[Dollar An Hour]

http://firearms.smith-wesson.com/userimages/170245_large.jpg

21 oz, N-frame, 8-shot .357... Do Performance Center models pretty much get a factory action job, chamfering, etc?

I'm lusting after this revolver even though it's probably very irrational (kinda big for CC, kinda short for range). I've seen them for about $860.

Anybody else think it's neat? :D

[Coronach]

Not me.

Mike

[SpookyPistolero]

I really don't mean this to be a bash, because hey, whatever floats your boat, but that's quite possibly the most useless piece I can imagine. Too short to get any accuracy or fun out of, too big for CC. Also quite ugly and probably quite expensive. But again, whatever floats your boat.

[Gary A]

Although I, personally, would have little use for one, especially considering the cost, I do like snubbies and can see it as being very useful for some folks. Eight shots of .357 in a 21 ounce revolver is a lot of punch in a lightweight handgun. It may not be a "big bore" in caliber but that's a bulldog if ever there was one. I wouldn't mind having one just for the sake of having it, but ain't gonna pay 8 or 900 bucks for the privilege. Heck, I'm toying with the idea of an Alaskan but really don't want to shoot .454 Casull. Maybe I'll wait and see if they come out with a .44 mag version...or just shoot .45s...or just fantasize about getting one. Is it required to have a big belly to buy a big belly gun?:scrutiny:

[Boarhunter]

Dollar an Hour,

I personally like the heck out of the gun, and have myself flirted with picking one up. I like snubby guns, shoot snubby guns often, and they have as much "inherent" accuracy as those with the longer tubes. True, they can be more difficult to shoot accurately, but that makes for a bigger challenge and more incentive to practice. And I like Smith scandium guns...I own three so far.

But I have not purchased one of these .357s and am not likely to do so because I am not a .357 shooter (I reload .44 mag, .45 colt, .44 special, and .45/70; I buy .45 acp, 7.62x25, 7.62x39, 9mm, and .308 in bulk because it is so cheap), and am not real interested in picking up another round requiring reloading for economy. Plus, I already have a snubby scandium .45 acp (model 325) that achieves about the same effect as the one you are considering, and I shoot it all the time.

So, if you like it, get it. My guess is that you will have no regrets.

Boarhunter

[Smurfslayer]

I have one, and have posted about it here previously. You can pick them up used on gunbroker for 700 and up so keep your eyes open. I reload, so if the gun were going to be unmanageable, or have problems, I'd have probably shaken them out by now, here's what I've observed:

It doesn't recoil anywhere near as bad as you think. Being an N frame, even at only 21 ounces unloaded, it fills your hand enough that you can get a full grip on the gun. The action is smooth at about 10 pounds double action. The gun is plenty accurate for a snub. The gun does an item of concern and that is the partial extraction. If you're firing magnums along the lines of Corbon or very potent hand loads, you will need to punch the ejector pretty hard. If using moon clips, I've observed they come out more positively.

It does have a substantial girth, but fits a lot of places ;) Muzzle blast can be susbtantial, as you would imagine.

HTH

[P. Plainsman]

Again, not to be harsh, but I'm not a fan of that piece either. The PC 327 is goofy-looking. It is a poster child for S&W's recent aberrant tendencies in revolver design, tarting up their classic wheelguns to look like bizarre mutant crosses between a revolver and a mall ninja autoloader. (Thankfully, many classically styled S&W revolvers still remain in production.)

At a more substantive level, Gun Tests magazine recently published some disturbing chrono results for that particular gun. Apparently its super-short barrel yields very low muzzle velocities. I remember them clocking PMC 150 gr .357 Magnum JHPs at around 920 fps!

Unacceptable. That means you can pay $250 for a used 4" Model 10 in good condition, fill it with the old-tech 158 gr .38 Special +P FBI load, and expect equal or superior ballistic performance to this oddball $800 Performance Center gun. Bet the old Model 10 would be much easier to shoot accurately, too.

If you're going to tote a bulky N-frame in .357 Magnum, you should at least demand enough barrel length to let the cartridge display its strengths.

In short, I would vote thumbs down.

[Boarhunter]

...but does any of that really matter? If a man likes a gun, he ought to get it regardless whether the decision is rational or not. "Rational reasons" for purchasing another gun are excuses you come up with to tell your wife AFTER you buy the gun.

I have close to 40 handguns and likely 30 long guns and very, very few were bought for truly rational reasons. And I have some "ugly" ones and I have some "inefficient" ones and I have some that kick like a mule. And I like 'em all.

Dollar an Hour, if you like it, get it.

Boarhunter

[Coronach]

Right. That's generally the reason for my earlier "not me". You get all of the negatives of a snubby (short sight radius, lowered velocity, probably a partial ejector stroke), and limited concealability, due to the large frame and thick cylinder.

Plus, it looks like it was picked off of the ugly tree, like some sort of misbegotten mechanical fruit.

AND you get to pay Performance Center prices.

Yeah, I'll pass. Thanks.

Mike

[bcochran]

I agree with Boarhunter's comments.

Guy comes to the range last week with his girlfriend. She bought a .38 or .357, forget which. She will never pay for training. She will never train. She will never fix the revolver. She will carry it because of its size. She is not going into combat. She is not a ninja. She is not playing intellectual Pac Man on the net like some of the computer jockies on the boards talking about guns. I tell her to shoot cheap stuff for fun and have just one box of 20 rounds of Corbons or similar ammo for when she knows that she will have the problem. It will float her boat in an emergency.

If you like it and have a purpose, go for it. It doesn't matter that I may have chosen an older Smith .357 compact model or the newer 642 in .38 special.

[Coronach]

Oh, I agree too. If HE likes it, buy it, shoot it, enjoy it.

I, personally, don't see the attraction. But that's just me. Christy Brinkley never really did anything for me, either. Beauty, eye of the beholder and all that.

Mike

[Dollar An Hour]

Some of you guys must lead pretty boring lives if every purchase decision is 100% rational.

Every gun is a compromise of sorts - I admitted in the original post that it's an irrational piece. I just think that's part of the beauty. :uhoh:

[Gary A]

LOL, Dollar an Hour, nothing in my life is, ever has been, nor likely ever will be 100% rational. Go for it!:D

[Marko Kloos]

When I saw a picture of one, it made no sense to me. When I held one in real life, I thought it was actually kind of cool.

Yeah, it's a short barrel, but I can see the strong points of the design. You get an eight-shot wheelgun that reloads as fast as a semi, and the short length makes it both very concealable in an OWB rig, and very fast to clear leather. In addition, it weighs next to nothing, so that's an N-frame you can actually tote all day.

Drawbacks are conceded, but the gun does have its good points. If I had a grand around, and I was in the mood for a funky high-tech snubby, I'd buy one of those.

[magsnubby]

Some of you guys must lead pretty boring lives if every purchase decision is 100% rational. :uhoh:

Rational? What's rational got to do with buying guns? If all my purchases were rational i'ld have a lot more monbey in the bank.

[/QUOTE=Dollar An Hour]Every gun is a compromise of sorts - I admitted in the original post that it's an irrational piece. I just think that's part of the beauty. :uhoh:[/QUOTE]

That thing is fugly as all get out and expensive to boot. And i want one.

[pezo]

they have that thing in 4" according to the smith site. but it is even uglier. I'd just go with a 2.5 " 686plus if you want a higher capacity smith revovler.