musicman

I too love the 357. Out of either a Smith 19 (wifes gun) or my Marlin 1894, it's one of the most versatile handgun calibers around. Once you reload, the possibilities are endless. Same can be said for 44. It's a lot of fun to shoot powderpuffs back to back with stout magnum loads in the same cylinder!

Sweet. Tons of fun!

While not exactly the same, I have been guilty of selling stuff from one hobby to fund another. "Ooooo.... I totally need a new Olympic White Strat with a maple neck. That basic AR is kinda superfluous now since I built some others." OOOORRRR "I totally need that M&P10 since I don't have a 308 AR yet. I don't need this funky zebra wood Gibson Thunderbird." I think every man needs a nice 44 mag, either Smith, Ruger, or Colt. And do you have a nice AR yet?

I'll be at the OK Corral tomorrow morning and will throw it in the bag. The great things you have heard are probably all correct. ;-) Excellent build quality, comfort, and trigger. Superb accuracy. Come on out and try it! I'll probably be at the rifle lanes for the first couple hours, and will probably head home around noonish.

I'll play :-) I don't have quite the discretionary fund excess as some of you more seasoned folks, but here is my li'l 10Mil popper Tangfolio/EAA Witness Elite Match. I do love that thing! Eventually a Glock Model 40 will become a stablemate, I believe.

All good advice. To clarify one point, you won't be making a 308 with that ar15 lower. It won't fit. That's ar AR10 platform, and I really don't recommend even thinking about that until you've got a good ar15 build under your belt. Happy shooting!

I playedwith one yesterday. Quite spectacular, imho. Of course, I like Shields, so duh. :-D The texture sure is grippy. I'm kind of a soft handed pansy and I don't like the board tape many folks use as grip enhancers. The texture on the Shield isn't exactly the same, but it IS similar. If I bought one, I'd probably take a small piece of something like an 800 grit paper and knock the "sharp" off the top. Yes, the trigger on the one I played with was really good. It's not quite as good as the Performance Center Shields, but close. I'd say it's closer to the PC gun than the regular Shield in terms of crispness at the break. I have a few other guns higher on the list, but I'm sure I'll have one find it's way into the Smith party at my house before too long. :-)

You won't regret the purchase, I promise! It really is an amazing little package. Wifey and I went to the range Sunday and I got some better slo-mo video of the two side by side. When I'm home on wi-fi I'll upload and post it. The difference in muzzle flip is quite substantial! And again, the accuracy increase is just nuts. I can easily keep entire magazines in cloverleafs at 7yds. With a pistol that small, I find that outstanding, given my limited skills. I love this little pistol more ever time I shoot it!

Wow, that IS good! Sweet share, Bro.

I see all of my Christmas shopping is done now, thanks! :-D

Hhmmmm.... CZ75 or M&P then. Maybe a milsurp 92?

I gotta imagine any son of Greg's (a member with over 9k posts here on TGO) has probably shot a gun before. Maybe even twice, lol! Obviously, he won't be carrying for at least 3 years, so carry guns are out. He's turning 18, not 8, so I really doubt a .22 is all he can handle. This sounds like an heirloom to me. Heirlooms are rarely plastic. I'm thinking a nice, American made 1911 or a 357 or 44 mag. K or L frame or equivalent. No Taurus, Citadel, Bersa, etc. Maybe a nice Springfield Range Officer, Colt Gold Cup, (I'm not personally a Colt fan, but the name still has some prestige to many) Smith model 19, 27, or 29, maybe a Ruger GP100, or if you have thousands a sweet Python or Anaconda. Let us know what you choose!

I'm a dope. Just saw where you said the barrel was threaded, right at the end of your post. There I go, gettin' all excited goin' off half cocked ;-)

Yes!! Just checkedtheir site- threaded barrel! Pretty sweet on a rifle at this price! THREADED MUZZLE Threaded muzzle for use with compatible compensators, muzzle brakes and suppressors. 1/2-28 UNEF for 204, 223 & 22-250 | 5/8-24 UNEF for 243 and larger.

Doth mine eyes deceive, or is that a capped threaded barrel? I've been wondering when Smith (their parent company) was going to do anything new with the TC line. The ill-fated iBolt really set them back I believe. I like this, at least what I see so far. For current offerings Savage is my pick in this range, but being the S&W fanboy I am as long as these are solid I'm in for a couple, at least. Thanks for sharing, KM!

I don't have any pics of it on my personal gun, but here's a link to Vortex' site. Look below and they have a pic of it mounted on a rifle. I have mine set up the same way. I believe with the mounts that come with the Sparc II you have four mounting height options included. http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-sparc-2-red-dot-with-bright-red-dot

I have the Sparc II and love it. I just ordered the new Sparc II AR. Both Sparc II and Strikefire come with mounts, so extra cost is not a concern. :-)

Yea, Underwood makes great stuff, as well as Buffalo Bore. I'm disappointed that pretty much every Hornady offering is in the 525-550lb ft range. I haven't bought any Underwood yet. I make my hot stuff and have a few boxes of Sig's V Crown HP 10mm in case the zombies have really tough skulls. Academy sells the weak Rem UMC for $31/box, and the mid range Sig for $28/box. Cabela's in Bowling Green has a lot more options, but I don't remember the price. I do remember they had PMC in hp and fmj, but the PMC offerings are weak as well. When considering how poor of a HP design the Prvi stuff is, I pretty much relegate that stuff to FMJ in my mind.

