Nothing new.............

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
This isn't anything new, I just wanted to say it.

The 357 Magnum is now about 88 yrs. old.
It continues to be a very powerful round.
A few auto cartridges ( like the 38 Super ) in .35 cal. have given it some competition but few , if any, have surpassed it.

I have several auto pistols in different calibers.
As I age, I seem to gravitate back in the direction of the 357 Magnum and my revolvers. A cylinder full of 357 Magnums is still a formidable force.

Ben
 
Last edited:

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Wheel guns forever!!

Bottom feeders just don’t do it for me. Yes, It’s my fault for never having an interest in the semi automatic pistols, I’m trying to warm up to them. If my knees worked better I might feel differently.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I harbor the exact same feelings toward the 357 magnum and revolvers.

For a long time, I not only did not appreciate the 357, particularly in a handgun, I despised it. I was influenced to the tune that anything was all good or all bad - the best or the worst. I'd had 357s off and on just because I liked a particular revolver or another, but would have always preferred it in the 44 Special. As I got older and started to realize the "grown-ups" who influenced me as a kid were not infallible, I changed my mind. The 357 is now the most used/most enjoyed round I maintain.

It's an amazing cartridge with incredible versatility. Lots of "new stuff" has come along, but nothing has unseated it. I personally thinks it's on the path to becoming the world's "most perfect" round. Others are "better" or "worse at one thing or another in comparison, but I've not found another which covers such a broad range of uses as effectively.

I still like and respect all the other cartridges, but I finally have to admit that the 357 is really a valuable, versatile, "formidable" cartridge.

Dang! 88 years old already!
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
My short .357 Magnum history.

My first revolver was a 6" target gripped S&W Model 28 Highway Patrolman. Should've kept it, but it was used to subsidize a .45 ACP Randall. Both those handguns are now outrageously priced.

Next was a 2 1/4" Ruger SP-101 bought for my wife, but she only shot a cylinder-full of .38 Specials. It now resides in Nebraska.

Then it was a blue 6 1/2" Ruger New Model Blackhawk. Enjoyed it much for many years, but it now resides in Idaho.

The blue 5 1/2" Ruger New Vaquero is a keeper. For now, anyway. It was not easy, though, deciding if it or the Blackhawk needed new homes.

The blue Rossi/EMF Hartford sporting rifle is, for sure, a keeper.

I don't know what the most versatile, practical, and all-round best handgun cartridge is, but reckon the
.357 Magnum is near the top of the list.
 
Last edited:

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
I don't know what the most versatile, practical, and all-round best handgun cartridge is, but reckon the
.357 Magnum is near the top of the list.
I would give the nod to the 44 Magnum/44 Special interchangeability. Basically, a 357 Magnum/38 Special on steroids.

First handgun purchase, 6" Royal Blue Python.

Second handgun purchase, Browning HP.

Third handgun purchase, Ruger RH (44Mag)

Fourth handgun purchase, Ruger Mark II Target.

Still have them all. Plus, many more. :)

Most chambered handgun...........(5) 9mm's.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
357 Magnum was my first handgun purchase (S&W Model 28 x 6"). It is by some distance my most-loaded and most fired handgun caliber, and a Henry steel BB levergun joined the 357 Tribe inside my safe a few years ago. It sees a lot of time behind the seat of my truck in the back-country, with the 4" S&W 686 in a belt or shoulder holster. If there is a single-best sidearm to have and carry, a good D/A 357 Magnum with 3.5"-5" barrel might be it.

Other combinations have great merit--the S&W Model 58 x 4" using the out-of-print swaged "Police Loads" (210 grain SWC @ 950 FPS) comes to mind here, or the 45 Colt x Model 25 x 4"--but that 686 x 4" just plain WORKS.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
I’m a die hard 44 fan, I used to dismiss the 357 as inadequate for the country I live in. But, I have really taken a shine to the small 2” and mostly the 3” 5 shot S&W and Ruger revolvers. The size difference between my S&W model 69 5 shot 44 Mag and the 3” SP 101 means I’ll have the smaller pistol in my back pocket where the bigger pistol would not be handy.
Besides the 357 is much more potent than I ever gave it credit for. Finally admitted to my biases for the “little” 357 when it dawned on me it will handle about anything I’m likely to run into on the homestead.
When I’m in Brown or Grizzly county, bigger is better.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
My first revolver was the first handgun I purchased on my own, and it was a 6" stainless Security Six.

When I turned 21, I didn't go out and get drunk, I went out and bought my OWN handgun. I still think I made an incredibly smart (lucky) choice for being a young, dumb GI.

I traded that toward a Charter Bulldog the moment I discovered those and didn't look back for a long time. Then, I owned numerous other Ruger DAs along the way because I liked the gun, but the 44 Special is solidly my favorite.

