Not a Henry, But.......

[Mr. Neutron]

I got the wife a new $&W 317 revolver today. With the probability of an appeal process to Oregon's really restrictive Ballot Measure 114 law passed around a year ago, I thought I'd better get her a .22 revolver while the gittin' is good. Merry Christmas to her!

It's an aluminum frame and cylinder gun (steel liner in the aluminum barrel), so it's really, REALLY light in weight. S&W touts it as their "Kit Gun", and due to it's light weight and J-framed small size, I can understand how it easily would fit in a tackle box (well, not in MY mess of a tackle box ) or back pack, or whatever. It's an 8-shooter, with a 3" barrel & an adjustable rear sight.

Some thoughts on shooting it today:

It has a pretty heavy DA pull, but counters that with a sweet, crisp & light SA pull. It has a nice fiber optic front sight, but $&W kinda had a "Fail!" execution of the rear sight blade. The rear blade's notch isn't deep enough for the top of the front sight to sit level with the top of the blade AND be able to see the fiber optic's dot. With the top of the front sight level with the top of the rear sight, the fiber optic's dot almost disappears, kinda negating the fiber optic's benefit. It makes for a somewhat inconsistent sight picture hold when shooting.

Nevertheless, my wife loves the gun! It fits her hand well, she likes the light weight, and the fact that it still has low recoil. She has a really nice shooting Ruger 22/45 (Mark IV?) that she likes to shoot, but doesn't like "the manual of arms" as far as how to make it safe, reload, deal with the safety, mag release, and etc.. She's really diggin' the sheer simplicity of the revolver, and understands how to swing the cylinder out, push in the extractor, and then have either a gun that's easier for her to reload (magazines give her "issues"), or a gun that's safe.

Now, please don't think I'm baggin' on my wife, or throwing her under a bus or something. I simply can't get her out to the range often enough, and like I said above, when I do get her out to shoot, she's kind of forgotten all she needs to do to safely run her semi-auto guns. She enjoys shooting her semi auto guns, but doesn't like everything else required to deal with them. But she's got the wheelgun down, so she just feels more confident about poppin' some caps with her revolver. She just needs a hubby to twist her arm to go shootin' more often. I think it's gonna be easier with this gun.

We shot around 80 rounds of CCI Mini Mag this afternoon. In spite of what I feel it a tough sight picture to deal with, I thought it shot some decent SA groups at 10 yards. My wife's group is shown in the pic with the gun.

I shot a couple of cylinders of DA shooting, and only succeded in embarrassing myself with the groups I got. I'm more of a 1911 guy, even though I shot a sweet 686 in Action Pistol matches many moons ago. My DA skills have definitely diminished. My wife shot a few rounds of DA, but quickly switched back to SA to be able to hit the target easier. We'll eventually work on her DA shooting. She shot off of sandbags for her shooting. I want her to have every chance of hitting a decent grouping, so she'll enjoy shooting more. And for her, hitting where she points the gun makes her (and me) happy.

IMG_1092.JPG (5.27 MiB) Viewed 1695 times

[GunnyGene]

Can you file the blade notch deeper?

[Mr. Neutron]

Can you file the blade notch deeper?

Thanks, Gene!

That's what I'm planning to try. I think there's gonna be some trial and error involved. I'd like to try to modify the stock blade, or another one of the same height if possible.

IF I can't get it deep enough due to limitations from the serrated adjustment body of the rear sght, S&W makes sight blades in 3 different heights. I'd just buy a taller notch to modify, which might be a better way to go all around. May do that anyway, and keep the original blade for grins and giggles. Midway and Brownell's make "kits" with the spare windage nuts and slotted screwdriver tip you when you remove the sight blade. There's videos from those folks and others that show how to remove the sight blades.

[fortyshooter]

That was a great idea getting your wife a revolver.....quick simple shooting! Yeah try notching that rear sight a bit and see what happens.
I just bought a Ruger 10/22 Compact rifle for my granddaughter for Christmas. She loves to shoot my....now hers....S&W Victory pistol and has mastered that thing. This rifle will be lighter with shorter LOP for her size being 12 years old.
Great shooting with it first time out!

