New to me, S&W 396 Mountain Lite

Every day you have a new gun and don't shoot it, its a sin.


Closest I could get is a charter Bulldog.

SWEET!

David
 
"Every day you have a new gun and don't shoot it, its a sin."
I know what you mean David. It is just hard for me to get to tbe range these days because it is about 50 minutes from where I live.

I used to have one 10 minutes from me and it burn down so now I have to use this one where some of the shooters have no clue about safety.

This is why I try to go on Thursdays because its usually a couple of shooters at most.

I will feed it a variety of rounds to see how she performs. The barrel says not to exceed 200 grains but I'm not sure if it is because of the recoil or that it can't handle the pressure.
 
S&W removed the 200 grain bullet stamp from later guns, ( mine doesn't have that stamp ) so as long as you're not shooting hot loads you should be fine... ( I shoot 240 grain XTP's in my handloads ) & shoot 200 grain gold dots & Buffalo bore standard pressure if I shoot factory in mine...
 
The barrel says not to exceed 200 grains but I'm not sure if it is because of the recoil or that it can't handle the pressure.
Click to expand...

The 200 grain limit is because heavier bullets have a tendency to pull out of the cases due to recoil.

Very nice gun, it's good to see a trail version of all the ultralight CCW guns.
 
Thats a great addition, congrats. I bet it will shoot like my S&W 296. With the right load and grips they arn't bad and great to carry.
 
Whoa.......somebody please enlighten me on this 200 grain bullet warning thing. What models were these on? I have an old-school 629 and there's no admonishment like that.

What S&W models are we talking about, and why?:confused:
 
Whoa.......somebody please enlighten me on this 200 grain bullet warning thing. What models were these on?
Click to expand...

It's only a problem with the combination of a very light revolver, heavy recoil and a heavy bullet. The revolver recoils quickly, the heavy bullet wants to remain still and the bullet can be pulled out of the case.

Probably not a problem with a heavier 629.
 
Finally made it to the range yesterday to shoot the 396. As expected, it was snappy with 165 grain hollow points and unconfortable but not painfull at 200 grains. Pleasantly surprised at how accurate and easy to point it was.

Got to shoot my Beretta 84f too which I had for a couple of months. Really loved this one.

On the look out for a model 27 or 29 on my usual ffls.:)
 
I have a bulldog 44 special. With old 246 gr round nose, the 5th bullet is pulled pretty good. It has tied up the gun. I only shoot handloads, so its not a problem for me.

Never a problem with my dads 3" 624. That is a heavy gun.

David
 
Salvadore,

Hornady states the velocity range of the 180gr XTP as 750-1400 fps.

44 special velocities should be no problem getting reliable expansion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top