My friend and sometime competition partner Ric got back into PPC not long ago. He had this gun custom made, and then less than a year later moved up to an even nicer custom wheelgun, and offered me this one at a very good price... I spent an hour firing it, going though several boxes of my handloads (and his!) I decided to pass on it, even though it was the nicest DA revolver I'd ever fired, as I didn't see myself getting involved in PPC competition. (The last time I did competitive shooting it took up all my weekends, and I realized I'd need to devote even more time if I wanted to break into the top levels, and I couldn't really make that kind of time commitment.)
PPC- or Police Pistol Combat- began as a practical exercise designed to test many of the skills in actual police shooting. Like most shooting sports it went on to become highly competitive and impractical- but it's still a lot of fun. Since most police carried .38 revolvers when PPC was created, and most departments trained in double action fire, the rules called for .38 special revolvers fired double-action.
Today's PPC pistols often have lightened, bobbed hammers and can only be fired double action. Actions are usually modified S&W Target revolvers with heavy barrels and ventilated ribs. Increasingly, semiautomatic pistols- target 45s or 9mms- are also being used, but most shooters still use the revolvers, at least at the local level. Ammunition is typically a handloaded 148gr wadcutter over a few grains of Bullseye. (You can buy wadcutter loads, but they're expensive enough, compared to most .38spl, that your reloading gear pays for itself after a dozen boxes of ammunition.) Between the light load and the mass of the pistol, recoil is almost non-existent. These guns are an absolute pleasure to fire as well as being exceptionally accurate.
If you're interested in PPC, this is a good site for basic info. Michigan shooters should check out the Michigan Police Combat Pistol Association site.
