New Smith revolver

reconseed

reconseed

Joined
Sep 23, 2006
Messages
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I bought one of the AirLite Smith and Wesson 360PD snub nose revolvers the other day. Shoots .357 mag, or .38 special. the gun weighs 12 ounces! I cant even begin to expound on the recoil with a full house .357 mag, 158 gr. whew! great CCW piece though. This has officially replaced my Glock for CCW.


SW-360PD-1.jpg
 
ashtx, do you have this same revolver? Man, I love it. the smallest lightest and strongest .357 mags made, according to SW. and in the past, SW has never let me down.
 
Actually I own 2 S&W 686's in 357 mag. My mother owns a ladysmith 38spl. That model is a little small for me. If I shot my 125 grn handloads through it it wouldnt stay in your hand (1900 fps from a 6in barrel 1700 + from a 4in barrel). They recoil like a hot 41 mag or a average 44 mag.
 
ashtxsniper said:
Actually I own 2 S&W 686's in 357 mag. My mother owns a ladysmith 38spl. That model is a little small for me. If I shot my 125 grn handloads through it it wouldnt stay in your hand (1900 fps from a 6in barrel 1700 + from a 4in barrel). They recoil like a hot 41 mag or a average 44 mag.
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ouch!!!!:thumbup:
 
even .38 specials arent that fun to shoot in the airweight series. after about 20 rounds my hand gets pretty sore.

but they are great for ccw. i carry one as a backup.
 
i fired a similar "J" frame .357mag a while back the same afternoon as trying out a buds S&W .500 mag and honestly think the .357 had more recoil, at least more uncomfortable recoil, of course when in a bad situation recoil isnt a prob but it does make practice more difficult.

a;so as stated earlier .38 special isnt a lot of fun either out of the scandium "J"s, esp +p or +p+.
 
I have the exact same revolver, with Crimson Trace laser grips. One of my most carried CCW guns.

When I got it, I took it out to the desert to shoot it. First up, 5 rounds .38 light target loads. Bang bang bang bang bang. No big deal.

Next, 5 rounds Federal .38+p 158gr LSWHP, what I carry in my little .38 Lightweight Bodyguard. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG. Just as uncomfortable as the Bodyguard, not painful, not fun.

OK, here we go...5 rounds Corbon 125gr JHP .357. Hot factory load. Geez, these look too long to fit in this little gun! Hmmm...they fit! OK, here we go. NO! WAIT!! I'm thirsty, need a drink. Ah, better. OK, now I'm ready. "Dear Lord, please don't let this hurt too muc...BLAM!! OW!! Hey, where's this blood coming from? Hmm..seems my finger got cut on the inside of the perfectly smooth trigger guard from the violent recoil. Oh, well, hand's nearly numb anyway...BLAM OW BLAM OW OW BLAM OW OW OW BLAM!!!

Understand, I am a 6'1" 230 pound former powerlifter who is NOT recoil sensitive. The recoil of this LIGHTweight little gun is so sudden and sharp that it's gonna' hurt.

I practice with light .38s in this gun (which is very unusual for me) and carry the .357s, knowing that if I'm shooting to save my life, I won't feel the pain until after it's over.

Highly recommend the CT laser grips, by the way. They actually reduce...slightly...the pain.
 
Those are nice carry guns. It'd be a good back up, but for a primary? I'd carry it WITH my Glock, but not alone, unless it's around the house type stuff.
 
12 oz.? That gun's way too heavy. I use an 11 oz. 340Sc.:cool:

Damn, they sure do hurt with full house .357 (I don't feel much difference between them and +P 38's), but the light weight and small size make it a gun you'll have on you, not back in the house/car/etc. I pocket carry in a Bob Mika holster most of the time--great holsters, great guy. Under $20.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~akim/
The round cut fits well in jeans and is the one I have (actually, I have 3--different ones for different sized guns). He can custom make them at great prices too.
 
I shot five 158gr JHPs from a friend's, and that was enough for me. I also sliced my thumb on the cylinder latch of another when firing hot .38s. That said, I'm sure they'll get it done in the kind of fight they're meant for.

If I shot my 125 grn handloads through it it wouldnt stay in your hand (1900 fps from a 6in barrel 1700 + from a 4in barrel).
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How many .357s have you shot loose with those? That's what I get out of .357/44 Bain and Davis in a 10" TC Contender.
 
I've got a titanium Taurus 85 "Ultralight" with the undersized smooth rosewood grips. The recoil from +P Golden Sabers isn't too bad. Hot loaded .357s out of a gun that light is unpleasant. I fired a friend's .357 derringer once . . . didn't much care for it. Imagine how firing a .357 Cor-Bon out of a Downsizer WSP must feel . . . .
 
Robert H said:
Those are nice carry guns. It'd be a good back up, but for a primary? I'd carry it WITH my Glock, but not alone, unless it's around the house type stuff.
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Robert, great point, however, in all honesty, I dont feel the need to carry 2 guns here in East Tennessee. Maybe I am young and naieve, but I just dont. I feel perfectly safe and sound with this smith .357 mag. the gun is built like a tank, its light, and can as another friend said on this thread, "kill at both ends." (sucks for my poor wrist, huh..:grumpy: ) so i just strap the 360PD in my Galco pancake holster and she rides like she isnt there all day. couldnt be happier with this Smith and Wesson. but then again, the more Smith's I own, the more i fall in love with their mastery of revolvers & the fact that they always deliver when called upon.
 
OW! With the sharp recoil from a fast buring moderatley heavy magnum load, I have hurt my hand on a gun that weighs a not-unsubstantial percetnage more than that!
I don't know if I would ever feed that thing more than a lighter +p....
 
smokelaw1 said:
OW! With the sharp recoil from a fast buring moderatley heavy magnum load, I have hurt my hand on a gun that weighs a not-unsubstantial percetnage more than that!
I don't know if I would ever feed that thing more than a lighter +p....
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whoa whoa. a light .357 magnum load? thats like saying "Brave French." they just dont go together. :p


She kicks. Thats for sure, the key is... Knowing when it is coming and bracing like all hell is coming. Then practicing with .38 +P's. carry .357's b/c the only time you are going to use that thing -

1. your life will be in jeoporady and you wont be worrying about the recoil of a revolver.
2. the entire city is going to be woke up from the blast of a .357 magnum out of a 1 and 7/8 inch barrel:eek:
 
I fired a .44 Special Charter Arms Bulldog when I lived in Florida. I had bruises on my palm afterwards. I couldn't fathom firing a .44 Magnum. You could see the rounds leaving the barrel of the Bulldog. Between my buddy and I we only put about a hundred rounds through it that day.

The only .357 I've fired was a Desert Eagle. The recoil wasn't so bad as it was such a large frame gun. It wasn't my cuppa though.
 
Geraldo said:
I shot five 158gr JHPs from a friend's, and that was enough for me. I also sliced my thumb on the cylinder latch of another when firing hot .38s. That said, I'm sure they'll get it done in the kind of fight they're meant for.



How many .357s have you shot loose with those? That's what I get out of .357/44 Bain and Davis in a 10" TC Contender.
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I usually only use them for hunting or self defense and I have only fired around 300 of them. The gun has no wear or erosion whatsoever from them. You have to take into account that the 686 is an overbuilt 357. Supposedly it is there strongest 357 model S&W makes and the loads are within safe pressure limits. Thank god for that majical hodgon h110 it make a 357 perform like it should. If I could find a 357 maximum revolver that I liked I would experiment with it. I could probably get 2300 fps with a 125grn. :D
 
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