And The Winner Is... The 4 Inch

[AzShooter]

Today was the final day of testing to see which gun I'll use for the State Steel Challenge Championships, my four or six inch S&W 617s. They are almost identical except for the extra 2 inches of barrel.

First thing I did was clean both guns to ensure the cases will drop out freely and to make sure I can run up to 40 reloads without having to clean the cylinders. Both guns passed this test after having reamed the chambers recently. The next was to test the weight of the triggers.

My 6 inch has an Apex Tactical Hammer Kit. It allows me to shoot a lighter double action pull but I set it at 8 pounds so that it would feel the same as my 4 inch in case I need to change guns during the match.

The 4 inch is set just a tad heavier at 9 pounds. The only thing I've done to the action is a little polishing and replacing the rebound spring with an 11 pounder. The original is about 15 pounds and affects the DA pull. Using the stock hammer also means I can't get the DA pull down below 8 pounds. This gun requires 9 to insure proper ignition. Both guns have 8 32 set screws instead of the stock strain screws so I can adjust them on the fly.

I set up an 8 inch Shoot & See target at 10 yards at our local indoor range. I chose 10 yards because I wasn't shooting for groups, just performance and speed. I wanted to pull the trigger as fast as I could to get all hits. Balancing the springs is important. Too low and you can outrun the trigger forcing you to skip a chamber. Too heavy and the trigger will stick which means more time do to the malfunction.

After 250 rounds of Remington Bucket-Of-Bullets, the load that gives me both accuracy and reliability, the winner is the 4 inch. It handles just a little quicker between shots and target acquisition. Even though the trigger is just a little heavier.

[Mark D]

I think the 4" will serve you well.

I shoot SC better with a G19 than a G17. I had a hard time accepting that, but my scores don't lie.

Let us know how it goes.

[AzShooter]

I think the 4" will serve you well.

I shoot SC better with a G19 than a G17. I had a hard time accepting that, but my scores don't lie.

Let us know how it goes.

Will do.

[gato naranja]

After 250 rounds of Remington Bucket-Of-Bullets, the load that gives me both accuracy and reliability, the winner is the 4 inch. It handles just a little quicker between shots and target acquisition. Even though the trigger is just a little heavier.

"Before I know better" (my Bob Valdez-ism for the day), I struggled with longer (physically) barreled handguns longer (chronologically) than I should have. Extra velocity; steadying weight, increased sight radius; you name it, and I used it to justify the extra bit of tube.

I had a 4" 617 that I could shoot better than the 6" version, though a buddy of mine would get the opposite result. Having already noted what some of the old timers had proven to themselves empirically, I concluded that the mechanical accuracy was comparable and the difference was in the operator(s).

[AzShooter]

Well, the results are in.

I didn't do real well at the State Championship but my gun worked flawlessly. I shot the 4 inch and had no misfires or any problems loading the gun. All my rounds dropped freely during reloads and I didn't have to clean the chambers once.

After doing setup for the match I was in a lot of pain. Here's my excuse for my bad performance. It's hard to do setup and then shoot. I did what I could but really had a hard time walking from stage to stage. Two competitors had Artic Cats and towards the end they put my walker in the Cat and drove me to the next stage. That help. Last stage was Smoke & Hope and I decided I needed to shoot it from the center box and except the 4 second penalty per run. I sat in my walker to shoot the stage and I did manage to shoot my average.

After shooting I did registration. I brought my wheelchair to the range because when I sat in the aluminum chairs the range had I couldn't move my legs. My wheelchair is the most comfortable way for me to sit. Thanks to the VA for giving it to me.

I felt bad that I wasn't doing all the work the ROs had to do on the stages. The Range Master told me I did enough because somebody had to do registration and that left time for him and others to do a bunch of work. He told me I was the first person to volunteer and there were few of us this year, just enough to have one RO per stage. Good thing the Boy Scouts showed up to do the painting. They did a fantastic job.

So, there's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[JonInWA]

You shot it, fought through the pain, and succeeded. That's a triumph in and of itself.

Give yourself some grace. You persevered.


Best, Jon

[Guerrero]