New to me carry gun, break-in/test regimine?

**adalwulf222** · November 2nd, 2015, 02:14 PM

I will shortly be picking up a used revolver for carry. It is a Taurus 605. What would you guys recommend I run through it before carrying it? How many .38s how many ..357s? I plan on carrying it with ..357s. Any advice would be appreciated.

**gold cup abuser** · November 2nd, 2015, 03:19 PM

Run at least 200 rounds. Use the American Eagle 130gr ball to start. If you can find some 148gr 38 wadcutters, then use them instead.

Then run some 357's through it to get a feel for how it will perform with your carry load.

I would run this in carry mode using 125gr 38 special +p. 357 in a snub is not pleasant.

**steve_010** · November 2nd, 2015, 03:20 PM

I have a Taurus 605 myself and personally think that .357's out of the 2" barrel is way too much. It's fun to see the people in the next stall over poke their head around to see what the flame and concussion came from, but I would suggest .38 HP's for carry. Sure, with the .357, one round would stop the threat (generally speaking), but good luck getting that thing back on target if you need another round. Unless, you're 350 pounds with tree trunks as arms. This is just my opinion, though.

**donotknowme** · November 2nd, 2015, 03:22 PM

Until you're comfortable with it shooting 357's and are convinced it won't fail is the short answer. Until you're comfortable drawing from conceal or open and reholstering. Until you're comfortable reloading it.

No shots down range number guesses from me.

**Sgt.K** · November 2nd, 2015, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by donotknowme

Until you're comfortable drawing from conceal or open and reholstering.

On a (barely) related note:

I just shot an IDPA match yesterday, something I started doing over 1½ years ago. I have never had any major issues reholstering, other than snagging the hem of my cover garment once, but yesterday it felt like the holster had a tractor beam guiding the muzzle every time. I have certain physical characteristics (I'm round, ok - there, I said it) that make me unable to actually see my IWB hybrid holster, but I couldn't miss yesterday if I wanted. A cool feeling.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread...

**R L Suehr** · November 2nd, 2015, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by adalwulf222

I will shortly be picking up a used revolver for carry. It is a Taurus 605. What would you guys recommend I run through it before carrying it? How many .38s how many ..357s? I plan on carrying it with ..357s. Any advice would be appreciated.

For function checking it, I would run say 100 or so 38's through it. Follow that up with a box or two of whatever your carry ammo is, just to make sure it's gonna work ok. With a wheel gun I think I would be comfortable with it being reliable after that.

If it's definitely going into the carry rotation right away then follow the advice below as well.

Originally Posted by donotknowme

Until you're comfortable with it shooting 357's and are convinced it won't fail is the short answer. Until you're comfortable drawing from conceal or open and reholstering. Until you're comfortable reloading it.

No shots down range number guesses from me.

**knight0334** · November 2nd, 2015, 04:41 PM

Revolvers don't need a "break in" like some semi-autos do. ...they aren't as heavily reliant on a specific range of spring rate for cycling the gun. If anything revolvers tend to be more reliable out of the box, then slowly get worse(typically weakened hammer spring, see below).

Just fire enough through to make sure it goes bang reliably. The only thing you should be concerned with is the spring rate of the hammer spring delivering enough momentum to the hammer to fire the hardest primers that you'll be shooting(any brand of magnum and any CCI primer). So, buy/load some magnums with magnum primers, also some with known CCI made primers - if it fires them, you're probably good to go.

CCI primers tend to be the hardest of the bunch. Mil-surp tends to be harder than CCI.

**adalwulf222** · November 2nd, 2015, 06:03 PM

Appreciate the input. I will probably run .38s to start with and work my way up from there. I know the general rule of thumb is 200 for an auto, but wasn't sure about the revolver.

Any thoughts on running 3 .38s with 2 .357s. The idea being the .38s didn't stop the threat?

I'm pretty excited, although it is a lowly Taurus. I'll let you guys know how it goes this weekend, if anybody cares.

**knight0334** · November 2nd, 2015, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by adalwulf222

Appreciate the input. I will probably run .38s to start with and work my way up from there. I know the general rule of thumb is 200 for an auto, but wasn't sure about the revolver.

Any thoughts on running 3 .38s with 2 .357s. The idea being the .38s didn't stop the threat?

I'm pretty excited, although it is a lowly Taurus. I'll let you guys know how it goes this weekend, if anybody cares.

Consistency is more valuable. Either run (5) .38's or (5) .357's. Also, a mixing of ammo could cause issues with an investigation. While yes, if deadly force is justified any tool is legal - but sometimes you're better off not creating a question that the investigators need answered.

And if you shoot someone/something 4 times with a .38 or .357 and it still doesn't do the trick - you probably shouldn't have been shooting them/it with a .38 or .357 to begin with.

**rwilson452** · November 3rd, 2015, 01:55 AM

It is my opinion that a short barreled .357 with .357 loads is nothing more than a .38spl. with a flame thrower added on. A short barrel just doesn't get to .357 velocity. Using .38 loads will give you faster recovery and less blinding than .357 loads at night. You can't hit what you can't see. Personally I would go with .38+p loads. milder recoil and less flash. Yes, this is my opinion and feel free to ignore it. After years of packing iron I'm still going to stick with my Colt 1991A1 in .45ACP.and I load Speer 230 gr. GDHP. I use the GDHP rounds because they work on all my 45s. My XD is picky for some odd reason.