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History of 360 J

R

Ravgardner

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Recently purchase a used S&W 360 J revolver. Serial # CYP9163. Curious to know any history on the hand gun. If only the shipping date is available, that’s ok.

Thanks
Ravgardner
 
Assuming yours looks like this one they were a Davidson's Exclusive offered in 2016 I think.

Jeff
SWCA #1457
 

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This model is listed as product code 160360, first made in 2008. I think some must have been produced later, as this SN prefix appears to be from 2015 - perhaps as a parts cleanup?
 
A good friend and I purchased three with serial numbers close to yours new in 2015. I say we because he picked all three of them up and I paid him back for one and then eventually bought his second one. We paid about $350 each for them through one of the large online vendors. After transfer and TN’s few we were in each one for about $360.
 
Thanks Alan, that’s interesting. One thing I did discover was that this revolver was adopted as the service weapon for Japanese PD. S&W worked to supply them.
 
Here is a not so great pic of my 360J in .38 Special.

I had the cylinder worked by TK Customs so that it can shoot 9mm and use moonclips.

I also had a big dot sight installed on the front and picked up some older Bianchi grips for it.

I believe I picked this up for around $340 or so around 2015.

At the time the story was they had been part of a contract for a PD in Japan and the order was not delivered so they became readily available on the market. There were a a bunch of them available then and the prices were very reasonable.

Under the grip, at the bottom, there is a hole which was for attaching the lanyard loop ring.
 

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These reply’s have been very helpful. Thank you. One surprise and a disappointment was it seems I paid too much for this revolver, but that is the way I goes.
 
I have one in .38 spl. Not real sure of the history. Mine dates to 2008 & I picked it up from Bud's Gun Shop around that time or a little later. I think it was one of the smarter guns S&W made. Most people won't shoot or carry .357 ammo in the .357 version, so why not make it in .38 spl.?

Interesting to learn about the Japanese connection.
 
Guess it was 2012 time frame when I purchased my 360J. Man time sure flies. The below link is to a previous thread and you can read the information about the Japanese contract.

Kernal Krittendon, may he RIP, was a very knowledgeable member of the Forum and was pretty good at his research. I disagree with him though on these not being overruns from a canceled contract. When this batch surfaced they flooded the market and then were gone in this configuration.

Not sure if the photo will show up but I also had located a model of the Japanese 360J that the Kernal pointed out to be a replica firearm from a Japanese Company that made realistic replica firearms for the Japanese market. I have been unable to locate the photo again and it appears that Tanaka had removed them from the catalog.

I do remember the grips though and they were unique and pretty cool looking. They were a rubber fuller size grip but at the bottom they were cut out to accommodate the lanyard loop.


M360J Grip Frame

Here is also a link to an article from The Truth About Guns where the Japanese 360J Service revolver is covered. Hope the link doesn't violate any rules.



Gun Review: Smith & Wesson 360J Japanese Service Revolver - The Truth About Guns

As you scroll through this article and get to the 360J information you can see a photo of Japanese Police Officers carrying with the lanyard loop attached.


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIT6l8y0_cE[/ame]

And to round it out I found this old YouTube video of one of the Tanaka Replica 360J's that shows how the grips looked on the Japanese PD versions.
 
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I have also had the good fortune to pick up two of these - one with the correct box and one without. Have a CTC laser grip on the older one and can’t heap enough praise on them - a really great little revolver.
 
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