I finally had some range time with the 386PD today. I gathered up all the 38 and 357 ammo I could find in my house.
Setup was indoors and shooting distance was 21ft.
To start out, I fired a box of WWB 130gr fmj 38spl target ammo from walmart. It was pretty tame and accuracy was acceptable.
Next up, 21 rounds of WWB 38spl 125gr +P jhp. A little more flash and bang but still pretty tame and not real exciting.
The Winchester commercial 125gr +P jhp (gray box) had considerably LESS muzzle flash and accuracy was more consistant. I believe the bullet itself is the same one used in the WWB. The gun behaved just as expected. Tame.
One thing I am starting to notice at this point is that the gun seems to retain a lot more heat than a steel gun. It got pretty darn hot after 42 rounds of +P 38's. That is to say it was hotter than my model 10 after a similar target session.
Fired 2 cylinders full of Winchester Ranger 110gr +P+ 38 spl. Very accurate and consistant. Fun to shoot. Now the gun is REALLY hot. This worries me a bit so I let it sit for about 20 minutes while I chat with the Range officer.
I come back to it and it's STILL HOT.
I let it sit for another 30 minutes and it finally cooled off. I don't know if this is typicle as this is my first Scandium gun.
Now comes the 357magnum ammo. 1 cylinder full of Winchester 125gr sjhp and I knew that was NOT the load I wanted to carry. Big boom and big flash. Ok, I felt that. Not so tame anymore.
I found 5 rounds of 357mag Blue Glaser's in my toolbox, which must have been at least 12 years old so I figured I'd go ahead and fire them.
What a waste of money! No accuracy, shoot VERY low do to lightweight projectile and an insane bright red muzzle flash. If memory serves they were 90gr bullets. If one was to fire this ammo in the dark while defending against an intruder you'd be blinded after the first shot. Other shooters on the line just gawked at the solar flares I was lobbing downrange.
The only good thing I noticed was very little felt recoil in the 386PD.
Remington Golden Sabre 165gr JHP. Definitely NOT recommended for the 386PD. It only took 2 rounds of this ammo to convince me that if I fired any more of it that the PD in 386PD would translate into Permanent Damage. The recoil was positively fierce and barely controllable.
Finally, the good stuff. The Remington 125gr Golden Sabre Brass jacketed hollowpoint in 357mag was a pleasure to shoot. Powerful, but not painful. VERY accurate and hit dead on point of aim at 21ft. This is going to be my carry ammo for this gun.
The 386PD has a great DA trigger and a very crisp break in SA. Accuracy was good. I was easily able to keep all shots in the 9-10 rings shooting off hand double action.
Setup was indoors and shooting distance was 21ft.
To start out, I fired a box of WWB 130gr fmj 38spl target ammo from walmart. It was pretty tame and accuracy was acceptable.
Next up, 21 rounds of WWB 38spl 125gr +P jhp. A little more flash and bang but still pretty tame and not real exciting.
The Winchester commercial 125gr +P jhp (gray box) had considerably LESS muzzle flash and accuracy was more consistant. I believe the bullet itself is the same one used in the WWB. The gun behaved just as expected. Tame.
One thing I am starting to notice at this point is that the gun seems to retain a lot more heat than a steel gun. It got pretty darn hot after 42 rounds of +P 38's. That is to say it was hotter than my model 10 after a similar target session.
Fired 2 cylinders full of Winchester Ranger 110gr +P+ 38 spl. Very accurate and consistant. Fun to shoot. Now the gun is REALLY hot. This worries me a bit so I let it sit for about 20 minutes while I chat with the Range officer.
I come back to it and it's STILL HOT.
I let it sit for another 30 minutes and it finally cooled off. I don't know if this is typicle as this is my first Scandium gun.Now comes the 357magnum ammo. 1 cylinder full of Winchester 125gr sjhp and I knew that was NOT the load I wanted to carry. Big boom and big flash. Ok, I felt that. Not so tame anymore.
I found 5 rounds of 357mag Blue Glaser's in my toolbox, which must have been at least 12 years old so I figured I'd go ahead and fire them.
What a waste of money! No accuracy, shoot VERY low do to lightweight projectile and an insane bright red muzzle flash. If memory serves they were 90gr bullets. If one was to fire this ammo in the dark while defending against an intruder you'd be blinded after the first shot. Other shooters on the line just gawked at the solar flares I was lobbing downrange.
The only good thing I noticed was very little felt recoil in the 386PD.
Remington Golden Sabre 165gr JHP. Definitely NOT recommended for the 386PD. It only took 2 rounds of this ammo to convince me that if I fired any more of it that the PD in 386PD would translate into Permanent Damage. The recoil was positively fierce and barely controllable.
Finally, the good stuff. The Remington 125gr Golden Sabre Brass jacketed hollowpoint in 357mag was a pleasure to shoot. Powerful, but not painful. VERY accurate and hit dead on point of aim at 21ft. This is going to be my carry ammo for this gun.
The 386PD has a great DA trigger and a very crisp break in SA. Accuracy was good. I was easily able to keep all shots in the 9-10 rings shooting off hand double action.
