By John Markwell | Contributing Writer
This story started as a holster review but got derailed when we went to the range the other day.
The short story is we got a new holster for our S&W Model 36-6 Target Model from our buddy Mike Barham at Galco Gunleather. The holster is a dark tan rendition of Galco’s classy Summer Comfort IWB rig. The revolver is one of a limited run of 615 Chiefs Specials made in 1989 with a 3-inch full-lug barrel, adjustable sight and a blue glass bead finish. I always thought this S&W revolver should have been marketed as the Model 36-.38 Kit Gun.
Having languished in the safe until recently, this revolver been shot very little due mainly to its’ horrible DA trigger pull and our lack of incentive to work on said pull. The gun, with its’ Farrant stocks, and the new holster makes for a pretty-cool carry outfit that is finally going to get the attention it deserves. Or so we thought.
First though a few words about the Farrant stocks/grips on the revolver. From the internet; “Fuzzy Farrant, Guy Hogue and John Hurst were all LAPD cops that worked the Academy, shot on the LAPD pistol team (one of the great ones, back in the day) and made stocks. All three used palm swells and Farrant and Hurst notched the frame on their stocks (both also made stocks for unmodified revolvers, because duty revolvers couldn’t be altered). Farrant and Hurst learned their trade from Walter Stark, another LAPD pistol team guy and Academy instructor.”
I got my first pair of Farrants, for a J-Frame S&W, back in the early ‘80s from Ken Hackathorn’s mentor Charlie Gillis. Charlie was a connoisseur of most everything firearms related and insisted I needed a Pair of Fuzzy Farrant stocks for an old S&W Body Guard I had (like the revolver, for you young guys). These stocks were of a smaller diameter at the bottom that any other stocks I’d ever seen and allowed the pinky finger to get a great purchase on the lower section of the grip. Most all Farrant stocks had palm swells; some single and some both sides, and the checkering was superb. Over the years more than a few pairs of Farrant stocks found their way on to some of our revolvers. They are beautifully crafted from assorted exotic woods and are treasured by collectors today.
Now to the range session and our change of gears. Having our own range, we are able to just walk down the road from the house to shoot a bit whenever the spirit moves us. Having a new rig for the 3-inch Chief was as good a reason as any to go down and fire a few rounds. Bear in mind, as much as we love S&W revolvers, our normal daily carry guns are, for the most part, 1911 pattern pistols, specifically CCOs of assorted calibers. These get shot a couple of times a week usually only a magazine or two at each session. It’s more than enough to stay proficient with the CCOs. Revolvers are another story and we don’t carry or shoot them enough, although we probably should.
Down at the range we put up an IPSC target and proceeded to shoot our buddy Ken Hackathorn’s Wizard Drill with the Model 36-6. This is a simple, low round count, skills test for CCW carriers designed by Ken. It only involves five shots; so, it’s more than suitable for those who carry one of the most common genres of guns found in the pockets and holsters of today’s gun carriers, the J-Frame Smith and Wesson.
To benefit from shooting the Wizard drill one needs a timer, one target, five rounds of ammunition and a healthy ego. Depending on one’s skill level (and maybe range rules), the drill can be shot from a “low ready” start position or from the holster, either worn openly or concealed. The time limit is 2.5-seconds per string and the goal is to end up with all shots in the target’s A-zones. Simple enough! Shooting a 1911, with the great single action trigger, we find this drill to be challenging but by no means intimidating and we, more often than not “clean” the Wizard with little trouble. The Little J-frame Smith proved to be another matter.
We were pretty confident addressing the target for the first shot of the Wizard drill with the Model 36 loaded up with a .38 Special hand load consisting of a 158gr lead SWC bullet driven by a moderate charge of W231 pistol powder. The range for string one, fired strong hand only, is only three yards and requires just one head shot; easy enough you say. Well, the DA trigger pull of the little Model 36 turned out to be more of a surprise than anticipated. Even though we had shot the gun a bit, sighting on the target’s head while cranking back on the smooth combat trigger caused way more movement of the front sight than expected. The 12-lb. + DA trigger pull would prove to be our nemesis.
String #2 and #3 also require one head shot each (free style) at 5 and 7 yards; again 2.5-seconds per. The final string of fire at 10 yards requires the shooter to put two rounds on the target’s center mass, again in 2.5 seconds. The results were not pretty and even though we fired the Wizard a few more times we were unable to come up clean and our times, quite frankly, sucked. Our ego was bruised but intact. A Brownell’s order for some after-market reduced power springs and a bit of home gunsmithing was in order before this neat old Smith would perform admirably enough in our hands to be carried. Lesson learned, again. Just being armed is not good enough!
For those who chose to go heeled on a daily basis establishing a standard of personal performance should be part of their training regimen with any specific type of firearm. The Wizard Drill is but one of many exercises we use to keep our skill level up to snuff. That level of performance will vary from shooter to shooter and gun to gun. You have to decide what performance level is acceptable for you with your carry gear and your perceived requirements.
Here’s another self-test.
Since we most often carry a 1911 CCO pattern pistol, we modified Ken’s Wizard Drill to make it more compatible with the capacity of those; 8 rounds for .45s and nine for 9mms and .38 Super. We also moved the first strong hand only head shot back from 3 to 5-yards for safety reasons since we regularly shoot this drill on a steel silhouette target; hence the name “The Steel Wizard”. Time limit for all strings is 2.5-seconds except for string #4 which is 3.75-seconds and #5 at 2.5-3 seconds. Again, the start position can be low ready or holstered/concealed and, this drill doesn’t have to be shot on steel; we’re just lazy and prefer it to fooling with paper.
The Steel Wizard
String #1- 5- yards one head shot, strong hand only 2.5sec.
String #2 -7-yards one head shot 2.5sec.
String #3 -10-yards one head shot 2.5sec.
String #4 -10-yards Mozambique (failure drill) 2 shots to the body and 1 to the head 3.75sec.
String #5 -15-yards Two body shots 2.5 to 3 seconds.
Total rounds 8. When shooting this drill load a maximum of 8 rounds in the gun and after String #5 is complete execute a slide lock reload. Modify as needed if shooting a revolver.
According to Tom Given’s, and a few other trainers, the consensus seems to be that the average civilian gunfight engagement lasts approximately three seconds, involves 3 shots being fired and 87% of those took place at between three and five yards with the over-all majority taking place within ten yards.
As legal gun carriers, it is our responsibility to continually evaluate and assess our personal skill level. Just going to the range and banging away with no plan or purpose is not valid training. The two drills above are just a couple that I shoot on a regular basis. For those who are motivated to elevate their skill at arms, I highly recommend viewing some of the many U tube videos that our buddy Ken Hackathorn has made over the years in conjunction with Wilson Combat. These are chock full of useful tips and drills for the thoughtful and serious gun carrier concerned with elevating and maintaining his/her level of competence.
Train regularly, train smart and remember, situational awareness and avoidance are THE best weapons in your arsenal. The gun is just the tool of last resort; if you must use it, doing so wisely and well is totally on you.
