In our latest “I Carry” setup, we’re featuring Smith & Wesson’s lightweight, medium-frame Model 386 Night Guard chambered for the .357 Magnum. Our chosen carry setup is a Kydex appendix-carry holster from ANR Design, and we’re also taking a closer look at a dedicated EDC flashlight from Streamlight. Watch the full episode above to see the details.
“Today's I Carry setup is for the revolver enthusiast,” American Rifleman Executive Editor Jay Grazio said. “We are not going to try to convince you semi-auto fans to switch over to revolvers. This is for folks who like revolvers, enjoy shooting revolvers, and just enjoy the wheelgun experience.”
Smith & Wesson released its Model 386 Night Guard in concert with Lipsey’s, and it offers a seven-round cylinder in .357 magnum, along with a 3-inch barrel. Its lightweight construction makes it an easily carried revolver, but its size makes it manageable to shoot.
“This is continuing into the great tradition of the Smith & Wesson Model 13, which the discerning eye will note was the last revolver issued to the FBI,” Grazio said. “Again, 3-inch barrel gives you the long enough ejector rod to eject the .357 Magnum cases. It's light. This is a scandium frame, which gives it a total weight of 24 ounces, which, for a medium-frame revolver, is pretty light, but it's not terrible, like the super-light Airweight J-Frames that are well under a pound in .357 Magnum and are punishing to shoot. This is kind of a nice mix of the two.”
For those who prefer to carry revolvers, ANR Design offers its Revolver IWB holster builder on its website, allowing owners to tailor their holsters to their particular revolver configuration.
“This is a very simple, taco-style holster designed for the medium-frame Smith & Wesson revolver. It's designed to be carried inside the waistband in the appendix position,” Grazio said. “It's a single, tuckable metal clip, so you can put it on your belt, tuck your shirt in over it for maximum concealment. It has a claw at the back that helps keep the whole rig tight to the body to reduce printing.”
Rounding out our EDC kit is a polymer-bodied flashlight from Streamlight. The PolyTac 1X USB offers 500 lumens of maximum output and a 1-hour runtime on high. Low and strobe modes are also available.
“It's basically a polymer-body flashlight that runs on dual-fuel sources. It’s really neat,” Grazio said. “You can use a single CR123A battery, or it has a rechargeable unit that comes with it. Plug it into a USB-C, you get a handy little indicator light tells you when you put it in, and you're good to go.”
For more information on the Smith & Wesson Model 386 Night Guard, read our full review here. For more details on the ANR Design holster we’ve used, visit the ANR Design website here. And for further information on the PolyTac 1X USB, visit the Streamlight website here.
