WANT!!!

Hillary hole.

No thanks.

Yep. Way past time S&W quit putting those on revolvers!

I’d like to see what the velocities are out of a revolver, given that the .350 Legend is designed as a straight wall rifle cartridge.

It doesn’t impress me much out of a 20” rifle or carbine.

A 170  gr bullet at 2250 fps isn’t stellar even for a 200 yard lever gun deer cartridge.  Zeroed at 200 yards it will have a maximum mid range trajectory of 4.8” at 110 yards and be 5” low at 234 yards.  At 200 yards it will have a velocity of 1493  fps and 841 ft pounds.

In comparison the .375 Winchester will launch a 200 gr bullet at 2200 fps.  With a 205 yard zero it will have a max  mid range trajectory of 4.7” high at 115 yards and be 5” low at 243 yards.  At 200 yards it will retain 1665 fps with 1241 ft pounds.  At 200 yards that’s over 50% more energy, and a .379 unexpanded diameter to start with compared to .357 for .350 Legend.  With a remaining velocity over 1600 fps the bullet will also be more likely to reliably expand.


The .350 Legend doesn’t blow the .38-55 away either.

Buffalo Bore also makes a .38-55 “heavy” load designed for modern 38-55 rifles that launches a 255 gr bullet at 1950 fps.  Zeroed for 180 yards it has a max mid range trajectory of 5” at 100 yards and is 5” low at 212 yards.  At 200 yards it retains 1304 fps and 962 ft pounds.  Compared to the .350 Legend it has a little shorter maximum point blank range, but a little more energy, and a lot more momentum.

Even with a standard .38-55 load with the same bullet at 1600 fps the .38-55 looks good.  With a 150 yard zero it’s 4.8” high at 90 yards and 5” low at 177.  At 200 yards it retains 1101 fps and 687 ft pounds. The .350 Legend really only adds 50 yards of energy and trajectory to the standard jacketed .38-55.

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As for the revolver, I’m not a fan of the modern S&Ws, although it has nothing to do with the mis named “Hillary Hole” lock.

After the Clinton administration pushed through the Assault weapon ban, at the expense of democrats losing house and senate majorities in 1995 for pretty much the next 25 years gun control efforts pretty well stopped as legislative initiatives but Clinton’s Attorney General started leaning on gun makers to add l built in gun locks on hand guns.  S&W, under pressure from potential law suits, was just the first one to cave.

That earned S&W a special long lasting almost Jane Fonda does North Vietnam type of epic never forget kind of hate.  

Calling it a Hillary Hole is mostly to trigger folks.  In all fairness it has nothing at all to do with Hillary Clinton - just her can’t keep it in his pants husband and his stooge Janet Reno who was happily assisting state and local entities to sue gun makers into bankruptcy.

I certainly don’t hold a grudge against S&W and oddly enough people don’t get upset with Glock, Taurus, or other makers with locks.

But I think their quality has slipped significantly.

Aside from it being the “Hillary hole” does it actually matter? Does it affect reliability or something?

If you notice the frame above the "hole" has been made taller and covers more of the hammer. In addition to the ugly "hole",  altering the frame like this really hurts the classic lines of the S@W revolvers.

So it doesn't change anything other than the "lines".

I really want to see one of those things in person. Just need to see if it’s awkward balancing or feels good in the hand.  I love the 350L and have killed the shit out of deer with it so I know what it can do.
As for the lock. It takes me about 3 minutes to open one up and remove the flag part.

Not a fan of the Hillary Hole…  I haven’t bought a new S&W revolver since 1993 and since then, I’ve bought over 15 revolvers on the used market WITHOUT the hole.

“I” like revolvers, due to their simplicity and not too crazy about a non-needed item that may or may not cause an issue down the road.

You forgot a few things.
A Brit company owned Smith at the time and were perfectly greatfull to take Clinton loads up the ass.
Safety hammer, (the folks that made the Hillary hole), purchased Smith and then distanced the company from that load taking.

I can't locate the particular model of 500 I want and then Smith comes out with a new chambering.

