The only .357 revolvers I’ve ever been comfortable with are Ruger Blackhawks, N-frame Smiths (well, sort of comfortable), and GP100 Rugers. The K-frame has always struck me best as a .38 or .22, not that they are uncontrollable in .357, just, um, dynamic. I have NEVER been interested in firing ANY J-frame that is built as a .357, especially the aluminum framed ones.

To me, the classic .38 is either the K38 Combat Masterpiece or the K38 Target Masterpiece. No flies on a Model 10 either.

It’s funny that Smith’s premium sixgun was the Model 27 for many, many years, as to me the engineering that went into the Target Masterpiece lineup was extremely well thought out and refined. Many people don’t realize that S&W manipulated the width and thickness of the ribs on K22, K32, and K38 revolvers to make the weight match more closely between the different chamberings. That, to me, is a bit more sophisticated than checkering the top of the frame and barrel on a 27, as nice as that actually looks.

A lot of what we tend to care about and romanticize with our possessions has to do with initial impressions. In my case, I believe I’m drawn to single action revolvers as a result of watching the myriad of TV westerns in the 1950’s. My love of lever actions were also a direct result of those shows. As for K-frames, the town I grew up in issued every police officer a Model 15, and that was a well known and established practice.

A boyhood idol of mine is Mike Dickerson, a longtime member of the local PD, and he had been sent to Smith & Wesson to learn how to care for and repair the department’s revolvers. We had many a long conversation about K’s, and he slicked up and tuned a couple for me over the years. It came as a bit of a shock to me in later years when he turned his back on his beloved Model 15, and adopted the Ruger Security Six as a superior weapon, but if I’m being truthful, he is right. It’s too bad the Ruger Six series was discontinued in favor of the GP100, as those were a handier gun to carry.

True confession time here, the only .357 I own is a 6” GP100 with a half lug barrel. Honestly, for me it accomplishes every thing a real Death Ray should be capable of, and will likely do so right into the 22nd century. But we won’t tell my collection of K-frames about that….