paulg
.375 Atomic
Posts: 2,420
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Post by paulg on Jan 26, 2014 21:35:16 GMT -5
Anybody here shoot or have shot PPC? I just got a Smith Model 64 that was built by Joe Hayes of Hayes Pistolsmithing out of Lewisburg West(By God)Virginia. What a cool revolver. I found Mr. Hayes's info on the net and gave him a call and he gladly gave me all the dirt on the gun he built back in the early eighties. He is a hell of a nice guy. He said a gun never left his shop that didn't group 1.5 inches at 50yds. He gave me his recipe for getting the most accuracy out of his gun. When I asked him what I could expect out of factory ammo he paused and said it may spread to 2.5 inches. Anyway if there are any here that has experience in PPC comps I'd sure like to hear your thoughts.
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Post by AxeHandle on Jan 27, 2014 5:11:46 GMT -5
Never shot PPC but shot Bullseye with Jim Collins, the Alabama State Trooper, in the 80s. He was a member of the Army Reserve team while I shot with the National Guard. He'd drive over from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham and shoot our monthy matches too. Jim was known for shooting 1500/1500 in the PPC match in registered competition. Did it more than once too. Believe he is also credited with the idea of shooting the entire PPC course double action. Tango Charlie has a K frame PPC gun built by Travis Strahan. A stainless K frame it has been modified with a coil spring for the hammer. Travis built Jim's record setting PPC guns. FWIW there were lots of PPC type guns built for NRA Action.. The NRA Action shooters seem to like the L frame S&W better for their added robustness needed for the warmer loads used for Action.
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Post by bigmuddy on Jan 27, 2014 9:15:10 GMT -5
A well built PPC gun shooting 38 wad cutters is hard to beat in the accuracy department. I have fired several, and the really good ones are so smooth in DA mode that it seems they won't fire. The best one I was ever honored to shoot was a Grand Master built by Ron Power. I never could afford one of my own but it sure was a joy to get to handle and fire such a work of art. This was back when revolvers became THE gun to use in NRA action (Bianchi Cup).
Dan
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Post by seancass on Jan 28, 2014 0:24:28 GMT -5
In a rare, blessed moment, i snagged a S&W PPC gun built on a k frame. This gun totally rewrote the book on accuracy for me! And totally rewrote my expectations for a great trigger! It can still be shot single action, but the trigger is so impossibly smooth that it can be shot as accurately double action as single! It has the four position rear sight rail. I forget the maker's name, but i couldn't find a peep about him online!
I've never competed with the gun. I'm not all that good and, frankly, I kind of baby the thing! It gets shot a lot, but only light loads.
Come to think of it, i need to find some better grips for it!
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Post by seancass on Jan 28, 2014 0:26:30 GMT -5
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Post by seancass on Jan 28, 2014 0:29:22 GMT -5
One side of the barrel is stamped "JOE K'S INC." The other side says "OPEN WINNER". Mean anything to you gents?
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Post by dale53 on Jan 28, 2014 0:43:30 GMT -5
I shot PPC "back in the day" with our local Police Departments. My gun club also ran the matches for our local PD so that all of their personnel could compete. Our local dept. had a shooting Chief. He teamed up with my shooting buddy and they were dern near unbeatable. At any rate, I had the desire to own a real PPC gun but didn't have the money. So, I did the next best thing. I bought a new K-38 off a friend who had won it in a match. I then installed a Bo-mar rib to add a bit of weight for better holding and did quite well with it locally. I call it my PPC "Light" revolver. I still have it:  FWIW Dale53 |
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Post by Ken O'Neill on Jan 28, 2014 7:16:46 GMT -5
PPC was once rather popular here in western N.C. The post WW II Bullseye shooting boom had faded,and handgun silhouette shooting had yet to arrive. Many police departments fielded competition teams then.
A lot of gunsmiths tinkered with building PPC guns back in those days. One fairly local fellow who achieved some level of accomplishment and was highly regarded was Jeff Virginia, of Boone, N.C. Several of my friends still own and occasionally shoot one of his PPC guns.
A couple years ago, my gun club ran a PPC match, but unfortunately, it was lightly attended, and no more were scheduled. It seems the interest in semi autos overwhelms any possible resurgance in the PPC revolver. Heck, even champion PPC shooter and famed NYPD Stakeout Squad gunfighter Jim Cirillo switched to a Glock before his death.
