Welcome to the boards.

You've asked one of the more confusing questions about S&W revolvers, but I'll take a swing at it. In general, S&W frames were developed for a specific bore diameter, and had larger cartridges wedged into them over time. All have been made in square-butt and round-butt versions at varying times.

The J Frame started as a .32-caliber pocket gun, and has since been built in cartridges from .22 LR to .357 Magnum. Their cylinders are too small to hold six .38 Special or .357 Magnum cartridges, so they hold five. J-frame guns are very small in the hand, but most people can shoot them pretty well.

The K Frame began as a .38-frame gun for the military and police. It chambered cartridges from .22 to .357 Magnum without much fuss. Most are six-shot, but some .22's hold 10. Some have been converted to five-shot 44 Specials outside the factory. K-frame guns fit the hand well, and nearly anyone can shoot one well.

The L Frame was built to take a steady diet of full-house 125-grain .357 ammo, which corrects one of the few failings of the K-frame. It's slightly overbuilt for that, and Smith has since built 7-shot versions. It's also been chambered in 40 S&W and 44 Special, again with a 5-shot cylinder. The L Frame has the same size grips as the K-frame, so all comments apply equally to both.

The N Frame began as a platform for the .44 Special. It's great in .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .45 ACP and .45 Colt, but a little light for the .44 Magnum. Smith has refined its innards to withstand long use with heavy 44 loads, but shooters who prefer those loads usually switch to a Ruger. The N-frame is slightly larger than the K/L frame. Shooters with small hands may have trouble with it, but this is often cured by using smaller grips. Recoil is usually much more an issue than frame size with N-frame guns.

The X-frame was developed specifically for the .460 and .500 cartridges. It's far larger than anything else Smith has ever built, but it has the same grip as a round-butt K-frame. A special grip was developed to manage their recoil, which also fits round-butt K/L frames and round-butt N-frames.

There's a lot more to it, but this is a decent bird's-eye view.


Okie John