Thinking of selling my Ruger SP-101 3" and buying a S&W Scandium J-Frame

[WonderNine]

I'm seriously considering selling my Ruger .357 3" SP-101 and getting one of the S&W Scandium snubnose .357 12 ouch lightweights. Either the 340-342 (what's the difference between these two models other than the grips?) or a 360. I like the idea of having a hammer, as I like to fire single action for accuracy, (you need that with only five shots ) but it really seriously can get snagged pulling it out of a coat pocket quickly.

The main reason is for concealed carry. I don't like the idea of trading off the extra barrel length, but for coat pocket carry and for the decreased weight/size it makes sense to me. Although I heard in another thread about problems with the S&W trigger catching on the back of the trigger guard on some models.

The Ruger has been a good gun so far in the 200 or so rounds I've put through it, but it is also quite heavy especially in stainless steel.

I don't like IWB carry for revolvers so that's out. Does anybody think I will regret this later?

 

[TonyB]

Try the Bodyguard models...they have a shrouded hammer,so you can still go SA if you want.Although I sold mine and bought an SP101......I needed the extra weight to control the recoil and I have the option of 357.
I had no problwms w/ my mod 38 s/w,although once it did bind up after a long shooting session,but that can happen anyway to any gun(it was just dirty.)
The mod 38 was definatley lighter,and great for pocket carry(always use a pocket holster tho).
I'd say if at all possible KEEP the SP AND get an airweight.
I found my airweight used for $239 here in upstate NY.
As the summer rolls on I'll proably regret selling my s/w and will probably get another eventually.Hope this helped

 

[tbeb]

The 340 is a .357 magnum while the 342 is a +P rated .38 special.

I do not want to fire a full power magnum in a 12 oz gun. If you plan to practice then gun needs to weigh at least 24 ozs--like your Ruger or a S&W 640 or a Taurus 650.

With the right holster you can pocket carry a revolver with a hammer spur. I carry my 16 oz revolver with hammer spur in a Mika pocket holster ($14.95). This holster covers the spur and I can draw from front pants pocket without hammer snagging on anything, and holster stays put.

In a new hammerless you might want to look at the S&W 442 (blue) and 642 (stainless). A new shrouded hammer 638 (stainless) may be the best choice. These weigh 15 ozs which is a good compromise between 12oz alloy guns and 19-21 oz steel guns. They are +P rated .38 specials.

In a used gun, the S&W model 38 that TonyB recommended is a good choice. Another one, and it has a hammer, is a used S&W 37 (which you might buy for $200-$250.) Again, both are .38's.

 

[ChristopherG]

WN, for pocket carry, the 340 or 342 is the best thing going (IMHO), hands down. The shape is right (and snagless), the weight is right, and you get (needless to say) the assurance of a wheelgun. So yes, go get thyself one.

But; you're looking at a very different gun from the SP101, one that's not going to replace it for fun shooting. If you actually enjoy shooting .357 with your SP101, realize that this is a pleasure that will disappear with the scandium; .357 out of these guns is purely for emergency use, and practice with it is painful. Endurable and recoverable, to be sure, but painful.

The best of all worlds, of course, would be to keep the ruger and add the smith. for a belt gun, the ruger beats the smith hands down. I got the smith for pocket carry, and love it, but still find myself thinking about how nice something like your gun would be for belt carry, woods carry, shooting fun, etc. If you can't, I get it, but someone has to say it: keep the one and buy the other, too.

One other thing: you're going to get some folks telling you that the scandium guns are bullet yankers. In my experience, which is hundreds of rounds of various kinds, this problem has been vastly exaggerated--I suspect by folks with a grudge against S&W, for the most part. The truth is it's not hard to find ammunition that will shoot well and give you the full advantage of revolver reliability in the superlight package of the 340 or 342. Good luck
CG

 

[22luvr]

Light it is.........

WonderNine: Once you get the "ammo thing" sorted out, you've got a pretty formidible pocket gun. The 340 is small, amazingly light, beautifully crafted, and accurate to reasonable distances for self-defense. Drawbacks? The recoil, while stout is not unbearable to me. The main aggravation is finding good .357 loads that do not unseat under recoil. Right now, I'm carrying ProLoad 158 gr JHP's. I find the trigger a bit on the stiff side, nothing like my model 638 bodyguard. I have a set of snap-caps and dry fire the thing til my fingers get cramps. Someday, I hope it will lighten up a bit.

