Anybody ever worn out a .357 J Frame?

[461]

I'm thinking about one of the steel J frames in .357, Model 60 I think they are. Is this a carry a lot and shoot a little proposition or can I shoot the snot out of it, have it rebuilt and shoot it some more? I know the popular wisdom is to get an SP-101 if you're going to shoot it a lot, but I've got two SP-101's and want something new and different.

 

[pps]

I have worn out a service six that has had probably 10 to 15k magnume when my dad bought it for me used when I was 15, and I've put well in excess of 30k more rounds through (mostly magnums). The gun seized up last year and was sent back to Ruger for 90 dollars and was rebuilt. They took care of some end shake too.

I may have to send to Gemini to get the action slicked up a bit.

I don't see how a normal person will wear out anything more than the action (short of putting in over pressure loads, or a kb from firing after a squib).

My vote is to shoot the snot out of it and enjoy it. Rebuild it if needed. If I wanted a gun as something to look at, I'd buy a painting.

 

[Elmer]

Whoa... wear out a J frame .357?



Owwwww.......

 

[Bill2e]

If I wanted a gun as something to look at, I'd buy a painting

I may steal that line.


Shoot it until your hands hurt.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I had a 640-1, the first J-frame magnum. Trust me, if fired extensively with magnums, your hand will give out long before that gun will. And that one was all steel. I shudder to think of touching off a magnum in an AirLite that weighs half of that.

 

[jfh]

I have a current model 640; about seventeen months old.

At about 400 rounds, I shot five overcharged rounds through it--and stretched the cylinder.

S&W repaired it--new cylinder, new barrel. That was about fourteen months ago. Since then, I have shot about 16,000 reloaded rounds through it--mostly 38+P or 357 midrange loads, but with perhaps 300 full-bore magnums as well.

I just went over the gun closely. No cracks; the gap has opened up a hair--and the action is like butter, of course.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it--I don't.

Jim H.

 

[XDShooter07]

I shudder to think of touching off a magnum in an AirLite that weighs half of that.

it hurts.....

 

[Rexster]

+P is plenty enough for me in a J. I do shoot limited numbers of magnums through SP101 snubbies.

 

[Evocatii]

Get a model 60 and enjoy. I never kept track of how many rounds I have put through mine, but it has been many and it is still pitch'n lead. If I were to do it again, I'd pick up a 640 solely because of the internal hammer.

 

[orionengnr]

There is a gentleman on the S&W forum that had at last count (probably two years ago) 26,000 rounds of full-power .357 through his AirLite 340 Scandium J-frame.

Having owned one (two, actually), I can tell you that I put about 50 rounds of 357 Mag through mine in the course of about a year...and my wrist still hurts (two years later).

Shoot it as long as your wrist and your ammo budget will allow.

Let's see, last time I bought some (at least two years ago), the Remington 125 gr SJHP was $13/20...and I'm sure it's gone up since then.

That would be $65/100, $650/1000, and 26,000 rounds would be...
$16,900. Wow.

If perchance it's worn out at that point, contact S&W...they'll send you a shipping label, you can ship it back to them, and they'll repair or replace it free of charge.

Hope your medical insurance is as good as S&W's warrantee.

 

[461]

Thanks folks. I'm looking at the 5" model and was just wanting to make sure that the frames were holding up in the long term. I've got one J frame but it's a 32H&R so the pressure is much lower. I'm looking at getting the 5" .22 and the 5" .357 and use them as woods bum guns.

 

[NonConformist]

Whats with all the threads about wearing out guns???

Sure it CAN be done but most here dont have the money it would take and the time for that to happen

Unless you shoot thousands of rounds a month it will last your life and your kids life

 

[easyrider604]

I'm looking at the 5" model and was just wanting to make sure that the frames were holding up in the long term.

Unless you really, really want a J-frame. If I wanted a 5 inch barrel, I'd go for at least a K-frame such as the 19 or 66. Better yet, get a L-frame with 4" barrel.

 

[VegasOPM]

I have worn out a J-frame in .38spl (airweight) as well as a K-frame in .357 due to flame cutting and frame stretch. It takes some doing, but it can happen. They were both relegated to dryfire and gunsmithing practice.

 

[461]

Guys, you have to understand that I have more guns than I know what to do with, like many folks here. I have plenty of full sized .357's that I can carry any time I feel like it, I just want something new that I'm not that familiar with. If I'm going for something new that I have no experience with then I'd like other folks opinions on them and the folks that wear out their guns are the best source of information on them. I've worn out a gun so I know how much shooting it takes and I can tell you that the gun I wore out was one heck of a good gun.

 

[MAKster]

Very few people actually shoot 357 mag out of these airweight snubbies. The recoil is seriously unpleasant.

 

[spwenger]

I Carry a Pair...

...of S&W 640-1's, each of which has had a few thousand 110 gr. Magnum loads fired through it.

I had a 640-1, the first J-frame magnum. Trust me, if fired extensively with magnums, your hand will give out long before that gun will. And that one was all steel.

Over the years I developed some nagging doubts about carrying the Magnum loads, including blast to the body when fired from a protected-gun position; massive damage to hearing if fired in confined quarters, such as inside a vehicle, and about a second of loss of vision when fired in the dark. The final clincher that led me to swtich to +P .38 loads was when I recognized that I was starting to develop arthritis in my right wrist.

As to the guns, at the very top of some of the bolt cuts I can see a bit of peening, which I attribute to their Magnum diet but it is essentially cosmetic - not deep enough to produce side-shake. Otherwise, they're fine.

 

[baker]

My 640 frame stretched enough to bring the cylinder gap out-of-spec. I shot it lots, with plenty of magnums. S&W repaired it, no sweat.

I now shoot mostly standard and +p ammo, and carry +p.

 

[Jack2427]

Not a magnum J frame, but my wife who is a Detective in a Special Victims Unit has been carrying her M36 for 32 years, including 29 as a primary gun. She qualifies twice a year, and as she is SWAT (talker) once a month in addition with both her "big" gun and the 36.
She has put over 10,000 rounds through that little gun, most of them 158 gr SWCHP +P. A couple of years ao I sent her gun back to smith for a refinish and action job as a present. I specifically asked about how the gun was holding up. The guy who worked on it said it was fine, no endshake, stretching, flame cutting or anything else. Don't know about the J frame magnums even though I have one (60-10) 3 inch w/o lock, but her experience with the M36 has convinced me that both myself and herself will wear out before the gun.

 

[461]

Now that's impressive. Thanks for the input, I should be so lucky as to own a gun that long.