Jeff Gonzales (above) looked at the Smith & Wesson Model 360 .357 Magnum revolver I had in my hands. “Why don’t I just kick you in the balls?” Good question! At 58, my testicles are of less practical value than my hands. But I’m nothing if not an idiot. So I loaded up the Smith snubbie with Federal Premium 158 grain .357s and . .
Before I search for a metaphor capable of communicating the sheer joylessness of shooting .357s out of Smith & Wesson’s latest Airweight snubbie, I want to highlight the point of this seemingly pointless exercise, starting with one of Neil Gaiman’s rules for writers: Do whatever it takes to finish it.
While Mr. Gaiman was clearly referring to my three unfinished novels, the same rule applies to gunfights. Drawing and shooting a hammerless Smith snubbie loaded with hollowpoint .38s should finish the job. Unless, that is, there’s more than one bad guy, some or all of them are more than bad-breath distance away, and you’re not Jerry Miculek.
At that point, you should be hankering for a semi-automatic handgun with a decent trigger, loads o’ bullets and a spare mag. But for some reason you carry a snubbie. Right. So now you want a couple of things from your five-shot snubbie: Accuracy and “stopping power.”
For shot placement, it’s hammer time! Shooting a wheelgun single action offers far more control than rotating that stainless-steel cylinder via a mile-long, anvil-heavy double-action trigger pull — even for the Divine Mr. M. And even minimal sights are way better than nothing.
While we’re at it, the .357 cartridge is a better ballistic solution than a .38 caliber pill. Yes, the .357 is little more than a zippier .38 spl. But the additional velocity — several hundred feet per second more, depending on barrel length and grain count — delivers better penetration and more reliable expansion. Oh, and a f*ck-ton of recoil.
Yes there is that. So very much that.
Shooting .357 bullets out of a 39.7-ounce L-frame Smith & Wesson Model 686 revolver with a 4-inch barrel is something of a shock to the system. Shooting the same full-power round from a 14.9 ounce J-frame Smith & Wesson Model 360 Magnum revolver with a 1.875-inch barrel isn’t two-and-a-half times as uncomfortable. It’s like shaking hands with electricity.
To illustrate the discomfort involved, check out the video above. That’s Liberty Austin shooting the .357-laden Model 360 revolver at The Range at Austin’s uber-posh Patriot Club. Now you know why you can find barely-used .357 snub-nose revolvers for sale at your local gun store. And yet . . .
Here’s my five-yard target shooting the aforementioned Federal Premium 158-grain .357 ammo, single action, slow fire.
Considering the abuse my hands received touching off those rounds, and the fact that I’m a lousy shot, that’s a more-than-merely-acceptable group for self-defense. Yes, well, look what happened when I let loose the .357 dogs of war, shooting the Model 360 double action, rapid fire.
I attribute the two shots touching each other to the fact that I pulled the trigger faster than the pain receptors in my brain could form an open revolt. The fourth and fifth shots tell the tale; aiming for “NO” one bullet was an inadvertent Mozambique, the last a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Bottom line: If I want to send .357 caliber lead more than four feet downrange with something resembling accuracy I’d trust the Smith & Wesson Model 360 Magnum about as much as a Wells Fargo mortgage broker.
Assuming I could move and shoot during an adrenaline dump — which is like assuming I could hold an intelligent conversation with Orin Julie after my fourth vodka — I would feel confident firing .38s out of the new Model 360, in either double- or single-action, at a target five to 10 yards away.
I reckon I might even hit center mass on a moving target a bit further away, with practice. Which I could actually bring myself to do if I was slinging .38s instead of .357s — a gun/ammo combination that makes Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts seem like a match made in heaven. And I’d feel stylish doing it.
The S&W Model 360 combines a black Scandium alloy frame, a color-matched corrosion-resistant unfluted cylinder (stainless five-round) and flat dark earth “combat grips.” The result: A snub-nosed Smith with uncharacteristic gravitas. It’s the kind of gun that says “gun” when you brandish it. Which is a good thing, not a bad thing.