And, by the way, I want an SP101 in the worst way; 2 or 3" barrel. Some day.............sigh

 

[Nick96]

If you want to carry a small frame .357 - the SP101 is the way to go. If you want smaller (not really by much) and lighter (5 to 13 oz steel to TI), you need to step down in power to a .38.

Sorry, but facts are facts. If you want an occasional or emergency shooter (carry lot - shoot little), get a light S&W .357. If you want something you can actually enjoy shooting - stick with the SP.

As others have stated, keep the SP and buy what ever light S&W you want. In the grand scheme of life, $500 bucks or so is nothing.

 

[JCM298]

Scandium

I have both a 649 and a 340SC. There is no way to compare the shooting of the two guns. The 649 is the most accurate snub that I've ever owned but it is a little too heavy for pocket carry.

The 340SC, or "beast", is very accurate but I don't know if it will do as well as the 649. It kicks like a mule and draws blood if I'm not wearing gloves.

It was bought as an "always" gun and serves the purpose very well. It is not a plinker.

Both guns work well on the waist or on the ankle, but the 340 is the best for pocket carry,
John

 

[DeltaElite]

If you want lightweight, go to the Smith.
The 342 is an aluminum framed 38 and the 340 is a scandium framed 357.

If you don't want a lightweight, just get a shorter barreled SP-101, they are damn fine revolvers.

Personally, I am looking forward to the Taurus Protector in Titanium.
It is a 17 ounce ported 357.
Taurus Protector Titanium

 

[WonderNine]

I see alot of you are advocating .38 special and .38 +P, there's no way I'd even consider anything less than .357. And I can still load a .357 with .38's if I wanted to although I never would. As I see it the .38 has only going for it over the 357. It weighs a little over an ounce less at 10.8 oz's. But then it wouldn't fire the same ammo as other .357 carry guns so it just throws a monkey wrench in the whole one carry revolver caliber zen.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm definately going lightweight, otherwise there would really be no reason to sell my SP-101. I've decided I'm going to go with a 360SC Scandium in .357. I'll be loading it with Golden Saber .357's as I do all my carry .357's. I'll be able to carry two .357's without anyone having a clue

Cop Industries .357 in front pocket holster and S&W 360SC in coat pocket or some type of holster

As mentioned before this is a carry piece, not a fun piece. I don't really consider snubbies as fun pieces anyways as they have no sight radius compared to a 4" or larger revolver.

I'm not worried about the recoil, I used to have a 19oz Taurus 415T (titanium .41 magnum) snubnose that I would shoot 200 rounds of 210 grain full power loads through per range session. Yes my hand hurt for 4 days afterwards In fact I'd be tempted to get one again if they up their quality (mine developed timing problems) and lose the porting.

 

[280PLUS]

boy, i don't know...

you peeps are in too much of a rut with this .357 stuff. there ARE other good rounds out there.

theres a model 317 that i liked. .22lr x 8 shots. you put stingers in this (1400fps) and you've got a formidable weapon in your hands. doesn't come hammerless though

then...

i just blew off 60 rounds in MY j frame #332 .32 mag. last saturday with much pleasure and enjoyment and absolutely no pain or blood.

that means i can practice to my heart's content with my trusty little snubby.

see my thread here that says "i accidently shot this last nite..." and remember that was shot one handed.

AND mine is hammerless and sa/da and i believe so are the hammerless .38s and .357s. so a hammer is not necessary for sa shooting.

the .32 mag has at least equal if not better kinetic energy as .38 special depending on what rounds you use.

plus 6 rounds instead of 5.

and it hasnt yanked one round yet after about 500 rounds

in a pinch, i can get past the recoil of the .357 but can i re-aim and fire a good #2,3,4, rounds with it?

well if i'm not practicing with it cause it hurts my hand, chances are not so good. eh?

don't ask me to carry a gun with loads that i can't comfortably practice with regularly,,,it borders on suicide

my suggestion: if you just have to have it in .357, shoot the thing first before you spend your $ on something you could learn to hate.

m

 

[ChristopherG]

Yeah, I'm not totally convinced shooting a Scandim can't be fun; mine is. Yesterday I shot a box & a half of 158 gr. +P, plus a couple cylinders of Corbon 125 gr. +P, and had a blast. No pain---though I would be hurting if it had been .357.

