Snubbie Work

[BrokenolMarine]

Been a while, but all the range reports going up, time for me to finally get down to the range. First time the weather has cooperated when my health decided to let me play as well, and of course I had to start with the EDC, the Smith M&P 340, so I added the Smith Model 64 2 inch to the mix.

01 Smith Model 340.jpg (459.94 KiB) Viewed 1700 times

The first group to be shot was two five shot strings, rapid fire, at three yards. My rapid fire groups are controlled rapid fire, shooting the rounds as soon as I bring aimed fire back on target, as I was trained in the academy. EVERY round has your name on them, and every round as an attorney attached.

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Moved back to Seven yards and fired a ten yard group slow fire. We are talking slow fire, double action, from a 2 inch snubby. The BIG dot XS sights help, but it's still a snubby.

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I'm still confident enough to carry this gun as my EDC, but I'll be back to the range for practice. THESE rounds are all 148 grain wadcutters in deference to the ARTHUR harassing me this past couple weeks. Don't want to see HIM angry.

[BrokenolMarine]

Moved on to the Model 64 Smith. I carried a Model 64 Four Inch on duty for several years before we moved to the Glock 22 .40 caliber. Never felt at a disadvantage. I'll shoot that again soon. This is snubby day, so... here 'tis.

04 Smith Model 64 2 inch.jpg (294.43 KiB) Viewed 1699 times

I repeated the drill with the Model 64, except I should 12 round groups since the Model 64 is a K frame Smith instead of a J Frame and holds six rounds instead of five. As I brought it on target I immediately noticed, (I had forgotten) that it had silver front sights. Sucks. The groups reflect it. I'll paint them with my Florescent Orange paint when I clean the guns.

Rapid at Three yards and Slow at Seven just like the 340. Groups aren't bad, should be better with the painted front sight. Old Eyes.

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They say snubbies aren't good for anything but close up, but I watched the Distinguished Shooters center shots at 50 yards all the time. I mean tight groups. I'm not them, but I looked downrange, and there was my "Iron Beotch." The steel mock up of the B27 qualification target. It's about 30 yards from where I'm standing. The Model 64 is a sweet shooter, and even double action, I was always able to shoot 'er. Six shots, 30 yards, slow aimed fire.

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Six shots, they all rang the steel downrange.
Walked down to check the group. If there was one. Not bad for an old man and a snubby.

07 6 rounds slow fire centered.jpg (536.42 KiB) Viewed 1699 times

More practice and painted sights I might tighten that up.

[North Country Gal]

Awesome snub nose work, Marine. I enjoyed following it. Thank you for sharing. Good to know that there are still some folks who appreciate fine revolvers and know how to use them so well.

[BrokenolMarine]

Thank you. I like autos, I love revolvers.
I hope to shoot again tomorrow.
I'm planning to work a bunch of them.

[BrokenolMarine]

I started on the front sight on the 2" Model 64. First I applied three coats of the Orange Testor's Model Paint. I allow each coat to dry before applying the next. This is a bright fluorescent orange.

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It looks rather dull on the flat silver sight. I apply a coat of clear nail polish to seal the paint, then apply two more coats of the paint. Now we are HERE:

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Still not as bright as I would like, so I'll apply another coat one more coat of clear nail polish and a couple more coats of paint. They are THIN coats of each product. ONE Last coat, maybe two, of nail polish and I'll be done, one way or another. If it chips, fades, or gets damaged, I'll scrub it off and perhaps, RED nail polish and clear coat.

[BrokenolMarine]

Oh, and before I apply the final sealing coats of nail polish, I might neaten the edges of the orange paint with a razor blade. Not that I'm anal or anything, unless you ask Miss Tina.

[rickhem]

The Iron Beotch......love that!

[Hatchdog]

Oh, and before I apply the final sealing coats of nail polish, I might neaten the edges of the orange paint with a razor blade. Not that I'm anal or anything, unless you ask Miss Tina.

You’re absolutely not anal whatsoever with your knife builds. Anal is a good thing.

