Been thinking about picking up either a model 351c or a 432 for my wife. What's your thoughts.  She mostly carries a Walther TPH in 6.35/25 acp.

My wife carries a 351C it’s been a good revolver and is nice and light. Only downside is the trigger is heavy and not a lot to be done about that and keep reliability.

351 is a nice gun. I had and carried a 351PD while I was recovering from an accident which left my hands all messed up. I couldn’t handle any recoil for about a year so that little mag revolvers was great. Like was said the trigger is stiff, but it has to be. If you know what you are doing you can smooth out the action just like any J frame but you can’t really change springs. Plus they are so nice and easy to carry. After shooting lots of “stuff”, I have no reservations about using this as a defense gun.

As much as I want a 351, I'd choose the 432 for defensive carry any day of the week (and of course I want one of them too ).

ETA- Eeek, just looked at the prices on both on gun.deals, S&W sure has gotten extra proud of their revolvers.  The lowest I see for a 351C (from a company I recognize) is $739 from Tombstone and $759 for a 432.  You lose a round but the 642 is around $450; you could go that route with some of the lighter loads if recoil is an issue, although you'd have to do some research on penetration with those rounds.  The Ruger LCRs that I've shot felt good and had good triggers, just have to get past the ugly ; the .327 version looks to be running around $580 and that gives you the additional ability of the .327 if you wanted it.

I think the 432 is the way to go.  I would want to purchase one in person.  I've hear they had a few QC problems with the 432 and the 642 models.  I have a Model 642 and a Model 38.  

Regards

Sounds like a fair trade!  



Okay, but seriously...

I encourage anyone considering a snub-nose revolver to spend some time on one before committing.  The combo of heavy trigger pull and short sight radius is unforgiving and requires significant practice IMO.  

Agreed, looking at pictures people have posted of S&W revolvers on-line I'd definitely want to inspect the gun before I paid for it; like so many other companies these days they seem to be having QC problems.  S&W are what I'm used to also so there's a lot to say for that.  I know the ammo manufacturers are making "defensive" ammo for .22WMR and even .22LR and that it's pretty darn rare to get an ammo induced failure, when using quality ammo, but maybe because I'm middle aged, I just don't want a rimfire for a primary defensive gun even though I don't mind walking around in the woods with a .22LR (depending on where and what I'm doing obviously).  

For some time now my 642 has been my primary hiking/backpacking/fishing/kayaking gun; it was one of my primary CCW carry guns for a long time and I shoot it well but times change.  Light and compact, I'm comfortable with five rounds (and a reload) most places and I can load a CCI shotshell as the first round since curious water moccasins are a thing here.

A good recommendation.

432.  Mines been great without issue.  Centerfire over rimfire for reliability.  Trigger pull should also be lighter than what's needed to set off a rimfire.  You can tailor the load to her recoil sensitivity.  S&W short, long, or Mag.  The only benefit I see in the 351C is the lighter weight and extra round.  The grips that come on the 432 weigh a ton.  Loose those and the weight goes down.  If capacity is an issue, the 43C offers 8 rounds & less recoil.  And with .22 LR Federal Punch, you'll get your 12"-18" of Penetration (not a hollowpoint).  The .22 Mag may not offer much more performance, as any HP bullet may not expand & give you just slightly more in penetration depth.  But it's been a while since I've watched any ballistic gel videos on .22 mag.

Here's a good comparison of .22 mag vs. .22LR



Attached File

I really like my 351C but as others have said, it's more of an expert gun than a novice gun.  

Stiff trigger pull, J-frames are not easy to shoot for those will little experience, and while not much recoil there is quite a bit of blast and noise from most rounds as they're made for rifles so lots of unburned powder.  

.32 is a better choice for casual shooters.

I am a very experienced shooter and even for me my limit in productive practice with an air weight 38 is about 50 rounds.

For a non dedicated shooter, a smaller caliber you can manage effectively beate larger calibers you can’t

I love my 432.  It is accurate and reliable.  The sights are damn good for a J frame.  The grips are perfect for me.

I have no experience with the 351c but I can tell you that, in the 432, recoil with .32 S&W Long is nothing.  It's comparable to my .22 Buckmark.

I have a 632 and love it.

Rimfire is for non life threatening situations.

43C. 351C

Well I picked up one today at Blackstones in Charlotte.  I had to go with a 632.  They only had one of the 432s in stock. It looked as if the cylinder was dragging on the barrel.  I also picked up their last box of ammo.  I guess I'll start the looking for some ammo.

For the best price, I just order on line.  Sportsman Warehouse has had .32 S&W Long in stock in the past, but I think it was $30 a box for lead round nose .  And my local Big 5 was $50 a box.  Lambo’s has PPU for $21 a box, and fairly reasonable shipping.  Especially if you order several boxes.

https://lanbosarmory.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=36&sort=20a&filter_id=&caliber=32+S%26W+Long&alpha_filter_id=0

I really like the 32 Smith jframes.

My 351c is unreliable. It has been back to Smith once and is still unreliable. Usually 1-2 rounds per cylinder will not fire .