No bears to worry about here, and concealability/portability is key - which the 3" Bulldog is very good at too, but then the Bulldog uses a lot more lead and brass is not as easy to find or nearly as cheap. Pragmatically speaking, in my neck of the woods, the 357 makes more sense than my beloved 44. Using the 357 in both revolvers and carbines, I get a lot of mileage out of it - and somewhat more economically.

I could do with the 44 what I do with the 357, but it is more than I NEED, so the nod goes to the 357 for the majority of my uses now, while my 44 still provides a lot of enjoyment.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Glaciers--

Your nasty critters in AK deserve and require more bullet diameter than what is needed here in Cartelifornia. Most of our predators are on two legs, and the 357 does great work on that range of game.

Well I have to agree, but the old saying better to have one…. Which speaks to the handyness of the smaller pistol that just goes easily in a pocket, than the bigger heavier pistol that has to ride in a specific rig, which means that the likelihood that I’d go without…
But a firearms instructor locality here and a very well respected individual was firmly in the 357 camp with the idea that you train and use good ammo, no hollow points.
I have to agree that 158’s SP loaded hot, placed thru the skull or in the boiler room should do the trick.
But the big nastiest I would feel better with more horsepower.
CZ even in this country the 357 gets the job done for 2 and most 4 legged critters.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
I cannot find the source document, (lost in some move no doubt) but I recall reading an old study from a midwestern police department (I’m pretty sure it was Indianapolis). The study covered officer involved shootings over many years. The data included use of 4” barreled 357 mag duty guns and 2 ½” guns (likely S&W model 19). The results were very impressive, at least for the good guys!

I cannot recall the exact numbers, but the percentages of successful stops were nearly 100%. The sample size was rather large, so I don’t believe they cherry picked the events to get good data.

I shoot FAR more 38 Special rounds than .357 magnum rounds, but I still put a few down range every now and then to maintain a little proficiency. The round deserves the respect it gets.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
A 357 revolver loaded with 38 specials is a great beginner gun. My GP100 has introduced well over 20 people to the shooting sports.

I don’t shoot many mag loads.
 

richhodg66

Well-Known Member
My opinion, handgun cartridge development pretty much stopped at the .357. Nothing else is as versatile or as good and for a self defense weapon, which in the end is what a handgun is for, the .357 beats out everything else hands down. I don't keep up with such things but it seems last I read such an article, the various 125 grain JHP loadings still led the pack for first round incapacitations.

Kinda like the .30-06, better all around than anything else. Any other compromise you make from that gives up so much to gain some insignificant gain in some very narrow niche that it isn't worth it.
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Can't argue with any of the good qualitites that people attribute to the .357, but for recreational shooting I find the BOOM from a large bore handgun shooting a subsonic bullet to be much preferable to the supersonic CRACK that .357 and 9mm loads have. It gets on my nerves after a while, even with hearing protection.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Reminds me of the time I was shooting the Blackhawk's jacketed accuracy load of Hornady's 158-grain XTP/HP and 15.7-grains of H 110. Two couples were behind and to the left of me, about three or four yards. One lady was reacting like each shot was hurting her hearing protected ears.

Never been to a range, before? Overly sensitive hearing? Don't know, but I've never seen someone react as she did.

I do know about overly sensitive hearing, because our local granddaughter has been diagnosed with hearing approaching that of a dog's.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
i was actually shooting the other day.. LOL yeah,,yeah.
anyway i had the DW 357 along and was plonking a soda can around the pit.
the hit rate was 90 sum percent which for me is more like 120%.
then i realized i was shooting up my old load using 38 special cases the 358477 and 4.1 grs of 231.
i haven't had any 231 for a couple of years now and haven't loaded anything with it, but those shells from probably 98-99 were still putting the bullet on top of the same sights they were back then.
it dawned on me i really miss shooting those light easy [to make and shoot] accurate type of loads.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Can't argue with any of the good qualitites that people attribute to the .357, but for recreational shooting I find the BOOM from a large bore handgun shooting a subsonic bullet to be much preferable to the supersonic CRACK that .357 and 9mm loads have. It gets on my nerves after a while, even with hearing protection.
Exactly why I despised the 357 so much for so many years - it's OBNOXIOUS when loaded to "its potential." The recoil isn't the issue, it's the blast. As stated very accurately, "gets on my nerves after a while, even with hearing protection."

When I started messing around with the 357 in a rifle, I got to like it a bit ... OK, a LOT more. I'd been hand-loading for almost 40 years at that point, but it had never occurred to me to load the 357 in a revolver more like I loaded 44s and 45s - usually almost, but not over 1kfps.

The vast majority of the loads I shoot in either revolver or carbine don't break the sound barrier in the revolvers.

Still, a 180 grain WFN at 950 or so fps is nothing to take lightly on the receiving end.

I've worked up "hunting loads" for the carbine, which are still safe in the revolvers, but I never get time to hunt any more, so I did it to know I could load some up if I were to get a chance to hunt.