Best 357 revolver

[ron]

You guys are a bad influence on me. I am looking at the S & W "new"
Model 66. 4.25 inch barrel with a totally redesigned lock up. Lighter
and easier to handle than my 686 4 inch. I don't like the lawyer
lock. Anyone one have any experience with one of these?

 

[Ed Guinn]

19-4; 6". Accurate, great DA/SA.
LOVE this one - gonna keep it.

Had a 744HV Dan Wesson Monson for a long time with 6" and 10" barrels, and recently traded it to a member here for a great rifle.
Very nice, heavy, and extremely accurate revolver - but not as finely finished as Colt or S&W.

Never shot a DW .357, but liked the .44 mag and the interchangeable barrel system.
DW's can produce flame cuts if the barrels are not installed correctly using the supplied feeler gauge. (mine came that way from the original owner who used the gauge incorrectly - but stainless polishes up nicely...)

Agreed: velocity is maximized with longer barrels - so for targets and hunting, I'd go with a 6" - no matter what brand you like.
The "best" though, is the one in your hand at the time you need it...

 

[USAF Medic]

The best, would be a Python. Most others are nice, but the best is a Colt Python.

I really like the 357. Being able to shoot .38 in the same gun is a nice bonus.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Oh please.

 

[ma96782]

You guys are a bad influence on me. I am looking at the S & W "new"
Model 66. 4.25 inch barrel with a totally redesigned lock up. Lighter
and easier to handle than my 686 4 inch. I don't like the lawyer
lock. Anyone one have any experience with one of these?

I have a Mod 66 (pre lawyer). It's not the newest one and I don't care.

The whole idea of the Mod 19 (Mod 66 is made in SS) was that a police officer had a K frame sized revolver that could shoot the .357 Mag. Previously, PDs used the .38 Special almost exclusively. Course, the Mod 19 had different heat treating to handle the higher pressure. Back then, it was thought that, the cheaper .38 Special would be used for training. While the more expensive .357 Mag loads would be used for duty.

Later....PDs starting using .357 Mag loads for training too. Call it the lawyers falut.

And...of course, some Depts looking for more performance, wanted to use a lighter - faster bullet. The problem came along with the higher usage of the 125 gr. JHP bullets being driven at .357 Mag velocity and pressures. The forcing cones took a beating and cracks were reported.

S&W decided to take the old Mod 19 and Mod 66 off of the market. For awhile, collectors were paying big $. Maybe, some will still pay? But NOW.........we have the NEW Mod 66.

Anyway, I have the old Mod 66 (4" bbl) and as expected. I love it. I don't shoot all that many .357 Mags out of it and I don't intend to shoot it with 125 gr. JHP at .357 Mag velocities. I'm not worried. There are pleanty of 158 gr. Mags loads to use. And truthfully, I usually use .38 Specials in it, just for target/training usage.

Aloha, Mark

 

[Hybrid Slave]

The best that I've personally owned and shot is a S&W 686 CS-1 with a 3" barrel. This was a special order version that was made for the Customs Service back in the 80s.

They came in both 3" and 4" lengths, the three inch having the rounded butt. Triggers were tuned and smooth right out of the box, and they had a thinner front sight than I've seen on standard 686s. Finish was a very nice frost.

While stationed at Coronado Island, and visiting home on liberty, I bought it from a pawn shop in San Gabriel, California for $325. I'd seen 2.5 inchers, but never a 3 incher with a round butt. I knew it had to be unique, but the pawn shop owner didn't know much about it. The price was right, so I jumped on it. I've had it ever since.

My understanding is that only about two or three thousand total were made, and only a small number of them ever made it out to the civilian market. (Mr.) Janet Reno is reported to have ordered them all destroyed after the feds started changing over to automatics.

 

[Medic!]

What is best? Not sure. There are many great 357's.

I do know the last two I would get rid of.
Even though I don't carry or shoot them. I enjoy them very much.
To me. They are best at what they are. Not what they do.

These guns are from another time. Made by men who could fit and tune a gun. Not just push the green button on the CNC machine after the program was loaded.

And isn't the .357 round. And for that matter the idea of the wheel guns. From the time of skilled craftsmen?

Look at the over the top. Polished blue finish. How proud of your work would you have to be to finish a tool this way?

Anyways. Those days are over and gone.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Love those old snake guns. Interesting article on them in latest American Rifleman.

 

[ma96782]

Pythons are nice.....no doubt in my mind.

But, I'll stick with a S&W.......for utility and affordability. For me, the "classic revolver," is a K frame. Maybe because I carried one for so long (Mod 15, .38 Special, adjustable sights, blue, 4"). YES, Colt and Ruger made some nice revolvers too. But, when I think about a "revolver" my mind thinks: S&W.

For the record, I do own several L frame S&Ws too.

OK, Ok, ok.......maybe a Colt SAA if I was thinking old west/single action. Yup.....the SAA is a beautiful classic revolver and has utility too (for the time period). But, in .357 Mag.....well, not so much. Truthfully though, I do use a pair of COLT SAAs (and sometimes a pair of Vaqueros) in .357 Mag for SASS competition.

Aloha, Mark

 

[pdxjazz]

This one is not mine, but the S&W model 27 is certainly no slouch. The very best revolver from S&W and can be had for a lot less than the Pythons.

 

[Hybrid Slave]

View attachment 253103 This one is not mine, but the S&W model 27 is certainly no slouch. The very best revolver from S&W and can be had for a lot less than the Pythons.

Been looking at one of these or a Model 28 Highway for a long time now. Do you know if it is possible to have one of the older ones fitted with an eight shot cylinder like the newer 627s. And if so, how much would it cost?