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Post by AxeHandle on Jan 28, 2014 7:48:22 GMT -5
My first PPC gun was built by Ken Eversul I think out of Louisiana. It was a fine little gun with a Bomar rib and Apex barrel with an underlug. Looking down that Apex barrel bore looked like micro groove stuff. Learned a lot about revolver shooting with that gun. Let a gun show buddy rook me out of it. Quickly traded for a S&W model 10 and had my favorite gunsmith build me a NRA Action gun for Bianchi in 1987. Never what I'd call a competitor in NRA action. I was what I'd call a participant. I sure enjoyed the atmosphere of that match and might have worked at it more but a job change and divorce dimmed the draw and shoot gleam in my eye. Still own the revolver and my elbow never recovered from working at drawing.  |
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Post by dale53 on Jan 28, 2014 8:51:24 GMT -5
It's kind of interesting how my personal revolver double action shooting improved. I worked on my action and DID improve it but in truth it never approached the smoothness and light pull of a "real" PPC gun. However, it was absolutely reliable and after dry firing thousands of times I trained my trigger finger and hand to the point that my gun FELT very light. In other words, I weight trained my trigger finger. It pretty much had the same effect. I learned to stage the trigger, at speed, and still retain that to some extent.
A friend has a 642 with CT laser grips. He asked me to point it at a target on the wall in his shop and dry fire it a bit. You could see the laser dot perfectly and afterwards he commented on how steady the dot held through the double action when I dry fired it (he was unaware of my previous PPC experience). That also allows me to shoot my daily carry, a CT gripped 642, quite effectively, even at my advanced age.
Ken's mentioning Jim Cirillo brought back old memories. Jim and I competed in several matches over the years. We were on the same relay in the Soldier of Fortune match in North Carolina (the third Soldier of Fortune match, I believe). He was a great story teller and really fun to be around. He was a genuinely good man. He had certainly "Been to see the Elephant"...
FWIW
Dale53
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Post by sheriff on Jan 28, 2014 10:54:44 GMT -5
I shot PPC "back in the day" with our local Police Departments. My gun club also ran the matches for our local PD so that all of their personnel could compete. Our local dept. had a shooting Chief. He teamed up with my shooting buddy and they were dern near unbeatable. At any rate, I had the desire to own a real PPC gun but didn't have the money. So, I did the next best thing. I bought a new K-38 off a friend who had won it in a match. I then installed a Bo-mar rib to add a bit of weight for better holding and did quite well with it locally. I call it my PPC "Light" revolver. I still have it: FWIW Dale53 You mean everyone didn't shoot one of those? Well, I'll be d........!!  The Bomar ribbed K38/Mod 14 was pretty common on the firing line when I was shooting PPC in the early '70's. Thanks for bringing back some memories, Dale53. |
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Post by jayhawker on Jan 28, 2014 11:39:22 GMT -5
Dale53, I would put those grips on my K frame. Farrant?
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Post by dale53 on Jan 28, 2014 16:08:47 GMT -5
jayhawker;
Actually, those were made by a local grip maker. Don Rainey and Don Thompson bought out a popular grip maker from Detroit and made custom grips for some time. Rainey actually shaped those with me standing by him and checking as he went. They are as custom as custom gets. The two were shooting buddies of mine for many years and fellow club members. We still keep in touch all of these years later. They called their company R&T. It was a side job for them both, they both worked in industry (Thompson was an engineer and Rainey was a designer. They are both retired, of course.
FWIW
Dale53
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paulg
.375 Atomic
Posts: 2,420
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Post by paulg on Jan 30, 2014 17:43:15 GMT -5
After looking around some it seems back in the day any gunsmith with good ability was building a PPC revolver. The builders are all over the place. I was amazed at the level of accuracy that is achieved with these guns. Seems being able to hit a 3"x2" target was pretty much required to be competitive. Ain't no PPC revolver shooting going on here in central Florida but it seems to me that while small game season is in, a squirrel in a tall oak tree will make a good substitute. And bowling pins.
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Post by tangocharlie on Jan 30, 2014 21:49:13 GMT -5
The Model 64 that Axehandle referred to has taught me more about double action trigger control than any other gun I own. Of course that may be due to the fact that there has probably been a single axle dump truck full of 148 grain wadcutters put through it (conservatively) by me, over the years. Mine has one of the Burris / Gil Hebard Bullseye scopes mounted on it. Built by Travis Strahan out of Ringold, GA, it still amazes folks that pick it up for the first time. Fun gun...
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The Bomar ribbed K38/Mod 14 was pretty common on the firing line when I was shooting PPC in the early '70's. Thanks for bringing back some memories, Dale53.