American Handgunner July/August 1977

wadcutters, with heavy load firing confinedto familiarization and sight setting.This being the case, the Combat Magnumhas many advantages over its forerunner.It is more comfortable to carry, lends itselfbetter to concealment, can be drawnand fired faster due to its lighter weight,and the double action pull can be refinedto a markedly better degree. There is noway that the heavy cylinder of the Model27 can be incorporated into an action assmooth as can be attained with the smalllight cylinder of the Model 19.In suggesting adjustable sights for mydream gun, I was envisioning a single firearm;a separate entity, not considered incombination with any complimentaryhandguns. One which could be, withinreasonable limitations, all the handgunneeded by the one-gun man. Under thisconcept, adjustahle sights would be theobvious choice. Sights which would providethe adjustment capability requiredfor target shooting at different ranges andaiming points plus the flexibility of sightingfor widely differing handloads. Hadthe gun been planned for defense useFor combat situations at ranges from seven to fifteen yards, authoradvises using two hands, particularly if more than one shot will be fired.what was then a very popular national TVprogram, Art Baker's "You Asked ForIt," sponsored by Skippy Peanut Butter.During my part of the program, I held theCombat Magnum up for a full screen shotwhile I described it as "the answer to aPeace Officer's dream." I was told thatHellstrom arranged to borrow the film ofthe live show. flew it back to Springfield,and showed it during a lunch break to allthe Smith & Wesson employees.It was only after a month or so hadpassed that it occurred to me to wonderabout #260,002! Then I learned that ithad gone out with a regular shipment andthere was no record of its final owner. Ihave never learned what happened to it.Number 260,001, unfired, I still have.I would have liked the barrel of this revolvermade heavier for better pointahility.With practice, a good combat shooterlearns to sense the way his gun is aimed inpoint-shooting situations by the feel of thebarrel out in front of his hand. This evenwhen he cannot see the gun due to concentratingall his attention on the target. Along barrel gives this feel, which is comparableto pointing the finger. The longerthe barrel, the more definite sensing ofthe gun pointing becomes. In the @/"inch-.44 Magnum, this feel is intensified to aremarkable degree. It is like a fishing polesticking out there! By the same token, theshort barrel, such as a 2 inch "snubby"has very little of this quality. It could becompared to pointing with the fist insteadof the finger. To attain this sense of feel,weight must be substituted for anyshortening of the barrel. A very heavy fourinch barrel assumes the pointability of alight six inch barrel. Since the four inch isthe police standard length, as a compromisegiving comfort in carrying, adequatesight radius and speed in handling, itneeds this extra weight.Of course, one other advantage of theheavier barrel would be its dampening effecton barrel flip and recoil, giving bettercontrol to a lighter frame gun fired inrapid fire bursts.The " K frame is perhaps a bit light tostand up under a steady diet of full charge.357 loads. Anyone wishing to do all hisfiring with maximum loads would do wellto stick with the heavier frame of theoriginal .357 revolver. Actually, very fewguns are likely to be subjected to thispounding. For most-perhaps 90%-practice shooting will be with mid-rangeHere's a close-up of Jordan'sM-19 showing the side of thetrigger guard as cut away androunded for faster speed draw.