Hammerless 357

[Pat]

Pat, I knew there was a reason I liked you. I thought it was your avatar!
I too like my SP 101...

You're welcome!

[JoeH]

Take a look at the S&W 640. It's an all-stainless j-frame, concealed hammer, that weighs 23oz.

I carry it with Speer Short Barrel .357 Gold Dot ammo. Speer gets greater muzzle velocity and deeper penetration with this round compared to their .38+P round without the recoil and muzzle blast of full .357 rounds.

[goalie]

I have a SP101 with a 3" barrel. It is the smallest I would go with the .357 chambering.

YMMV, but it is perfect for me. If I go to a real "snubbie" it is a J-frame S&W 638 with +p ammo.

[pagollum]

Everyone's wisdom and opinions taken into account. I now have a S&W 640 to take to the range this weekend

[JoeH]

Nice choice!

[MNBud]

I also own a 640 that is a blast to shoot, but given the chance to do it over I would purchase the 649. Shrouded hammer. I sold my 642 and bought a 638 and put the Crimson trace grips on it.

[Ramoel]

I shoot .357 in an all steel 649. The same weight bullet in .357 chronos 200-300 FPS faster than a .38 +P.

That is not insignificant! It doesn't recoil as bad as .38 +P in an Airweight 642!

[fatbob]

Everyone's wisdom and opinions taken into account. I now have a S&W 640 to take to the range this weekend

Congrats! Did you get it at Gunstop? Larry had a nice 640 pre-lock there that I had been considering, but decided that I'm perfectly happy with my 38+P Airweight.

[Li'l Beaver]

Yep, here I am, Vlad!

Pagollum, there's a big variation in weight between snubbies: my 2.25" Ruger SP101 weighs about 23 oz., while there's alloy models that weigh 12. So, that tradeoff of carry comfort vs. shooting comfort makes for a big, big difference between models that might look pretty similar at a glance. Definitely try both ends of the spectrum if you can. Shooting the scandium guns feels like a cherrybomb exploding in your hand, but some guys are OK with that. Tougher guys than me! Also the heavier, real-steel guns, tend to be cheaper, so that's what the smart guys buy.

My gun's the heaviest in its class that I know of (though I know there's a Taurus that weighs about the same). I'd definitely recommend it. BTW, it comes in a 3" model too. I have the soft rubber Hogue Monogrip on mine, which is not the ideal for concealment, but lets me shoot the Magnum loads in comfort and hang onto the gun very securely.

I shot some of my .357 carry loads, a 125 gr Double Tap Gold Dot, through a chrono: they averaged 1207 fps. If there's a .38 +P that approaches that, somebody let me know. (Through a chrono with a real gun, not the advertised numbers.):
[url=http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5199/doubletapvelocity.png][img]
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5199 ... ity.th.png[/img][/url]

Oh, and it's purty.

I agree the 12 oz. snubs would not be pleasant to shoot for an extended range session even with +P .38's. My Taurus 617SS 2" weighing in at 28 oz. does a good job of soaking up recoil while providing 7 round capacity, and recoil is only slighty more than my 2" Colt Cobra at 16 oz. with std. .38's. There are several "Short bbl." .357 rounds which do provide increased power over +P .38's.

[Lucas]

Here's my 360PD with CT grips:



I will agree with what everyone has said so far. These Scandium-framed snubbies are not a lot of fun to shoot, but they sure disappear in a pocket and make carrying anywhere effortless (small gun in hand better than big gun in truck, etc). I carry Speer Gold-Dot .38+P's as they offer a good compromise between max power and manageable recoil.

[JoeH]

Nice gun and photo.