12.0 Ounces Vs. 25 Ounces???

C

cslinger

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12.0 Onces Vs. 25 Ounces???

Ok, I have never shot a Smith Scandium revolver. Could somebody give me a comparison of felt recoil between say a Ruger SP101.

Is the recoil of 38+P in the Smith about the same as a .357 in the SP101?

I know recoil is subjective but I am just trying to get a basic idea of how much recoil we are talking about.

I am not recoil sensitive but I want to be able to practice with the firearm also.

I want this primarily for a pocket carry gun. It will most likely be loaded with .38+P Nyclads. I like having the choice to torture myself with a .357 now and then but the gun will see 95% 38 special and .38+P.

Is the 12 oz SW 360 too little for weight for me to be able to run 50 or so rounds through it once a week?

Again I know this is very subjective and I know the recoil with a .357 will be way more than I would want to shoot for any length of time but will the .38+P be that punishing?

Sorry for the stupid question, but I just want some answers from people who have experience with both super light snubbies and more traditional weight snubbies, as I only have experience with a more traditional weight snubbie.

Thanks

Chris
 
Find a friend that has an old Buick. Late 70's 2 door. Open the drivers door fully, place right hand in the door frame near the locking mechanism. With considerable vigor, slam door with left hand. While hand is healing consider a Ruger SP-101. My Most humble opinion....
 
This doesn't answer your question exactly, but I think I have some good information for you.
We had a Taurus 85UL, (Ultralight aluminum, about 14? oz.), and my wife currently has a S&W Airweight, also aluminum, about the same weight as the Taurus.

When shooting 158gr, lead, ball ammo, either of these guns actually leave my hand sore after 30 rounds or so.
The recoil is a handfull.

But, here's the kicker;
When shooting 125gr +P jhp rounds, you can shoot either gun, all day. The lighter bullets are much easier to shoot!

I have read that the Scandium revolvers, which are .357, are sheer torture shooting full-house .357s.
While +P .38s in these guns may not be really "fun" to shoot, it is described as tolerable.

Hopefully, you can shoot one first.

I don't know if the magazine review is still available at the S&W site, but in it, they describe the Scandium guns as "carry a lot, shoot a little" guns.
I have never liked that concept.
I am like you. I think you should fire a lot of rounds, on a regular basis, through your carry gun.

If you really want to practice a lot with your carry gun, you may want to think about a Titanium gun, or a good old fashioned aluminum revolver.
The extra 2 - 4 ounces will make a lot of difference at the range.
(And save you a few dollars, to boot.)
 
That is about what I thought......

So since I am not really a revolver afficianado what are some good aluminum alloy J frame sized snubbies?

I get confused with S&W naming system 345, 640, 9999, 8675309PD.......whatever.

I am not saying suggest only S&W although I tend to be a little biased towards either Smith or Ruger Revolvers.

How is Taurus really, I guess I sort of hold a low opinion of them because I have seen some examples of poor quality.

Basically the most important thing to me is easy of carry, economy of size and that it goes bang every time. Trigger pull, accuracy etc. are all secondary. I can overcome those things through practice. Besides 95% of the firearms out there are more accurate then I am, cept maybe a Mini 14.

Thanks for the help.

Chris.
 
At a range a while ago...I was 2 lanes down from a guy who just bought an SC. On the second cylinder thru the gun..it twisted the cylinder inside the frame...or basically decided it was DONE!
He literally thru the gun down range...cant say I blame him.
We talked for a while and he shot my little 60 and my SP.

He equates the recoil of full house loads in it to hitting a baseball with a broken bat!
The worst wheel Ive shot...Including a Maxine, Casull and so on...was a Ti 41 Mag Taurus. I would venture to say its close to an SC gun from what Ive heard. I didnt find it TOO harsh but on the other hand it was not a plinker by any means...

My SP is a sweetheart with full house loads...even better with a Butler Creek Boot grip even though its only a 2 1/2 finger grip.

Ive shot a couple of "featherweight" guns and with +p's IMO they still shoot softer than the 357 in an SP...it depends alot on the 357 also. I shoot 110's thru my SP and they feel like +p's to me.
125 JHP's like Gold Dots and Federal's will wake you right up :D
So I guess its up to the hand of the shooter.

Just a hint..If you shoot alot of full house rounds thru a snubbie...Id try a shooting glove. Dont expect to have time to put the glove on in case of a BG...but helps out at the range.
I where one when I have my CTC Laser grip on, as its hard plastic and is not very nice to me!

Shoot well
 
125 gr. 357 mag tactical lites by Proload (rated 1125 fps/4" bbl) recoil about like a Corbon 110 gr. 38 Spl +P (rated 1250 fps) out of my 340PD. Either one is controllable/tolerable for about two boxes, then gets pretty old fast. Take your pick as to which is the better round. Lighter loaded 38 Spls (+P or normal pressure) are fairly easy to shoot for longer sessions, in my experience with the 340PD.
 
I am not set on Scandium.....

I will probably go aluminum alloy or Titanium, as they have been around longer and seem to work well.

Funny you mention about Federal defensive .357 through the SP101. I usually run some light .357 just for S&G now and then when I get to shoot, but occasionally I run a cylinder or two of hotter high quality ammo and lord when that little gun talks people listen.

I am just getting to the point where I can reliably hit target with those hot .357s in the SP101. Now .38s in that gun are just about anti-climatic. Base on that I would probably never practice enough to get over the recoil of hot .357 or probably any .357 in the really light guns but is .38+P is still less then a .357 in the SP101 then that I could handle without too much thought.

