.38 vs .357 accuracy

My .357 shows no difference but my shooting is rather casual I have never spent time doing intense accuracy shooting with assorted loads to make definitive tests. Shooting casually,my groups offhand at fifty come in around four or so with any Jacketed bullets. I don't load my .357 intensely.
 
Get the .357 and shoot it the way...

you want.

Just clen thechambers good to allow the .357 round to chamber.
If you sell it being a .357, it should bring a better and faster sale.

Have no problems with .38 thru a Ruger SS6.
 
Not bashing Taurus but, I've only owned two in my life and the bores in both of them had terrible chatter marks. But, it doesn't seem to affect accuracy all that much at least in my experience. It's on me that I forgot my bore light when shopping and didn't catch this when purchasing. Twice no less. The little stainless snub shot a nice tight group, it was just always 2 1/2" left no matter how I loaded or held it or positioned my finger, so for me the gun was a no go. My other is the Millenium G2, not as accurate as a lot of my other 9mm's but as accurate as I expect a pistol of this size and type will be and shoots close enough to POA with the adjustable sights so it's my car gun. So I guess my point is, if a smooth bore is important to you, don't forget your bore light.
 
I've had two 357's. First a Ruger SA and then a Colt Trooper. Both recoiled more than I wanted and the Ruger always rode up in my hand with the shot. Shoot and re-grip. Went to the Trooper and it didn't ride up at all, difference in grips. But it was still more recoil than I wanted. Really really nice gun so I went to 38's with it. Got to where all I shot in handguns was cast bullet's unless I was carrying somewhere. For carry I loaded 38 Spec 125 gr Treasury loads. For plinking I loaded either 155 gr KT bullet's or, my favorite, 148 gr wadcutter's. I shot it with the 38's much better than with 253's. I think the difference in the SA type and the Colt DA is the shape of the grip and the weight of the gun, I'll take most any 357 over 38 and I did like the 4" barrel. I tried a 38 in Detective special one time with some factory loads, that will never happen again. It was a DA and had good grip but the light weight and 2" barrel made it uncomfortable to shoot, stung my hand shooting it. Today I do have a 30 but it's a plinking gun, wouldn't think of it for carry. S&W 38/44 w/6" barrel. Long barrel and heavy 44 frame and case bullet's make it really nice to shoot.

My carry 9mm is a S&W Shield 9c. Very light and very concealable. Just recently decided to use jacketed bullet's in it for carry but practice is 100% cast 124gr bullet's. I had shot some factory ammo when I got it, told myself I needed case's so bought the most inexpensive stuff I could get and recoil I don't recall as being all that bad.

I think your use should dictate which weapon you use for carry and which for plinking or target shooting. For me, recoil is a major factor. For me a carry gun must be light, concealable, low recoil and provide more than 5/6 round's when loaded. The plinging gun needs a min 4" barrel but better six. Weight won't be a big factor but there must be enough to control recoil. My 32 long is very light and has a 6" barrel, great plinking gun. One more thing I found out about revolver's over is that I can shoot them much much better than auto loader's. The only auto loader's I've ever shot well were all 22 LR's. Match the gun to what you'll use it for and at a comfort level you like.
 
I am with Nanuk, at my level (low end of Expert) PPC with Specials from a Magnum cylinder were fine. But the Masters with their Open guns usually had Special cylinders.

New full size .38 Specials are not very common, but if you can find a clean used S&W K38 or Colt Officer's Model Match, you have about struck gold.
 
the Ruger always rode up in my hand with the shot. Shoot and re-grip.
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Which is exactly what SA revolvers are meant to do! ;)

REMEMBER that SA revolvers were meant to be ONE hand guns. Your other hand was expected to be busy, holding reins, or possibly a saber.

The gun rolls in the hand so that the hammer is closer to the thumb for recocking. Yes, doing it all with just one hand means regripping the gun for each shot. This was quite acceptable to the designers and users back when the SA revolver was cutting edge technology.
 
I have a dozen or so S&W revolvers in .357 mag ( K, L, N frames )...and I don't see any difference in accuracy shooting .38's over .357 mag in any one gun. I reload, so I load the same bullet...158gr JHP for both.

I have one single action revolver ...a Freedom Arms, large frame 5 shot, 4 3/4" barrel built in .357 mag about 7 yrs ago....its really accurate putting out 1" groups ...whether I shoot .38's or .357's in it ...no difference.

I have a Victory model, a premodel 10...and another model 10 in ( .38 spl...with 4" barrels..)...and they shoot very well...but no more accurately than my K frame 4" guns, model 19's and 66's, in 4" in .357 mag, when I shoot .38's thru them.

