The Carry Comp
Another new model is the Performance Center M19-9 with a 3" barrel. The Carry Comp is designed for CCW. Now snub-nosed .357s are notoriously hard kickin’ when it comes to felt recoil. Because of this I started my test-firing with a lot of .38 Special loads and found it felt more like shooting a .22. When I switched to .357s I expected to pay the price, however, I found the felt recoil was more like a .38 Special. There are always trade-offs in life and the trade-off here is the reduction in recoil goes along with an increase in noise. Shooting .357s with jacketed bullets is always a noisy proposition, but in this case is even more so because of the PowerPort vented barrel. This consists of one large port in front of the front sight and it really does its job recoil-wise. I’ll happily accept the increased noise for the decreased upflip.
The sights on the Carry Comp consist of a fully adjustable rear sight matched up with a tritium front night sight. Two sets of grips are included — one is custom wood with checkering and finger grooves designed for concealed carry with an open back strap and fitted flush with the bottom of the butt.
The second set — which I used for extended sessions — is a synthetic rubber boot grip with finger grooves. It covers the back strap and also extends below the butt. These also help keep felt recoil at a minimum.
The cylinder, frame and barrel shroud are carbon steel while the barrel itself is stainless. Weight is just over 34 oz. and the MSRP is $1,092.
Since this is a sixgun designed for concealed carry, all test-firing was at 7 yards. Sixteen different .38 Special loads were used with the average for five shots at 7 yards being right at 1" or less. Black Hills 125-gr. JHPs clocked out at 770 fps with a 1-1/8" group. Others included Black Hills 100-gr. Honey Badger (935 fps and 1"), Speer Gold Dot 125-gr. JHP (855 and 3/4"), Buffalo Bore 150-gr. Hard Cast WC (890 and 7/8"), and Hornady 140-gr. XTP-JHP (715 and 7/8"). Most accurate? Hornady 158-gr. XTP-JHP (635 and 1/2").
Switching to the more serious .357 loads, I continued to have the same accurate results with the Black Hills 125-gr. JHP at 1,275 fps and a five shot group of 1". Then came Black Hills 158-gr. JHP (1,055 fps and 7/8"), SIG 125-gr. FMJ (1,250 and 7/8"), HPR 125-gr. JHP (1,120 and 1-1/8"), and the Cor-Bon DPX 125-gr. JHP (1,135 and 1").
This is some little snubbie. Accurate and easier to shoot than a J-Frame and darn near as easy to pack!