I figure that if I'm going to pack a revolver that size, I might as well try and squeeze as many rounds in as I safely can. Plus, I'd no longer have a use for my lever action trapper in 357. because the newer 627s hold the same amount of cartridges.

Still, I'd rather customize an older one than get one of the new ones. S&W just isn't putting the love into their products anymore like they used to.

 

[Swedish K]

686 national match - 1 of 500
built for PPC matches by Bill Davis

 

[BoonDocks36]

When I lived in the Oakanogin National Forest area of Republic Washington, I carried daily. My first Centerfire was a .357 Ruger, Security Six, Blued, with Six inch Barrel.

I loved it, but Blued Steel Does Not belong in Snow Country (9 months a year, I kid you not...).

Then, constant in & out of my 4WD Chevy Long Bed... That Six inch barrel would get hung up... I mean I wore from Sun Up, to Bed Time.....

Was in the local Gun shop, spotted a 4" Security Six in Stainless, and Traded Up.

Yes, you lose some power, minus the two inches, but that frame is Made for POWER. My home rolled 178 grain Keith Style SWC's barked, and were accurate, I recall one Seventy Five yard shot, at a known Feral Black Lab... (I would rather put down the ignorant human, who ditched him, than the dog... But it was a Bad nuisance on a mountain that had three families for a total of Seven Children.

I removed it's left shoulder at a Seventy Five yards, the finished it when I walked up closer... BTW, I hit it as it was charging me... Which started at a hundred yards...

If I needed to live the One Gun, One Rifle, my Rossi M-92 in 357 & a Ruger '101 would fit the bill nicely, it would either be Stainless, or Ceracoted...

philip.... In the outback up there, I had more fear of Feral Dogs, than Bears & Cougars... Both will try to stay away from Man... But I killed two Feral Dog's in Less than one year up there... Both in pursuit of me, as Dinner.

 

[etrain16]

Only ever owned one revolver, an SP101, and it's the second oldest gun I own at just over 20 years old. It's my wife's HD gun, though I like to get it out to the range myself too. I'd love to add a 6" GP100 at some point - I had to pass on one at a pawn shop a few months back, actually was a decent price, but didn't have the cash. Oh well, maybe another time.

 

[Certaindeaf]

My dream carry .357 would be a 3" Scandium six-shot K-frame Smith with a round butt.. without a lock. Hey, they make the little J's that go big so hey.
And don't tell me they've been making them all along or I'll have to go "Doh!". lol

 

[Sam Kinard]

For a single action I find it very hard to beat a stainless Ruger BH.

For a double action I would look very seriously at an L or N-Frame S&W or Ruger Redhawk in stainless.

For beauty, class, accuracy and the smoothest trigger in the world, a K-Frame S&W with a Colt barrel would probably take the cake.

What can a Freedom Arms $2k revolver do that a $450 Ruger can't? What can a $2k Python do that a $750 S&W 586 or 686 can't(well, the Python can shrink your groups 1/2" @ 25yds. but at the cost of a "poorer"(opinion) trigger.)?

If I could only have one sidearm it would be a stainless Ruger BH .357 with a 4&5/8" barrel. If I could only have one long gun it would be a 20" M92 in .357.

Even after completely switching my .44's to .41's and finding what a perfect caliber it truly is I still won't ever let go of my .357's. Several pounds of Lyman #2, a keg of 2400, my Lyman 358156 mold, gas checks and primers could keep my family alive and defended for years.

 

[Certaindeaf]

..Several pounds of Lyman #2, a keg of 2400, my Lyman 358156 mold, gas checks and primers could keep my family alive and defended for years.

It puts different meaning into the term "hammer and tong"..

 

[Medic!]

For a single action I find it very hard to beat a stainless Ruger BH.

What can a Freedom Arms $2k revolver do that a $450 Ruger can't? What can a $2k Python do that a $750 S&W 586 or 686 can't(well, the Python can shrink your groups 1/2" @ 25yds. but at the cost of a "poorer"(opinion) trigger.)?

The Python can look better. Go up more in value. And make you afraid to shoot it. For fear of putting a scratch on it.

And I agree on the trigger. My S&W guns have better triggers than my Pythons.

 

[pdxjazz]

Been looking at one of these or a Model 28 Highway for a long time now. Do you know if it is possible to have one of the older ones fitted with an eight shot cylinder like the newer 627s. And if so, how much would it cost?

I figure that if I'm going to pack a revolver that size, I might as well try and squeeze as many rounds in as I safely can. Plus, I'd no longer have a use for my lever action trapper in 357. because the newer 627s hold the same amount of cartridges.

Still, I'd rather customize an older one than get one of the new ones. S&W just isn't putting the love into their products anymore like they used to.

S&W did make sort of what you are looking for back in 2006 & 2007. Yes, they have that dreaded lock but not as apparent on blued guns and you can always disable it (and you can buy a plug to help hide the hole). They were special runs of M27-8 from Lew Horton/PC and called Registered Magnums (not to be confused with the original RMs from the 1930s). In 2006 350 blued 3.5" & 350 blued 5" were produced, and in 2007 250 nickel 3.5" & 250 nickel 5" were produced. They are all 8 shot and were also factory cut for moonclips for faster reloading. Would take some time to find one. Here is a photo of one from the internet-


Not sure if you can retrofit an older 27 or 28 with an 8 shot cylinder, but if you can I would use a 28 as the 27 is such a beauty. Frankly I would just hunt down a nice 27-2 and leave it alone, though it is just a 6 shooter.

 

[U201491]

Easiest question to answer on the forum.
The "L" Frame S&W 4" or 6" I like the 6"
Python is built better with a better trigger but not by much.
They just don't fit many folks hands like a S&W