I have been able to borrow a S&W Model 17 (.22 LR) revolver. (pics to follow, I promise) and the family has purchased a Ruger Mk III also (not relevant).

My intention is to get some significant trigger control practice with the Mod. 17 while I work up my .44 Mag loads for hunting season.

What would your opinion be on my thinking? Obviously a Mod. 17 is not a Ruger Blackhawk, but am I wasting my time or will this be beneficial to me? I figured any revolver shooting will be helpful in the long run. All advice welcome.

I apologize. I had intended this topic for the Shooter's Bench. I suppose we'll all survive. :-)

Put a thousand rounds down the barrel. It'll cost you about 30 bucks, and will help a ton!! Every trigger squeeze makes you better regardless of the gun. I used to practice with a break barrel air rifle, and it made me a much much better shot with my 12 gauge slug gun.(that's what I used to use for deer before I got into handguns)

Well, I bought a brick of Vipers to use with the Mk III, so I have plenty of ammo. I'm starting on Saturday!

That sounds like too much fun! Man I need to get another .22 revolver. I sold mine to help buy my 44 mag. There is nothing like shooting up a brick for fun and practice.

Sure the model 17 will help your shooting greatly. The best advise I can give is start with the traget close and practice bringing the gun into your sight plain to the target. Then concertrate on the sights until the eye finds the sights and alligns them from instinct. Then move the target out farther and farther. This should get the muscle memory down, and the rest should follow in time.

It's all about trigger control, and any trigger time is benificial. I have several platforms in 22LR as well as the bigger brother, set up with similar sighting systems to keep fresh on the cheap. Any 22 cal gun will pay for itself in short order.

Shoot 'em up!

I have a 1911 pellet gun which I tinkered with untill its trigger felt the same as my 1911 45. I am planning to do the same for my 44 SBH.

Like the others said....ANY time on the trigger that is used to refine skills is good practice.

I practice with my .22 regularly.I usually go out to the woods and shoot pine cones or clay targets and in winter snow balls are a cheap target.I shoot from a variety of distances in different shooting positions and sometimes with the target partially obscured trying to make it as close to a hunting situation as possable.

.22's are great for trigger control.One other way is to buy the rubber/plastic bullets and shells that you can shoot in the basement,just takes putting a primer in the plastic shell putting a plastic bullet in place and shooting.

Guitar, My 3ed handgun was a S&W model 34 that I used to shoot quite a few of those low priced 22`s. I always credit that gun and ammo for showing me how to perfect a halfway decent trigger squeeze. Have fun....

Had PLENTY of fun today.

That Mod. 17 is a real jewel. With the Rem. Vipers (1400+ fps) it actually barks a little bit and makes the muzzle move. :-D

Also had to (poor me) break in the Mark III as well. Also very accurate and a pleasure to shoot. It's the slab-sided bull barrel, so it handles quite well with the hot loads.

I also broke open another box of .44 mag cowboy loads and tried to nail down my trigger work a bit. I'm getting there, but I have plenty of work to do. I really need to work out a good rest of some sort other than a tree because I need to work up my hand loads now. I have 10 of my first cartridges loaded now. Got the press all dailed in. I started with Alliant 2400 @ 17.9 grains with a 240 gr. XTP. So that's the next range trip. I'll also load up some of the same with 9.5 grains of Unique to see how that goes.

Thanks all! The .22 Lr stuff is certainly addictive and I can forsee a lot more of it in my future.

just keep shootin' you can't wear them out- the more you shoot - the more it becomes second nature- 22's are easier on the neighbors too

dry fire practice will help on your trigger work.Pick up some snap caps and find the smallest thing to aim at.For instance I use a prong hole in a wall outlet,when the hammer falls if the front sight doesn't stay in line all the way through I consider it a miss.You'll be surprised how much something so simple can help.

Yep, I do this already and with my 9mm pistol as well. It has really helped.

If the gun you practice with has a rib down the top of the barrel lay a penny just behind the front sight and practice trigger and grip control so the penny does not fall off the barrel when the hammer falls on a snap cap.

Just so happens a Mod. 17 does have a rib. I'll give that a try. Thanks, Tig.

My daughter had a heck of a time hitting anything at first. It was obvious to me, trigger control and follow through. I stuck my LazerLyte boresighter in the the muzzle and told her to keep the dot on the spot when she dry fired and it did wonders.

I shoot in a Defensive Handgun Match at the Club every month. I shoot my 617 (22 LR), my 625 (45acp), sometimes my 686 (w/38 Special ammo), I shoot my 610 (10mm) some. I shoot a MKIII, a 1911, and an XDm 40 S&W, plus my CCW gun a 38 J Frame. The 22's with ammo at $19 a box of 550 at Wal-Mart are the most economical to shoot. I always shoot in Rimfire Division at every match. To me shooting any handgun helps accuracy with your others. The only exception to this rule was a Laser Grip on my 38 J Frame. I have ended up turning it off for the matches in daylight. It is a distraction when you are used to getting a sight picture.
You will love the MK III Ruger. I have a 4" Hunter at the moment. It shoots great. I like the 617 22 Revolver also. It shoots very well, and like the MKIII is cheap to shoot. You can shoot a 22 handgun till your trigger finger is warn out and have spent under $20 in ammo.
For practice for your SBH the S&W 17 shot single action will also get the cocking sequence going as part of your practice.

