Help settle a dispute, was the Model 60 ever issued in 357magnum?

I say “no”, buddy says”yes”.

Yes. 60-9 I have one i bought new in the early 2000’s.

Yes, with the J Magnum frame, not the original J frame. The 60-9 and 14 with 2 1/8” barrel and fixed sights, and the -10 and 15 with 3” barrels and adjustable sights. Interestingly there is also a -16, like the -15 but in .38 Special.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Hope you didn't bet any money. The middle gun in this Herrett stocked group is a 60-15 Pro Series in .357, although it's very unlikely I'll ever shoot them in it.

For a short time close to twenty years ago, I had two with adjustable sights, a 3" and a 5". Not being much of a dasher, I don't know the dash numbers. .357 Magnum is too much for these small frame guns. Quite unpleasant to shoot.

The 640 J magnum frame was also in .357 mag.

My favorite J frame; if I could only have one J frame this would be it.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

Yes, the 5” 60-18, a somewhat scarce variant.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Well, those are all just beautiful. I'm jealous!

The model 60 has been available chambered for the 357 Magnum cartridge for more than a quarter of a century now

Currently it is only available in a 2" or 3" variation but as othe"rs had mentioned there was a very short time a 5" was available

Here is a link to the company's factory web page showing the 2" version

https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/model-60

One of my favorites is the Lew Horton small hunter of which only 182 were produced in 1997

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"Acta non verba"

I shoot my guns and didn't mind seeing that one go. Scarce maybe, but not very practical for using.

I had one and thought it was “cute”, but never really found a use for it so sold it.

I can shoot 357s in J Frames if I need to, but it’s a little uncomfortable.
Usually mine are loaded with 38+P.

Attached Images

IMG_0039.jpg (64.2 KB, 25 views)

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

MY 60-10 'micro 686" only gets loaded with magnums when heading out into Penn's Woods.

Handy little gun to have; carried a lot shot a little

I´ve bought a model 60-14 in .357 magnum in 2018. Very useful gun

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vivir con pasión, perder con elegancia y triunfar con osadía

I made some grips to tame mine somewhat with full house magnum loads.



My EDC for a decade or more before S&W chambered the 60 in .357 was a Security Industries, a 2" stainless clone of the J frame with a massive .357 cylinder. I've never seen another.

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Carry.."hope" isn't a strategy

I had a 3" 60-15 for several years. Only fired 5 357's in it. The recoil was atrocious. Hogue Tamers and 38+P made it usable. Co-worker wanted it, so I sold it just before I retired.

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Heavily armed old man.

Had a 60-15. The recoil with magnums was unbelievably bad. I resorted to wearing a shooting glove and fired 50 rounds. When I took the glove off, the web of my hand was bleeding.

That was the end of my 60-15 ownership. I found a no-dash 60 in .38 special and earlier this year a 49. Love them both.

The S&W site currently lists 3 versions of the M60 in .357 Mag.

My "pre-loved" Model 60s both came with badly fouled cylinders. I almost ripped my fingernails out trying to pull spent magnum cases out. Firing that first cylinder of magnums was enough for me. I can fully understand and appreciate a steady diet of .38 special in a magnum J frame.

Yep, I have one I bought in 1999.

Yes, I know several friends that own one. IMHO, the 357 J frame is fairly useless stoked with magnum loads for the average shooter. It is hard to control and slow for follow up shots and the magnum loads offer little advantage over the 38 special +P's in a 2" barreled gun. This is mostly due to the fact that 357 magnums were never designed for 2" barrels (designed for 6" and up) and most of the powder is actually burnt outside of the barrel instead of working to propel the projectile faster.

The Buffalo Bore 38 special +P SWCHP-GC will do an honest 1,025 fps out of a 1 7/8" Chief's Special barrel and is a whole lot easier to control with less muzzle blast, less flash & less recoil.

So with the 357 capable J frame you get more weight, more bulk, slightly larger size and most owners will seldom if ever fire magnums out of it again after the initial trial. I'm sure there are a few exceptions out there that think I am wrong here, but this is just my opinion after a fairly good amount of experience with them.

You do the walk of shame and admit you were wrong yet and didn't take the time to do a 3 second Google search OR look on S&W's website first before putting your foot in your mouth? Or, did you just quietly let the issue die, hoping your friend doesn't bring it up again? Inquiring minds want to know lol 😆 .... you're silence leads me to believe you just let the issue go instead of doing a "I told you so" speech thar you would have done if you were right all along. I could be wrong though...

FWIW: Here's my 3" 60-15 I purchased used from another forum member a few years back. I don't carry it as I prefer to carry a model 686+ over any J-frame for EDC.

The old story that there is no difference between 38+p and 357 Mag in a 2" barrel has been proven wrong time and again. Just take a look at Lucky Gunner's test data on their site. All with factory ammo through common handguns. It doesn't take long to see that even with a 4" barrel the highest velocity they were able to attain with +p was barely over 1100 fps. And there was only one load that was able to do that. Then look at their 357 testing and notice that even in a 2" barrel it easily stays over 1100 fps and even well over 1400 fps and that's with a 2" barrel. Not saying any of these loads would be fun in a light weight J frame but even in these small pistols the 357 dominates the 38+p.