Man those were really good guns. It's a shame they didn't sell that well, which can sort of be blamed on S&W for introducing them during their "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" phaseOriginally Posted by OlongJohnson
Man those were really good guns. It's a shame they didn't sell that well, which can sort of be blamed on S&W for introducing them during their "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" phase
I look at it as a really expensive gun launched into the economic reset during which nobody was buying anything they didn't need to, and also Obama had just been elected and everyone was trying to buy all the ARs before he got them banned. Basically, an expensive carry revolver had no chance of selling in that market.
AFAIK, they only did one run of about 576 or something like that quantity, and never tried again at any time since then. It's the only scandium K frame I've been able to find any report of them making. And I can find no report of them making a Ti cylinder for the K frame. Seems like that would be the cat's azz for .38 SPL. In fact, that may be the reason the 315 was a hard sell. With the steel cylinder, it weighed within an ounce or two of the 386 PD, which was a scandium L frame with a seven-shot Ti cylinder.
I believe Mr. Dobbs had some contact a few years ago and recommended something like a continuation of the 315 to someone inside the company where it could have done good if the message ever could gain traction. And we've seen no sign of it gaining traction yet.
Similarly, S&W seems to have only ever made one run of the 327 PD around the same time, a Ti-cylinder, 8-shot scandium N frame .357 with a four-inch barrel. It actually looks sweet, unlike the TRR8 and pal that continue in production. It was basically a .357 version of the 329 PD that remains in intermittent production, in spite of the fact that the 327 would be a far more useful gun for almost everybody. I've only handled one, but sadly, it was unserviceable as it left the factory.
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The 315 Night Guard sounds pretty cool. It’s definitely the closest configuration to what I was envisioning that S&W seems to have released. Now that I’ve googled it, I do remember the Night Guard series coming out around the time I turned 21 and could legally get a pistol permit in NYC. Sadly, at the time I was not the target market for $900+ MSRP revolvers.
ETA: Thinking a little more, a +P rated Model 12 with sights that don’t suck is pretty much what I’m picturing. S&W needs to go ahead and release the Model 12.
Are you using the speed loaders or moon clips?
Model 12- alloy frame, steel cylinder K frame.
Yeah I had completely forgotten about the Model 12 until the discussion about the 315 Night Guard began. My understanding is that they were never +P rated during the time of their production. I don’t think that would be a problem now since 642s and 442s are +P rated so the engineering is there for a tougher gun than what was possible in the 50s. A 3” Model 12, with the sights of a Model 19 or 66, that can handle .38 Sp +P would be the heat if I carried a revolver as my primary defensive/duty gun. Like many, I have no idea why S&W doesn’t have a 3” K Frame in the current catalogue.
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Speed Loaders from Speed Beez. Factory S&W clips allow too much brass wobble, and I set this gun up to crack all primers, so I don't want to sink the money into TK Custom clips that limit me to one or two brands of brass. Plus my backup gun is a 686+ that isn't cut for clips.
Remember due to the 80's and 90's gun writers and idiots who believed in goat science the 38 or 38+p is useless. The 3-5-7 is the hammer of the gods. If I were S&W there is no way I would make a non 357.
Revolvers only appeal to older folks. The gamers want high cap 5.7's
A 3 inch K with steel cylinder and scandium frame in 38+ would be the cat's meow. But it will never happen.
The J's should be 38+ but it would never sell. Shorter cylinder and lighter smaller guns. But dumb fucks rule the market....just like elections....My 342 is the shiz.
The 3 inch LCR is the best closest (or better) thing to the 12.
And a smokin’ trigger. You somehow forgot to mention the smokin’ trigger weight.
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
Or is it?
Still waiting for reports on one of these things run hard.
Also, I have found an incredibly conveniently located FFL who can ship handguns around the country for very reasonable prices.
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