A 396 Mountain Lite .44 Special followed me home

[Brian in Oregon]

Local gun shop had this S&W 396 Mountain Lite .44 Special in the used case. Checked it out carefully and bonded immediately with it. No lock. $620.

The grips are Uncle Mike's K/L round to square conversion. The originals, with the open backstrap, weren't with it. Which is fine because Uncle Mike's K/L boot grips are my favorite synthetic grips. Fit my hand perfectly. Other than light weight, feels just like my Model 19.

It doesn't solve my need for a pocket gun that's smaller than my K-frame Model 12, and not sure if I'll carry it for CCW. I was thinking this would be a nice light gun for packing while hunting and hiking. Especially in sagebrush country in eastern Oregon. No bears, so the .44 Special can handle everything else. And being a revolver it will work OK with CCI snake shot loads (one of the reason I usually pack a Model 12 or 19 there).

Have not fired it yet. Anticipating some pretty stout recoil. I understand it weighs 18.6 oz, so it's 2.4 oz lighter than a Charter Arms Bulldog. I've fired one of those, and it was pretty brisk for recoil. An acceptable trade off for light weight, as this is not a target revolver or plinker.

 

[22hipower]

Nice, and great price I think. On my list and would sure like to find one. Enjoy.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[vinny77]

Pretty reasonable price for a clean 396. Good score

 

[steelslaver]

Great price and a no lock to boot. I really like the one I have.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

Doh! Just realized I posted this in pre-1980 section, not post-1980.

Edit: Thank-you to whoever moved this thread to the right section.

 

[Ol Sarge]

Have not fired it yet. Anticipating some pretty stout recoil. I understand it weighs 18.6 oz, so it's 2.4 oz lighter than a Charter Arms Bulldog. I've fired one of those, and it was pretty brisk for recoil. An acceptable trade off for light weight, as this is not a target revolver or plinker.

What a sweet little gun. Great for personal defense. And trust me, in an actual combat situation you won't feel the recoil or hear the bang. Been there done that!

 

[zzclancy]

Did you tell your wife it just followed you home?

 

[Brian in Oregon]

Did you tell your wife it just followed you home?

Uuuhhhhhh........

 

[Jim NNN]

There are some .44 Special loads out there that might handle medium to smaller bears, as long as the gun is something a bit more stout than a CA. Looks like a nice Smith. Congrats on the new gun.

 

[tug700]

Would love to have one to go with my 696 no dash. I would like to know the difference in felt recoil. I really enjoy my 696 and hope you have the same luck.

 

[Grayfox]

Very nice!
I agree about the Uncle Mike's grips. I have the same set on my 696. I never have liked a round butt on a N-frame.

 

[bronco45]

Had a 396 for one box of bullets. A "sick" friend has it now! Stick with the Blazer 200 grain Gold Dots. I didn't wished I would of, probably would have kept the gun.

 

[Paul105]

Very nice. If you use mild/moderate 44 special loads with lighter bullet weights, it should make a dandy trail gun.

Bought mine back in 2003. Wanted something light for backup when bow hunting elk here in Montana. Buffalo bore offered a 250gr Keith at 1,000 fps but was kind of pricey, so I worked up a load that duplicated the BB offering (260gr Leadhead Keiths at a chronoed 1,030 fps). Recoil was/is memorable. Also have a Freedom Arms M97 that I use the Keith load in. Tried one of the Keith loads in the M396 - one was enough.

The barrel butt/forcing cone area is very thin and from multiple comments here and a recent article by Brian Pearce, these level loads should not be used in the M396.

Later transitioned to the 329 for backup purposes (one more round, less recoil, reasonable power to weight ratio. Don't shoot this one much anymore -- the new M69 is my packing pistol of choice these days.

Paul

 

[Engine49guy]

The 396 Mountain lite a neat backpacking revolver and I would have jumped on it especially at that price as well.

Problem is now you have me sitting here pondering any practical advantage of a 5 shot L frame .44 Special over my 7 shot L frame Mountain Gun in .357 magnum for CCW outside big critter country.

In bear country would likely reach for the 629 Mountain gun instead that offers 6 rounds of .44 Magnum,
Have been tempted by two 329 PD airweights that popped up locally for sale in the last couple of years, probably no coincidence they both came with an almost full box of .44 Magnum rounds and the reality is the 629 MG is plenty enough in the hand with full Magnum loads already.

 

[bananaman]

I sure would have picked it up myself! I have a Charter Arms Pitbull in .40 S&W. It has somewhat of a snappy recoil! Enjoy your .44! Bob

 

[Brian in Oregon]

Regarding bear country, I'm still waiting for a 3" 629 with fluted cylinder and the traditional style barrel to become available. S&W and Talo show them, but have none. In the meantime, have .357, 10mm and a .44 Mag, all full size.

I'm not planning on taking this gun into known bear country. It's mainly for where I go coyote and varmint hunting. Pic below shows me hunting at Smock Prairie with my Model 19 on my hip. First two charge holes have CCI .38 shotshells in them for snakes. The 396 will be much lighter to carry.

 

[Nemo288]

Have both the 396-1 and a CA Bulldog.
With the same ammo (Speer 200 grain) the 396 is, for me, way easier to control due to the bigger handle.
Since it weighs half what a 696 or 3" 624 does, the recoil is double.
Similar to shooting a 44 magnum in a 6" 629.
My main problem is the titanium cylinder and the admonishments that come with it re: cleaning.
Mine is used and I think the coating is somewhat worn inside the chambers.
Has not affected the performance that I can tell.
I did get a spare cylinder at Numrich.
They are still be available but would have to be installed by a good revolversmith.
Filing the timing star is beyond my skill level.
S&W 396 AirLite PD 5-Shot .44 Special Cylinder

I see no reason smaller black bears would be a problem with a 220-240 grain cast bullet at 900 fps from one of these guns.
You would have to practice some DA shooting to get confident.

 

[steelslaver]

If you ever change cylinders, use your original extractor star, it should fit the new cylinder and time it. I replaced my steel cylinder with a TI one and ended up using the original extractor to get it time rather than mess with the one that came with the new cylinder.

The new style extractors fit the cylinder without tthe pins. On the old style the pins very often did not line up well.

 

[Nemo288]

Thanks for the tip.
Makes sense.
Have a 696 that ended up needing a new star.
The old one (I suspect was a cobble job: the fit was very poor) caused heavy extraction and scratched the brass when I could get it out.
S&W did a perfect job on it to the point where I can rotate the cylinder and hold it right before the hammer drops in DA for all 5 rounds.
Usually I get a hammer fall unexpectedly in double action and cannot feel when it's going to happen.
Sometimes, if I go slowly enough, the hammer will drop before the cylinder is in battery (not good).
I like the confidence of being in control even knowing if I really need DA I'll probably be yanking the trigger pretty enthusiastically.
I practice both ways.

 

[Frizzman]

I had one. I wish I had kept it. It was pleasant to carry while hiking/hunting in the mountains. So far as bears go, I've had several encounters with black bears (no grizz in this part of the country) and they always ran away. So, the humanoids are my biggest threat and a five shot .44 Spl seems kind of short of ammo for that. I went to a plastic .40 with 15 shot mags for that purpose. No soul but practical for homo sapient repellant. The 396 is unique and I would prefer it to a CA Bulldog.