The Model 360 Magnum’s $770 MSRP? Not so much.
That’s a couple of hundred bucks more than Smith’s superb non-Performance Center .38-only J-frames. The “extra” money pays for a Darth Vader vibe and .357 compatibility — a feature that turns into a bug the first time you feed the Model 360 the more explosive magnum cartridges.
Unless you’re a firearms fashionista and/or the type of person who enjoys a swift kick to your nether regions, this is not the J-frame revolver you’re looking for.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Model: Model 360 .357 Magnum/.38 S&W Special +P
Caliber: .357 Magnum, .38 S&W SPECIAL +P
Capacity: 5 rounds
Barrel Length: 1.875″
Overall Length: 6.4″
Front Sight: Red ramp front sight
Rear Sight: Fixed notch
Action: Single/Double Action
Grip: Synthetic
Weight: 14.9 oz / 422.4g
Cylinder Material: Stainless steel with PVD finish
Barrel Material: Stainless steel
Frame Material: Scandium alloy
MSRP: $770
Ratings (out of five stars):
Style: * * * * *
As Ricardo Montalban would say, I like what they’ve done to my snubbie! The black-on-black-on-dark-beige 360 Magnum is evil yet elegant.
Ergonomics Carry: * * * * *
Unlike the Smith & Wesson 642 and its two-finger ballistic brethren, the 360 Magnum provides pinkie room. Although the 360’s bulkier than smaller J-frames, with the right holster, the exposed-hammer handgun is still a concealed-carry pocket pistol.
Ergonomics Firing: *
The 360 is a Smith & Wesson snubbie of the Airweight persuasion. Firing .38s is a bit . . . snappy. Shooting .357’s is like grabbing barbed wire. Hard.
Accuracy: * * *
The 360 offers single-action satisfaction, even firing with full-house .357s. As long as you slow-fire double action and hold on for dear life, you’re still pretty much good to go at combat distances. Rapid-fire .38s are best at contact or bad-breath distance. Rapid firing .357s out of the 360s snout is the revolver equivalent of spray and pray.
Customize This: *
You could send your $770 black-on-black snubbie for a trigger job. Buy a cool holster or two instead.
Overall: * * *
An Airweight J-frame revolver loaded with .357s is like a Honda Accord with a massive bolt-on turbo: A dumb idea that’s bound to end in tears. But just as a turbo-less Honda is a damn fine automobile, the Model 360 Magnum loaded with defensive .38s is a superb snubbie, provided you don’t mind paying mortgage money for the privilege of owning Darth Vader’s BUG.
More from The Truth About Guns:
Gun Review: Colt King Cobra .357 Revolver
Many years ago, when I bought my Ruger SP101 .357, I was talked into firing some .357 rounds… The Ruger is not an “airweight,” by any means, but after shooting five rounds of the .357 I feared I’d never be able to use my hands again. Painful only begins to describe it. I don’t carry the revolver often anymore… it’s sort of my BBQ gun – but it remains loaded with .38+p hollow points. And it stays on my desk unless I’m carrying it.
I had a Taurus featherweight .38 sp. revolver, and even with plain semi-wadcutters it was too snappy for my old hands. That was one of the only two guns I ever sold.
It is like getting back on a horse when you haven’t been on a horse in over 40 years. If you are’t careful and ride for more than 15 minutes,(and that is at a slow walk) you will be in severe pain over the next week. I would start off with firing just a few rounds (with gloves) a couple of times a week aand gradually increase the number of shots. Very soon you will be opening a can of Spam with your finger nails.
I carry a S&W 360PD scandium/titanium 12 oz .357 mag every day. I carry CorBon 125gr HP. If you are not lacking in manhood (as the men in this story) the revolver is the lightest weight most powerful and most accurate pocket pistol on the planet. it is this or a .380 or something mega times heaver an bigger!! I did not buy it for plinking! I can keep all five shots on a playing card at 15yds. I can empty it in a paper plat at 7yds in 2 seconds and no I not ken to Jerry. Mine dose shoot 125s much better than 158s or 180s.