[Rifletom]

Wife and I have been looking at small revolvers like that, but, in .38 spl. Thinking she would get along waaay better with a .22 revolver.
Thanks for the write-up. More looking today. Yeah, thinking a .22 will be the way to go.

[Mr. Neutron]

Yeah, forty, my wife's likin' the sheer simplicity of it, and how easy it is to unload/reload, and just all around "liviabilty" with it. Like I mentioned above, she has a couple of decent .22 semi auto handguns; an older S&W 2213 and her Ruger 22/45. She just gets a bit uncomfortable loading and unloading the semis, racking the slides to chamber or spit out a round, and such. I think her shootin' will eventually get more fun for her and improve with this little wheelgun. Maybe mine will too for the handguns as I shoot with her..... I have a tough time hitting air with my little Ruger LCP Max. My hands are just a tad too big for that gun. Really, it's only redeeming quality is it's size, making it easy to carry. But that also makes it hard to grip and get my sausage sized finger in the trigger guard.

And that 10/22 will be a really great gift for your granddaughter, fortyshooter. Those are great rifles!

[Mr. Neutron]

Wife and I have been looking at small revolvers like that, but, in .38 spl. Thinking she would get along waaay better with a .22 revolver.
Thanks for the write-up. More looking today. Yeah, thinking a .22 will be the way to go.

I really wish I would've gotten her a steel framed/steel cylinder J-frame in .38 spl. also, or even an all steel model 63 in .22 cal.. This is also her "keep loaded in the nightstand gun", and I'm not sure which is better for her. A .22 with lotsa rounds, or 5 rnds. of .38? I kinda think she'd shoot the .22 better than a .38, due to a low tolerance to recoil. Meanwhile, I'll just pray daily that she and I never have to use our guns for an "Oh Crap!!" kinda moment.....

But exactly like you said, the .22 cal. works best for her, and she seems to get along with the light weight. I had a tough time holding the thing steady, somewhat due to the size (I have pretty large hands that don't fit a J-frame too well), and somewhat due to the extremely light weight (11.8 ounces or so....). It's like pointing your fingers alone at the target. There's just no weight to help "stabilize" it for me. That doesn't seem to be an issue for her, as well as an easily tolerable amount of recoil, even with the light weight. And these are really cheap to shoot as a bonus!

One thing I am sorta concerned about is long term durability of an all aluminum gun. I don't think it will be too much of an issue with just .22 cal rounds, hopefully. Realistically, she won't shoot as much or often as I do, but I'm hoping to change that. If the gun were for me, I likely would've went with an all steel gun; a k-framed 617. But it's for her, and she's happy with it, so that's all that counts.

[GunnyGene]

Yeah, forty, my wife's likin' the sheer simplicity of it, and how easy it is to unload/reload, and just all around "liviabilty" with it. Like I mentioned above, she has a couple of decent .22 semi auto handguns; an older S&W 2213 and her Ruger 22/45. She just gets a bit uncomfortable loading and unloading the semis, racking the slides to chamber or spit out a round, and such. I think her shootin' will eventually get more fun for her and improve with this little wheelgun. Maybe mine will too for the handguns as I shoot with her..... I have a tough time hitting air with my little Ruger LCP Max. My hands are just a tad too big for that gun. Really, it's only redeeming quality is it's size, making it easy to carry. But that also makes it hard to grip and get my sausage sized finger in the trigger guard.

And that 10/22 will be a really great gift for your granddaughter, fortyshooter. Those are great rifles!

Hogue makes oversize grips for J-frames in rubber and wood.

https://www.hogueinc.com/grips/smith-we ... -revolvers

[GunnyGene]

Yeah, forty, my wife's likin' the sheer simplicity of it, and how easy it is to unload/reload, and just all around "liviabilty" with it. Like I mentioned above, she has a couple of decent .22 semi auto handguns; an older S&W 2213 and her Ruger 22/45. She just gets a bit uncomfortable loading and unloading the semis, racking the slides to chamber or spit out a round, and such. I think her shootin' will eventually get more fun for her and improve with this little wheelgun. Maybe mine will too for the handguns as I shoot with her..... I have a tough time hitting air with my little Ruger LCP Max. My hands are just a tad too big for that gun. Really, it's only redeeming quality is it's size, making it easy to carry. But that also makes it hard to grip and get my sausage sized finger in the trigger guard.

