Technical advice concerning J-frame revolver and .357 Rem. mag. cartridges

L

LLC

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I own a S&W model 60 chambered in .357 Rem. mag. Since I read many things concerning the K-frame weakness when fired with these ammunitions, I'm a little bit anxious with my little J-frame revolver.

I really enjoy shooting it and, probably thanks to the 3" barrel, I obtain very nice scores even at 25 yards. I use .38 special ammunitions and sometimes .357 Rem. mag.

How many .357 rounds it is reasonable to shoot ? I also would like to know what are the different points I have to inspect and control to prevent damage or accident.

Can you share your experience concerning J-frame and .357 Rem. mag. cartridges?

Thank in advance for your help!

 
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I have a 640-1, which I think is the hammerless version of the 60. It is my overall favorite gun...not my biggest and not my smallest, but my favorite. I love the .38 caliber, although it is rated for .357. I have shot just about every kind of .357 through it without any issues, and I carry the Speer Gold Dot .357 Magnum for Short Barrels, and it is very accurate with that round. But when I got shoot for fun, I never take .357 shells with me...I shot three revolvers this weekend, two of them .357's, but I only shot .38's...not even .38 +P, just .38's. I think it is very fun to shoot the revolvers with .38's and avoid the more powerful shells when shooting for fun. Occasionally I'll run through a few to make sure I can hit the target, but I don't shoot that many.

To answer your question, the K frames do like to have 158 grain .357 magnums...I never quite understood why, but the 125 grain magnums will screw up the forcing cone or something...just use the 158's and you're fine with a K frame. With the 60, J-frame stainless steel, I'm fairly certain you can shoot whatever you want (somebody else speak up if this is wrong) but I don't think there was anything in the manual and I've never heard anybody say that you shouldn't use the 110's or 125's in the J stainless .357's. Good luck, B
 
Your hand will be naught but a gnarled, arthritic claw, barely able to stand .22 recoil, before you fire enough .357 in your Model 60 to do it any real harm.
 
Thank you very much for your answers. Now I will trust my revolver!

I really like the hammerless models too. I shot a 9x19 model 940 one day, and it was a terrific firearm. I'm always surprised how easy the S&W revolvers to shoot accurately in double action are. Here in France, most of the shooting ranges allow only the 26 yards (25 meters) distance so the handguns have to be accurate… I never had any problem with S&W revolvers!

 
When the J Magnums were introduced S&W's advertisement and an article I read said the gun had been tested with thousands of full charge mags without damage. The guy shooting it?.......he's probably damaged forever!
 
Agreed, I have shot many boxes of a variety of magnums through a 60-9LS, and and certain that my bones will give way long, long before the gun:o...

135gr Gold Dots are fine, as well as the occasional round of 145 Silvertip, but that's as hot as I wish to go.
 
Do I have to understand the J-frame .357 mag. revolvers are stronger than the K-frame ones? ;-)

 
LLC said:
Do I have to understand the J-frame .357 mag. revolvers are stronger than the K-frame ones? ;-)
Click to expand...

I don't know if they are stronger but they are sufficient to the task. I have been shooting my 640 with full power .357s for over 15 years. No indication to date that the gun is shooting loose. It is a tough little sucker.
 
My 640-1 had to be rebuilt twice so far. This was quite a while back and I don't remember the exact round counts off the top of my head, but the first time was somewhere north of 3K rounds of full power .357 mags (mostly Remington and Federal 125 jhps) and it went back to S&W for warranty work. They replaced the cylinder (the bolt cuts were badly peened out of shape) and retimed it. A couple thousand rounds later it was going out of time again so I sent it to Karl Sokol for an action job, retime and a bit of minor custom work. Since then I have eliminated that full power 125 JHPs from its diet and mainly shot .38 spl +P+ and 140/158 .457 mag loads out of it with no further issues.
 
I, too, have this M60-15 in 3". Having had the Cr%p beat out of my hand with a 2.75" 640 Centennial and +P ammo I was not expecting the experience to be much different, but it is. The little barrel with the full underlug REALLY soaks up the recoil. I put a set of Pachmayer Grippers on it and what a surprise, this piece is a joy to shoot, even with 125 Golden Sabres. The original issue with the K frame, BTW, was flame cutting of the top strap above the forcing cone/cylinder face gap. This issue has been resolved through modern mettallurgy.
There is a very well written pice on this revolver here:
Smith & Wesson Model 60-15 3-inch Barrel J-frame Revolver in .357 Magnum
Happy shooting.
 
Chriss said:
The original issue with the K frame, BTW, was flame cutting of the top strap above the forcing cone/cylinder face gap.
Click to expand...

Not really. The problem with the K is the flat milled into the bottom of the forcing cone to clear the crane. With a constant diet of full-house 357 loads this weak spot is prone to crack. The only way to eliminate the flat on the forcing cone is to alter the dimensions of the frame enough so that it's no longer necessary. And what you wind up with is the L-Frame.

The J-Frame did not have this issue, but in order to make it suitable for sustained 357 use S&W had to alter its dimensions and geometry in other critical areas.
 
These points are very interesting too! Can you tell me (us) which areas were improved and which one were reduced?

 
Not really. The problem with the K is the flat milled into the bottom of the forcing cone to clear the crane. With a constant diet of full-house 357 loads this weak spot is prone to crack.
Click to expand...
Yep, you're right. That was the issue. I was thinking of the Ruger .357 Maximum Blackhawk problem. Thanks for straightening me out.
 
I shot my first magnum loads in my 60-9.
Rem 125 gr JSP.
Wow! Magnum is appropriate!

It seems as though it is right on the edge of what the gun can handle. I know it was on my edge!:o
I was a bit worried about the gun, but it handled it ok.

I also noticed a LOT more powder blow back with this round.
 
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