Techniques for Shooting Magnum Revolvers

[PzGren]

Any tips or pointers out there for shooting magnum revolvers?

I have been shooting low recoil guns well but accuracy drops off in heavier loadings. I would like to take a deer with my m66 smith this year but with full power reloads my accuracy suffers. With 6.0gr Universal and a 158 SWC I can clean a squirrel’s ear at 20 yards. XTP’s and 15gr H110 I am hitting a paper plate at 25.

It seems a death grip makes things more consistent yet when a doe slips in at 10 yards, will I rememeber to grip tightly?


Thanks

With that you are a whole lot more accurate than the average shooter if you can do that consistently. If your slow fire shooting with a magnum cartridge is worse than with a lightly recoiling handgun you have a flinching problem and should do the live round and dummy drill. It is easy to do with a revolver, interchange empty brass intermittently with live cartridges, it will show the problem.

In slow fire, the grip on magnum and light loads has the same influence on the results, so we can assume that you do the basics right but just need proper exposure to magnum cartridges. Load some up and practice. I would recommend to not shoot more than 30 rounds in one session and make sure, that you have grips that fit your hand well.

 

[Hondo 60]

What kind of grips are you running?

That was my 1st thought.
I have a couple of Ruger 357s.
My choice of grips are from Altamont.
I have the "snakeskin" rubber & wood inserts.
They make full-house 357s seem MUCH more palatable.
https://www.altamontco.com/pistol-grips/ruger/sp101/

You might wanna check 'em out.
But there's no shame if they don't work for you.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I guess that I was lucky - I started off in cap-and-ball revolvers, where flinch is not really a factor but accuracy and quick recovery rule the roost. I learned to use the shape of the grip and the structure of my hand to absorb the impulse, catch and re-cock the hammer and return the gun to battery without over-muscling or banging up my hands.
Most of the techniques that I learned on black powder pistols carry over well on my .44 magnums, although the recovery time is just a tad longer.

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

I may have to eat my words in post #42. Late this afternoon, I tried jamming my support left pointer finger between my right middle finger and the trigger guard. Was shootin' my 230 grain cast on top of 18 gr. of 2400, (not a hot load) in a 8.5 inch Virginian Dragoon (44 Rem. Mag.) Nope, the push hurt left finger also on this firearm. Back to keeping my right pinky under the grip. Gonna try it on the Blackhawk next.
YMMV.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I've installed grips that fill in behind the square-back grips of all of my revolvers that have them (except for the Walker - that would be sacrilege). This does increase the amount of muzzle flip, of course, but that works with the way that I fire large-bore single actions. The recoil twists the gun enough to place the tip of the hammer under the tip of my thumb, allowing the weight of the barrel and cylinder to assist in the re-cocking of the gun, dampens the vibrations, and incidentally, shakes off the remains of the caps from black powder guns before they can jam the action.

 

[RealGun]

I may have to eat my words in post #42. Late this afternoon, I tried jamming my support left pointer finger between my right middle finger and the trigger guard. Was shootin' my 230 grain cast on top of 18 gr. of 2400, (not a hot load) in a 8.5 inch Virginian Dragoon (44 Rem. Mag.) Nope, the push hurt left finger also on this firearm. Back to keeping my right pinky under the grip. Gonna try it on the Blackhawk next.
YMMV.

The load sounds too hot for the style of gun. With 240 MO coated TCFP I have loaded 2400 down to 14 gr but thought 15 felt right, although not a full up magnum. For me, the gun adapted to the purpose is the Bisley Blackhawk. The Smith 629 worked well for me too. The Blackhawk is the one that beat me up before discovering the Bisley.

 

[35 Whelen]

Interesting title for the post. I find shooting full bore .357 Magnum loads accurately much easier than a 250 gr. bullet travelling 1100+ fps out of a .44 Special, which isn't a magnum, at least in name. Anyhow....

Three things you must master-

1) Trigger control. Know the trigger pull of your revolver intimately. It needs to be light and crisp and if it isn't, get it fixed. For me 2.5 lbs. is the most I can use and still maintain reasonable accuracy.

2) Sight picture. Crisp clear front sight on a fuzzy target.

3) The least understood of the three, follow through. When my shooting suddenly goes to crap for no apparent reason, it's always because I don't follow through after the shot. The best way I know to describe it is to not release the trigger after the shot and to allow the revolver to remain in its vertical position for a second or two after the shot.

And as others have said practice, practice, practice AND NOT from a bench, practice from field positions. Start at a distance where you can easily see your errors and correct them, then work your way out. When you can hit a 4" target at 25 yds., move the target out and increase the size of the target proportionately. I can tell you from burning through many cartons of pistol primers that by the time you're hitting an 8" target at 50 yds, 25 yds will be a cakewalk.

35W

 

[HB]

I shot 50 38s and 60 of the SWC 357s with 6gr Universal yesterday. Overall very happy. The first group of 357 at 25 was great then I tapered off quickly. Need to keep dry friring.

The 357 load seems a fair bit hotter than a 38+p but not nearly a hotter jacketed round. Should do fine for close doe.

 

[Dibbs]

Distances can be deceptive, in the field. What seems like 25 yards could be closer to 50.
A rangefinder may help. Also, if you're using an optic, make sure it's zeroed closer to the distance you are shooting game.

I miscalculated a holdover, and spent a week trying to track a blood trail, one evening.
Turned out I thought the animal was 35 yards closer, and bullet drop put the round into
the animal's leg, rather than shoulder.

 

[murf]

you are probably just getting tired. take a longer break between shot groups. push-ups are a great way to increase your endurance.

luck,

murf

 

[35 Whelen]

Distances can be deceptive, in the field. What seems like 25 yards could be closer to 50.
A rangefinder may help. Also, if you're using an optic, make sure it's zeroed closer to the distance you are shooting game.

I miscalculated a holdover, and spent a week trying to track a blood trail, one evening.
Turned out I thought the animal was 35 yards closer, and bullet drop put the round into
the animal's leg, rather than shoulder.

Handgun bullet trajectories are flatter than most realize. Your typical .358", 158 gr. cast SWC will have a ballistic coefficient of .200 or greater. With a MV of 1200 fps, as in the case of a .357, and sighted in at 25 yards your drops less than 1" at 50 yds., and less than 4" at 75 yds. My regular .44 Special and 45 Colt handgun hunting loads typically run 950-1000 fps and I have regulated the sights of my revolvers to more or less put the bullets dead on at 50 yds., which means a drop of 5.5" - 6" at 75 yds. Easy enough with a hold just below the top of the back on a deer or hog.

35W

 

[RMc]

The currently popular "thumbs forward" grip does not work well with powerful revolvers.