And accuracy? It's taken some practice, but if I take my time, I can almost get the five holes to touch, most times, out to around 25 feet. Not spectacular, but functional fun.

I hafta admit I'm with 280 on the value of practicing with something like what you carry, at least enough to be familiar with it.

Wondernine, hope you like your 360; it looks like a fun piece to me, and that extra inch will make it easier yet to get speed and accuracy.
CG

 

[280PLUS]

yea, i liked it with the .38s, i shot 50 of those before i put the .357s , still a little hefty though, i went for the .32 because i liked the extra shot.

and you CAN get a good second shot off with it a hair faster

i'm glad i was patient and took the time to try them before i purchased.

i bring up my .32 a lot because i think there is so little knowledge of its existence.

if i hadn't asked if there was anything lighter than the .38 in airlite, i never would have known a thing about it.

it gets overshadowed by the more popular rounds especially to those who are newer to handguns.

oh, i have a newly (somewhat) developed complaint about it. the frame finish is very easy to mar, too easy. mines a little scritched up here and there. i was hitting the edge of the little spring operated safe when it was new but ive since learned to be more careful

i wish it was black like the 340s and stuff and i wish it had the hi-vis sights. does anyone know if those dark colored ones mar as easily?

m

heh, take your target, place it over your chest and in your best clint voice say, " the question is,,,did i get the bad guy?"

 

[ChristopherG]

Mine's black w/the hi-viz. I like the sights, though it's not as precise as a straight old ramp. It does grab any ambient light pretty well.

The black finish is pretty well spotless after many hours in the pocket--though I don't put my keys in there with it, or really anything.

cg

 

[WonderNine]

AND mine is hammerless and sa/da and i believe so are the hammerless .38s and .357s. so a hammer is not necessary for sa shooting.

How could you shoot in single action with a hammerless revolver? I don't get it.

 

[280PLUS]

easy,,,

theres a pause spot in the trigger pull between cocking and firing, its right after the cylinder rotates into place.

it takes a little practice to find but once you get it after a while it becomes automatic.

click, squeeze,,,click, squeeze

i do not recommend cocking it like this while its pointing at a subject that you are not ready to fire upon.

its too easy to miss the spot and fire accidently when the adrenaline is pumping.

i try to cock as its clearing the clothes and pointing in a SAFE direction, being aware of others around you and then level at your target. we're talking about a split second here. between the time it clears and is leveled on the target.

practice, practice.

thats all i can say...

 

[P95Carry]

Just my humble 0.02 but . i would NOT part with that SP ... and in fact can hardly see you liking the Airweight .. certainly not if you want to shoot full house .357! IMO it'd be barely comfortable and controllable with .38 +P .... and as 280 mentioned .... even if your policy is ''carry a lot - shoot a little'' .... seems a shame to have gun that could so punishing to practice with that you'd never like it for that.

I practiced with my M85 last evening .. ready for a change over to that re summer carry. The ''comfort'' factor is well bareable (though quite noticeable on the hand) and aim recovery adequate .... but honestly .. I cannot see something lighter and running hotter loads being anything other than ''torture'' ..... and I am no ''recoil pussy'' or inexperienced ... just practical!

 

[WonderNine]

As I said before, I had a lightweight .41 magnum so a lightweight .357 is a wuss gun to me. I'm sure I'll practice with it more than enough to get competant with it.

I never said I wanted to shoot full house .357. As I said, I shoot Remington Golden Sabers 125gr. in .357. They are loaded to the exact same spec as the old Remington "Medium Velocity" loads and they have the GS bullet.

Full power magnums out of a snubnose are not worth the noise and recoil at all, you lose too much power to make it worthwhile up to a point.

 

[P95Carry]

Oops! Sorry, forgot you'd mentioned that 41 mag!! Kudos!

 

[WonderNine]

Oops! Sorry, forgot you'd mentioned that 41 mag!! Kudos!

I also want my primary CCW to shoot the same caliber as my secondary. (.357 or .38)

 

[280PLUS]

okie doke,,,long as i got the 2 cents in on the .32

i still suggest shooting it first..