Here's one you don't see every day.

Call it a 356 Shorty, or more properly, a 3566 Compact. Caliber is 356TSW, a short-lived round developed for the Team Smith and Wesson (TSW) shooting team in the early 90's for reasons more adequately explained on other threads.

Either 200, or more likely, 300 of these were made by the Performance Center for Lew Horton in 1993-1994. They were the compact version of the 5-inch barreled 3566 Limited, of which less than 150 were made. (The extra 1 1/2" of barrel in that model will cost you mucho dinero, by the way.) EDITED 9/7/2019 to correct production numbers: 386 of the Compacts, 517 of the Limiteds.

Came with 12-round 356TSW mags with finger extensions, but mine is pictured wearing its Grip Plus Two on a 5906 14-rounder, which fits the compact frame too.

All the nice Performance Center "Shorty" perks come with it -- spherical bushing, extra wide rails, sweet trigger, and to top it all off, this incomparable black-and-polished-stainless-steel body. It's an all-steel frame, so it's a tad heavy (especially carrying 14 rounds) but it's heavy in the way a 4006 is heavy -- in other words, in the good way.

I scored the Haugen leather holster just this week (thanks, Dave!), and this 3566 will hot-rack it with my Shorty Forty in there. (If you don't know what hot-racking is, ask a sailor.)

Ammo is still available, though scarce, and I've shot 356TSW Federal FMJ 147 grain and Cor-Bon BHP 125 grain (1400 fps -- zowie!) through it, along with Fiocchi 9 x 21mm FMJ 124 grain. (Nominal size of the 356TSW is .356 (same as 9mm) x 21.5mm.)

I learned a lot about this from the guys on the Forum who own or have owned pistols in the 356TSW series, and who have posted about their experience and advice. Thanks guys; you know who you are.
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Attached Images

	3566 Compact LH view with Haugen leather.jpg (52.2 KB, 264 views)
	3566 Compact RH view with Haugen leather.jpg (50.4 KB, 181 views)
	3566 Compact with Haugen leather.jpg (51.8 KB, 195 views)
	Blackie & Shorty 7-19-2013.jpg (85.1 KB, 228 views)
	Brochure356compact.jpg (71.7 KB, 189 views)

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Chip, you're a sneaky one, that's for sure! I have to say it was worth the wait. In all the time I've been scanning gun sites, looking for elusive TSW's, I think I've maybe seen three of those. And not cheap either. But how do you put a price on something like that?

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Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

Glad you liked it, Tim. And if you've cruised the sites lately, you're probably already aware there's one like it for sale on one of the national sites right now, and has been for several months, for $950. Which, in my estimation, is a darn good price. I've seen his pictures, and while they're not posted with the pistol they show what appears to be a very good condition 356 Shorty.

One day, a Shorty 45 for me, and I'll be happily in the "short rows" for sure then!

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

I hear you. Though others have laughed at me for saying this, I really think that if I could score a compact 9mm TSW(no rail, round trigger guard, natch!)& one each of the Shorties, I could quit shopping quite happily! At least, I think that's why they're laughing at me!

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Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

I had a friend that had a PC 356tsw compact, he was one of those guys always looking for the perfect gun and never finding it . He eventually moved on to 10mm, .40 and .357sig. I was able to shoot the heck out of that 356 but wasn't smart enough to buy it when he offered to sell it to me. It's a great gun and one that I regret letting get away.

It's a fine shooter, as are all of the Shortys, but what really attracted me to it was how drop-dead gorgeous it is. Not ideal for CCW, as it's heavy, plus I just don't want to bang it up. It will get plenty of range time, though.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Chip, You KNOW I like your latest signature!

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Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

I hope you liked the previous one, too, Tim. One of my favorite MP movie lines...from the "Bring out yer dead" scene....

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

I must have missed it. What was it?

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Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

"I don't want to go on the cart"

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Oh Yeah! I saw that one & I didn't pick up on it. Well, that does it...I'll have to turn in my membership card to the MPFC, & resign my presidency in the local chapter! As of this moment, I am a Non President.

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Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

"We're all Bozo's on this bus!"

Ahhh, many a 'wasted' evening in college listening to Phil Proctor and The Firesign Theatre.

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"We deal in lead, friend."

Great little Pistol....I had one in the late '90's and sent it off to the Performance Center for a 9MM Conversion Barrel. I don't think they do that work any longer, but at the time, it made sense to have a two caliber gun that was really affordable to shoot. At the time, .356 TSW ammo was still available without much effort, but I had the opportunity and took it. Still the best looking Compact S&W ever made IMO.......Enjoy! Zebulon

Couldn't agree more, Zebulon. And I'm enjoying it very much indeed!

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

C'mon, Chip!!!

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Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire