Cowgirl Corner: TCs, my serious single shots
Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 8:20 pm
They really are in a world of their own, these TC single shot pistols. Been shooting them since the mid 80s. Nothing glamorous about their looks, which can border on downright ungainly, at times, but when it comes to accuracy, look out! Same for performance. That closed breach and typically long barrel delivers a nice velocity boost over revolvers. Yup, when I get serious about accurate handgun work, I go straight to my Contenders and Encores. Here's the three that got a workout, today.
Top is a late 80s vintage Contender with a 10" 22 LR Match barrel. It wears a 2.5x Leupold rifle scope that allows me to use a silhouette style hold. Underneath is a 12" 357 mag barrel equipped for the above Contender. Sight is an Ulltradot 25. (Swapping barrels only takes a couple minutes.) The big boy on the bottom is a Encore equipped with Pachymayr grips for the sake of recoil control. On this outing, it wore a 12" 44 mag barrel, also equipped with an Ultradot 25.
Shooting offhand, of course, is what it's all about for me. At 50 yards with these TC handguns, I'm usually content to stay in that 5 shot group size of 3" to 3.5", sometimes less, which is noticeably better than my typical group size with conventional handguns and not too much larger than what I can do with rifles.
First, the Contender with the Match 22 LR barrel. Pulled a few, but otherwise an okay group. Really not liking the scope, though. Too hard to pick up the crosshairs in that black bull. Think this barrel will get a red dot, soon. Otherwise, the big plus on these original Contenders is the unbelievable trigger.
Next target is with the 357, using the Contender frame and the 44 mag on the Encore frame. I used to shoot the 44 mag on a Contender frame, but recoil could get nasty in a hurry on that lighter platform, so by going to the larger and heavier Encore platform with the Pachy grips, I can totally eliminate recoil as an issue (and, yes, I have been known to go to MUCH heavier hitters with my Encore pistol rigs).
Of course, I also shoot TCs in rifle versions, too. More on those another time, though. Today was all about my "serious" single shot handguns. They never disappoint, no matter how I set them up.
Top is a late 80s vintage Contender with a 10" 22 LR Match barrel. It wears a 2.5x Leupold rifle scope that allows me to use a silhouette style hold. Underneath is a 12" 357 mag barrel equipped for the above Contender. Sight is an Ulltradot 25. (Swapping barrels only takes a couple minutes.) The big boy on the bottom is a Encore equipped with Pachymayr grips for the sake of recoil control. On this outing, it wore a 12" 44 mag barrel, also equipped with an Ultradot 25.
Shooting offhand, of course, is what it's all about for me. At 50 yards with these TC handguns, I'm usually content to stay in that 5 shot group size of 3" to 3.5", sometimes less, which is noticeably better than my typical group size with conventional handguns and not too much larger than what I can do with rifles.
First, the Contender with the Match 22 LR barrel. Pulled a few, but otherwise an okay group. Really not liking the scope, though. Too hard to pick up the crosshairs in that black bull. Think this barrel will get a red dot, soon. Otherwise, the big plus on these original Contenders is the unbelievable trigger.
Next target is with the 357, using the Contender frame and the 44 mag on the Encore frame. I used to shoot the 44 mag on a Contender frame, but recoil could get nasty in a hurry on that lighter platform, so by going to the larger and heavier Encore platform with the Pachy grips, I can totally eliminate recoil as an issue (and, yes, I have been known to go to MUCH heavier hitters with my Encore pistol rigs).
Of course, I also shoot TCs in rifle versions, too. More on those another time, though. Today was all about my "serious" single shot handguns. They never disappoint, no matter how I set them up.
