Smith & Wesson’s New Carry Revolvers Put to the Test

A media event at Gunsite Academy gave me the chance to preview two new defensive revolvers from Smith & Wesson, the Nightguard Model 386 and the Nightguard Model 396. Developed in collaboration with Lipsey’s, both models will be offered exclusively through the distributor. Before heading to the range, Jason Cloessner walked us through the details behind each gun.

Cloessner is a dedicated shooter who stays closely connected to the firearms community. When he starts hearing the same “dream gun” ideas from multiple shooters, he takes notice. From there, he digs deeper: gauging interest, refining concepts, and, when the demand is clear, committing Lipsey’s resources to bring those ideas to life.

He’s also an active member of The Shootist organization, founded by the late gunwriter John Taffin. The group gathers annually at the NRA Whittington Center and includes some of the most knowledgeable revolver shooters in the country.

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Track Record of Success

While addressing a group of gunwriters at Gunsite, Cloessner admitted that the two guns, the focus of today’s article, were four years in the making.

“One comment I frequently hear at our Shootist event is, ‘I wish you’d get S&W to bring back the Night Guard series,” he said. “But it doesn’t end there. Folks go on to inform me of a list of things S&W could do to make this a better gun. I listen. Then I sit down with the S&W sales team as well as the engineers and what we came up with is Lipsey’s newest Exclusive with S&W, the New Night Guard Series. The Model 386 is a 7-shot .357 Magnum/.38 Special and the Model 396 is a 5-shot .44 Special.”

Introducing S&W’s New Nightguards

Built on the S&W medium size “L” frame, the gun boasts a Scandium frame for weight savings, a PVD blackened stainless-steel cylinder, and an XS Tritium front sight and an adjustable rear sight. S&W outfitted the round butt gun with Hogue Bantam stocks to provide the best recoil control while maintaining concealability. The new Nightguard’s are a blend of all they learned while building the Ultimate Carry and Mountain Guns and makes the perfect self-defense revolver.

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Cloessner spec’d the new Nightguards with a 3-inch barrel—half an inch longer than previous versions.

“We feel it’s the perfect balance between sight radius and concealability,” he explained. “More importantly, it allows us to use a full-length ejector rod, which is critical when running hotter loads that can stick during extraction.”

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The new Lipsey’s Nightguards also feature a narrowed trigger with a polished radius and a shortened, low-profile hammer spur that improves concealability without sacrificing single-action capability. On my test guns, the trigger averaged a smooth 7.5 pounds in double-action and a crisp 3 pounds in single-action.

Variations From Prior Iterations

Earlier Nightguards were equipped with fixed Cylinder & Slide Extreme Duty rear sights—rugged and proven, but not adjustable. That meant your chosen defensive load had to match your point of aim, or you’d be drifting sights to compensate. This time around, Cloessner made the smart call to include adjustable rear sights on both the Model 386 and 396. With the 386 capable of running everything from .38 Special to .357 Magnum, and the 396 in .44 Special ranging from mild to hot loads, adjustability isn’t just a feature—it’s a necessity.

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Up front, Smith & Wesson pairs those sights with an XS front sight featuring a tritium insert surrounded by a fluorescent green ring, making it easy to pick up in any lighting condition. The flat-top design also allows for more precise shot placement.

Despite weighing in at just 24 ounces, these guns are built to handle serious use. Cloessner noted that the forcing cones are “N-frame” in diameter, with a stainless-steel blast shield to prevent flame cutting on the top strap. The barrel consists of a stainless-steel tube housed within an aluminum shroud, and the forward lock-up has been moved from the ejector rod to a ball detent on the frame for added durability.

Naturally, the question came up, if the L-frame can handle .44 Special, why not .45 Colt? Cloessner just smiled.

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“You’d think so,” he said. “But S&W engineers say there isn’t enough room to do it safely. So no, there won’t be a .45 Colt Nightguard.”

Design Details

For carry, Smith & Wesson went the extra mile to eliminate sharp edges across the gun, including the rear sight and cylinder release. The cylinder face is chamfered to ease reholstering, and each chamber is beveled to speed up reloads. The stainless-steel cylinder is finished with a black PVD coating, giving the revolver a clean, matte, non-reflective look.

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At Gunsite, we ran the Nightguards hard with ammunition provided by Doubletap. While we burned through plenty of rounds, I didn’t have the opportunity to bench the guns for accuracy during the event.

That came later. After returning home, I received test samples of both the Model 386 and 396 and headed out to a secluded stretch of BLM land to do more formal accuracy work using a DOA Tactical portable bench.

Due to a tight deadline—and some poor planning on my part—I ended up testing with less-than-ideal ammunition. The .357 Magnum loads I had on hand were actually hunting rounds, far from what you’d realistically carry for defense. My .38 Special selection, however, was more practical. In my own short-barreled .357s—especially S&W Model 19s—I typically run Doubletap 148-grain wadcutters. Short barrels don’t generate the velocity needed for reliable hollow point expansion, and wadcutters offer consistent penetration without excessive recoil or flash. No sense beating yourself up with heavy loads if you don’t have to.

