As you can tell by the title, I'm not a huge fan of the Smith and Wesson J-Frames. I'm not against snub-noses per-se, but I always found the J-Frames poor examples of the type.
Specifically I find they tend have gritty triggers with a lot of stacking, terrible sights, uncomfortable grips that need replacement, and are either too heavy or too light for their caliber.
Sure, you can replace the grips and send it to a gunsmith for trigger work, or you can get a Ruger LCR that fixes all these issues out of the box and is a pleasure to shoot in any caliber. Yeah they are not as 'pretty' as a J-Frame, but functionally they are much, much better.
Then a few months back I heard an interview with a guy from Lipsey's, the big firearm distributor, about a run of J-Frames they worked with Smith and Wesson on. They called them the "Ultimate Carry" line and they sounded pretty interesting (link below).
Anyway, long story short, I saw one a little while ago in the black/cherry wood colors and was struck by what a good looking gun it was. I checked it out for a bit and ended up taking it home.
First of all, this is easily the best looking J-Frame I've ever seen.
The black frame with the Cherry G-10 grips make this gun an instant classic. The slab-side barrel and full ejection shroud really finish it off perfectly. This would easily be a BBQ gun with the right holster.
Unlike your typical J-Frame, this gun has actual sights! The front is an XS unit that reminds me of the new Ameriglos you get on Gen 5 Glocks now. It's got a tritium insert and a light green ring around it so it really pops out day or night. It's pinned in place so you can replace it in 10 years or so, when the tritium starts to fade.
The rear sight is U-Notch fixed sight that is dovetailed in. That makes it windage adjustable although I found mine shot right to point of aim.
The round front, U-notch rear setup seems to be getting more common. To me it's one of the best features of the SA Hellcats, and I find it really intuitive. For me, the correct alignment seems to happen almost automatically compared to a typical blade and square notch. It's probably not as precise, but this isn't a gun made for target shooting.
The trigger is the other thing that really stood out for me. This is a DAO gun so it's long and pretty heavy, but unlike other J-Frames I've had it's not gritty at all, and I couldn't feel any detectable stacking. The break is clean as well, making this one of the best DAO revolver triggers I've handled. Definitely as smooth as the LCR, and for the same reason, they used a different trigger geometry than the standard J-Frames for these guns according to Lipsey's.
You can get this gun in 38 Special, but the thing that really sets this gun apart is the model that shoots 32 H&R Magnum. This is the ancestor of the more recent 327 Federal Magnum that is chambered in some revolvers and lever action rifles.
The 32 H&R Mag. is basically a 32 S&W Long stretched out a bit so it will hold more powder, and the Long is just the old, black-powder 32 S&W Short stretched a bit for the same reason.
Ballistically the 32 H&R Mag is typically slightly hotter than a 38 Spl. +P, while the 32 S&W Long is more like a 'lite' 38 Special load. Supposedly shooting the 32 S&W Short is like shooting a 22, but I've never been able to find any of the rounds to try.
And that brings up one of the big trade-offs with this gun.
Using a 32 caliber cartridge means this is a 6-shot J-Frame. One more round may not sound like a lot, but it's a big win when talking about snubbies.
The 32 H&R is no slouch of a cartridge and there are several premium self defense rounds available. Hornady made a Critical Defense in 32 H&R, although that seems to be out of production. Double-Tap and Buffalo Bore also make loadings for the cartridge aimed at self-defense.
Both 32 H&R and 32 S&W are available in 'target' loads as well, since the round is popular overseas in countries where civilians aren't allowed to use 'military' calibers. That means they are easily available, and the 32 S&W is exactly the same price as 'target' 38 Special, about 44 cents per round as I write this.
From a shooting perspective I found that the 32 S&W Long loads were great for practice. Recoil is very light (think 'cowboy' 38 Special.) and the gun hardly moves off target.
Shooting the 32 H&R Magnum loads was surprisingly easy as well. Even though the 32 H&R has more oomph than a 38 Special +P it shoots a lot easier, more like a regular 38 would. It's a smaller bullet than the 38 so that might be why, but the shape of the grips was probably also a factor.
This is a very easy gun to shoot, and shoot accurately at the appropriate distances. The grips, the sights, the cartridge, and the trigger all combine to make this the only J-Frame I would seriously consider for daily carry instead of an equivalent Ruger LCR.
A few last notes... The fit and finish on this gun is excellent. The attention to detail is pretty impressive as well. The cylinders are all chamfered for easier loading, and the front edge is also rounded for ease of holstering... although it's probably more that it just looks more 'finished'
The lock up is very tight, and there's no 'Hillary Hole' to cause concern. The pins are upgraded from aluminum to titanium for light weight and strength. The grips are made by VZ Grips, and allow a good, palm-filling grip although like most J-Frame grips your pinkie will tuck in below the grips, not on them.
If you want to see the full feature set I'll link to the Lipsey's page below.
In short, this is probably one of the best J-Frames available today, if not the best. The caliber is both a plus and a minus, and it's somewhat expensive for a J-Frame, but the workmanship and design make it worth the money and the effort in finding ammo.
www.lipseysbulletin.com
Specifically I find they tend have gritty triggers with a lot of stacking, terrible sights, uncomfortable grips that need replacement, and are either too heavy or too light for their caliber.