I have a buddy who is gigantic. He is like 6'7", built like a giant, has hands that could probably be described as paws. I gave him the SP101 to shoot one day with some hot federal .357. Now mind you I figured he would barely notice it since he can pretty much hide the gun in his paw..ahh hand. Well he caps off the first round and just stands there for a second or two. He just turns his head with this dis-believing look and says "Gawwwwwddd Dammnnnnnnn." He finished off the cylinder but agree those hot .357s even in a heavy gun like the SP are pretty impressive.

Heck I figure if the BG is close enough I will not only make him deaf, dumb and blind but have a good chance of setting him on fire from the muzzel blast. Not real useful to me in a real situation, God forbid...but strangely entertaining in a masochistic kind of way.
 
"Carried much, shot little."

Despite what you are saying, nobody goes to the range and fires a pocket gun very much. Yes some people will shoot as much as a box thru a little critter but the fun wears off pretty soon once you see what the capabilities are (and you become a good shot with one). They always end up getting out a belt sized handgun for any more intensive shooting as they are easier to be accurate with.

Most people probably don't ever get to be a good shot with a DA snubby, imho.

But I've seen bring pocket autos, .25s, .380s, PPKs - they're no fun to shoot either.

Pocket guns are for defense, not for fun. Therefore I take the titanium or scandium Smiths with the heaviest bullets I can get for best penetration with a short bbl. Either one is a good pocket pistol if you want to carry it.

An SP101 will probably be left home as only Captain Kangaroo has a pocket that will hold it.
 
I really like my wife's gun.
It is a S&W, Airweight, stainless, hammerless, 38 +P.
The model number is 642.

Here is the link:
http://www.smith-wesson.com/sport/results_output.cfm

The weight is shown as 15 oz., and I think the going price around here is in the $400 range.
I have have read durablility reports in the 50,000 round range on the internet. We have shot around 100 rounds in her gun, with no problems.

I like to buy ammo in bulk, and I as I stated above, the "cheap" 158 grain ammo is no fun to shoot.
If you plan on shooting defense ammo, I don't think you will find it objectionable in this gun.

(My solution to this dilemma was to get a Kahr MK9. At 23 oz. it is too heavy to be a pocket gun, but you can shoot it all day, and it is as accurate as my Glock 19. I still want to get me a S&W 642 though. There is just something about a little hammerless .38......)
 
I've got no experience with SC but do own a S&W 642 aluimnum alloy.With 158gr LSWCHP+P 's it recoils quite a bit but not as bad as a formerly owned 640 shooting .357 125gr JHP's.I believe as someone stated previously that the few extra ounces would be well worth it for recoil comfort.tom.
 
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I think I can speak from experience. I've never shot an SP101, but I do own a S&W Model 60 in .357 and a S&W Model 340sc in .357. Both have approx 2 inch barrels (I also used to own a 342ti, but traded it in on the 340sc, but they are basically the same to fire with .38's).

Anyway, shooting .38's through the titanium or scandium guns is about as punishing as shooting .357's through the stainless Model 60, which is to say rough, but not all that bad. I could easily go through a box of 50, but 100 would start to ache.

Shooting .357's through my scandium is downright rough. Not unbearable, though. It will leave your hand sore after 5-10 rounds. It is substantially rougher than my .44 Mag Anaconda or my .50AE Desert Eagle. In fact, I'd say it's got the most felt recoil of any gun I've ever shot. How do I carry my 340sc? I sometimes load with .357's and sometimes load with .38's. Do I think I could be accurate enough with .357's in a defensive situation if necessary? Yes. Remember, J-frames are not target guns.
 
"Scandium" slightly misleading....

The Smith "Scandium" revolvers are nothing more than an aluminum alloy that contains only the slightest bit of scandium. The scandium content significantly increases the strength of the aluminum alloy. Bottom line is that you get a metal that is almost as strong as steel, yet is as easy to cast and machine as aluminum. Unfortunately, the non-ported Smith Sc-Series revolvers can be a little monster to shoot, especially with full-house loads. Recoil-sensitive shooters need not apply.

Brad
 
Well lemme just say, I am 6'1" 200lbs. and the 342PD felt like a small grenade going off, you just have to try it. No fun at all!! Although, I did get it to the tolerable range with 130gr usa @800 or so FPS. A grip that covered the backstrap helped ALOT! Finally, I got tired of it. I miss the light weight, but I had alot more fun shootin my SP101. The other thing I loved about my SP was the ability to totally disassemble it by myself and get it back together. My next revo is going to be a used M60 2" of earlier vintage with a narrow trigger. Enjoy.
 
Just got back from the range with the wife. She knows basic firearms skills, but now she is reading "Armed and Female" and is getting all fired up!

My wife wanted to try different platforms. I took my Glock 23, S&W 19 (4 inch), S&W 60 (stainless 2" 5 shot) and a S&W 37 (aluminum airweight 5 shot).

She fired them all, went back and fired them again. She decided on models 19 and 60. The model 37 recoiled too much for her (firing 38 +p). She didn't like the Glock (autos too complex for her at this time).

Even I would hate to fire the Scandium with .357! I don't think it is a good idea. My model 60 (stainless steel 5 shot) with 125 grain .357s hurts like hell!

IMHO there is no need to lighten ANY .357 beyond a steel J frame.
 
My 4" dan wesson 715 kicks hard with full throttle loads.
I can't imagine a 12 oz. gun with heavy loads.
The worst recoiling gun I've shot was a taurus 425 tracker with .41 mag 210 grainers at 1200 fps.
That was punishing, and after 10 shots, I wanted to put it back in the box.
I sold it last year.
 
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