360 S&W, how much can I shoot it?

[shanewomer]

I have several .44 mags, and a larger .357, but I want a very small .357 for concealed carry. I don't need to shoot it much, so I just want it to be light, but I would like to practice with it every once in a while, to stay familiar with it.

I've heard they can't take a steady diet of .357 mags. What will happen if it's shot too much? What will go wrong? Will it be dangerous?

How much is too much? What can be expected from these light weight guns?

I'm talking about either the S&W 340 or 360, with the Scandium Alloy Frames and Titanium cylinders, like pictured below.

 

[Majic]

The most practical problems won't be with the revolver, but with the shooter. Most shooters just can't stand shooting the lightweight handcannons enough to cause any damage except to themselves.

 

[BillCA]

The Model 360 is one of S&W's lightweight revolver series made with a "Scandium" frame.

The original aluminum alloy guns were prone to frame stretching when fired with +P ammo or after many thousands of rounds of standard pressure loads. This was due to the alloy itself not being as durable and dense as steel.

With the fall of the Soviet Union small amounts of Scanidum made it's way into the west. It was found that by adding small amounts of this material to the standard aluminum alloy that the resulting metal was much stronger and much more resistant to pressure without sacrificing weight or cost (for Titanium).

The Scandium frames, as far as I know, seem to hold up pretty well. They are much better than the older alloy frames with magnum loads. Can they still be fired enough to stretch the frame? Probably, but so far I haven't seen anyone publish data on it.

Go ahead and buy your 340 or 360 and shoot it. For range use, use .38 specials and sparingly fire the .357 Magnums to save your hand and the gun. The lightweight guns do recoil considerably however and I'd recommend equipping your version with rubber grips that cover the backstrap.