The Revenuer Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 I’m a new shooter and would like to hear the pros and cons of short stroking pistols. Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 I have a pair of Cimarron Eliminator 8s that are factory short stroked. After the buzzer goes off, I never notice the difference. Lowered hammer spurs do help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom, SASS #54973 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Shooting unsupported they help...generally. Big hands/long thumbs...less so. Anything that causes one's hands/thumbs to have less movement (ie: arthritis), they are a benefit. That's about it. Sorry I don't have any pictures... Phantom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Purely personal choice. What Phantom said. I use short stroked pistols and love them. I shoot gunfighter style and have arthritic hands. Helps me a lot. Started with non-short stroked pistols and they worked fine, but once I switched to GF I noticed a difference for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 They are great for arthritic old hands shooting Duelist. Don't know how much difference they'd make shooting two-handed? Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 These Eliminator 8s came "factory turned". The hammer spring was "dowgboned" until it wouldn't reliable fire. I replaced with stock spring. My thinking is, short stroke needs stronger spring. Also, you're asking the action parts to perform the same functions with some 25% less travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Boots, # 20282 LTG-Regulator Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 IMO, there are gunsmiths of our game that can tune a full cock revolvers to be much smoother than the best of SS. But, as mentioned above SS has its advantage to duelist and certain other shooters. Types of hammers offer advantage to some also. The travel difference of hammer is perhaps 1/8 to 1/4 inch difference at best with SS which is little effort with two hands and sometimes the smoothness of action obtained in full cock is significant, even to duelist with large hands. At your local match, ask to try both and see which fits your particular style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe E.S. Corpus SASS #87667 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Although there are some Uberti and Pietta revolvers that are short stroked, most of the short stroke conversions I have seen are on Rugers. These are aftermarket conversions and they are not cheap. I usually shoot Gunfighter. I have Rugers that are polished a bit but not converted. I have tried some short stroked versions. I think they would be of some benefit but perhaps not worth the cost to me. The converted revolvers I have tried had heavier hammer springs than my revolvers. A little more effort, a little less travel. Most (but not all) of the short stroke conversions involve removal of the transfer bars. The hammer will then have a half cock position for loading and unloading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex Jones, SASS 2263 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 I have one short stroked Uberti and I used it at End Of Trail last June. During a string I couldn't tell the difference between it and the other non short stroked pistol. Absent medical issues I don't see the need for them. I wouldn't buy a second one even though it worked fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Rick Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 You need to try a pair of short-stroked revolvers from the 'smith you will have do the work before you can make a decision on whether it's worth it. There are several 'smiths that will do the work and while each is similar, each also has it's own "feel". Same goes for "slicking" or "tuning". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Payne Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 I started with SS NMV's that were just about as slick as you can get from a very well know gunsmith. I tried someone else's full-stroke NMV's & they felt really good, from another very well know gunsmith. I had the opportunity to shoot both side-by-side, switching back & forth with a timer. Times were so close, you could call it a tie. I switched to full stroke guns for no particular reason other than maybe I just wanted to buy some new guns. As far as I'm concerned, I could flip a coin. I shoot two-handed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 1 hour ago, Warden Callaway said: These Eliminator 8s came "factory turned". The hammer spring was "dowgboned" until it wouldn't reliable fire. I replaced with stock spring. My thinking is, short stroke needs stronger spring. Also, you're asking the action parts to perform the same functions with some 25% less travel. Did you try re-arching the spring? OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 16 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: Did you try re-arching the spring? OLG No. That's something I haven't tried. Would it have to be annealed and re-tempered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 8 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said: No. That's something I haven't tried. Would it have to be annealed and re-tempered? No, I've had good luck doing it cold. Just push down on the arch and flatten it out some. Try it, you'll see. Won't take much...... OLG P.S. Sorry OP, for the thread derailment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 50 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: No, I've had good luck doing it cold. Just push down on the arch and flatten it out some. Try it, you'll see. Won't take much...... OLG P.S. Sorry OP, for the thread derailment I would think if you could deflect it cold, it would just loose its strength again in service. Sorry OP for our side conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 4 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said: I would think if you could deflect it cold, it would just loose its strength again in service. Sorry OP for our side conversation. PM sent OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 I have a pair of short stroked 1875 Remington Outlaws. I had them done before the onset of some serious health issues and have only shot them the equivalent of a couple of stages. I shot up some ammo that had failed to fire in competition, (light strikes in a rifle while finding a tuning combination that would function reliably) and they fired forty of the forty-five rounds I’d accumulated over my years of competition and practice, (also the result of experiments with reloading). They felt good and the cocking effort was only slightly heavier than my other set of Remingtons that are heavily modified to the lowest spring tension and have been tweaked, smoothed, and tuned in every way BUT short stroked. The nicest addition to the Outlaws was the lowered, widened, (think Super Blackhawk) hammers. I had intended to use them to shoot FCGF, but my right hand has developed some muscle and structural issues, so if and when I get back to shooting, I will find out how they work shooting duelist and two handed. As to re-arching main springs in single action revolvers, I’ve found that it works better than grinding and polishing both in reliability and function/feel. This is especially true in Remingtons and the S&W clones, the latter suffering from interference with the grip frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singin' Sue 71615 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 New shooter... How secure are you? How is your gun handleing? Saftey? Are you consistently hitting your target? How's your recoil handleing? Now, I ask this...because the first time I shot SS pistols...I AD'd...ALOT... And it was unsafe. It is a preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tequila Shooter Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 A smooth full stroke with the proper sized grip would probably help more than a short stroke alone. Too many folks forget how important grip feel is to gun control and accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawdog Dago Dom Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 Borrow a pair that has been short stroked after a match and try a stage. Better yet, find a club or clubs, that shoot Saturday and Sunday. One day factory stroke, one day short stroke. Don't buy/modify/alter a gun because a buddy says that's the way to go. Pick the gun/modification that feels right to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artemus Von Schutze Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 If you are shooting gunfighter or duelist, lowered hammers are the best thing you can do. I shot stock vaqueros, only changing out the springs for years, and about a year and half gunfighter. When I felt like I was comfortable and plateauing then I got a short stroke job and lowered hammers. Wish I did the hammers earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Shapiro Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 Everyone is different and you have to do what's right for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 Pretty much what Phantom and Doc, and a few others, stated above. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil dogooder Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 Ditto to widder. Shoot what feels right. I'm middling fast and usually shoot gf, most the time.I can't stand ss. Ive tried them and it just is waste of money for me. Same with the lowered fat hammers. I am fastest and prefer old model standard hammers. You need to find out what works best for you. Try as many guns as you can before you buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patagonia Pete Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 I had/have always been interested in lowered hammers (after seeing them for the first time). Every time I got a chance to try a set … they were great … duelist (using one hand) … Most of the ones I tried were simply regular Vaqueros w/ lowered blackhawk hammers swapped in. When I tried to use them two handed the hammer spur would jam into the web of my hand. This was a bummer for me because I had no interest in shooting duelist. But … one day … a shooter at a local club threw out a set of pristine stainless Piettas (GWII) on the sale table. These guys had lowered hammers … but … were also short stroked. The fully cocked hammers didn't come close to touching the web of my hand or interfere w/ my usual (two handed) shooting style/technique in any way. I bought them and I like them .. a lot … I really like them .. Did I say I liked them too?? Soooooooooooo … try before you buy I guess … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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