Went out set on getting a 642, came home with a 340. .357 scandium.
Shot half a box though it, learned I suck at shooting revolvers.


6 yards away shooting blazer .38 taking my time. Maybe i'll rip off 5 rounds of .357 see how that goes.

Just need a holster.

I have a 360. My favorite summer carry piece.

Dave N

I have a 340. I put a Crimson Trace grip on it and sent it off to Grant Cunningham to work over. Cool little revolver usually lives in my brief case.

I don't think you'll care much for full power .357 loads.

The word "Brutal" comes to mind.

Nice revolver. It's not that you suck shooting it. Snubbies are a totally different animal and takes a lot of practice to get good with them. Don't just shoot 50rds and go home shoot 150 each range session until you make one ragged hole rapid firing.

It was getting late and I wasn't dressed for the cold. Going back out tomorrow.

Good choice. I always have my 340M&P (with 135gr GDHP SB) with me. Practice every week too with 38spl 158gr +P. I am on the lookout for another w/o the lock. I removed the lock from this one. Can't tell if yours has a lock or not.

While it is possible to do much better, you're doing fine for using an up close "belly" gun.

Dry fire daily. Live fire 50 rounds or less a week IMO.

It has no lock.

.357 is brutal! But I carry the short barrel gold dot .357's in mine. More like a .38 +P for recoil.
Full house .357's will hurt you in a short time, but I had to try them.

Dave N

I picked up a 360M&P 3" last time I was home, I'm hoping to get to shoot it this trip back.  Having put lots of rounds through a 642 I seriously doubt I'll shoot many .357s in the new gun.

Shot a box of .38 and 10 rounds of .357 low recoils and my hand is wrecked. I'm thinking I need some bigger grips.
I don't know if i'm riding too high up on the grip but only the bottom half of my index finger makes contact with the trigger. It's the end of the finger not the joint.
Maybe a Hogue Monogrip? Something to help support the webbing between my thumb and index finger. Open to suggestions.

Chambering these hyper light j frames for 357 was monumentally stupid IMO . Stick with 38's the whole pint of a j is conceal ability negated by bigger grips. Your first target is not all that bad. They call snubbies an experts gun for a reason

Installed an Apex spring/ firing pin kit and polished the rebound slide. It does smooth out the trigger and lightens it just enough to notice. Fire ~80 rounds of Blazer .38 (cci primers) and 10 rounds of Federal reduced recoil .357 zero issues. If I do have a failure to fire i'll return the parts back to stock and notify Apex about the issue.

.38 primers


The ones on the left are Apex. Right side are factory springs and pin.


If you need better pics or questions just ask.

Better pic. Apex on right.

I got to shoot my 360 yesterday; I'd already installed an Apex kit in it.  I also have a Hogue monogrip on it instead of the two finger boot grip (I got this to carry hiking/backpacking so I don't need the smallest grip).  I'm used to shooting a 642 but the 360 was definitely a different gun; even with the larger grips and a 3" barrel it's still lighter than the 642 and it was noticeable when shooting it.  

Shooting regular 130gr FMJ and 158gr LRN .38s wasn't too bad; I switched to some +P .38s including my favorite .38 carry rounds, Speer's 135gr GDHP for short barrels, and the light weight started making a difference.  At this point I'd put around 200 rounds through the gun and I was starting to string my shots.  Because I'm a glutton for punishment I tried a couple of different .357s.  The Speer GDHPs in .357 were the most controllable, but damn, it's absolutely brutal with regular .357s.  I managed to cut my trigger finger on the trigger guard; something I've never done with any other gun.  I have a lot of rounds through my 642 and several other snubbies, I like big bore guns and I'm not particularity recoil sensitive but this thing is downright painful with .357s.  Follow up shots were slow and I started to flinch around the 275 round mark and called it quits.  

The only issue I had with the gun or the Apex trigger kit was operator induced when I short stroked it once but that was around the 250 round mark.  Most of that was standard 130 and 158gr .38s and all but ten rounds were fired by me.  Nope, don't see me doing that again any time soon but I wanted to make sure it was reliable.  I put the remaining 25 rounds out of the last box through my 642 along with the five Speers that had been in it.  

It should perform great for what I wanted it for, a lightweight hiking gun, but had I tried it before I bought it I doubt I would have spent the money and would have continued to use the 642 in that role.  It is cool looking with the 3" barrel and the front night sight though.