Cowgirl Corner: my carry Kimber 357

[Mistered]

Heard a lot of good things about the Kimber - and $ome not $o good!!! Regardless it looks like you shoot it well and that is the important thing. Personally I am a S & W fan and own three - a 2" M-60 no dash, a 4" M-66 no dash and my dads 'duffle bag' carry home Victory .38 Special. Both the M-60 and M-66 have had trigger jobs with Wolff springs and have literally the best triggers I (and others) have said they ever felt. Both are just shy of 2 lbs with no creep or takeup. I am a fan of the traditional with anything and that includes my revolvers!

[PT7]

Great photos and "review" of the K6, SGC. Always look forward to your chats and targets. The .357 Magnum is a great caliber, and your 3" revolver sure has some beautiful, waving grains in those grips. Your shooting is always top-notch also. Giving RR a run for his $$, right?!?

I appreciated your focus on "finding a gun you like to shoot," and also one with manageable recoil. That's a truism it's taken a while for me to get a grip on. My very first revolver was a D/A Ruger 3.02" SP101 in .357 magnum. The recoil was a little too strong for my liking, and it did impact my accuracy as I had to deal with those too-often "flinches." My second SP101 was the heavier 4.2" kit revolver, and along with the Hogue tamer grip, recoil was quite manageable. I shot it often. Although not a revolver, I really enjoyed shooting stout calibers with my BASS IV derringer. Like you, I could shoot 50-70 rounds of either .357 Magnum or .45 Colt calibers and really thought the recoil was quite manageable. That was an all-afternoon-shooter because it did take time to reload the 2-capacity O/U!!

I also appreciated your apples to apples look at the Kimber vs. the S&W PC revolver. I had one PC revolver, which was an S&W 637, D/A in .38 Special + "P" caliber. The barrel length was 1.875" with a 5-round capacity. Definitely the S&W PC revolvers are a cut well above a standard production revolver. Now I understand a little better why your Kimber is such high quality and expensive. And as a wheel gun guy, these D/A revolvers are the best handguns to have in hand!

Just for fun, here are the Talo S&W ad photo of the 637, and my own photo with a Hogue Tamer grip I installed.
Thanks again for your much-enjoyed post!

S_W PC 637 .38 Special + P.jpg (28.87 KiB) Viewed 2026 times

S_W 637 .38 Special plus P, Performance Center_solo.jpg (91.61 KiB) Viewed 2026 times

[North Country Gal]

Again, glad you folks enjoyed the post. Always nice to chat about DA revolvers, too.

As for the Kimbers, yeah, not for everybody, but the two I've had have been 100%, right out of the box. That's become so important to me, now, after having been burned so often with out of the box new revolvers.

Perhaps on no other type of revolver are grips so important as on a small frame, especially a small frame magnum. On my Smith 357 J frames and Ruger SPs, first thing I changed out were the grips to larger grips that gave me more control. Those small bootleg carry grips are ideal for carrying, of course, but since I'm a shooter, first, as always, I was more concerned with accuracy than conceal-ability. Besides, I don't think bears care about seeing a revolver on my hip, one way or the other.

I'm good with a double action, only, revolver like this Kimber of a similar J frame Smith model, as long as it has a good trigger. To be sure, having a single action trigger is a useful feature for some applications. As a just pull and shoot kind of application, though, I'd be shooting in DA, anyway, so no need for the SA feature.

[Mistered]

Those small bootleg carry grips are ideal for carrying, of course, but since I'm a shooter, first, as always, I was more concerned with accuracy than conceal-ability.

My sentiments exactly - about being a 'shooter' first ( I can't seem to get some of the younger gendarme I know to quite understand this) but on my way home after buying the two 'Smiths in my picture I stopped for a set of Pachmayr Diamond Pro grips for he M-60 and they turned it into a NEW gun - sub 2" 25 yard groups are possible now with it - most who shoot it are amazed a 2" .38 can shoot this accurately.

[Catherine]

Nice gun and good report!

Thank you.

Cate

[North Country Gal]

I agree on the accuracy potential of small frame revolvers. Very under-rated. I think it's because a lot of people don't take the time to work with them and working with them is a must if you expect any kind of accuracy.

You're welcome, Cate.

[RanchRoper]

Great info in these posts. Very impressive shooting NCG.

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, RR. Am I correct in assuming you don't see a lot of the small carry revolvers up, there? In fact, I've been meaning to ask you just what kind of restrictions you face with that big Remington of yours?

[RanchRoper]

Some gun shops have a good selection of carry-type handguns, but since we have no carry laws here they are for target shooting at a licensed range only. I am licensed to take my revolver to the range and that's it. During transport it must have a trigger lock and be locked inside a case. Get caught not following the rules and bye-bye gun license. Not to mention fines and/or jail time.

[North Country Gal]

Some gun shops have a good selection of carry-type handguns, but since we have no carry laws here they are for target shooting at a licensed range only. I am licensed to take my revolver to the range and that's it. During transport it must have a trigger lock and be locked inside a case. Get caught not following the rules and bye-bye gun license. Not to mention fines and/or jail time.

Ouch! I admire your perseverance for the sake of shooting your revolver. You are a true cowboy at heart.