Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Smith & Wesson model 60, 3 inch, 357 magnum

Smith & Wesson model 60; 3 inch, 357 magnum. ,Just got one of these it’s a J frame made for the 357 magnum five shot. My question is will this stand up to full power 357 loads which I tried in the gun and it is brutal. I’m thinking of loading Keith semi wadcutters 168 in front of 5.7 of unique. Will that hurt the gun?

It’ll hold up to as many as you can stand to shoot . I have a 2” 60 and I love running magnum loads through it

The load you describe isn’t all that hot . You’ll be fine . Works better if the bullet is out front of the unique though

Yep, wife has one. Not so nice with a full house load, but it will take as many as you can. Accurate little bugger a well.

Honestly the 5 shot cylinder is substantially beefier than the K frame 357s, and I’d have to check on the L’s

Ha ha thank you. Jmd025

The great thing about snubbies is they're rarely ever shot loose. Nobody likes to put enough hot rounds through one to shoot it loose.

The cylinder stop notches for the 5 and 7 shot smiths are in the web section between chambers. I like that. Remember , if you can shoot a M19 loose with a lot of full house .357's , the same can happen with a J frame. But it takes a whole lot of shoot'n. Like MM said, you won't want to shoot those loads that much.

The 3" Model 60 with Adjustable sights is my favorite Model 60.

I shoot mostly .38 special in mine. Those .357 loads are a handful. When hiking, I carry some .357, but load with .38

Somewhat off topic, but something I've come around to.

With so many choosing cast bullets, which are mostly cutters and penetrates,
Why not lower velocities a bit?

A buddy shoots 300+gr bullets, fast, out of a M29. Complaining about recoil and extraction. (His SRH load)
I ask, "You are not shooting far, you have a load that at 75%, would exit almost anything
you would shoot, why pound yourself so bad"?

I keep mine stoked with 125gr sjhp 38+p's for the wife. I also like double ended wadcutters over 7 gr Unique in .357 brass. I've shot exactly one cylinder of hot .357 180 gr hardcast. No desire to shoot anymore lol. One of my absolute favorite pistols, I'd like to pick up another if they weren't so pricey.

With modern steels, it should be able to withstand as many .357 Mag rounds as you'd care to fire, which likely won't be very many. Brutal on the hand.

Too bad they don't still make this configuration in .38 Special since that seems about optimum for this size and weight. Model 60's so configured have brought top dollar on the auction sites. I guess if someone really wants to shoot a .357 Magnum it's there but as the above posts attest to, most people restrict this to .38 or .38 +P level loads anyway. Had a 3" SP101 that is heavier than this but one cylinder full of Federal .357 158 gr. factory loads stung my hand like someone had hit it with a stick.

I bought this model in .38 Spl. for my girlfriend back in the mid-80's and with that 3" barrel and adjustable sights it was a sweet little shooter - got it specifically for her as a present but then had to talk myself into actually giving it to her. Recoil was definitely snappy even with standard .38 factory loads and the classic handload of 4.5 grs. Unique and a 158 SWC but certainly not unpleasant for extended shooting by an experienced shooter. Even then she didn't care for that level of recoil so I got her a box of Winchester 148 HBWC target loads which she could shoot very accurately. We figured it was better to punch a clean hole where it hurt than miss or scatter shots with something more powerful.

My feelings exactly. Not to say folks can't shoot what they want, it's still sort of a mostly free country, but there comes a point of rapidly diminishing returns where you're paying a large price in recoil for a much smaller increase in effectiveness.

Because with wide meplat cast bullets more velocity equals greater crush cavity. For example I've shot a number of deer with WFNs or LFN bullets in the .44 special, .44 mag, and .45 colt started between 1050 and 1250. They mess stuff up and work fine. There is a observable difference to me in wound channels between the loads at either end of the spectrum. Last month I shot a buck with a 300gr WFN in a .444 Marlin started somewhere around 2100. The damage was much more impressive than the same bullet used on the same size deer at the same range but started at 1100.

I find myself having to compromise between velocity/damage and shootability. For deer, a 255 grainer at 1050 from the .44 special will sail end to end through deer, causing plenty of damage along the way and is quite pleasant to shoot. If the bears haven't gone to bed yet I choose something with some more oomph.

I have the ultralight version of this gun (Titanium and Scandium) in .38 Special (+P), three inch barrel with adjustable rear sight and fiber optic front, pre-key lock.

Model 60-4 is the .38 Special version (no longer produced).
The model 337-1 is the .38 Spec. Airlite w/ titanium cylinder version (also no longer produced).
Model 360 is the .357 Mag. Airlite w/ titaniun cylinder version (also no longer produced).

I've owned all three versions over the years - the only one I kept is the 337-1. Best trail/kit gun ever.

I have one and wish I had 2. Mine is pre-lock. Trigger is awesome. It is sighted in for Federal full power factory 125s which it puts into 2 inch 50 yard groups from a rest. Since I don't really enjoy shooting it, I just leave it sighted in with that load, but if I had a second, it'd be set up for .38 regular or +P level handloads in .357 cases. FWIW, I'm not a big fan of SWCs in the .357. Generally the meplat is not that big. I'd seriously look at LBT's ogival wadcutters for short range, modest velocity and recoil, thump the snot out of things loads.

These are surprisingly tough little guns. I suppose because of the level of recoil, most people don't shoot enough heavy loads to shake them loose. If I wanted a 5-shot .357 for extensive use with heavy loads, I'd go with an SP101. I've had both Ruger and S&W .. like both. Rather than choose, grab one of each.

Tom

I've had one for several years. It's my favorite trail gun. Currently I'm loading the 110 gr. Barnes at slightly over .38 Special +P pressures. Hits hard and penetrates well w/ expansion. What I don't like is that even with milder loads, I shoot my much heavier Smith 29, 4 inch .44 Mag better at 15 yds. and much better at 25 yds. with full power loads..... Oh well, one sometimes has to accept limitations. E

The 60-10 is one of my favorite Smiths and favorite hiking/backpacking, fishing/boating gun when something compact is needed.

Back about 2002 I bought a used one at a local gun shop. A few years later a friend told me his mother could no longer handle shooting .38s and was selling her pair of 60-4s. He bought one and I got the other. She ended up buying a Taurus .22 Magnum.

Sometime later I came across a second 60-10 that was Mag-Na-Ported and sold the 60-4 as I don't really care for .38 Special. Turned out the second gun was one of the limited edition "Small Hunter" versions from Lew Horton.

Last hunting season I pulled the plain version out of the safe to take to Pa. for a backup gun. Had some .357 125 grain Remington soft points with me...get down there and go to load the gun and they won't go all the way in the chamber...it is a 60-4.... Thought long and had and seem to recall running across one at a great price a few years ago, bought it and stuck it in the safe without ever even shooting it....

Have tried a lot of different loads but have about settled on 125 grain bullets for these guns. Have the Factory Remington SPs and several brands of HPs. Also have a great mold from MiHec that throws a solid, HP and penta-point all about 125 grains... Just loaded up some 125 grain Zero JHPs with 16.0 grains of AAC-9 and run very nicely....

...now to deal wit the 60-4....

Bob

like others have said, I load mine with 125 gr. Rem. HP .38's... Great little gun and accurate ... I carry this gun almost every day...