The Value of Adjustable Sights

One of the cool things about revolvers is that depending on what caliber it is built for, we can usually shoot more than one caliber in the gun. Probably the most common is having a revolver chambered for .357 Magnum, which can also shoot .38 Special. The problem that can create is trying to find a round that “shoots to the sights” on a revolver with non-adjustable sights because of the huge variances in muzzle velocity and bullet weight that a revolver allows us to use. We could go from shooting a .38 Special 148gr FWC at just barely 700fps to shooting a 125gr .357 Magnum load upwards of 1,400fps. On a fixed sight gun, those two rounds likely would not shoot even close to the same Point of Impact (POI). This is where we find the value of an adjustable sight revolver. I can “zero” the sights to what load I prefer. If the revolver is going to be used for competition, I will zero with my match load and try to find a cheaper practice load that gets
close. If the gun is intended for defensive use, then I will zero with my carry load. I recently had to do this with my S&W Model 66. Because of the reload issues, I switched my carry load from the venerable 158gr +p LSWCHP to Hornady’s 135gr .357 Magnum Critical Duty. The significantly faster .357 Magnum load shot about 4″ lower than the .38 Special +p load at 25 yards. A little tweak on the sights and now the .357 Magnum load is pretty much dead center, or as close as I will be able to get it, and my reloads are now a lot easier too.