Nice to see another revolver so soon – sometimes we go through dozens without seeing any. This one is cool, too. It’s the Smith and Wesson 360PD, a model with quite a history behind it. The 360PD is a J-frame machined from lightweight scandium alloy chambered in .357 Magnum. It’s a great little five-shot revolver that out-performs its price point (MSRP is $1019).
Who else here loves revolvers, specifically .357 Magnums? Anyone here actually use a revolver for their main carry rather than only as backup?
Wouldn’t carry it but it looks nice. I like those grips.
High end everything on this EDC. Someone’s got some serious coin.
that watch costs between 4 and 6k depending on what version he bought…so yes serious coin.
Would not pay that much for a revolver. Half that would be about right. But that is still pushing it.
Simple fact that a light weight J-framed revolver is going to have very strong recoil and will be a handful for inexperienced shooters. The price is another issue.
Shot a friend’s S&W 340 PD. I fired five rounds of 158 gr .357 Mag…opened the cylinder, ejected the empties and handed it back to my friend…declined to shoot another cylinder full of magnums. Unpleasant to shoot is an understatement!
The LCR, while a bit ugly, is hard to beat if you need a 357 carry gun. While not pleasant, it doesn’t hurt. Now, if S&W bring the 340 or 360 back in an 6 or 7 shot 327 Fed, they’ll have a scandium gun worth carrying.
That’s a great idea! * I’d definitely give a 327 Fed in a 340 / 360 PD a try…might be the ideal pocket revolver. Probably prefer it in the 340 (enclosed hammer) version…just in case you had to fire from your jacket pocket.
*You have done the hard part – conceptualizing…now, if only S&W engineers read your comment.
Blah, blah, blah… Let’s parrot the same crap said a thousand times. The fact is, nobody is out there putting hundreds of rounds through j-frames. They have a place, they save lives, and people are still buying them, so I guess the old adage that any gun is better than no gun still applies, doesn’t it?
Just took a 442 out of my pocket. With a speed loader. And a Benchmade Emerson CQB. And a Surefire. And some sort of a smartphone. Everything except the smartphone is so well used it’s actually old. Scandium .357? Yeah, go shoot it with full house loads. See how long that lasts. Even with +P .38s. I’m far from recoil shy and that is just stupid. Three inch round butt 65 is about as light as I go with .357.
Like the grips though. Sans checkering.
No reload?
“It’s a great little five-shot revolver that out-performs its price point (MSRP is $1019).”
haha what? To out-perform that price point it better do all kinds of things while it’s sitting in my pocket.
Just say no to high power itty bitty guns.
I carried a S&W 442 .38 spl. for a short time. Easy to conceal but not fun to practice with, especially shooting +P ammo. That 360 PD is even lighter than the 442. I wouldn’t want to experience shooting more than one round of .357 magnum with that gun. I own and shoot all types of calibers, including .357 Sig and .45 acp. They are pussy cats compared to .357 magnum out of a 360 PD.
442 airweight. Don’t use +p in it any more. Had a lead bullet jump crimp under recoil and locked the gun up.
Always shot standard loads when qualifying. I have shot a couple of hundred +P loads through it. All jacketed. No problem. Know I’m not supposed to. My choice. Not sure the aluminum frame or the lead bullet was your problem. Sounds like the bullet crimp. Factory ammo is not perfect. But I could be wrong. Were you carrying the 158 grain semi-wadcutter hollow point load? I carry the Speer 130 Gold Dot. I said all jacketed, but in the early days I did shoot the FBI load. Still, no problems.
Yep. The FBI load. 158 grain LSWHP +P. Only flavor of ammo that has caused a stutter in my j frame. I keep it for my k frames these days.
If you roll your own, try a 158 gr. LSWC over 4.1gr of Unique. Well within standard pressures, so nobody start belly aching about talking load data online. If you don’t have the sense to verify data, you don’t have any business handloading anyway. It’s recoil is very manageable, and I’ve found it to be a very accurate load in a myriad of .38 spl and .357 mag revolvers. Should give you about 680 – 720 fps from the 442.
