The .356 TSW

A victim of poor timing and marketing, the promising .356 TSW (Tactical Smith & Wesson) cartridge may be on the verge of a comeback.

In the early 1990s I was seatmate on a jetliner with Tommy Campbell of Smith & Wesson and he told me about their about-to-be-introduced .356 TSW (Team Smith & Wesson) cartridge. A 9mm with a super-strong 21.5mm case, it easily “made major” in IPSC practical shooting matches and generated high pressure which took maximum advantage of recoil compensators.

Winning

His company was going to market the .356 TSW as a match-winning pistol and Tommy saw obvious advantages for self-defense and law enforcement as well. He told me Federal was making the ammo but they needed more companies to produce it to get IPSC approved. I approached Peter Pi Sr. at Cor-Bon and they got on board. One of their loads was a 124-gr. JHP at 1,450 feet per second out of a service pistol barrel, duplicating the legendary 125-gr. .357 Magnum ballistics. This .356 load proved devastating in the slaughterhouse.

Alas, S&W marketed it mainly as a competition-winning sport pistol but changing IPSC rules sank it in the competition arena. They changed the name to .356 Tactical Smith & Wesson and made a short run of Performance Center guns including compacts and about 300 J-Frame Model 940 variants. It didn’t help Federal’s main duty load was a 147-gr. at 987 fps — mere 9mm subsonic ballistics. Alas, only a handful of people recognized its advantages over the then-ascendant bottle-necked .357 SIG or a couple more straight-walled cartridges in a 9mm auto-size platform. The .356 meant no worry about the gun-stopping case neck separations plaguing some brands of early .357 SIG ammo in the cartridge’s early days. However, there weren’t enough buyers and the .356 TSW disappeared, leaving a very small coterie of aficionados including me.

Then, enter Scott Sullivan.

Satisfying The Need For Speed

On a LabRadar chronograph at my range, the new .356 loads churned up some impressive performance. Out of a 4.5″ G17 barrel, 1995 production Cor-Bon 124-gr. averaged 1,432 feet per second (fps), and 2019 production Underwood 124-gr. averaged 1391. Cor-Bon’s new 115-gr. Sierra JHP averaged 1,612 fps for a tad over 650 foot pounds of energy (fpe). Underwood’s current similar loading with a 115-gr. Nosler JHP turned in an average 1,568 fps. Recoil was snappy but manageable, about like a .357 SIG or a hot-loaded .40 S&W, or a wee bit more. All recovered Starline brass appeared normal.

With these loads, the .356 loses little with shorter concealed-carry barrel lengths. We got a 1,526 fps average out of 115-gr. Cor-Bon from a 2017 test production run through the 3.5″ barrel of a 1990s vintage S&W PC Compact. The 4.0″ barrel of a GLOCK 19 .356 conversion delivered an average of 1,569 fps with 115-gr. Cor-Bon and 1,540 fps with 115-gr. Underwood. The stubby barrel of a Performance Center 940-format revolver gave us a stunning 1,458 fps with Cor-Bon and 1,422 with Underwood, both with 115-gr. JHPs. For perspective, the last time I shot a 125-gr. .357 Magnum through a 2″ barrel revolver, it chronographed in the 1,220 fps range and kicked harder.

For more perspective, we tested two other calibers. Winchester .357 SIG Ranger-T from a 4.25″ S&W M&P averaged exactly its promised 1,350 fps and Speer 124-gr. +P 9mm Gold Dot from my Langdon Beretta LTT’s 4.7″ barrel averaged 1,251 fps.

Scott Sullivan knows this will be a niche cartridge forever but he wants to keep the useful niche filled. The kit, and ammo, are both available on GunBroker. Scott told GUNS, “It can be searched there with GLOCK 356, GLOCK 356 TSW, or GLOCK 356 TSW. Cost is $305 on GB plus $20 shipping. Shipping cost is waived for public safety and military personnel. Also available direct for $300 shipped if someone calls me or emails me.”

I’m glad to see the .356 TSW available again.

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