Scandium

[4Given]

*** What's with these strange white dots on scandium frames?
What purpose do they serve?

Just purchased a new scandium frame S&W 360J in 38 Spcl.

I surprised myself and like it more than I thought I would.

LOVE stainless....always will, but this new scandium J-Frame fills a special niche.

Added a Hi-Viz sight, Apex trigger kit and CT Laser Grip.

Size and weight is just right for IWB and OWB carry (for me). Loaded with Speer 135 gr Gold Dots and the CT grip, it tips the scale at 17.7 oz; exactly 3 oz more than the empty stock weight of 14.7 oz.

I agonized over buying this rig due to the ugly lock.
I'm totally over my OCD thing about the lock after seeing it in person. It may be the black color or the strange white scandium dots, but the lock seems to visually coexist just fine.

 

[colt_saa]

*** What's with these strange white dots on scandium frames?
What purpose do they serve?

Hammers, triggers and other parts are made of a hardened steel. They can not pivot on Scandium pins without a very rapid degradation of the action.

Those white dots are stainless pins that the internal parts pivot on.

 

[Neumann]

A small amount of scandium adds stress crack resistance (fatigue) to aluminum comparable to that of steel. S&W still makes "scandium" framed handguns, although some have been discontinued.

I have a 4" S&W 1911PD with a scandium frame, 30 oz, which makes a nice carry tun. I recently added a TRR8 N-framed, 8-shot .357 Magnum revolver to the mix. The TRR8 has a scandium frame but a stainless steel cylinder, and weighs 35 oz dry. There are none of the erosion problems found with titanium cylinders, and the revolver is very easy to shoot with full .357 Magnum loads. The tensioned barrel makes it one of the most accurate handguns I've fired. It would be on the light side for .44 Magnum, if available, but I think I could manage it.

The 329PD .44 Magnum has a titanium cylinder and weighs only 25 ounces. That would be brutal. Recoil is bad enough with a 40 oz steel version with a 3" barrel. The 2-5/8" 327 also has a titanium cylinder and weighs 25 oz. The recoil is probably okay, and it would be light, if bulky, for EDC. I'm not ruling it out for future consideration. .357 Magnum makes a SD round with authority.

My philosophy for personal defense is based on "carried a lot, shot a lot."

 

[Mister X]

I'm a fan of the scandium alloy guns themselves, but not their lofty price tags.

I owned a couple of 340 M&P's a few years back, but really disliked the XS dot night sight and found myself babying them and overly concerned about superficial issues more than I should on an EDC pocket gun.

I sold them and bought a couple of 642's which were half the price. If they ever offer the 340's with a blade sight at a more reasonable price, I would probably switch.

 

[Cal44]

I'm a fan of the scandium alloy guns themselves, but not their lofty price tags.

I owned a couple of 340 M&P's a few years back, but really disliked the XS dot night sight and found myself babying them and overly concerned about superficial issues more than I should on an EDC pocket gun.

I sold them and bought a couple of 642's which were half the price. If they ever offer the 340's with a blade sight at a more reasonable price, I would probably switch.

I like the idea of getting a 340 M&P but share your concern that they are too nice and to expensive for every day use.

I have an LCR 357 which will do everything a 340 will do, and cost less and if I scratch it or something it doesn't matter.

It's a tool, and kind of ugly to start with.

Frankly I think the LCR 357 is the best 357 magnum small carry gun out there. A few ounces heavier than a 340 makes it easier to shoot, and enough lighter than a M60 or M640 that it works fine in a pocket.

 

[joe44va]

Scandium costs about $122,500 PER POUND. Not something you spread around like peanut butter.

 

[grover99]

I like to buy and sell guns but like a lot of you you have some guns that will never be sold or traded. My 1911 PD gunsite is it for me. The cost when I bought it was not much higher than any other S&W 1911. Great gun to carry and to shoot. Does tend to show holster ware more than some of my guns. When I am gone I hope my son likes it as much I do.

 

[LittleCooner]

Interesting thread and read. Well, here is my story. I only have one light weigh gun, a 396-1. It is a constant companion. Very rare that the old gal and I are not together. I have spent 45 +/- years in the woods in my chosen profession. Purchased a 44 Charter Arms bulldog that now has not blue left on the gal, as it was a constant companion for 30 + years, in the summer, loaded with two rounds of # 9 shot in front of the other three 200 grain 44 specials. It saved my life once, it was 2 feet away, ready to strike and had 13 rattles on the end (eastern diamond back that I almost stepped upon). The stopped making the 396 some where around 2004 or 2005 and I begin to wonder why I did not buy one, so I finally found one, very slightly used and, in all places, in a Cabelas gun room. The charter bull dog sits in the night stand and the 396-1 is my new companion. 19 oz. in a Ray (Lobo leather) pancake which was the first one ever he put a safety snap upon. It is my only CCW and it is my favorite S&W gun. No, I do not shoot it a lot, thats for the 69, 629-2, 28-2, etc when I want to go to the range and bang away, but some days, I never know it is sitting on my right hip, just above my billfold. These guns have a purpose and I love the weigh and balance, far superior to the old Charter Arms bulldog. I can not believe they do not make this gun any more. It would be the last gun sold if had was forced to sell all the different handguns around this place.

 

[retiredbadge8091]

337PD, love mine... +P included.

 

[regalsc]

I have the 337ti the earlier version of the 337pd but in the silver grey color frame. I'm not sure that the 337 has scandium mixed in with aluminum alloy. All the scandium frame revolvers I own or have seen have the blast shield.

 

[fpuhan]

I own a 360 in .38+P. My favorite J frame They, in fact, have a scandium frame, with a carbon steel cylinder. Don't know why they are no longer made, but anyone I know that owns one feels fortunate.

I think they are still being made. But only in special runs. I recently bought a NIB 360 .38+P and love it. It's become one of my favorite EDC guns. I took it to the range yesterday along with my M&P9 Pro and my EAA Witness, and confess that after shooting nice, smooth 9mm semis, shooting the 360 was a bit brutal!

 

[4Given]

Hammers, triggers and other parts are made of a hardened steel. They can not pivot on Scandium pins without a very rapid degradation of the action.

Those white dots are stainless pins that the internal parts pivot on.

Thank you for the great info........mystery solved!

 

[CH4]

To me it's more of a marketing gimmick. The only reason I'd need a 329, 340, etc. is if I was going to appendix carry while wearing my speedo in bear country. If properly holstered, I can carry a 36-42 ounce gun all day and not notice it. I've shot one of my former officer's 329 and 340 at a quarterly range training...I did not find the experience worth repeating.

 

[AveragEd]

I would never buy a lightweight gun that I intended to shoot a lot. I do have one such handgun, an S&W E-Series 1911Sc in .45ACP that I bought to carry if/when the mood strikes and have only shot once to learn where it shoots. I love it for that weight and its night sights but a daily shooter it isn't - at least not for me.

Ed