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Old 12-10-2011, 02:19 PM
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47D 47D is offline
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Originally Posted by scooter123 View Post
I'll probably take some heat for it but IMO the K frame really isn't well suited to the 357 Magnum. One poster stated that he felt that the failures were "only" 30% a fault of the design. As an Engineer I do NOT think that is even on the threshold of acceptable. Would you drive a car or fly on an airplane that only crashed 30% of the time due to a design flaw? I rather doubt you would. BTW, the actual failure rate is undoubtedly much much lower but even 1/2 of 1 percent is unacceptable if you think about it happening in airplane terms. In addition there is the matter of the lifetime warranty which I have no doubt had some influence in the decision to drop the 357 Magnum K frames.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, there is an L frame that approaches the weigh of a 4 inch model 19 or 66 within an ounce or two. Fortunate in that you can find one if you are dilligent. Unfortunate in that it's not easy to find. That is the 686 Mountain Gun with the 7 shot cylinder. IMO S&W really need to wake up and smell the coffee and put a light barreled L frame into regular production, they could build a version in blued steel and call it the "new Model 19" and I doubt that there would be many objections to that at all. They could also drop that billboard engraving on the 686 and call it a "new model 66" for the stainless version.

Personally I think the L frame was an excellent solution to a known design weakness and the only mistake they made was putting a full length lug on nearly every barrel in the L frames. It would be nice to see the half lug or partial lug tapered barrels make a comeback because they do feel better balanced to me.

As for the 357 Magnum as a Defesive caliber, with today's modern bullet technology I think it's a poor choice, especially in a short barrel. It's too loud, has too much muzzle flash, and the increase in velocity over a good 38 +P isn't worth the risk of long term hearing loss of using a Magnum for defense. BTW, my ears ring every day when I wake up and go to bed, so I'm very well acquanted with the effects of hearing damage and loss. Magnum are fun at the range and a great hunting caliber but NOT my choice for Defense, for that I'll select a load that doesn't do any more harm to my remaining hearing.
While I generally agree with you and the points you made, I would point out that saying "what failures do occur are only 30% the fault of the design" is quite different than saying "a design has a 30% failure rate."
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