almost 3 weeks later, i finally got a chance to drag them down to a local indoor range to give them a whirl
I dislike shooting there as there is no practical way to do any bench shooting and offhand is the only way to go, --- but my outdoor range is 30 miles away and i only had a limited amount of time ---
After a cylinder full of "get aquainted" rounds and to make sure there weren't any timing issues or anything, i set the targets at 20 yards (10 yards for my Det Special though) ammo was 158 gr 357 SP's (except for the Det Spl of course)
I know the Smith K frames are wildly popular, but i was the least satisfied with its performance -- albeit, this photo shows 6 headshots at 20 yards, they seem to be all over the map and it just wasn't very comfortable to shoot --- later, when doing some double action work, i just about got the thing to double on me as i was staging the trigger like a Colt --- (i was staging the trigger and it completely surprised me when it went off, - the recoil triggered another one a split second later -- first one hit chest area where i was aiming and the second hit the silhouette in the face ---would have been a cool double tap if it was intentional , but that was not the case)
the group below for the 66 is single action
-- you guys dont want to see the D-A "group"
The Lawman gave me some decent double action groups and gave me the best single action groups of the day - (but i regrettably did not get a good photo of those ) These are both DA groups
I guess the reason i like the nickel Lawman so well is because this parkerized model has been my "go to" 357 for 15 years -- great group size for me shooting offhand (although i was aiming at the "8" 1.5" to the right of the group ) - this is a single action group , DA was on par with the nickel plated gun
As mentioned, i shot the Det Special DA at approximately 10 yards -- i was aiming at the line between the 7 and 8 right in the chest zone of the target -- i can't expect any better than this with me behind the wheel
I am overall disappointed with my experience with the model 66, but i am not going to write it off just yet. The trigger is a whole different animal than the Colts and i was trying to shoot it like a Colt (staging the trigger slightly to get better DA accuracy) -- i wasn't that crazy about the single action accuracy either, especially when compared to the crude sights on the big fixed sighted Colts --- ultimately i mainly think it is the small grips that are doing it to me and i am not getting as secure and repeatable a hold as i am with my Colts --- i would like to try the Jordan Trooper style grip and see if that works out any better.
Also i will take it to the range by itself someday and leave the Colts at home --- having them in the same gear bag is like going on a double date (my version of double dating is having a date with 2 separate women on the same night
potentially entertaining, but also potentially catastrophic at the same time)K Frame "getting aquainted" issues aside, it was nice to hit the range
and any one of these fine revolvers is more than accurate enough to defend my life with if things ever get that bad
-- truthfully i shouldn't be expecting too much more than this with service grade revolvers -- but i feel the Smith has more potential than it showed today