I think its a great idea - For some reason I can find 350 regularly  and at a price below 357 mag

Would like to see some ballistics though.

Hate the hole to but the S&W CEO just told congress gun grabbers to get bent recently - so I'm kinda looking for something S&W to buy to reward them. This looks interesting.

The x frames are a semi scaled up j frame. It was easier for them to modify the already in existence 5 shot platform of the j than create a 100% new layout for the x frames.

I base this on the x frame locking bolt is very similar to the j frame locking bolt is size and shape.  Much different than the k l n or z frames which are all shaped very similar but differ in length.

Yep, if the CEO really wanted to wave the Fuch you finger in the letter, he would of stated, further more the deletion of the Hillary hole is effective immediately as it poses a unintended and potentially life threatening lock up of our revolvers.

When needed and used in a self defense posture by our customers who are constitutionally guaranteed to keep and bear arms, we see this as a long overdue wrong to right.

Politics will not play a role in our ability to produce the most reliable and dependable revolvers technology and manufacturing allows, by some of the worlds best and skilled employees of Smith and Wesson.

Yup.. great sentiment, but our legal system would bankrupt S&W the first time some kid shot himself with a revolver without the lock.  Que the grieving mother..." Little Johnny would be here if they had not stopped making the lock like my other S&W revolver."

Until we achieve serious tort reform, those locks will be there.  Once a "safety item" is added to something, it is never in the manufacturers interest to delete it, unless they want to be sued out of existence.  

This PSA brought to you by the American Bar Association... destroying America as effectively as liberal progressives.

Meh, I'd rather find an old Super Blackhawk in 357 Maximum which I'd bet doesn't give up a bit over 350 Legend in a revolver.

Priced below .357?

In my area, .350 is $19ish per box of 20 for the cheap stuff, I can get .357 for $30 for 50 rounds...Ironic thing is, .38 Special is more than .357-IF you can find it.

I want to see what this shoots like. A steel X frame seems absurdly heavy for the caliber, I'd imagine recoil should be similar to .357 out of a 4" K frame-noticeable but not uncomfortable at all.

It’s a four and a half pound revolver that does…. not sure what… better than a two and a half pound 29 or a two pound model 19.

Nope I'll keep the 629's.

I disagree, S&W eliminating that lock wouldn't face any more scrutiny than any other revolver company.  Since every revolver out there is sold with an external lock it's impossible for the court to apply that logic.  Sure some frivolous suit monkey can claim it but it would never fly.

VERY few people are going handgun hunting at 100 and 200 yards. Even the typical handgun scopes that tend to be 2-4 power suck to hold still enough at those distances. I've taken a bunch of deer with a .454, the average shot, 25-40 yards.

I won't be buying one either way because I have at least 500 rounds of .454 hunting ammo that will last me a lifetime and I need another caliber like I need another wife.

NO! I’ve NEVER seen nor experienced a “lockup” or issue with the HH being on a revolver.
Now as a Smith collector I very much prefer a Smith Pre Lock for aesthetics reasons ONLY. The HH has never stopped me from buying any Smith I wanted with it or without it.
I do agree it’s time for the HH  to go away but again, I would buy one in a heartbeat and not regret it for one second.

I am a big fan of the 350L. Have used it successfully since it’s introduction for deer, yotes and general fun gun. I hunt mostly with either a 12.5 or 10.5 inch AR pistol.
I had a chance to handle one of the new S&W 350 revolvers and quickly came to the conclusion it was equal to or perhaps heavier than my current set up. Quality was good and I have to think it would be a nice shooting pistol with the weight and porting. I’m not really fond of the moon clips setup but understand why they did this. If you want a dedicated deer gun to shoot from a tree stand or blind I think it would be dandy. Obviously scoped would be the best route.
Anyone concerned about the lock can disable it in 5 minutes, and it takes about a pound off the double action trigger.

I dunno.
I think the 460 is the best X frame out there... since I can shoot 45 Colt, 454 Casull or 460 Magnum out of the same gun... and the 460 is a fucking whopper of a cartridge.

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