And that 10/22 will be a really great gift for your granddaughter, fortyshooter. Those are great rifles!

Hogue makes oversize grips for just about any gun in rubber and wood.

https://www.hogueinc.com

[Hatchdog]

Everybody is a winner here, great write up. I’m picturing in my mind your wife’s big grin as she shot that revolver. Good choice.

[North Country Gal]

Wonderful report, Jimmie. Thank-you.

I love small, lightweight snubbie revolvers and have been shooting just about everything on the market over the years, including that Smith 317. I find that shooting these small, light revolvers well is not easy and takes not just a lot of practice, but also different techniques than standard size revolvers. I find that a much firmer grip helps a lot, for instance. Otherwise the revolver bounces around in your hand when shot and that really takes a toll on consistency and hence, accuracy.

I also understand and love the simpler manual of arms that comes with shooting revolvers.

Over the years, I've owned almost all of the various J frame Smiths and, yeah, those gutter sights on the fixed sight models can be a real headache. If you can ever find one of the adjustable sight, steel 22 LR kit guns like the Model 34 or Model 63, you'll love one, but they get very pricey.

Another option in a small, very well built 22 LR kit gun is the Ruger Bearcat if you're into single actions. Same issue with the sights, though, unless you can find one of the adjustable sight versions that were a dealer exclusive. Now hard to find, though. The current all steel versions are a bit heavier than the 317, but the original alloy versions are about the same weight. Superbly built little jewel of a gun.



PS The snow flakes are back! Loving it.

[Mr. Neutron]

Thanks for your insights, North Country Gal!!!

Selfishy, if I were to have a pair of .22 revolvers for myself, I wouldn't mind a SA only gun like you have pictured, but with an adjustable rear sight. I would also like to have an $&W K-framed 10-shot 617 wheelgun as well, and for now, that would satisfy my want for .22 cal revolvers. I keep looking at some of the local gun shops for something I might like in an SA, but have found neither a used SA I like, nor a used 617. Not to whine, but being retired, I no longer have the money for more new guns for myself. So, I'll keep lookin'.......

For bigger caliber revolvers for myself, I've already made what I consider the mistake of a lifetime. I bought a brand new 686 $&W revolver sometime around 1993 or so, to shoot the local Action Pistol, Bowling Pin, & Steel Plate matches with. I never fired a round through it, and sent it immediately to Smith's Custom Shop. We shot all those matches DA only. I aked $&W's Custom folks to give me the best, smoothest DA trigger pull they could give me (that would reliably pop a primer), and please put a front sight on there that I preferred. They sent me back THE SWEETEST revolver I've ever owned. But try as I might, I kept getting beat in those competitions by folks with 1911s. In a fit of competitiveness and stupidity, after a few years, I sold the 686 to buy a Kimber 1911. I don't regret buying the Kimber (results were almost instantly better), but I seriously regret parting with the 686.

Likin' the snow flakes as well!

[North Country Gal]

You are very welcome.

Yeah, if we could only go back and retrieve some of those guns we let slip away ... I've had my share and now and then, they keep me awake at nights, wishing I could have them back. Of course, there were some I wish I had never bought in the first place, so good riddance to those. Not the 686 Smith, though. That's one I enjoyed.

[fortyshooter]

Going back some years the only gun I had was a S&W 38 Special Chief snub nose and later bought my first SA revolver a used Ruger New Vaquero 45 Colt .So my wife wanted to go along to our local indoor range so I could shoot my new Ruger and I would let her shoot the .38 snubby. Well She shot that a while and then wanted to shoot the big ol' 45. She shot it very well saying she like it better! You never know!