A little cool, 40°, on an early spring morning, and it seemed a good time to take out a pair of S&W “Kit Guns” that are resident. Both with three-inch barrels (the three-inch J-frame is a personal favorite of long standing), one is the “AirLite” Model 317. The other is the Model 63. Both are of the “lock” era, both have fiber-optic front sights. The M317 has a “V” notch in the rear sight blade; the M63 has the square notch. 

I’d never considered either to be particularly accurate, finding as the previous generation gun author “Skeeter” Skelton did that the J-frame size and action (sights notwithstanding) took considerable effort to shoot well. 

I don’t find 38 Special J’s that hard to shoot. It’s likely the lustier mainspring to better ensure we light the rimfire priming compound and the fact that one needs to emphasize follow-through. It seems to take forever to get that 22 slug out of the bore.

With the AirLite, it’s the fact that there’s no real weight to stabilize one’s hold. It just waves around in the breeze at the end of your arms. In Kansas, finding a still enough day to steady the pint-sized blaster is tough. 

Like Mr. Skelton, I find that “cheating” by taking a field rest is critical to scoring hits with such small guns. A genuine M317, 1 7/8” barrel gun with the tiny “boot grips” of Uncle Mike’s fame, scored a headshot on a peeping prairie dog on the Spur Ranch in Wyoming. I can’t tell you the distance – if I remembered how I paced it off, I’d still find it unlikely. 

I was perched next to Dick Williams’ Ford F150, using it for support when I took the shot. I saw dirt fly, considered it a miss; all I’d seen was the critter’s noggin.

Dick said, “I think you hit him. You better go look.”

I did. I had. 

Don’t get excited. It was luck.

The flyweight wasn't as easy to hold as the steel M63 (below). 

These longer guns needed some shooting before I cleaned them for the walking-around season. I selected Federal bulk-packed Auto Match 40gr. ammo for the range trip. Shooting one-handed, bullseye-style (I’m a glutton for punishment), I printed a 7 ¼” pattern with the flyweight 317.

You could hardly call it a group. There were four hits in 4 ½”, more in keeping with what I can do with the insubstantial gun. Three hits were in 2 ¼”.

With the stouter Model 63, five shots went into 2 7/8” – shot the same way. Three hits crowded into 1 3/8”. I was back into “luck territory.”

I stapled up a business-size envelope and shot it two-handed from 20 yards with the steel Kit Gun. That gave me a 3 3/8” group (more like it), with three hits into 2 ¼”. 

That’s with no fender, table, tree or fence post to be supported by. 

I spent a little more time with each gun. I had one failure to fire using CCI Standard Velocity in the AirLite. 

There were no other stoppages. 

I’d quit shooting for groups to measure and just tried to make hits on various targets. It’s not wasted effort when you’re shooting a 22.

And it’s just a good way to start the spring time.

– Rich Grassi