Like most who speak in absolutes and question masculinity, you, sir, appear to be full of crap.
You can keep your .357 out of your snubbie barrel. You lose a lot of the potency of a .357 when the barrel is that short. So you get a lot of muzzle flash and recoil, without a whole lot of extra potency behind it.
There are other choices besides a pocket pistol and a “mega bigger” pistol. Smith and Wesson Shield? Glock 43? Hell, I even had an LCR .357 that I carried .38 +P in.
If you can outshoot me and my Shield with your 360, I’ll shake your hand and give you a Daniel Webster cigar.
Big fan of the .357 but not in a pocket revolver. Although the .44mag birdshead Vaquero I bought recently has a two finger g rip that’s quite comfortable to shoot. But it weights 39 ounces. No getting around the laws of physics.
Dear, dear Shannon
POTG need insurance because we don’t have a sugar daddy to pay our bills.
Then again, we don’t get Weinsteined.
Warm Regards
A question for RealAmericanPatriot:
You have two friends who were killed by racist NRA members. Would you be so kind to provide their names? If it’s a privacy thing, I get that. Then how about the names of the three racist NRA members who committed these atrocities?
“Now you know why you can find barely-used .357 snub-nose revolvers for sale at your local gun store.”
Truer words were never spoken. In my neck of the woods, there’s no reason to ever pay more than $350 for a LNIB used S&W .357 snubbie, and there are plenty to choose from.
That is an old and tired adage, originally referring to the suggestion that you could find as new 44 Magnums with one bullet missing out of the box of ammo that it came with. I can attest that wasn’t true either. In fact for many years, It was nearly impossible to locate a Model 29 Smith & Wesson 44 Magnum. If you did find it, it was much higher than its original or suggested price. I don’t know where you live, but 357 Magnum Scandium snub noses for $350 are certainly not available where I live. If I could find one for $350, it would be leaving instantly with me. Or if any of you out there have a scandium Smith & Wesson 357 snub nose for sale for $350 I will take it off your hands today.
I think most people probably already understand the following advice:
1. Don’t shoot yourself, either intentionally or unintentionally.
2. Don’t shoot (or otherwise harm) your spouse or other family members.
There, add that to the class outline, and you are done with the subjects of domestic violence and suicide prevention.
Every shooter should own at least one Henry, pick the caliber that most interests you. Yes they are not cheap but the quality of wood, blued finish and overall fit and function more than justify the price. Mine is the base model 22lr.
The basic H001?
That’s only a few bucks more than a basic Ruger 10/22 but has five times the charm. The Golden Boy will be not-quite double the price of the 10/22 and it’s charm can soften the heart of even a dedicated gun bigot.
So yes, if you have any money to spend on a rifle at all – consider a Henry.
Why on earth would you waste time on “alternatives to gun use in self-defence” in a firearms class? Everything these people do has anti-gun bias built in.
nice
So firearms instructors should teach other means of self defense? Odd…my Tae Kwon Do instructor didn’t teach me to shoot…
I don’t see what all the hubbub is about.
Criminals killing criminals = Good, stop diluting the gene pool
Stupid people shooting themselves = Good, stop diluting the gene pool
And that ends 90% of the firearm related deaths and makes this the safest nation on Earth.
That redhead can squeeze my trigger if she wants to.
I think they should teach me her phone number.
I am a member, but I sent the donation that was going to NRA when the SHARE act or National Reciprocity passed to GOA after the bump stock pronouncement by Lapierre and Cox.
Meh…I’m a member BUT if they’re dead wrong I won’t support the NRA. I’m ambivalent about the jingoistic flagwaving and “support the blue” thing they’re pushing(got American Rifleman today). Since my membership is free(thanks Taurus)I take it all with a grain of salt. Get rid of old Wayne is a good start…
Im assuming these are pretty expensive. That and using a 700 action is a big nope.
Y’know, just when LEO’s could be improving their public relations, they go and do something foolish like this.
First, getting into a PR campaign with the NFL isn’t really smart PR – and all you have to do is look at the NFL stadium seating, ticket and merch sales.
