Smith & Wesson 360PD review

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The basics.

This is a J-frame revolver. It’s one of the AirLite Personal Defense models; the frame is made of a scandium alloy and the cylinder a titanium alloy. It’s light and strong. Strong enough to be rated for .357 magnum and not just .38 +p. Whether you want to shoot .357 magnum is, perhaps, another story. I’ll get to that (Update below on 7/13/2021 regarding magnum ammunition.)

Specifications.

• Caliber: .357 Magnum
• Capacity: 5.
• Empty weight: 11.43 oz
• Loaded weight (135 gr .38 +p JHP’s): 14.11 oz
• Length: 6.5”
• Width at the cylinder: 1.7”
• Width at the grip: 1.6”
• DA Trigger pull weight: 10 lbs., 7 oz. (average of five pulls)
• SA Trigger pull weight: 2 lbs., 12 oz. (average of five pulls)

Why would you carry a small revolver?

There are people these days who say revolvers are obsolete. They say modern 9mm autoloaders are reliable, very small, shoot a useful caliber, and generally have higher capacity. Those people should know better. There is still a place for revolvers. Especially easily concealable ones that can fire a much more powerful round than any tiny autoloader.

I’m not suggesting there’s no place for the small autoloader; I have several myself. And semi-autos can be reliable when maintained and held correctly. That last part is key. Without a proper grip you can induce a failure to eject after firing a round. I normally carry a gun this size in a pocket holster. Getting a proper grip while drawing a gun from a pocket isn’t as easy as other methods. Revolvers don’t care about that. Pull the trigger, the cylinder rotates, and the round fires. Then do it again until you don’t need to anymore. Or you’ve counted to five.

The revolver prints less in the pocket. My autoloaders are thinner. They’re also angular. Looking down at my pocket with a gun in it I see something that looks like a gun. It could be a phone, I guess, but that misses the point. What if you’re on your phone? Then it’s not your phone, is it? The less regular profile of the revolver seems more natural; it looks like a collection of items: keys, pocketknife, etc. I don’t want to over-emphasize this point. It’s easy for someone who knows there’s a gun there to see a gun. I just prefer to make it harder for those who don’t know one is there to see it.

Finally, I don’t normally carry this as a primary. It’s my backup gun. Or left-hand gun, if you will. The way I normally carry I can’t possibly pull my primary with my left-hand. If I need a gun in my left-hand I need a second one. This little revolver fits the bill nicely. Which brings me to my last point: revolvers are ambidextrous. Reloading one handed is kind of a chore, of course, but then reloads are one of the areas where magazine fed guns are clearly superior to a revolver anyway.

Does it carry well?

Wonderfully. It just disappears into a pocket. You can see that something is there but it doesn’t scream “gun.” The only catch I’ve discovered is that some pants have short pockets. Sometimes the top of the grip shows at the top of the pocket. If I’m doing an untucked shirt that day it normally covers it so I’m fine. If not, then I can either change pants or guns. One or the other.

It weighs less than a pound. That’s nothing. I can have this in my pocket all day and not know the difference. And I often have it in my pocket all day. Including wearing gym shorts around the house. I’ve mentioned before that I carry at home. I have this gun in my pocket while sitting, standing, taking a walk, riding my exercise bike, etc. It’s just never a problem.

This article contains reviews of the holsters I use for it.

Physical characteristics.

The front sight is what Smith & Wesson call Hi-Viz Fiber Optic Orange. It’s an excellent sight. It jumps right out at you when you look down the gun.

The rear sight is a groove in the top of the frame. There are no adjustments because they aren’t needed. I put the front sight in the groove and put it on the target and the rounds go where I want them to. I suppose at longer ranges they could be inadequate; that’s not what it’s designed for.

The rubber grip is excellent. My pinkie dangles a bit but I’ve got a good, strong grip on it and the rubber helps with recoil. The way it’s shaped lets you get a good, high grip that also assists in recoil management.

The hammer is a good compromise. When I first got the gun and was practicing pulling it from a pocket, I tended to snag it about half the time. A little experimentation and practice and now I can pull cleanly whenever I need to. The hammer is also easy to grasp and pull back if I want to go to single action. Smith does make a version of this gun that has an internal hammer. That would completely solve the snagging problem, although it would mean you’re double action only. It’s up to you which you prefer.

