Today I hit the range with the Spohr 283 Carry to do some practical shooting. Most of the target work I share is about extreme accuracy, well today it was time for something different.
The Spohr 283 Carry obviously has a focus on the self defense market. It has a 3” barrel, round butt grips that are similar to the old S&W combat grips, and large fiber optic sights that are quick to acquire for a sight picture.
So today I decided to run through some practical shooting drills and evaluate the Spohr’s accuracy at a practical defensive range. I used a cardboard USPSA target at 15 yards for this practice. I went through various drills from strong/weak hand, single action, double action, and reloading.
The double action trigger pull on the Spohr is something I can’t fully describe in words, but let’s give it a try. The Spohr uses a coil spring system for the hammer spring. The other guns on the market that do so are known to have a heavy stacking feeling as the spring compresses during trigger pull. That is not the case with the Spohr. The trigger pull is smooth all the way through. There is a distinct “wall” at the very end of the double action trigger pull just before it breaks that you will feel each and every time you go through cycling the action. For me, that wall is a reminder to maintain a smooth trigger pull. I know that if I do not feel that wall I am slapping through the trigger and causing errant shots.
Along with a great trigger, the Spohr has well fit round butt combat style grips. These grips distribute recoil energy to the hands well and allow for rapid recovery after the shot even with the heaviest of 357 magnum loads.
Thomas Spohr selected a very appropriate set of sights for the 283 Carry. The large fiber optic sights are quick to acquire a good sight picture. Fiber optic gathers light and appears to glow in any setting with some form of natural or artificial light which will draw the eye right to where it needs to be. The LPA rear sight is also fully adjustable which will allow you to zero with a wide range of ammunition.
For the last drill of the day I wanted to try some premium ammunition from Cutting Edge Bullets. Along with trying the CEB ammo I also wanted to see how much my zero would shift from double action to single action shooting with the Spohr. For this I set up a simple test, three rounds single action followed by three rounds double action. The single action shots would be taken precisely just as I would with my hunting guns and the double action would be taken with a continuous trigger pull just like I would when I compete with a revolver or like I did when I qualified with one in law enforcement. Once again I placed my target at 15 yards and worked through the drill.
I repeated this test with all three loadings I had from Cutting Edge Bullets. I was able to maintain groups of less than 2 inches with all three loads. The 9mm PHD ammunition was a pure pleasure to shoot that had recoil similar to a 38 special and the 165 had heavier recoil but was still completely manageable. The 140 split the difference and fell in between the other two.
From single action to double action I found my point of impact to drop down and right slightly as expected. For defensive use the point of impact shift was negligible.
I was quite pleased with the accuracy of the Spohr using the Cutting Edge Bullets factory ammo in defensive drills.
As we go forward I plan to mount optics on the Spohr 283 Carry which will eliminate the limitations that come with a short sight radius and continue pushing the limits of accuracy just as we did with their longer barreled models. I can’t wait to introduce the market to Ultradot’s new reflex sight coming out shortly!
We have quite a few reviews of both Spohr and Cutting Edge Bullets on this blog and our YouTube channel, check them out!