.357/.38 or .45Colt?

Z

ZVP

New member
Personally I shoot a Stainless 4 5/8" .357 Vaquero. Initally the lower costs of inexpensive reloaded .38 Specials drew me to the gun, but soon the versitility of the .357 became evident and I really got into the gun! I started shooting full power 125gr Remingtons and understood the smashing power of the 357 Magnum (I used to have a Model 66 Smith). Somehow the cartrige is very well matched to the overall of the Vaquero and it soon became my primary carry gun. Just something about the handling characteristics of the big Single Action...
When at the range or playing at anchoring steel targets I use the .38's but out in the real world it is full of the 125gr Remington H/P's.

What calibers do you all shoot, and why? This is not to start knocking anyones choices,, I just wondered about the consenscensus is around here?
Thanks, ZVP
 
There's nothing 'wrong' with a .357, I carried one for years.
I now carry a .45 Colt. I can load it down, load it up. It makes a big hole. It has a ton of history. For me, the .45 seems to shoot easier with less kick and less crack. For some odd reason the local gang members are really afraid of my .45 especially in a Colt's SAA.
 
Respect

Ya know you have got something there! People Do get more scared of a big Single Action than they do of other types! Maybe it just says business? I know it says confidence because you only have 6 shots and you wouldn't be carrying it if you weren't good with it!
I know that you can vary the .45 through a wide spectrum of loads but you can also do that just by switching up from a .38 to a .357.
Both are versitle as heck!
ZVP
 
Both are great calibers, but I agree with Stephanie B and Shotgun693 that the larger diameter of handgun projectile is important to me. That's why both of my Uberti '73 peacemakers are in .45 Colt.


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i dunno, for me i thought smith and wessons were 38s. before that cowboy guns started with .4X.....fwiw, bobn
 
.45 Colt for me....my two Vaqueros and my '94 Winchester, my Bond derringer and my 1st Model Dragoon conversion. Easy to load, economical supplies, and FUN to shoot!!!
 
I am a known proponent of the 45 Colt but then I occasionally succumb to the urge to poke holes through 250 pound grasseaters, or wander around where large people munchers lurk. For those uses, I prefer a big heavy bullet and the 45 pulls that load easily.

Still, fine times can be had with a .38 or .357 mag, particularly loaded with swaged SWC's at barely 700 fps. Such loads are excellent for small game and you can always shift up a gear, when you need to. For about 90% of handgun chores, a .357 works fine.
 
I went the same way as ZVP: NewVaq357 as a street carry piece, now my daily-carry-without-fail gun. Serious rip-snorting 125s from DoubleTap or Buffalo Bore are just no joke. Blew up a bowling ball with one from 20 paces out, split it in half and sent fist-sized pieces of the concrete core flying back past my feet. "That's GOTTA hurt!" Raw energy levels are up near 800ft/lbs energy, 1/3rd more than the best 40S&W loads, up into 10mm territory - and the Gold Dot projectiles will hold up at those speeds.
 
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