S&W revolvers for woods carry

[mcseal2]

I had time between rains today to shoot a little bit. I just purchased a S&W 69 I started another thread on and thought I'd shoot my 357's also. I figured while it's raining again I'd do a quick review of what I have for anyone interested in buying one. I think they are a pretty versatile line-up for most anything and more than I need for sure. Since I like guns I find a reason to own them all, but a person sure doesn't need to own them all.

The smallest of my Smiths is a 3" model 60 5 shot 357. It's their Pro series gun with a tritium front site. This gun is a really sweet little shooter. It has always been very accurate. When I qualified for my concealed carry I shot it with 125gr 38 special JHP's. I shot 18 rounds and put 3 holes in the paper, the instructor told me I could save the rest of the 25 shots if I wanted, I'd already qualified. It has quite a bit of recoil with the hotter 357 loads and a fair amount of muzzle jump. I tried several different loads for it over the years. I settled on the Winchester white box 110gr JHP. It's a pretty mild 357 load pushing a 110gr bullet at 1295fps for 410 ft/lbs of energy according to Winchester. Shooting it today I shot a 2.5" 5 shot group at 20 yards, not bad for a small gun with me on the trigger. Recoil is pretty mild with this load and muzzle jump is minimal. I haven't used it on anything live since switching to this ammo. Reviews on Midway have it expanding fast and well from a short barrel with limited penetration. That's fine for me with this gun. I pack something else if I'm somewhere I need more penetration. The 110gr WInchester and the 125gr FMJ 38's I shoot hit close enough to the same out to 20 yards to switch bullets if I want to take small game with it.
Empty the 60 weighs 23.3oz, and loaded with the 110's it's 25.4oz.

This used to get packed more often before I got the 386XL Hunter. Now I only take it when I want to carry somewhat discreetly outdoors. That mostly ends up being fishing on public land, and being open carry with a jacket or shirt over the gun. The 110gr 357's are definitely intended more for 2 legged threats than 4 legged ones. I carry this instead of a semi-auto mostly because I shoot it more accurately than any of my similar size semi-autos. Also if I'm in the right spot and the opportunity arises I can swap out ammo and take small game. If I was to rely on this gun for bigger predators I'd likely shoot something like the Buffalo Bore 38 special +P. It steps up into the low-mid 357 range power wise and would probably not recoil as bad in the light gun. Full house 158gr 357's have more muzzle jump than I want from the light gun.

The next is my 386XL Hunter. It is my favorite handgun I've owned.

I'll add more later, time for supper.

 

[mcseal2]

The 386XL Hunter is now discontinued but it's my favorite handgun. It's basically a Scandium 7 shot 686 with a fiber optic front site. It's not that much heavier than the 60 at 28oz empty, 32oz loaded. It also gets more performance from the hotter rounds with the 6" barrel.

I have shot 158gr HP or JSP ammo through it until recently. I have put most of a box of HSM 180gr HC ammo through it now and am going to switch to it. This has been my gun I carry on scouting trips and other times when not packing a rifle. I was going to retire it to occasional shooting and the safe when I got the Glock 20, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. I got the sights adjusted and have it shooting really well with the HSM 180's now.

Recoil is not an issue in this gun with anything I've shot through it. I have not tried the Buffalo Bore 180's that are hotter than the HSM loads, but with the HSM's it's easy to shoot well. The more of the box I got shot and the more I got practiced up with it the better it shot. This gun is a pretty good choice for an all around woods gun anywhere except maybe big bear country. Even then it's energy is similar to a 10mm but with less bore diameter and bullet weight. The HSM 180gr 357's are rated at 1200fps and 686 ft/lbs of energy.

My last S&W is the new 69. I just did another thread on it so I won't go to deep into it here. It weighs 37oz empty and 41.6oz loaded with 240gr SP ammo. Recoil is pretty sharp with the Buffalo Bore 255gr Outdoors lighter recoil load. It's not terrible, but it jumps in the hand a fair amount so follow up shots are slower than with anything else I shot today. Power with them is in another class of anything I shot also. The 255gr is rated at 1350fps and 1032 ft/lbs of energy. It's more controllable and fun to shoot with the Magtech 240gr loads rated at 1180fps and 741ft/lbs of energy. I'd think that load would be plenty anywhere grizzly aren't an issue. It shot well too and right to point of aim at 20 yards. The BB loads looked to be a little lower and missed my paper but tore up the pallet. I don't klnow if I want to try hotter 44's than what I've tried through the 69 or not, the muzzle jump and delay on follow up shots might outweigh the performance advantage.

Anyway that's my take on a few S&W revolvers that cover about any woods gun job that you want more than a 22 for.

 

[timberbuck]

Great post! I am familiar with the 386 but have never seen or handled one.

Big Smith fan myself but never became enamored with the 3" j frames and I have had several.

Do like the 586/686 series in 4" as woods guns as well as the 4" 629 either standard or mountain gun versions. PRE lock/MIM models.

One of my 4" 629's is sighted in with 250 grain Keith hard cast loads by Doubletap, the other 300-320 grain hard cast bear loads by Doubletap or HSM.

 

[mcseal2]

I understand about not loving the J frames. I shot mine a lot more before getting the 386. For a fairly small weight penalty I get 2 more rounds, double the barrel, and a full size grip. The 60’s only real advantage is concealment.

I spent a lot of time beating a flinch from shooting to big of rifles to often. I am trying to avoid that with handguns. Not sure i want to try the hot loads in my 69. They kick even in the 5.5” Redhawk I had. It was 55oz empty and had Decelerator grips.