The trigger is fine. Nothing special but it works well. It’s a basic, curved trigger with no ridges on the front. The double action pull is heavy and smooth. There are no surprises. Just pull steadily and, with some practice and good technique, your sights will stay lined up and the round will go where intended. The single action is excellent. You think about applying pressure and your finger contracts a bit and it shoots. Very nice.

How does it shoot?

It shoots very well for its designed purpose. I mentioned in my review of my M&P Shield that I could hit a paper plate at 25 yards with it. I’ve no idea if I could do that with this gun. Never tried. I suppose I might some day but that’s not why I carry it. In the five-yard range I can get good hits on my target. If I shoot it right-handed I’m good out to about 10 yards. If I intended going to try something longer ranged I’d use single action because the SA trigger really is great.

Recoil. Here’s where it gets interesting. I am not recoil sensitive. I’m good at managing it and don’t generally flinch. This gun can push my limits if I use the wrong ammunition. Specifically, if I shoot .357’s through it. It weighs less than 12 oz. empty. There’s just not much there to mitigate recoil. The excellent grip helps but physics is physics.

I normally carry Speer Gold Dot .38 +p 135 gr JHP’s in it. They are quite manageable. If I’m going to be walking outside, where there could be rattlesnakes, I carry CCI shotshells in the first two chambers. Also very manageable. It felt a little weird to pattern my revolver but I did it one day. They look quite effective at any range I’m going to shoot a snake at

Magnum rounds are another story. I’ve honestly only fired a single cylinder of magnums. They were 158 grain rounds; at the time, rounds were in such short supply that I ended up using a friend’s hand loads that were on the warm side. That was an error on my part. After the one cylinder it took a minute or two to get feeling back in my hand. That feeling was pain. It was brief but memorable. Ammo is now coming back into stock in most places; I’ll be checking into some 125 gr factory rounds and see how they are. For now, the .38 +p’s are my carry round of choice; the fact that it’s rated for .357 makes me feel very secure about feeding it a steady diet of .38 +p.

Lucky Gunner has recently had a decent selection of .38’s.

Update on 7/13/2021 regarding magnum ammunition.  I recently bought of a box of 125 gr factory magnum FMJ loads.  They were much better than the 158 gr loads I’d fired before.  I still only fired a single cylinder but that was because my supply is still limited.  I wouldn’t call them pleasant but they were certainly manageable and I’d have no problem carrying them.  Once I can get more and compare them to the .38 +p’s directly I may switch.  Or not.  I picked up a lot of those +p Gold Dots and also some Federal HST +p’s.

Disadvantages.

I’ve already hit the biggest one: recoil with magnum loads.

There is a second issue that affects training more than defensive use. That titanium alloy cylinder gets very hot after 15 or 20 rounds. I do live in a desert so maybe you snowy types won’t have this issue but I can’t really practice reloads after about four cylinders. I’ll burn the hand that should be holding the cylinder open. I could wear gloves but, again, I live in a warm climate. If I set it aside for 10 or 15 minutes while I do something else it’s fine.  As long as I don’t sit it in the Arizona sun.

Finally, it has five rounds. With the proper tools, reloading a revolver isn’t terrible but it isn’t as easy as reloading a semi-auto. While I prefer these five .38 +p rounds over seven .380’s I have to say that seven 9mm’s are better. You should still practice reloads, though.

Conclusion.

I really like this gun. It fills a specific niche and it fills it quite well. It’s a quality firearm that, if properly maintained, will outlast you or me.

The common wisdom for a defensive shooting is three rounds at three yards in three seconds. This revolver meets all those criteria. If you take those criteria with a grain of salt, I understand. As I said, I normally do not carry this gun as a primary, except at home. I do know people who carry one of these all the time and feel adequately armed. The few times I’ve gone out with just this gun I’ve felt fine about it. Either way, as a primary or a backup, you can count on this revolver when you need it.

Normally at this point in my reviews I put a link where you can go buy something. And yes, I may get a commission on it. Today I’m putting in several links to different places. I’m not trying to be greedy; while inventories are coming back they’re far from normal. You may need to look around a bit to find one. You’ll be glad you did.

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