some work done on them.
The ammo for this outing was:
Winchester 200 gr. Silvertip HP which, according to Winchester gets about 900 FPS out of a 6.5" barrel.
CCI Blazer 200 gr. Gold Dot HP which has a claim of 875fps likely out of a 6" barrel.
Cor-Bon 165 Gr. HP which likely gets 1050 fps out of a 4" barrel.
All this ammo falls in the self defense category. Reduce the velocities some out of these snubbys. I have no way of measuring the velocity out of these guns. The old rule of thumb of 25 fps for inch of barrel was never accurate. Too many variables, as Phil Sharp showed many years ago. Likely I got from 800-900 fps out of this varied ammo. The ammo used has been shown to expand some at these velocities.
I haven't found the perfect grips for these guns. I've tried several. For now they are both wearing Hogues as you can see. Grips make a difference in how a gun fits the hand and therefore how a shooter shoots. Finger groove grips generally don't fit me, but the palm swell of the Hogues does melp some. The rubber grips shown are thinner than the wood. I shoot a small bit better with the rubber.
I'm about a mediocre shot, but fairly consistant in it. So most of what you see here is:
1. That the same ammo will shoot differently out of different guns. Finding out what ammo a particular gun like is part of the fun.
2. That grips affect shooting.
3. That I tend to anticipate the shot and push into it, causing me to shoot a bit to the left.
All targets were shot at 15 yards from a Weaver stance. The point of aim was the bottom of the 2"x2" bull.
First up the Winchester. The difference may be the grips and that the 624 prefers this a bit.
Next the CCI. The 629 prefers this ammo while the grips accentuate my shooting to the left.
The Cor-Bon. I didn't bother adjusting the sights for elevation with the lighter bullet. The 624 likes this round quite a bit. Slightly better bullet in it perhaps.
Some conclusions, I need to keep looking for the perfect grips for me. The Hogues have the annoying finger grooves and add an unnecessary half inch to the length of the stock.
The .44 spl. is a very nice round to shoot. A 240 gr. bullet at about 900 fps would be quite shootable out these guns and optimun for self defense IMHO. One of the ammo manufacturers ought to come out with some.
By the way the Magnaporting on the 629 aides in rapid DA firing. I've held my hand 6" above the ports while firing with only a slight sensation, no harm to my hand. Neither did I loose my night vision in a test I did some time back firing the Cor Bon out of it in the dark.
Hope folks can enjoy this little report.
tipoc
The guns are a S&W M 629 Magnaport Custom. If I remember right it is their Defender Model with a 2.5" barrel. The other is a S&W 624 from a run for Lew Horton distributors a decade or so back with a 3" barrel. Both have very good triggers and obviously had some work done on them.
The ammo for this outing was:
Winchester 200 gr. Silvertip HP which, according to Winchester gets about 900 FPS out of a 6.5" barrel.
CCI Blazer 200 gr. Gold Dot HP which has a claim of 875fps likely out of a 6" barrel.
Cor-Bon 165 Gr. HP which likely gets 1050 fps out of a 4" barrel.
All this ammo falls in the self defense category. Reduce the velocities some out of these snubbys. I have no way of measuring the velocity out of these guns. The old rule of thumb of 25 fps for inch of barrel was never accurate. Too many variables, as Phil Sharp showed many years ago. Likely I got from 800-900 fps out of this varied ammo. The ammo used has been shown to expand some at these velocities.
I haven't found the perfect grips for these guns. I've tried several. For now they are both wearing Hogues as you can see. Grips make a difference in how a gun fits the hand and therefore how a shooter shoots. Finger groove grips generally don't fit me, but the palm swell of the Hogues does melp some. The rubber grips shown are thinner than the wood. I shoot a small bit better with the rubber.
I'm about a mediocre shot, but fairly consistant in it. So most of what you see here is:
1. That the same ammo will shoot differently out of different guns. Finding out what ammo a particular gun like is part of the fun.
2. That grips affect shooting.
3. That I tend to anticipate the shot and push into it, causing me to shoot a bit to the left.
All targets were shot at 15 yards from a Weaver stance. The point of aim was the bottom of the 2"x2" bull.
First up the Winchester. The difference may be the grips and that the 624 prefers this a bit.
Next the CCI. The 629 prefers this ammo while the grips accentuate my shooting to the left.
The Cor-Bon. I didn't bother adjusting the sights for elevation with the lighter bullet. The 624 likes this round quite a bit. Slightly better bullet in it perhaps.
Some conclusions, I need to keep looking for the perfect grips for me. The Hogues have the annoying finger grooves and add an unnecessary half inch to the length of the stock.
The .44 spl. is a very nice round to shoot. A 240 gr. bullet at about 900 fps would be quite shootable out these guns and optimun for self defense IMHO. One of the ammo manufacturers ought to come out with some.
By the way the Magnaporting on the 629 aides in rapid DA firing. I've held my hand 6" above the ports while firing with only a slight sensation, no harm to my hand. Neither did I loose my night vision in a test I did some time back firing the Cor Bon out of it in the dark.
Hope folks can enjoy this little report.
tipoc
