Smith 351

B

bikerbill

New member
Been thinking of getting a Smith .22mag revolver for my wife's nightstand ... she doesn't like recoil and doesn't shoot often enough to have learned to deal with it, but she shoots my 22a very well ... looking at the 351pd or c ... anybody have any thoughts?
 
Check the DA trigger; better, have HER check the DA trigger.
Rimfire takes a harder hammer blow than centerfire and WMR more than LR.
So mainsprings run pretty stiff.
Not impossible, but try before you fly.
 
Hey Bill, just saw your post so I hope I'm not too late to reply. Yes, my buddy who is a small woman started out with a Taurus 941 and liked it so much she upgraded to a S&W 351c. You can find speedloaders for the 351's on Amazon and Crimson Trace makes grips for them. It is a great little gun, lightweight and accurate. I love the dang thing and it almost makes me wish I had one. My buddy totally loves it, gets a huge grin in her face whenever she takes it to the range. However, the trigger pull on it is a monster. If you know a really, really good gunsmith (someone who truly knows his stuff) he can smooth it's innards down with an Arkansas stone, without changing any springs, and it will help a ton. I just would not advise changing springs on a rimfire.

But, just curious, why a nightstand gun? My buddy uses hers for concealed carry but has a 9mm Glock 17 Gen 4 for her nightstand gun. I would really recommend the S&W 351 if it is going to be a concealed carry gun but there are larger .22 magnums if it's purpose is to be a nightstand gun.
 
This is one I missed too and am mostly interested in the replies. Since I don't own a small 22mag revolver, I had always assumed that the springs would be the same as 22LR. So, learned something here.

My main thought was about noise. It would definitely burst an ear drum with its loud report indoors. Outdoors is bad enough. I would suspect the noise will be akin to shooting a 357 mag indoors. But I am sure somebody will show the decible ratings of each and prove me wrong.
 
I can only comment on a 651 - an SS 22 Mag revolver. I found that after 50 rounds, the unburned powder froze the cylinder in place. I had to spray the whatis out of it to open it and then clean it. So if you do use it for serious SD, make sure it doesn't foul up.

I also had an SW 317 and hated the trigger. Ditched it.

One might get one of the 327 revolvers out there. The Taurus are cheap and one can shoot plain old SW 32 long that has little recoil. There are HPs around. Not a gun for a lot of shooting but much better triggers. I have a 632 - they are a bit pricey. You might be able to find a 432 - 32HR mag around but not cheap either.

But the 351 isn't the cheapest. If 22 though is her thing - why not one of the semis - much cheaper, better trigger.
 
Hey, Seattle ... thanks for the reply ... my wife's not a shooter, isn't interested in a CHL ... I do take her to the range, mainly to keep the important things about shooting -- front sight, safety rules, etc. -- in her mind ... when we go, she'll shoot something I give her, maybe a .38 or a 9mm, but she really likes my 22a and shoots it very well ... the .22WMRs I've fired, including my tiny NAA Pug, have very little recoil and it seems that a larger revolver with 7 or 8 rds would be perfect for her, especially if I'm away from home for some reason ... my nightstand gun is a 1911, and she doesn't like shooting it at all ... it's just an enhanced level of security for her, over the Kimber pepper blaster she has there now ...

I think I mentioned I had a Taurus .22WMR a while back, don't recall the trigger pull being much harder than my Smith 637 ... In any case, she's certainly plenty strong enough to handle it ...

Glenn, I'm pretty locked on the .22WMR, not familiar with any semis that shoot it aside from the unobtanium Kel-Tec .. am I missing a good bet? My other thought with a wheel gun is that there's no maual of arms involved; don't want her fumbling with a slide in the case of a misfire -- pretty common with .22LR in my experience -- or dealing with a malfuction drill ... I want it simple and easy for her, hence the revolver route ... Incidently, I have a Taurus 617 which had a major lockup problem when I bought it ... turns out the barrel-cylinder gap was so tight that after shooting 20 or so rounds, the heat expanded the metal enough to freeze things solid. Not being patient enough to wait for it to cool on every outing, I took it to a good local 'smith who opened up the gap and gave it a wonderful trigger job ... it's one of my favorite guns now ...
 
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I don't know why but the triggers on the Airlite J-Frames
.22's I've shot were much heavier than their .38 and .357 counterparts. I agree with Glen, considering the cost and trigger, why not look at a semi? The Ruger SR22 seems to be a nice one. Much better than some of the other options like the P22.
 
I own a 351pd. Extremely lightweight revolver. Heaviest double action trigger of the 4 j-frames that I own. I can't recall any woman shooting it that could pull the trigger in double action mode (all shots single action). I wish the barrel was longer - the velocity of the 1 7/8" barreled 351 is comparable to a longer barreled 22 LR handgun. The short barrel Speer Gold Dots add some additional velocity. If this handgun had a 3" barrel, I think I would love it, but it doesn't. Factor in the high cost and I would not buy the 351 if I could make the decision over.
 
I bought a new 351-PD when they were first introduced, and really didn't like it, mostly due to the lousy trigger.

I quickly sold it, while the model was relatively unobtainum, for as much as I paid, and now have a 3" Charter Pathfinder .22 Mag-only.

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I own one and even if I like this revolver very much, I won't recommend it for a person who doesn't practice so much in shooting. The trigger is much too hard for someone who doesn't practice.
The revolver is great, the caliber is great (specially loaded with Hornady critical defense) but much to hard trigger for an untrained person.
 
I have the 351c and absolutely love the gun! Yes, the trigger pull is long and heavy, but I got accustomed to it, and enjoy shooting it. It's definitely one of my keepers. I routinely use it for pocket carry.

The cautions are valid about making sure the wife can pull the trigger. My wife could only do it with two fingers.
 
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