S&W 360j

[Buckeye63]

Picked this 38 Spl revolver up a couple of days ago switched the grips.. Seems to be a nice carry option..

 

[Roy P]

Nice!. I have one ,just installed a XS standard dot night sight on mine. makes picking up the front sight way easier than all black

 

[kaaskop49]

An interesting gun, the 360J. Seems to be very little data from S&W pertaining to it. If you do a forum search, there are a few mentions of this gun, including a lengthy, VERRY interesting post about it that is required reading, IMHO.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

P.S. I Googled 'S&W 360J" and those Forum posts pop up as the 1st item.

 

[WC145]

Great gun, one of my favorites. I bought mine when the first batch came out in 2008. It's a real sleeper in S&W's line up and it seems they only make occasional runs of them. I really like the plain Jane appearance and no nonsense attitude. Plus it's tough as nails, they use the same frame for the .38spl 360J as the .357mag M&P360.

I used mine for a 9mm (9x23) conversion project. Carried for several years as my BUG when working, still carry it on a regular basis now that I'm retired from LE. It's never given me a bit of trouble. I'm sure that yours will serve you well.

 

[Ashlander]

Here's an old post from 12/27/12 by Alnamvet68 in a thread entitled "S&W
360 .38 Special:

[T]he Model 360J is chambered only for the 38 special. This is one unique
handgun in that it is built with a scandium frame, and depending on whether
it is an earlier model, or a most recent production, comes with either a carbon
steel cylinder, or stainless steel cylinderl, all finished in melonite. Of course, if
one was to change out the cylinder for one that accomodates a 357 mag, then
it would be safe to use 357, since the only difference in the 360J and the 360
or 360 PD is the cylinder...the 360 uses a stainless steel cylinder and
accomodates the 357, and the 360PD uses a titanium cylinder which
accomodates the 357.

That said, you will not find anything on the S&W site, archived or otherwise,
and you will get a variety of responses when you call and speak with S&W as
to why the 360J 38 cal only does not appear anywhere on their web site. I am
of the opinion that this is a handgun that was built on contract for a foreign
LE/military, and for whatever reasons, either they built more then they
needed, or the contract went *****...S&W will not say yay or nay on either
theory. One last thing, you will notice the serial number is on the left side of
the revolver, just under the cylinder release latch, instead of on the butt,
where all the J frames have their serial numbers. If you take off your grips,
you will notice a hole in the butt which appears to be for a lanyard..

 

[cwood8656]

Very cool little gun IMO. Here's mine. Hope you enjoy yours.

Chris-

 

[forrestinmathews]

Great gun, one of my favorites. I bought mine when the first batch came out in 2009. It's a real sleeper in S&W's line up and it seems they only make occasional runs of them. I really like the plain Jane appearance and no nonsense attitude. Plus it's tough as nails, they use the same frame for the .38spl 360J as the .357mag M&P360.

I used mine for a 9mm (9x23) conversion project. Carried for several years as my BUG when working, still carry it on a regular basis now that I'm retired from LE. It's never given me a bit of trouble. I'm sure that yours will serve you well.

Guy, your gun looks so much like mine I thought I had posted and forgotten. I've got the M&P 360 in magnum with an XS front sight and much of the black worn off the cylinder. Nice hammer bob, I did the very same thing. Sharp looking piece

 

[duster78]

Palmetto State Armory had these on sale for labor day for $350. I snagged one.

 

[Roy P]

heres mine after I installed the XS night sight

 

[BlackTalonJHP]

Are those VZ grips?

 

[Roy P]

Are those VZ grips?

hogue extremes

 

[clayflingythingy]

heres mine after I installed the XS night sight

I'm thinking my 360J could use a XS Big Dot front as well.

Any sighting issues? Change of impact? ETC?

 

[Roy P]

just got installed friday. haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. it's real easy to pick up the white dot compared to the black blade. installation was straight forward. sight fit nice and snug. Didn't have to do any filing or anything to make it fit.

 

[WC145]

Guy, your gun looks so much like mine I thought I had posted and forgotten. I've got the M&P 360 in magnum with an XS front sight and much of the black worn off the cylinder. Nice hammer bob, I did the very same thing. Sharp looking piece

These guns are very much a poor man's M&P. I had Robar coat my cylinder with NP3 because it would get surface rust on the edges of the flutes after spending a hot summer day in an ankle holster.

 

[Roy P]

I'm thinking my 360J could use a XS Big Dot front as well.

Any sighting issues? Change of impact? ETC?

I just realized you said BIG dot. Mine is the XS standard dot. It sights perfect with the rear sight groove. I

 

[zipty6]

I have one and love it. The 640 Pro is my favorite J frame, but the 360J carries like it's not there. I have a fiber optic sight waiting to go on it.

I ordered the "J Synthetic Full Size Grip with S&W Logo" from Smith & Wesson, then cut the bottom such that it just covers the butt. This makes for a nice, thin, boot style grip with a covered backstrap.

 

[zipty6]

I took some quick pictures of the grips after I got to work this morning:

 

[Roy P]

I took some quick pictures of the grips after I got to work this morning:

View attachment 209689

View attachment 209690

that looks much better than they do stock

 

[zipty6]

The extra cushion is nice on the scandium gun and cutting the bottom off of the grips makes it much easier to get out of a front pocket quickly.

 

[forrestinmathews]

I loaded some super hot .357's some time ago with win296. I shot eight of them yesterday. I am buffing down some spots on the cylinder latch and bandaging one heck of a ruptured blood blister on my thumb. I am investigating heavier bullets and some more powder....there is no me in quit.