My Ruger is actually the 22/45 slab-sided bull barrel model. Same diff as a Mk III pretty much. Nice little pistol. The Mod 17 was/is shot in SA mode. My goal is, as you say, to emulate the SBH shooting as much as possible. The stout Viper loads help a bit too, because the gun moves a bit and forces me to get back on target. I discovered that my personal protection training was actually driving my hunting practice though. I was so intent on getting back on target and making the next shot, that I would let a lot of detailed thinking go and not check my breathing and trigger control as well as I should have. I'll be more deliberat next time out.

I'm coming into this late so I'll just address the original post and hopefully not just repeat everybody. you can gain by practicing with anything even a rifle as trigger control is trigger control but even though the smith is different it will help you out. You might also buy fifty or one hundred rounds of 44 brass and some inexpensive bulk cast bullets and find a light load for the gun, some loads I've seen for the 44 special only take 5 ro 6 grains of powder and practice using it every now and again. They also have plastic cases that use reusable rubber projectiles and only need the primer for propulsion but I don't remember what all calibers they have but that may be something to consider for practice in the garage or backyard and of course one of my favorite things to do is use snap caps and watch hunting shows so I can practice target aquisition and trigger control because when you do that you will know if the barrel pulled or pushed to one side or the other. I hope that helps and I didn't just repeat everything everyone else said.

Hey Rod,

Yep, it all helps! I have over 500 rds of .44 brass (150 empty so far) and have begun to develop my hunting loads, but I may also get the cheap-o lead bullets and run up some plinking/practice ammo too. Great advice. I have a pound of Unique for that use.

I agree that all trigger time is beneficial. That said, I don't load practice and hunting loads and will only practice with my hunting loads.

If I had unlimited funding, I might do that!

That was the whole point of the Mod 17 practice time; to save on money while I learn to handle the cannon.

If I didn't load my own, I wouldn't practice nearly as much, so I can feel your pain!

I like to dry fire watching the outdoor channel. Lots of different target opportunities. Gets you used to looking at game with your sites. Very Cheap for ammo, weather is always perfect, get to do it in my easy chair, and dont even have to gut the animal after I shoot! My wife thinks Im crazy! Sounds like a perfect hunt to me.

LOL! I do the same thing! Oh, and my wife also thinks I'm nuts!

Guess I'm gonna have to get some .22 snap caps. Can't dry fire a Mod. 17 without them. May as well get some .44's as well, though Ruger doesn't seem to mind the dry firing according to their manual.

You can dry fire your Ruger till your finger falls off. Will not hurt it.

Your action on a ruger will get slicker the more you dry fire. Mine went from terrible to quite good with simple dry fire practice.

Save your spent 22 cases and use them for dry firing the Smith. When you put them in the cylinder make sure the pin will fall on a freah area. Then maybe cycle twice and change them out.

With a 22 you want to have someting the pin can hit that's soft. Otherwise the pin will peen on the cylinder and cause troubles in the near future.

I was pretty happy out of the box actually, although I did to the Poor Man's Trigger Job before it was ever fired. Actually did make a difference on the feel of the trigger but the factory trigger is very crisp, which I prefer. I may lighten it up eventually, but I figure if I can get proficient with it the way it is, improving the trigger at that point will make it that much more enjoyable for the long run.

No shortage of .22 cases so thanks for that tip. We decided to lay down a tarp the next time we go to shoot, so we don't have to hunt and peck for the brass in the leaf litter quite as much. (The way I look at it, if I ever NEED some brass, I can go root in the leaves, though

)

I did the same poor boy's trigger job you are talking about on my SBH, and it did help. It still has a little creep, but it is now smooth rather than gritty , and lifting the one spring arm off definatly lightened the trigger pull.

Is there any way to get rid of the creep without taking it to a gunsmith?

If you want some great info on Ruger smithing, go to the Ruger forum & find a guy named Iowegan. Here's a post there with him in it. SEnd him a PM or make a post requesting an IBOK.
http://rugerforum.net/pistols-revolvers/22706-iowegan-help.html

If foe some reason that link won't work here's the home page.
http://rugerforum.net/forums.php

He sells a book (Called "IBOK") for each Ruger revolver type & they are a great shop manual with info & pics on your own trigger jobs,chamfering forcing cones, etc. I have the double action book for my SRH & it's is great. Well done & all you need to know. He's a retired gunsmith. Books are about $15 shipped & WELL worth it. They are 8.5 x 11 formay & spiral bound. Very professional. Request the Single Action version of the book.

Thanks