Wonderful shooting with those snubs, you still got it!

[North Country Gal]

... I like autos, I love revolvers.

Judging by the number of revolvers versus autos we have in the gun safe, that's us, too. Probably a generational thing. Part of growing up in the day when revolvers ruled the roost.

[BrokenolMarine]

The Iron Beotch......love that!

I picked that up at a LE expo from a vendor. The welder made duplicates of the various targets used in most popular shooting sports so you could practice on the exact targets you shot in your sport and just "Ring" steel rather than shooting and replacing cardboard. He had the IDPA targets, tombstones, racks of bowling pins and plates. They were selling. I had been thinking of an idea for practice and to be used in training and discussed it with him. He said if HE could sell the plates after he made mine, he would give me a decent discount.

My idea was a set of 8" plates with slots in the back to fit over Rebar rods stuck in the ground. They would ring and move when you hit them, and depending on where you set them up, they could mock your falling plate rack for practice, or you could scatter them through a wooded area for a "Walk and Shoot" course. Paint them different colors and you had a Shoot / Don't Shoot course for students, or a reaction drill. About two weeks later he called and we met and I had my plates. I'm still using them.

The back of the plates:

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Set up to practice for falling plates matches:

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Shoot, Don't shoot runs, Students shoot at the color you call out and not at the alternate color.

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Over the years I have picked up some nice steel to shoot on the range, but it hasn't all been steel.

[BrokenolMarine]

Working patrol, especially midnights, we patrolled the county recreation facilities. We had a number of Ball Fields, both little league and adult softball. Public tennis courts, two golf courses, and a number of little league and adult football fields. Also large public park areas with open grassy areas for picnics, kite flying, etc. On slow midnights, we patrolled these areas to insure there were no trespassers or vandals, lunar lovers taking advantage of the solitude. This included foot patrols for those areas we couldn't see from the units. (Well, at least "I" was out on foot a lot on midnights, I enjoyed the walking, back then.)

I started carrying a mesh bag along, as I would find the balls that got hit out of bounds and the citizens were too lazy, or scared, to search for. (Sometimes these went over the fence or wall into the high grass.s.s.s.. Hissss, There be snakes. Or are there? ) I had a large tub in the Range House at home filled with these finds, and I'd hang them on the range for the kids to shoot with the .22s, they danced and spun and kept the kids from getting bored. I'd throw a softball or tennis ball down the range and they would try and run it down the range to the berm. Golf balls were harder to hit, but as they got older and more skilled, they became child's play. (pun intended.)

I acquired some bowling pins to use in training. Amazing how recruits who couldn't seem to hit the paper target suddenly became more skilled after a session of shooting at, and hitting, a bowling pin. Lay the bowling pin on the paper target and they suddenly see it's the same size of the primary scoring rings on the qualification target. Worked like a charm. Officers who thought they would never qualify... I'm so mean....

[fortyshooter]

Some really great sunbbie shooting BM! I carry the little Ruger LCR/357 revolver with its 2 inch barrel sometimes and have it loaded with the old "FBI" load 158 gr SWC HP and it is a nice little shooter. Glad you could get out and start shooting again!

[BrokenolMarine]

Some really great sunbbie shooting BM! I carry the little Ruger LCR/357 revolver with its 2 inch barrel sometimes and have it loaded with the old "FBI" load 158 gr SWC HP and it is a nice little shooter. Glad you could get out and start shooting again!

I practice with the FBI Load and the 148 grain wadcutters, but I always shoot a cylinder of my carry load, which is either the Hydrashock or Gold Dot hollowpoints, or whatever I can find in Quality .357 Hollowpoints. In the 340 Scandium Snubby, they are brutal to shoot, but it's so light it's a dream to carry. BUT, I always told my CCW and Officer Students, "Don't carry something you haven't shot, and you should Shoot on a regular basis."

Something I started after I graduated and became an instructor was a simple thing, but it struck home with a lot of the guys and gals...

