I posted this elsewhere and it’s a 396 but maybe it will help someone here.
The following is based on the single copy of this gun that I have and may not be accurate for all the guns:
The design of the gun is fantastic. A lightweight 44 special that can handle reasonably powerful loads and be easy to pack, is certainly attractive. Execution is probably better than most recent S&W revolvers I’ve seen. The double action is fairly smooth and the single action crisp although a bit heavy at about 4.5lbs. Lock up and timing are fine. A couple chambers have a slightly harder DA pull due to the hand/ratchet fitting but that’s fairly easy to remedy.
The barrel shroud on mine was canted substantially to the right, causing impacts to go farther left than the rear sight could accommodate. I sent it in and S&W had it back in my hands in under two weeks, properly clocked. When I got it back and shot it more extensively I found that the powder fouling was causing the cylinder to bind severely. The inside of the yoke that the extractor assembly fits into was extremely rough and scored. I had to hone the inside fairly substantially to get free and easy rotation from the cylinder. It works fine now and tolerates hundreds of rounds without binding.
The front sight was not tall enough for the 250 gr WC at 925fps (9.2 gr Power Pistol) I want to shoot and I didn’t want to replace it since it has a tritium vial. I did shave the rear blade and deepen the notch but also had to shave the sight base and adjusting screw to get the notch deep enough to see the full, front sight dot. A little touch up blue and you can’t tell a difference except for the now shallow screw head slot. I suspect that 180-200 gr loads were what the sights were designed around and will probably be fine for those.
Overall I’m pretty happy with it but part of that is because my expectations were fairly low. I had to buy mine sight unseen so I knew I was subject to the QC lottery and might have to put some effort into it. If you’re able to examine one before purchase and it meets your standards, then I think you’ll be happy. If you can’t inspect one first, then just expect to have to spend some time on it, or maybe you’ll get pleasantly surprised and have no issues.
Good luck.
