The Baby Gun

Dual Cylinders

Thinking ahead, I wanted a gun I could use to teach my daughter, Samantha, how to shoot with, but still be useful to her later in life. Ruger had just the thing, with their dual cylinder Blackhawk single-action revolver. I chose a 6.5” 9mm/.357 Magnum caliber because I felt it offered the most versatility for a young shooter and has enough horsepower for taking care of heavier jobs, if the need arises, especially with handloads.

For a beginner shooter, the 9mm is perfect with its light recoil. Loaded with .38 Special cartridges would up the ante, recoil wise, while still being manageable, eventually working up to heavy .357 Magnum loads as skill level improves. At least that’s what I explained to my wife when the bill surfaced a month later.

“Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun a bit,” she asked, as I cradled Samantha in my arms. No, not at all.

The .38 Special has two class of loads: standard plinking loads and heavy Elmer-type loads. For plinking, I use any cast slug weighing around 150-160 grains. Favorites include Lee 158-grain radiused flat-nose slugs, and 150-grain SWC slugs, both from 6- cavity molds, which dumps a lot of bullets fast. Loads include either 4.2 grains of 231 for around 800 fps, or 5 grains of Unique for about 950 fps. These are exceptionally fun loads to shoot and really let the shooter concentrate on the mechanics without anticipating recoil. I shoot these loads myself to tighten things up whenever the need arises for a tune-up.

One of my all-time favorite loads consists of the Lyman 358429 Keith bullet loaded over 13.0 grains of 2400. Out of this gun, I get 1,260 fps, which is great for a 173-grain SWC slug. Who needs magnum brass when you get this type of performance from .38 Special brass?

The next load does uses .357 Magnum brass. I use a 187-grain WFNGC (Wide Flat-Nose Gas Check) slug loaded over 16 grains of H110 with a standard primer for just under 1,400 fps. It’s a hard hitter and exceptionally accurate. Out of a levergun it goes over 1,700 fps.