Shooting a snub nosed

[JoshuaS]

Okay, I had a thread asking about ammo recommendations and several questioned my choice of a snub nose 357. I bet that I could reliably hit center body mass at the 10 yd line. Well I did 25ft (okay so 5 ft short, but still farther than the range most defensive shootings happen).

Note on recoil: It was actually pleasant shooting. I shot 158 gr fmj Herters ammo (advertised velocity was 1263 fps. Not sure barrel length). The SP101 is fairly hefty for a snub nose and that helps

Got the SP101 out to the range. Oddly my very first shot was the most on target. Hopefully that would hold true in a defensive situation!

~25 ft

First shot was the one on the edge of the red, second was the other circled in yellow. Tried a double tap circled in blue (jerked it right) and a quick follow up where I over compensated and pulled down:



All double action pulls. Tried both slow deliberate and quick shots. You can tell that the 14 lb trigger causes me to jerk right when I am shooting more quickly. Will have to practice more.



And for fun (using other guns too)

30 shots of .357 from the full size Ruger Vaquero ranging from 20 to 75 feet. Accuracy was 100% (really proud as the last one at 75ft was with it flat on the ground and the small end facing me)

20 shots of .45 ACP from the SR45. 20-50 ft ranges, 90% hit. This is the one that really tore it. I was using JHP.

20 shots from the snubbie SP 101. 10 single action pulls, 10 double action. About 6 of the single action and 4 of the double hit it. Only one of those was beyond 30 ft (and oddly a double action pull)



So unless I count the one round of .500 SW magnum I fired out of a snubbie (and regretted), my first time with a snubbie. Sure there weren't any tight groups or even the grouping I normally do with a full size gun (with a much lighter trigger), but I think it qualifies as center body mass. Sights could be more visible and I will have to practice more, but it is not the impossible burden some naysayers said it would be!

Granted it was not night, but there was no noticeable muzzle flash with the 158 gr. I know with my Vaquero I get flash with 110 and 125 easily and that with a longer barrel. So maybe the heavier bullet is the way to go?



PS: Whoever was driving down from Burro Canyon in the Toyota Camry in front of me- riding your brakes is not a good idea, nor is going excessively slow with several cars behind you without letting them by. You were also weaving left and right quite a bit for such a slow speed. Either your car is unsafe or you were too distracted....

[iluvmycolt]

Not bad at all OP. Thanks for sharing.

[deckhandmike]

Shooting a snubbie takes some getting used too. I was humbled by jframe my first outing.

[JoshuaS]

One thing I could use pointers on is grip. I shoot one handed (by necessity, right hand is gimp). I noticed that even when I intended to do single action, I would naturally start pulling the trigger again without cocking (despite being used to a single action revolver!). Guess that is good. That is the way it probably will be in a defensive situation

Anyhow, grip. I kind of just held it the way it was most comfortable. I can hold it a little bit higher up, and it seems to give me more control, but it also was uncomfortable. I am going to try dry firing drills after cleaning it. See what works best (try and balance a coin on the barrel while pulling trigger... that is always fun)

[Sutcliffe]

Snubs are specialty guns

Takes some getting used to. Ruger(with the extra heft) makes that easier. I've got the SP in .38 and it is quite tame.

[roll2li]

You really have to focus on the front sight, with the smaller sight radius it's easier to have deviations and pull a shot without noticing it. Also, it doesn't help that the front sights may be small black ramps, I swapped mine out for a XS Big dot which helps me see when the sights are out of alignment.

My snubs are really what got me into dry firing practice for trigger control. I would suggest picking up some revolver specific books or reading Grant Cunningham's blog about shooting belly guns for other ideas.

[Rizzo]

I've got a 2.25" 357 SP101 and it is pretty snappy with 158 gr ammo.
I have to wear a band-aid on my trigger finger because the trigger guard always nails it when I shoot it.
38 specials do not do that though.

[IVC]

SP101 is pretty heavy for a snubbie so the recoil is tamed quite a bit. A typical J-frame S&W is about 15 ounces compared to the 25 for Ruger. The lightest .357 J-frame, the 360PD, is only 11 ounces.

As far as the recoil goes, the momentum is linear in both mass and velocity, so half the weight will give you twice the speed. The energy, on the other hand, depends on the square of the velocity, so twice the speed is four times the energy. The felt recoil depends on many factors other than the simple energy calculation, but it's good to remember that small changes in weight of the gun typically have disproportionally large effect on the recoil.

The grip on a small gun such as J-frame (don't have SP101 so cannot really compare) needs to be as high as possible, to the point where the hammer will make contact with the web of the hand just before it drops. This grip prevents too much torque from the muzzle. If you look at Jerry Miculek's snubbies, you'll notice that he bobs the hammer in order to allow him to hold them higher. That's where the hammerless (internal hammer, to be accurate) J-frames excel - they allow a much higher grip, albeit at the cost of not having SA mode.

[BigPimping]

Those things are a serious man cannon. Not too accurate, but wild to shoot.

[RandyD]

I frequently dry fire my S&W 60 and I focus on maintaining good sight alignment and sight picture for multiple shots. This drill results in accurate live fire.