Sure, you can replace the grips and send it to a gunsmith for trigger work, or you can get a Ruger LCR that fixes all these issues out of the box and is a pleasure to shoot in any caliber. Yeah they are not as 'pretty' as a J-Frame, but functionally they are much, much better.
Then a few months back I heard an interview with a guy from Lipsey's, the big firearm distributor, about a run of J-Frames they worked with Smith and Wesson on. They called them the "Ultimate Carry" line and they sounded pretty interesting (link below).
Anyway, long story short, I saw one a little while ago in the black/cherry wood colors and was struck by what a good looking gun it was. I checked it out for a bit and ended up taking it home.
First of all, this is easily the best looking J-Frame I've ever seen.
The black frame with the Cherry G-10 grips make this gun an instant classic. The slab-side barrel and full ejection shroud really finish it off perfectly. This would easily be a BBQ gun with the right holster.
Unlike your typical J-Frame, this gun has actual sights! The front is an XS unit that reminds me of the new Ameriglos you get on Gen 5 Glocks now. It's got a tritium insert and a light green ring around it so it really pops out day or night. It's pinned in place so you can replace it in 10 years or so, when the tritium starts to fade.
The rear sight is U-Notch fixed sight that is dovetailed in. That makes it windage adjustable although I found mine shot right to point of aim.
The round front, U-notch rear setup seems to be getting more common. To me it's one of the best features of the SA Hellcats, and I find it really intuitive. For me, the correct alignment seems to happen almost automatically compared to a typical blade and square notch. It's probably not as precise, but this isn't a gun made for target shooting.
The trigger is the other thing that really stood out for me. This is a DAO gun so it's long and pretty heavy, but unlike other J-Frames I've had it's not gritty at all, and I couldn't feel any detectable stacking. The break is clean as well, making this one of the best DAO revolver triggers I've handled. Definitely as smooth as the LCR, and for the same reason, they used a different trigger geometry than the standard J-Frames for these guns according to Lipsey's.
You can get this gun in 38 Special, but the thing that really sets this gun apart is the model that shoots 32 H&R Magnum. This is the ancestor of the more recent 327 Federal Magnum that is chambered in some revolvers and lever action rifles.
The 32 H&R Mag. is basically a 32 S&W Long stretched out a bit so it will hold more powder, and the Long is just the old, black-powder 32 S&W Short stretched a bit for the same reason.
Ballistically the 32 H&R Mag is typically slightly hotter than a 38 Spl. +P, while the 32 S&W Long is more like a 'lite' 38 Special load. Supposedly shooting the 32 S&W Short is like shooting a 22, but I've never been able to find any of the rounds to try.
And that brings up one of the big trade-offs with this gun.
Using a 32 caliber cartridge means this is a 6-shot J-Frame. One more round may not sound like a lot, but it's a big win when talking about snubbies.
The 32 H&R is no slouch of a cartridge and there are several premium self defense rounds available. Hornady made a Critical Defense in 32 H&R, although that seems to be out of production. Double-Tap and Buffalo Bore also make loadings for the cartridge aimed at self-defense.
Both 32 H&R and 32 S&W are available in 'target' loads as well, since the round is popular overseas in countries where civilians aren't allowed to use 'military' calibers. That means they are easily available, and the 32 S&W is exactly the same price as 'target' 38 Special, about 44 cents per round as I write this.
From a shooting perspective I found that the 32 S&W Long loads were great for practice. Recoil is very light (think 'cowboy' 38 Special.) and the gun hardly moves off target.
Shooting the 32 H&R Magnum loads was surprisingly easy as well. Even though the 32 H&R has more oomph than a 38 Special +P it shoots a lot easier, more like a regular 38 would. It's a smaller bullet than the 38 so that might be why, but the shape of the grips was probably also a factor.
This is a very easy gun to shoot, and shoot accurately at the appropriate distances. The grips, the sights, the cartridge, and the trigger all combine to make this the only J-Frame I would seriously consider for daily carry instead of an equivalent Ruger LCR.
A few last notes... The fit and finish on this gun is excellent. The attention to detail is pretty impressive as well. The cylinders are all chamfered for easier loading, and the front edge is also rounded for ease of holstering... although it's probably more that it just looks more 'finished'
The lock up is very tight, and there's no 'Hillary Hole' to cause concern. The pins are upgraded from aluminum to titanium for light weight and strength. The grips are made by VZ Grips, and allow a good, palm-filling grip although like most J-Frame grips your pinkie will tuck in below the grips, not on them.
If you want to see the full feature set I'll link to the Lipsey's page below.
In short, this is probably one of the best J-Frames available today, if not the best. The caliber is both a plus and a minus, and it's somewhat expensive for a J-Frame, but the workmanship and design make it worth the money and the effort in finding ammo.
Lipsey's Ultimate Carry J-frame
Lipsey's Ultimate Carry J-frame from Smith and Wesson is the latest exclusive product from the distributor Lipsey's. You can only get this ...
www.lipseysbulletin.com
