357 vs 44 mag

Once you carry a heavy gun every day for several months you get accustomed to it and hardly feel that it is there....
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I have the same experience. Its really not a big deal, if its what you want to do. Seems the old "generation progression" thing follows true here too. :rolleyes:

Ive carried both, 4" 28's (as well as a few 4" K frames) and 4" 29's. These days, Id probably go with one of the 7 or 8 shot .357's, just because of the extra rounds. When shooting quickly, the .357 is a bit easier to control with the heavier rounds too.

Now if I were to be where the critters hunt you back and eat you, then Id go with the .44.
 
My favorite carry revolver is a .44 Special, so the Magnum would not be a bad choice. Either one will do what you want, consider recovery for a second or third shot. If you can handle it, go for it. If you have trouble recovering, opt for the .357/.38 Special.
 
My vote goes to the GP-100. Out of all the replies for the 44 mag of those how many of you can get off a double tap with the needed accuracy. When I carry a revolver its either a model 10 snub nose or a model 649 Body Guard,. The 649 is loaded with 38 spl for a faster more accurate follow up shot
 
Reality aside, COPS use .357, only Dirty Harry used the .44 Magnum, and that is how potential jurors will be told to see you, as a Dirty Harry wannabe, who was looking to shoot someone...

or maybe not, you choose what you think most likely.

Reality included, have you SHOT either of those guns?? handled them? Know ANYTHING about them beyond what you have read?

If you haven't I strongly suggest you get some hands on personal experience, BEFORE you choose either for a gun to defend your life.

The most powerful magnum isn't worth spit unless YOU can use it well.
 
I wouldn't consider carrying either one of them, with that said they are both so much fun and you can't go wrong with either one for home defense. For me I guess I would look at the .44 mag to streamline the ammo I need to take to the range when I am shooting the lever action.....but wait, I get the .357 and now I have an excuse to pkck up a .357 lever action. Oh nevermind, I am no help at all...:D. Do you have the cash for both...:)
 
.357

3 reasons why I would pick the .357 over the 44 mag for self defense.

1. I've shot a .44 mag without ear protection before.
2. I ain't dumb enough to do it again.
3. I highly doubt a bad guy is gonna understand that I need him to hold still for about a minute and a half while I get my earplugs in.
 
I would find both of them too cumbersome for concealed carry. I do however on occasion carry a 3" GP-100 in a belt holster. Still pretty heavy for my tastes. But I would choose a 357 mag and carry 38 spl+P's. That GP is my house gun for the most part.
 
what kind of self defense? I would say that if you are talking about home defense the 44 mag. if you're talking about concealed carry I would take the gp100 with 38 special..I would be worried about over penetration outside the home.
 
These are great answers to my post of 357 vs 44 mag. I wanted to read and see what the Forum thought about this. We only own 357's. and carry either a 2" or 4" 357's. From what I have read, the 357 shoots like 5 times the different calibres equally. From the 44mag, i still don't know what the variety of ammo this can handle.
What I think that is being said is the 357 mag is very much more able to shoot
so many more types of ammo than the 44 mag. I might be wrong so please let me now what other ammo the 44 mag can shoot.
Doc
 
I pack a .357 magnum 4" barrel Chiappa Rhino every day for my concealed carry. Works just fine. Loaded with 158 grain Hornady XTP. I have a Kangaroo carry holster. Sometimes I wear it like it's supposed to be as a shoulder rig with a button up shirt left untucked. Other times I wear it low and backwards so it functions like a high riding outside the waist band holster at about 3 or 3:30 o'clock and wear a tall man's Polo shirt.
 
If the gun is strictly for self-defense, I'd say that the .357 Magnum is a better choice. While I'm not hesitant to use a .44 Magnum as a defensive revolver (a 4" 629 is my bedside gun more often than not) it does have certain limitations. The biggest problem, as I see it, with a .44 Magnum is that the selection of good self-defense ammo is pretty limited and simply stuffing any old .44 Magnum ammo into a defensive revolver is a very bad idea.

The problem with a .44 Magnum, ammo-wise, is that most of the ammo is made for hunting and, as such, will likely expand little, if at all, on its way through an erect biped. While .44 Magnum ammo isn't difficult to find, it's often a JSP or very tough "controlled expansion" JHP bullet which isn't really a good choice for self-defense in this caliber. While .44 Special ammunition can be use and that caliber can be quite a good defensive cartridge in its own right, the selection of ammunition is even more limited in .44 Special. When one can find .44 Spl ammo in stock (and you can't always) it's often loaded with SWC or LRN bullets.

The second issue with the .44 Magnum is its recoil. While it can be shot quickly and accurately, it's not a easy thing to do. While I can shoot my .44 Magnum revolver with my carry ammunition quickly and accurately enough to feel comfortable using them for self-defense, it takes a lot of work to get there and pretty regular shooting to maintain it. Also, I'm shooting an all-steel gun, I've put big, cushy grips which fit my hands well on it, and I'm not using the most powerful .44 Magnum ammunition I can.

Finally, the .44 Magnum is expensive in terms of both guns and ammunition. A good-quality .44 Magnum revolver will generally cost at least $100 more than a comparable revolver in .357 Magnum and it's difficult to find ammunition for less than $40/50 rounds unless you're willing to resort to mail order. Even if you handload (and you should if you plan to shoot much .44 Magnum), a .357 Magnum is still more economical as the bullet cost substantially less and you're not using as much powder for each cartridge.

A .357 Magnum, on the other hand, offers several advantages. In a medium or large frame revolver, its recoil is much more manageable. Just yesterday I was shooting full-power 158 gr .357 Magnums from my S&W M27 and the recoil was actually milder than standard pressure 158 gr .38 Specials from my S&W 442. The .357's recoil is much more conducive to developing proficiency and not nearly as punishing to practice with.

The .357 Magnum also offers a much wider variety of good SD ammo than the .44 Magnum does. While I have to search for a satisfactory .44 Magnum JHP, just about hollowpoint in the 125-158gr range will be satisfactory in .357 Magnum. Also, there are some very good options available in .38 Special too and they're much easier to find than .44 Special ammo.

Finally, while not as powerful as it's larger brother, the .357 Magnum is by no means a pipsqueak. It was a very popular cartridge for police before revolvers fell out of favor and enjoyed an excellent reputation for ending fights. If fact, when revolvers were the preferred cops' gun, most of the departments that chose not to use .357 Magnums did so because they felt it was too powerful rather than the other way around.
 
Why would you need to do that?
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Quote:
Why would you need to do that?
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Same reason as anything else.....reality.

There always is the good chance you would need the second shot because you missed with the first one. As stated in the post after your post which I copied above "REALITY"
 
A double-tap is a proper response to missing the first shot? A double-tap, by definition, would clearly indicate that if you missed the first, you missed the second. Usually by a wider margin. "Reality" would dictate that the use of a properly loaded .44 Magnum precludes the need for frivolous things like double taps.
 
Both are too big for CCDW. If it was for defense though I would get the GP100, just easier to wield than the 44 and will stop almost anything under a Bear and may also stop a Bear.
 
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