.357 Mag: Performance loss with barrels under 4" ?

P

Para Bellum

New member
ok, I admit, I carry Glocks in 9x19mm. So I generally am wrong in this section, but:
I always was interested in .357 Magnums for concealed carry. As far as I was told and read, barrels under 4" won't make sense because the .357 cartridge needs the barrel length in order to deliver the bullet speed that makes the .357 Mag. superior over the 9x19mm (if you only count 1 bullet).

Is that true? How much speed does the same .357 Magnum bullet have leaving a 6", 4", 3" and 2" barrel?

Stay safe.
 
I can tell you the kick is more

I have the .357 taurus 605 snub. I've shot everthing from 130gn wwb 38 to 125 gn umc jsp 357's. I can tell you that what seems to make more difference is bullet weight. Based on kick, the 357's are more powerful. maybe even too powerful. With the more powerful plus p and magnum loads, I find that recovery from the shot takes much longer. I have no luck with jhp's as they don't seem to fly as straight as the solid bullets out of this particular gun. I'm sold on the concept of the small 357 snub as it is a very sturdy gun, probably more so than a regular 38. But I'm only shooting 38spl 158gn jsp at 800fps, I'm thinking penetration over expansion. I can dump 5 shots in 5 seconds in the black at about 15ft. I figure that's the kind of shooting this gun was made for anyway. I am going to try some 158gn wadcutters, they're cheaper, and I'm told they "cut" better and expand somewhat. With only 5 shots, accuracy becomes real important. My opinion is with this gun mass is more important than velocity.
 
Disclaimer: I do not have a .357 mag snubby and never have had one, so I have no direct experience in this matter. My .357 mag experience is in 4" and longer barrels. With that in mind, this article by Stephen Camp covers part of what you are interested in, and that is it addresses .357 mag performance in snubbies. From what I have come to understand, there is a drop off of performance, but it isn't as much as you would expect.
 
Some time ago someone wrote an article where they used a 4", 5" and 6" revolver to determine how much velocity changes from each barrel length. The results indicated that there is approximately a 50-fps drop in muzzle velocity per 1-inch of barrel. This is a good rule of thumb[/i] anyone can use.

But wait, there's more.

Around 1999-2000 time frame I recall someone repeated this test by cutting down a model 65's barrel 1/2" at a time & recrowning it each time. Once you got to the 3" mark, lopping off 1/2" didn't follow the same rules -- the loss was less that expected.

This leads to the conclusion that the .357 rounds in use today are maximized to be fired in 3"-4" wheelguns and betwen 4" and 2.5" you're giving up less than 75fps.
 
9x19mm superiror to .357 Mag. snub

In the article mentioned above I read that the fastest load out of a 2,5" snub .357 Magnum was a 125grain bullet which reached 1243 ft/sec (378m/s).

An article by the renowned German hunting journal ("Deutsche Jagt Zeitung", http://www.djz.de/naechsteseite/naechsteseite_26280.html) showed a test of the Federal EMFJ 9x19mm bullet shot from the subcompact Glock 26. It's a 124 grainer and reached 1.250 ft/sec (381m/s).

That's a clear result to me: Bullet diameter and weight are the same and subcompact 9x19mm semiauto pistols outperform short barreled .357 Mag. revolvers. Not to mention that the subcompact Glock 26 holds 12 bullets while the revolvers only hold 5 to 6. The disadvantage of the stronger recoil and the harder trigger pull with the revolver also advocate the subcompact semiauto.
 
Para Bellum: You had already formed your opinion when you started the thread and wanted to teach us revolver fans about the effectiveness of the "great" 9mm. I would never carry a 9mm unless that is all that had. Frankly, I'd rather carry a 22. The 40S&W and 45ACP are much better and can be concealed just as easily as a 9mm in the compact guns. All 9mm's are good for is punching holes (sometimes a lot of holes). From what I have read, lots of shots get fired very quickly in a law enforcement situation. Most are misses, with ocasional hits to extremities such as the arms and legs, and even fewer are effective hits. Shot placement is the key.

I have heard that the US military are going to drop the Beretta in 9mm for a Glock. That might suggest something. Can anyone confirm this?
 
I carry semi autos and revolvers in calibers from .380acp to .45acp. I carry what I feel like on that day and time. Retired gives you that option. I've never felt "undergunned" cause the key is "I can hit what I aim at" within reason.

Jungle Work
 
"Bullet diameter and weight are the same and subcompact 9x19mm semiauto pistols outperform short barreled .357 Mag. revolvers."

I disagree, based on those results of my own tests with my own guns, my own loads, and my own chrono. As you see in that last post of the first page I was able to get 1200 fps using a 158 grain bullet. If your idea of performance is simply bullet weight and velocity, the .357 clearly is the winner out of the loads I tested.
I think there are a number of other considerations other than bullet weight and velocity and would probably choose the 9mm if I was choosing between the two.
 
Your comparing bullets of different weights.

http://www.federalpremium.com/default.asp?pg=27&firearm=2

Federal EFMJ 9x19mm at 105 grain reaches 1225 fps
Federal EFMJ 9x19mm at 135 grain reaches 1050 fps
357 Magnum at 130 grain reaches 1300 fps
357 Magnum at 158 ggrain reaches 1240 fps


When comparing 357 and 9mm of close to the same weights, 9mm just cant compare. 38sp and 9mm are about the same but NOT 357 Mag

An article by the renowned German hunting journal ("Deutsche Jagt Zeitung", http://www.djz.de/naechsteseite/nae...eite_26280.html) showed a test of the Federal EMFJ 9x19mm bullet shot from the subcompact Glock 26. It's a 124 grainer and reached 1.250 ft/sec (381m/s).
Click to expand...


The Glock 26 has a barrel length of almost 3 1/2 inches which your trying to compare to a J-Frame revolver with average barrel length of 2 inches. thats 57% more barrel legth.

even from the Snub nose
Remington .357 Magnum 125-grain SJHP 1243 fps

Compare that to both your federal 9mm. It will beat both even when it outweighs the 105 bullet by 20 grains if you give both barrels the same length.
 
Didn't I just see this posted somewhere else?

In this thread though it would appear that some people have checked the numbers and found them questionable.
 
In the article mentioned above I read that the fastest load out of a 2,5" snub .357 Magnum was a 125grain bullet which reached 1243 ft/sec (378m/s).

An article by the renowned German hunting journal ("Deutsche Jagt Zeitung", http://www.djz.de/naechsteseite/nae...eite_26280.html) showed a test of the Federal EMFJ 9x19mm bullet shot from the subcompact Glock 26. It's a 124 grainer and reached 1.250 ft/sec (381m/s).

That's a clear result to me: Bullet diameter and weight are the same and subcompact 9x19mm semiauto pistols outperform short barreled .357 Mag. revolvers. Not to mention that the subcompact Glock 26 holds 12 bullets while the revolvers only hold 5 to 6. The disadvantage of the stronger recoil and the harder trigger pull with the revolver also advocate the subcompact semiauto.
Click to expand...

Someone just pulled a Hanoi John...........why do you even bother? This is called trolling. You don't like American calibers and American guns? Well good then go someone else and spout you misconcieved notions of superiority. For someone who claims to have all the information sorted, why don't you ever post articles in where the 9mm failed? Where are those articles? We try and maintain some sense of civility, that changes when asshats come here and jack around. BTW I recall seeing old German articles claiming that they were going to rule the new world.......until the Americans bombed them back into the stoneage. :p
 
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