Remington's 10mm: Ballistics Information: Muzzle Velocity: 1150 fps Muzzle Energy: 529 ft. lbs.

Prvi specs from midway: Ballistics Information: Muzzle Velocity: 1083 fps Muzzle Energy: 469 ft. lbs. That's pretty much like shooting 38 in a 357 case, imho. :/ S&B specs from midway: Ballistics Information: Muzzle Velocity: 1164 fps Muzzle Energy: 543 ft lb At least a little hotter than most 40. Do I buy some of the cheap euro junk 10mm? Yea... cheap brass for reloading! :-)

Some weak, pansy garbage. Just barely 40 +p. Same with the cheap S&B out there. Gitchoo some Sig Sauer. It's a few more bucks, but at least 100 fps faster than both of those, and the Remington green and white box. It's listed at 1250 fps, 624 lb ft. So far it's the closest to "real" 10mm that I've found locally.

I am doing this exact same thing. The Savage trigger wins all day vs Ruger. I am ordering a Boyd's varmint stock w thumbhole in the gray/blue laminate. The factory Savage stock is garbage. Think Crossman BB gun. Blech. But the action, trigger, and barrel are top notch. And I already have a 10/22 and a bazillion mags for it... still getting the Savage.

Hey Gents, So, I'm a huge S&W fanboy and have had a Shield for at least 3 years. Last year I bought my wife her own Shield for Christmas. We have been very happy with both of them. Well, last week I had the opportunity to get the newer Performance Center Shield. I had been putting it off getting one because honestly I didn't see the PC upgrades as that big of a deal. WRONG!! The fiber optics are SO much easier to pick up than the white dots! I didn't think a little porting would make much difference but WOWEE does it! It really helps knock down the muzzle flip. You can see in my crappy cell phone video below that my right hand doesn't rise as much and is much faster back to level. As for the trigger...oh man. The Shields generally have good triggers to start with, and I've got no complaints with the two regular models I've had, but the PC trigger is just great. A little takeup and then a perfect, crisp, 5lbish break. Short, positive reset. Clean all the way around. As you can see in the pictures of my target, I was clearly able to shoot the PC gun more accurately and consistently. The two flyers above and below the yellow circle make me very angry. That was my first magazine in through the gun, and after 3 rds on top of each other in the middle, I started giggling and pulled those two. That's 5 rds in the middle and two idiot marks outside. Just amazing. All of my shooting today was at 7 yds, standing unsupported, with a standard two hand hold. This was all cheapo Perfecta ammo from back when Wally was selling it for $7/box. In the picture with the eight targets, disregard the two on the left and the right (that top left was a 36rd mag through a full size M&P 9mm). Focus on the two yellow targets, that's the PC gun. The squares to their right are from my regular Shield, which has been my carry gun for years. Here are all the pics: 7rd at 7yds, PC model And lastly, here's the crummy cell phone video I promised. :-) I didn't realize I had a 4th rd in the PC gun on the right, that's why the slide didn't lock back. In closing, if anyone out there was on the fence out this model, jump off that fence and RUN to your closest fun shop and get it NOW! If you thought a regular Shield was "good enuff"... well... it is, but this one is better! And if anyone is looking for a fair deal on a great condition 3 yr Shield, hit me up! :-) I feel a second PC model is on the way for me soon!

I've been wondering what the market response to this pistol would be. I don't think it's made quite the splash Ruger was hoping for. Usually the latest/greatest plastic fantastic remains close to MSRPish in price for awhile until demand cools. That doesn't seem to be the case with this thing at all. I've seen them advertised under $400 already... that's basic SR series money already. I've played with a few and on a scale of 1-10 I rate it a solid "meh" While the trigger is acceptable, it's not great or even really good. I personally find the gun terribly ugly. It does feel good in my hand with the medium palm swell, but not any better than an M&P or XD, and not as good as an HK VP, PPQ, or most CZ75 variants. I have yet to shoot one, but unless they worked literal, actual magic and made a recoil-less firearm, I don't think I would personally be swayed to buy one. Would definitely take one in trade if it were profitable to me like you did, however. I'm sure it will find a home in the safe of many die hard Ruger fans, and there will be those who find the aesthetic pleasing as well. I wish all gun companies well these days, and I hope they are are filling their coffers, because they are going to have a heck of a time when Hillary is prez. :-(

With a Tyler T grip! So retro! Lol! But seriously, congrats. Great gun. I have a 2" 64-4 wearing some Kim Ahrends dark cocobolo grips. It was the first revolver I ever bought, and I don't plan on ever parting with it. Just a joy to shoot. Thanks for sharing!!