Now, let’s talk about the long term:
Law enforcement organizations should know by now that they’re going to get no long-term support from left wing organizations. It’s well proven that they’ll turn on cops in a second, just as soon as support for law enforcement gets in the way of the Democratic Party’s pandering to much larger numbers of minorities.
Further, because these are the unions doing this, it cannot be said that “Oh, well, this is the opinion/move by the appointed police leadership.” Nope. This was something where the union doubtless took a vote of the membership, and then they made this move. If this is a voted issue by the rank-n-file of the union, then this is truly the opinion of the majority of the cops – and protestations that rank-n-file cops are pro-gun start to ring a little hollow.
When LEO’s wonder how they lost the the support of middle-of-the-road and more conservative folks, who have been much better supporters of law enforcement for decades now, we can add this ill-considered PR move to the pile of reasons why. It also will not help that the taxpayers are going to be severely PO’ed at the cost of public employee pension bail-outs when the truth hits the fan – as it already had started in several cities in California.
The spooks and fibbies want to keep a lid on these documents for the same reason they won’t cooperate with Congress on investigating Russian Collusion and the Clinton Crime Family: CYA.
It’s a Carcano Model 91/38. Mannlicher–Carcano was a name invented by the press because even then they didn’t know what they were talking about.
Is that even a REAL Insurance Company? It sounds even more FAKE than my ex wife’s orgasm.
“If you want your ‘Shot heard round the world’, ya gotta get it out there a ways.”
Say, aren’t these the same cities that, back in the 1990s, sued gun makers for making guns?
“I’m charged with governing a high crime city, so I’ll use city funds to sue somebody else for my failure to govern”
Here are “police” practices that deserve to be exposed:
#1. During a traffic stop, the police officer will touch the back of your car. The reason for this “touch” is that, quite often, the police officer will have a small quantity of narcotics (marijuana or cocaine) on him (in his hand) that he will rub on the car in order to help “justify a search”. When the dog is brought in, it will react to “cues” from its handler as well as the drug residue on the vehicle and help “justify a search”. This tactic is mostly used against young people. Drugs can also be “planted” on a “suspect”.
The “touch” used to be a way for police officers to “prove” that they had an interaction with a citizen, but no more . . .
#2. Most (if not all) cops possess a “throwdown” weapon. This “helper” is obtained from a criminal who is then “let go” without his weapon and is always used to justify a questionable police situation and to “sanitize” a “crime scene to absolve police on the scene of criminal police behavior.
#3. If you are in the back of a police car, LIE DOWN on the seat. Police use the concept of “screening” to abuse their unwilling “passenger”. This involves, driving at high rates of speed, violent turns and other antics to get the passenger to “hit the screen” separating the front from the back with his face. Hence the act of “screening”.
#4. If you are being handcuffed, quite often the police officer will wrench you arm behind you, forcing you to “turn around”. Another “trick” is a foot to the instep, forcing the individual to involuntarily “pull away”. The officer will then add a charge of “assault” to whatever other charges they concoct against you (just for being forced to turn around). They “pile on” charges, hoping you will plead guilty to at least one.
Remember–NEVER CONSENT TO SEARCH . . . You must be polite, but firm in your refusal. You can state that “you NEVER consent to searches” as well as using these “magic” words–“am I free to go?” The police officer MUST answer your question . . . If you are being detained and an illegal search takes place, you have legal recourse.
Remember–police are not your friends . . .
That being said, not all “law enforcement” personnel are criminal, but the “thin blue line” that they so jealously guard (and “look the other way” when rogue cops abuse their authority) does much to taint ALL “law enforcement” personnel with having ulterior motives.
actually #4 buck shot is more effective than #00, I wonder if all the short shotgun carrying Nam boys would agree with most of thoughts expressed here! I think not! how about real world experience instead of hyperbole spewing forth from the want a bees
I would run 38s in it, the ability to change the pinned front sight as your eyes age is well worth the difference in price over the J frames with a fixed front sight.