I’m with everybody else on this one. A fine quality gun but way too much boom in too light weight a package.
And no reload? In a five shot?
I love that gun, but it would get standard pressure 38 loads only if it were mine….
I have a friend that has a scandium frame in 44 Magnum that I think is a 360 PD — and he can handle the recoil just fine. However he’s unusual that he tends to be recoil insensitive. I’ve handled his gun and it’s about light as a feather and would be great for carry as an ankle piece – although I wouldn’t want to shoot it! Since I’m not nearly as recoil insensitive as my friend — I would love to have one in .357 Magnum – because it would be a great carry piece! This is a gun for self-defense, not for shooting a box of 50 at the range. In a self-defense situation — a person will be far less concerned about the recoil than shooting it at the range! I have one on my wish list but I’d load .38 Special in it for a carry piece. Why then would I want one in .357 Magnum? For resale value!
How do you get proficient with it if you don’t practice with it? Waiting for the BG get within near contact range before pulling the trigger is not a good idea
He’s got not one, but two knives, watch, sunglasses, flashlight, tactical pen and not a single round of extra ammunition. How hard would it be to pack a speed strip with another half dozen rounds?
Love the .357, but it’s way more potent with a 3″ barrel and some Double Taps.
Oh, and one ring to rule them all! Or is that a ‘smart’ revolver?
in the darkness bind them.
Just a side note, I saw a trailer yesterday for a biopic on JRR Tolkein (titled ‘Tolkein’) coming out in May. There were scenes from his WWI service, so there should be something for the POTG.
I cc a lightweight model 642 revolver. I have no problem with the recoil or putting shots quickly on target. I usually go thru about 100 rounds at the range before switching to other guns. Mostly it’s trigger control and riding the recoil. Although I love revolvers, a .357 in a snubby doesn’t sound fun to me at all and I don’t see the point.
Did anyone else see that 7 NYC cops unloaded 42 rounds at a perp? Perp walked away only injured- but they killed a fellow officer. From what I see at the range, capacity isn’t an issue, it’s ability to put shots on target. Most ppl I see are mag dumping- barely keeping shots on the paper at 10 feet. Better to shoot slowly and deliberately.
I’ve got no use for a “light weight” snubby. However I do CC a SP101 sometimes, loaded with .38+p. It absorbs recoil just fine.
Consider myself a cowboy….and its always pleasant to see a fellow cow-poke carrying a 6 shooter. I’ve noticed a few criticizing the “unpleasantry” of shooting the magnums. Well, if properly trained, I’m assuming your are…. Imagine the recieving end. Its all about precision, not accuracy. Some 2A cant comprehend the difference. Heck, I couldnt when I first jumped into the community myself. Stay safe, stay alert, stay vigilant amd always be prepared.
I carry a Bulldog .44Sp. Definitely my favorite revolver caliber. I prefer the 1911 (having multiples) but cancer will strip you of strength and slide manipulation abilities. Two speed strips in a horizontal phone case, a cane (which reaches much further than a knife) and very slow feet along with my very old smart phone that allows me to write notes on (no pen or field notes) as well as video and still image capture. I guess I’m old and out of date, but at least I try to continue to provide some level of self protection. Sorry but the other things I carry are not for protection and I don’t see the necessity to include or display that male bovine excreta stuff.
Carried a +P+ 640 for several years before getting an 042 Centennial airfreight.
I carry Federal and Winchester FBI loads in them. Never had a problem.
My practice loads are 158 grain SWCHP with 5.1 grains of Unique to simulate the factory loads.
Nowadays, I sometime carry an LCR in 38 or 357. Remington 125 Golden Sabers in both calibers.
I am a little faster landing the first shot with a wheel gun vs an auto. Probably because I started with revolvers a long time ago.
How in the world does it perform above its price point at 1000 bucks? Compared to what…… A Korth?
I don’t trust the Scandium guns…..seenr wo that fractured the frame and never had a magnum round put through them. Strong but brittle maybe?….dunno. will never buy a Smith with the lock.
I have one of these 360 PD’s although as I take it out of my pocket and look at it, it says AirLite PD but I thought mine was a 340PD.