The First Day of the Academy, we made the write on the cover notebooks we issued, in bold black marker:

"In a crisis situation, you will react in the way in which you have been trained."

We had the academy class read that statement aloud every morning at the start of the day.

Just before Graduation... I walked into class and had them pull out the notebooks and a bold black marker and draw a single black line thru the word BEEN. Then we read the statement we had been reading all through the academy...

"In a crisis situation, you will react in the way in which you have... ah... trained."

Yup, That's Right kiddies. You graduate next week, and after you finish field training, you'll get inservice in Firearms, ASP, CPR and the rest. You'll get updates on Defensive Tactics here and there. But, YOU are now responsible for keeping your skills up. YOU have to run, and work out. YOU need to go to the range. We have open range day once a month and provide 100 rounds of ammo and one of YOUR Firearms Instructors will be there for coaching if you want it, or you can shoot your 100 rounds plus any ammo you bring along. YOU need to come to the range and practice so every six months when requals roll around YOU qualify.

"In a crisis situation, you will react in the way in which YOU have trained."

This applies to civilians as well. You buy the firearms, you might take a class, or shoot a bit. Many then put the gun in a drawer and there it stays. Or, put it in the holster, and there it stays. Those of us that are Gun Folk enjoy shooting and do a lot more because we do. But, those who don't might need to look at it as Maintenance, like mowing the lawn or changing the oil in the car.

[BrokenolMarine]

I painted the two extra coats on the front sight. It's started to look bright. After I clean up the edges when this dries, I'll put two coats of clear polish on it and call it good. I'll see how I shoot at 7 and 10 yards today. I'll add another revolver to the mix and shoot that at 10 and 15 yards. Longer barrel.

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I'm going to take advantage of the cooler temps. Since the knife is finished, I'll wait on starting another, perhaps work on the sheath, but do some shooting, and maybe work on the hanging display case for all the knives laying around the house.

[BrokenolMarine]

Time to clean up the front sight in preparation for the final coat of clear polish. In recognition of old eyes, the clean up kit will consist of my Opti-visor and a razor blade. This is the gunsmithing (Okay, armorer's,) visor... HIGH magnification. Tina always laughs because the focal length is about FOUR inches.

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Using the visor and the razor blade, I am able to square up both ends of the orange stripe on the top of the sight and clean up the sides. I also used a nail file with a piece of Emory Paper held against it to clean up any scratches on the side of the sight. There were a couple light ones.

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Painted on the final coat of Clear Polish, and we are good to go this afternoon when I slip back out to the range. I am looking forward to it. I will find out if it was the sights, or if I was "milking my grip."

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Always liked this two inch gun. For those who hadn't seen previous posts on the 64 Two Inch, these two inch 64s, were issued guns for the Chief and the Sergeants worn when they wore Suits on duty and off duty carry back when we were carrying the four inch 64s on duty. Standard issue was the Hogue Rubber grip. I added the Wooden Smith Grip when I bought the gun during transition to the Glocks. I also bought my four inch duty weapon. I had shot it in Service Revolver matches a lot... and we "knew" each other.

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If you find one of the K frame Smiths as a trade in gun in some local shop, don't let holster wear immediately turn you off on the purchase. Check the barrel and the chambers, roll the cylinder and check the timing. There is a good chance that "Duty" gun was carried a lot and shot very little. Not many of MY Officers showed up at the Practice Days at the range back in the day, and from the conversations I have had with LE Trainers, it's still the rule rather than the exception.

[BrokenolMarine]

I can't remember, but I think that 4" target was something like 7 yard rapid on the left and 15 yard on the right. Could be 25 yard slow fire, might be from my Good Ol' Days.

[rickhem]

I have an older 4" Smith Model 10 that I bought from a retired NYPD. It's got the shiny sides of the barrel from long rides in a holster, and looks in much worse condition that it really is, just like you said. I've only ever shot that with 148 HBWC loads (2.7 BE), and it shoots them well. I use it now as a way to introduce newbies to shooting. Hardly any recoil with the 148 loads, and it's not the least bit intimidating.