Shots Fired 

I started with Remington’s 165-grain Core Lokt JHP in the M386 Nightguard. This is a hunting load and let me remind you the 386 is a 24-ounce gun. Aligning the sights with the gun’s frame on my Ransom Rest Multi Cal Steady Rest, I added the 3 pounds of pressure necessary to drop the hammer from its single-action position. At the shot the muzzle twisted violently skyward while my sinuses drained immediately and my eyes watered. I waited for the sharp pain in my wrist to subside while I wiped tears from my eyes.

To my credit, I was able to repeat this process four more times. Walking downrange, I was amazed to find a five-shot group that measured a scant 1.04”! Next, I fired Federal’s 158-grain Jacketed Solid Points and they were just slightly less punishing than the Remington load and I was glad to be done with the magnum ammo. By the way, the Federal rounds produced the second-best group clustering 5-shots into a neat group just 1.38” in diameter.

S&W Model 386 .357 Magnum/.38 SPL

Moving on to the S&W Model 396 .44 Special Nightguard I was impressed with the disparity between loads. Even though all of them were .44 Special recoil ranged from mild to excessive, depending on the load. Doubletap’s 240-grain Hardcast Solid™ is their commercial loading of what many call the Skeeter load-popularized, of course, by the late Skeeter Skelton. From a 7.5” Ruger Blackhawk barrel this load will clock close to 1000 FPS and will handle just about any hunting chore you could imagine. Fired from the S&W Model 696, this load is a handful. With its shorter 3” barrel the round achieves 869 feet per second and generates 402-foot pounds of energy and it is a real wrist-wrencher!

While it is immensely more controllable and less painful to shoot than the Remington .357 Magnum ammo in the Model 386, it is not a load I want to shoot a lot of out of a lightweight revolver. Black Hill’s 125-grain Honey Badger rounds produced very light recoil yet generated 406-foot pounds of energy.

My best group was fired with Cartridge Performance Engineering’s 240-grain Lead Semi-Wadcutter which produced a tight, 5-shot group that was just 1.13” in size. Winchester’s 200-grain Silvertip hollowpoints produced the next tightest group with mild recoil and would probably be my number one pick for carry use due to their controllability.

S&W Model 396 .44 SPL

As I mentioned the single-action pull is light and crisp at 3-pounds and that made shooting the Nightguards accurately an easy matter. But the double-action is smooth and relatively light and that makes it easy to keep the sights aligned while pressing through the trigger. A month or so after first seeing the Nightguards I was back at Gunsite and had the chance to run through the Pit House shooting simulator.

Gunsite’s ace instructor, Lew Gosnell, walked me through the exercise and then shot it himself. Our primary arm, in this case, was a Navy Arms Spanish double barreled Coach Gun, chambered in 12 gauge, while my sidearm was the S&W Model 396 Nightguard in .44 Special. As I cleared the rooms, any scenario that included more than two targets I’d transition from the shotgun to the revolver. Holding the shotgun in my left hand I’d draw the Nightguard from my Galco Revenger belt holster and fire strong hand only. I had no problem making head shots on the targets at typical room distances. The M396’s light and smooth double action pull made it possible to keep my sights aligned through the long trigger press.

Carrying the Nightguards

Rob Leahy, the owner of Simply Rugged Holsters, supplied me with a Sourdough Pancake designed to fit the 3” “L” frame revolver. Leahy’s shop is literally a stone’s throw from Gunsite, and he was able to construct the new holster during his lunch hour for the new Nightguard. Simply Rugged’s pancake design completely encompasses the gun and provides an unusual degree of protection and security. It can be worn in the strong-side or in the cross-draw position, to use while driving, and it is as tough as the Army veteran who designed it.

Mike “Doc” Barranti, of Barranti Leather, just introduced the Texas Tuck™, a rough-out leather holster body with a metal reinforced throat band to keep the holster mouth from collapsing when the gun is drawn-this also makes one-hand re-holstering possible. Barranti uses an UltiClip on the IWB holster so it can attach to the waistband or belt and still provide unmatched security, yet allow the user to get a full firing grip on the gun before drawing it.  

Galco Gunleather sent me a couple holsters for the new Nightguards. For OWB belt carry I received one of their excellent Masterbilt Revenger holsters. It’s a great looking holster, exquisitely constructed and should stand up to a lifetime of hard use. The second holster Galco sent me was their Summer Comfort IWB holster with twin belt snaps and a reinforced holster mouth. It offers trigger guard retention and a sight tunnel for unhindered presentations. Its smooth finish makes it comfortable to wear against the skin, and its low profile makes it perfect for deep cover carry. 

Lipsey’s Exclusive

The newest iteration of Smith & Wesson Nightguard series is a brilliant amalgamation of much sought-after features that revolver geeks seek out. Every aspect of the gun is devoted to its use for defensive carry. From its lightweight Scandium frame to its matte non-reflective finish to its full-length ejector rod, each feature and component of the Models 386 and 396 has been selected with care and precision. The result is a beautiful carry gun that gives its user every mechanical advantage to dominate and survive a lethal encounter. Being that this is a Lipsey’s Exclusive, Federal Firearms Dealers will need to order your S&W M386 or M396 directly from Lipseys.

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