Charter Arms Southpaw gets a carry load: Federal HydraShok +Ps

Spent some more quality time at DeWitt's outdoor range today with the main objective being determining a carry load for my new Charter Arms Southpaw .38 Special.

It's a lightweight 5-shot J-frame size revolver so I was expecting what American Rifleman's review termed "stout recoil" with +P loads.

But contrary to their terminology, I found the +P loads to be a bit stiff but not unpleasant at all, certainly quite manageable. I tried three different loads, Hornady Critical Defense .38 Spl. 110 gr. FTX and two +P loads, CCI 125 gr. TMJ and Federal Premium 129 gr. HydraShok JHP.

The gun shop is out of the Critical Defense +P loads so I will try those when they're back in stock. The regular .38 Critical Defense loads are the five holes low and left in the first target on the left. The next five in that target, three in the black and two in the bull, are the CCI +P 125 gr., obviously more to point of aim of the iron sights, standing at 10 yards.

So I changed over to the Federal HydraShoks for the target at the right, 10 rds. same distance. Five in the black and five close by. Viola! We have a carry load.

It's gonna take a while for me to get used to a lefty-friendly revolver with the cylinder lock on the right instead of the left. But I like it. A lot.

Then I moved on to my Dan Wesson .22LR revolver, shooting from a rest to zero its sights. I've had the Dan Wesson way too long to just now getting around to zeroing the sights, but I've been pretty busy. That's my Sig P220 next to the DW, ready for testing of Winchester Ranger T .230 gr. JHPs.

First target on the left is testing and adjusting the sights of the DW. Like a fool I fiddled with the up-down adjustment while trying to get the left-right fixed. Finally figured out you have to hold the flathead screw while tightening the Allen screw. Who knew?

Then I shot a magazine of Ranger T's at the target on the right, standing 10 yards. Shot too fast but the test was mainly to see if they would cycle. Yes.

Then I fired three magazines of MagTech 230 gr. FMJs at the next target on the left, 10 yards rapid fire standing, just because.

I seemed to be shooting a bit low today so I slow-fired the target at the right with Ranger Ts. Some in the black, but most a bit low. Close enough for government work.

The gun shop has a pretty good supply of Ranger T ammo, 50 rds. of quality JHPs for only $34 a box, so I'll be stocking up on them. Anytime you can get quality hollow-points for less than a buck a round, buy 'em. And if they're Ranger Ts, well duh. That's one of the best law-enforcement rounds ever manufactured.

I only have one complaint about the Sig P220. It goes into slide-lock way too fast, as in "Damn! Is that eight rounds already?" It's one of only two single-stack pistols I own, the other being my itty bitty Kel-Tec PF-9 and when you're shooting +Ps in it, you're glad when it goes to slide-lock.

I like high-capacity pistols but this Sig P220 is making me take a second look at single-stacks.

My very first .38 Special snubby finally followed me home

I've been finding better alternatives to a .38 Special snubby for just about exactly two years now. Back on March 21, 2008, I wrote about my plans to buy a .38 snubby when I came home instead with an N-frame S&W Model 21 .44 Special with a 4" barrel, which is considerably removed from a J-frame .38.

That was my first .44 and since I've found reason to buy three more, a S&W 29 .44 Magnum with 4" pipe, a Charter Bulldog Stainless .44 Special with 2.5" snout, and a Hy Hunter Six Shooter .44 Magnum single-action with a 6" pole.

Also since that first abortive .38 snubby shopping expedition, I started working in a gun store and have added another Charter 2.5-incher, this one a stainless .327 Magnum, and two .357 Magnum wheelguns, both K-frame size, S&W 65 and Taurus 65, each stainless with a 3" and 2.5" pipes respectively.

But finally today I brought home my very first .38 snubby, a Charter Arms Southpaw, their version of the S&W AirWeight with a stainless 2" barrel and cylinder and the rest is alloy and polymer.

I read a review of the Southpaw in a recent issue of American Rifleman and they reported that recoil is "stout" with hot .38 loads.

Lightweight revolvers are nice for carry, but you can't repeal the laws of physics as discovered by Newton and invented by God. For every action, Newton expostulated, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Send a hot .38 load out the pipe and an equal amount of force is exerted in the other direction, otherwise known as recoil. Subtract weight from the pistol to absorb that recoil and you get "Ouch!"

But the Charter Southpaw and their other Undercover Lite revolvers have something S&W Airweights don't have, a polymer grip frame. I test-fired and wrote about the Ruger LCR, which I mistakenly said is the world's first revolver with a polymer grip frame. Wrong, I discovered when I read the American Rifleman review. Charter did it first. Now I shall find out if Charter does it as well as Ruger, because the LCR was pleasant to shoot with regular .38 Special loads and bearable if not pleasant with +P loads. If the Charter does that well, I shall be pleased.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the Charter has another first also, without a doubt the world's first production left-handed revolver. There may have been some custom wheelguns made for lefties like me, but I am not aware of any other manufacturer doing something for those of us who draw with the "off" hand. I'm looking forward to test-firing the Southpaw this weekend. I may be working Saturday, but if not ... range report to come.