90% of the time I shoot .357's ...and keep the .38's for the grandkids to shoot.../ ...but I prefer the guns made in .357 mag.
 
Kvon2 Wrote:

Definitely informal...often paper plates in case you were wondering
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Kvon2,

That's what I figured, but needed to ask before I could recommend:

IME, I have a 6" 357 that I also shoot informally, but open carry hiking and hunting;
I also shoot 38s in it at times again informally.
From a reloading perspective, I would prefer to reload 38s for targets vs the 357 mag.
The unfilled case volume is less with my 38s.

I looked at several firearms manufacturers, but did not see a current 38 target model I would want. Still think a 6" to 8" barrel 38 would be my choice for what your wanting. I would suggest you look on gunbroker.com for a target model 38 and see if any you like.
 
I had two revolvers built for me by Bill Davis back in the 1980s. One was built on a SW 27 and the other on a Ruger Security Six. Both 357mag. After getting both of these guns back and testing them, it made no difference in accuracy whether or not I used 38Spl or 357mag cases. Each would shoot one hole at 25yds and five shots under an inch at fifty. Case volume makes no difference in getting either one to shoot outstanding.
 
This will pretty much exclusively be a range gun so I'm not worried about any type of defensive scenario.
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I was in this situation a few years back and wondered the same thing. Although it's likely there's little difference in accuracy between a 38 or 357 in this situation, I just went with a Smith Model 67 - a 38 Special revolver, to remove all doubt.

Fast forward three+ years and some 14,000 rounds later, I have no regrets whatsoever. And yes, it's a tac-driver accurate gun.

My school of thought is: if you're going to shoot only 38's, just get a 38 gun. Just my opinion.
 
My school of thought is: if you're going to shoot only 38's, just get a 38 gun. Just my opinion.
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Thing is, people change their minds later on. Not getting the 357mag puts you in a spot where you can't adapt later. I ended up using both of my Bill Davis guns to deer hunt with and killed several nice bucks with each one. In fact, the biggest whitetail I ever killed I killed with the Ruger Security Six he did. At least with the 357mag you have an option in the future if you ever want to use it.
 
Thing is, people change their minds later on. Not getting the 357mag puts you in a spot where you can't adapt later. I ended up using both of my Bill Davis guns to deer hunt with and killed several nice bucks with each one. In fact, the biggest whitetail I ever killed I killed with the Ruger Security Six he did. At least with the 357mag you have an option in the future if you ever want to use it.
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Or, as a firearm enthusiast, buy more than one gun. Just like a person would not play golf with only one club, there are different guns to fit different purposes, or do you play golf with only a putter? :)
 
Or, as a firearm enthusiast, buy more than one gun. Just like a person would not play golf with only one club, there are different guns to fit different purposes, or do you play golf with only a putter?
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Like I said, I bought two Bill Davis guns....that's more than one. I'll bet there aren't many guys who ever did that. I have a LOT of guns. I still like to keep my options open and not box myself in.
 
I've owned/fired many .38spl and .357 revolvers. Not only have I never picked up a .357 that wouldn't shoot a gnat's eye out with .38spl wc, but they do the same with .357 ammo.

I have fired many rounds of .38spl wad cutters through my pet S&W M14 and an OM .357 BlackHawk. Both were capable of one (1) hole groups at 25yds. If you ever plan to shoot any .357 ammo for any reason, get a .357 and don't look back; you'll never notice any difference, anyway. There is NO difference between the two calibers as far as .38spl is concerned. If you settle on a .38 revolver, go to the used gun counter and pick up a good used S&W or Colt .38spl. I seldom shoot much .357 ammo nowadays; IMHO it's a rare situation a magnum is needed. In fact, Hunting has been about my only use for magnum ammo; 90% of the time I simply shoot and carry a .38. Get a 4" to 6" barrel and forget the snubbies and 8 inchers.
 
Like so many others shooting .38 cartridges in a .357 mag has little if any bearing on the accuracy. I fired in my younger years on our Dept's pistol team and we were pretty darn good, I shot my duty Mod 19 4" and several others shot 19 with 6" tubes. When it came down to scoring in those days winners were the ones who put their shots in the X ring, my little 4" was quite capable of removing the X ring if me, the shooter, would fully cooperate.
Loved that Model 19 S&W but like so many good things it went down the road replaced by a 6" and later back to a 4". I preferred to carry Super Vel .38 Special ammunition on duty over .357.
 
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