Practical Upgrades To Improve Hunting Revolver Accuracy

Bobby Tyler is back in studio with Steve and Caleb to talk about practical, real-world ways to improve the accuracy of a hunting revolver. Bobby is the owner of Tyler Gun Works in Friona, Texas, and if you've watched our earlier videos with him, you know he's an endless fount of knowledge about single and double action revolvers. Big-bore wheelguns are increasingly popular for hunting deer, antelope, elk, and other large four-legged critters. You just need to be sure your hunting revolver is ACCURATE.

Out of the box from the factory, most revolvers are pretty accurate, but they aren't necessarily ready for primetime in the field. A gritty trigger, rudimentary sights, slippery grips, a draggy cylinder, and other problems can prevent them from achieving their full accuracy potential. Bobby says, "Take all the variables out." Upgrade the gun so when you miss, you know it's your fault, not the gun's. STACK the deck in your favor.

When Bobby specs out a revolver for hunting, he starts by selecting sights that fit the shooter, the barrel length, and the type of game the gun will be used on. Next comes an Accuracy Package: barrel crown, forcing cone cut to 11 degrees, and chamfering the barrel throat. An Action Job ensures a perfectly smooth trigger pull, no hiccups in the cylinder rotation, and a crisp, clean break. A "crisp" trigger break should sound and feel like a little glass rod snapping. A bad trigger pull causes you to move the gun, which causes a BIG accuracy problem when the animal is a long ways away. Our most important goal is to take that animal in the most honorable way possible - cleanly, quickly, and humanely. We don't want to get our dinner at the expense of making another creature suffer.

You don't necessarily need a custom barrel, says Bobby. Factory barrels are usually more than up to the job. Once the rest of the revolver is tuned, a factory barrel will do its job just fine.

How much of a difference in group sizes will all these upgrades make? When you buy an "off the shelf" custom revolver from Bobby's shop, it comes with a two-part target that shows a group shot with it BEFORE any work was done, and a much smaller one shot AFTER the upgrades. The targets are shot offhand at 25 yards, with the exact same load.

What about the grips? Bobby closes with some sage advice on upgrading your hunting revolver's grips.