Shooting it with those grips either in 357 or 38+P is going to feel like catching a golf ball.
I stopped shooting 357’s through mine because the geometry of reloading it with the longer 357 around the Hogue Monogrip I now have on it was wonky.
It is light enough to carry in a pocket holster fully loaded on my hip held on by nothing but my underwear. To be clear: It’s not the heaviest thing in my underwear.
It’s lighter than the potato?
Lmao
Sometimes carry my old Charter Arms Off Duty as a second piece. That’s .38 Special from before the +P became a thing.
Owned and sold my SW PD340, much too light and much too short for .357 mag, SW 642 more practical for the pocket.
Owning a .38 Special airweight (model 38) I will say that I would really be dubious about owning a .357 air weight j-frame like that. I would rather take the weight hit of a steel gun.
That weapon should be carried while at formal, special occasions. It’s too beautiful to waste as an EDC.
I would just like to mention that I am available for adoption.
Myself, I carry a Bodyguard .380 while at work and a Sig P224 just about everywhere else.
As a belly gun, I wouldn’t worry about carrying reloads or recoil senstivity. Also, these weapons are small enough to allow for running away and evasion, as much as standing your ground.
Have you ever heard the report from a suppressed .9 mm, ? No one else has either, hush puppy
.357’s are just too loud
That mythical .9mm would only be .035 in diameter and no louder than the business end of a #2 pencil. Since one round would fit in a typical spark plug gap, I could haul a ten year supply in my Depends and never even know I was due for a change.
lol
Well, John wick did significant damage with a pencil, or so i’m told.
I had an idea I’ve never seen mentioned:
For people who find .357 in a snubby difficult to control and get fast follow up shots, why not load 4 rounds of 38 or 38+P then make the last shot a full power .357
Follow up shots don’t matter on the last round and it would also let you know when you are empty.
The same could be done with one round of .38+p for people who prefer regular .38 in their snubby.
I legitimately did this when I carried a SP101. I still do it today with a 9 mm. Last round in the mag is 115 +p+ compared to the 147 I normally carry.
I did it illegitiment…..but I’m just a bastard that way.
I carry a Taurus 605 in .357 in my glove box. Absolutely LOVE that gun. Not a single issue with it ever. I replaced the factory grip with a Hogue one. What a difference. Ive shot hundreds of .357 rounds through it. The more you work with the gun, rather than against it, recoil is managed. Taurus has come a long way in recent years. No its not up to my Sp101 in precision and craftsmanship, but its certainly no slouch.
I say carry what you like.
I always carry a Kimber K6S or Ruger LCR as a BUG to my main gun, which is usually a compact 9mm or a 3″ revolver.
Shooting IDPA/ICORE and attempting to reload (especially a revolver) has taught me that it’s just faster to pick up another gun.
I automatically have respect for the j-framers!
Thats a guy who knows how to shoot.
….or at least he better.
I love seeing revolvers as an EDC.
Nice to know that there’s people out there that want to carry a gun even more outdated than the 1911.
First custom knife I’ve seen in awhile. Gerry McGinnis makes some amazing folders. I have a 2013 piston and the build quality is perfect. Nice knife!
I’d carry that in a heartbeat…if somebody else bought it for me.
You do not have to load 357’s- nice thing about revolvers – 38+p or 38 low recoil work in it too.
There are lots of older used titanium revolvers on GB; the 337pd is 10.8 oz but rated only for 38s- prices are 400-700 used (360pd is 12oz).
Ruger makes aluminum scandium 327.
I carry an old S&W 6 shot 32h&r mag titanium j Frame 12 oz ( models 331/332) or a 7 shot 386pd (357mag 18 oz L frame).
I’ve decided my next purchase will be a small frame revolver. I’ve been looking at the S&W 640 Pro and the 2017 Colt Cobra. What I’ll probably actually get is a Ruger SP101 Wiley Clapp 2 1/4″, just so I can say I have a Ruger wheel gun. One thing all these have in common is an all steel construction. Perfectly happy to lug the weight for a more humane .357 option.