I thought these things were tough to shoot?
7 yards, offhand, “real” double-action (not staging the trigger) with the new S&W 642. Target is a standard NRA B-8; the black is 5.5″ across.
I ran a few cylinders through the gun to get used to it (recoil is really quite mild considering the lack of gun weight), then settled down and tried to shoot pretty 
Yeah, I’m happy with it.
How are your thumbs? Mine were sore for a day, but I shot 100 rounds of +p…
Somehow I suspect I have some grip issues to work out…
Comment by existingthing — August 6, 2008 @ 12:05 am
Mine are fine, but I was shooting regular-pressure range ammo and I kept my thumbs pointed down, well away from the cylinder release and recoil shield. I need to get some +P carry ammo next.
Comment by TD — August 6, 2008 @ 12:18 am
My thumb still has the red mark from where a small patch of skin was scraped off my thumb from the cylinder release. I was trying to choke up on it like how I fire my automatics, instead of letting it grip low, and rolling with the recoil (which, I assume, is the right way). I also managed to pinch the mid-digit(?) of my trigger finger between the trigger and the frame on one of the shots resulting in a blood blister. I’m just a mess.
My DA isn’t as good as yours. I need practice.
Comment by existingthing — August 6, 2008 @ 7:17 pm
[...] and I were discussing proper J-frame holds in comments here. I won’t swear that this is the One True Way, but here’s what I’m [...]
Pingback by The Unforgiving Minute » Might as well milk a whole post out of this… — August 6, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
.38 Special is a beautiful round to shoot accurately all day long. I think the “high-thumbs” hold must come from auto-pistol guys?
Comment by DirtCrashr — August 6, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
Yeah, the high-thumb and thumbs-forward were, I think, from auto-pistol guys. I remember, soon after learning the thumbs-forward grip and seeing how much that improved my 1911 shooting, I tried it with revolvers…
Mistake.
I still remember, vividly, the burns I got on my thumbtip from shooting my 629 that way, the weakside thumb right near the cylinder gap…they hurt.
Comment by Josh — August 11, 2008 @ 3:52 pm