38 vs. 357 for Home Defense?

T

tyro

New member
I have a 357 magnum which I just bought for home defense. I welcome a discussion of whether I should use 38 or 357 ammo for HD. I had originally ordered a Ruger KGP 141, but the dealer could not find one available, and after waiting for it for three weeks, I started wondering if I should rather get a 38 instead of a 357 (Mas Ayoob had suggested that in one of his books which I read). When I went in to see the dealer, I asked for a 38, but he recommended that I stick with my original plan to buy a 357. He suggested the Taurus M627 357 magnum 7 shot with ported 4" barrel, which I bought. I had already bought 357 ammo while I was waiting for the gun, so I forgot the 38 vs. 357 question until Patrick Graham brought it up on another thread. Bear in mind that I already have the 357, so the question is not whether or not to use a 38 revolver, but whether to use 38 or 357 ammo in the Taurus M627 for HD.
 
I would load the first 4 as 38spl and the last 3 as magnums. :)
 
I don't use .357 because of recoil. Better for me to use a round I can consistently hit accurately with. Using 38 sp+ P, Golden Sabers, JHP.
 
I agree with using 38 sp+P. They are a good compromise between the .357 and .38 sp. And don't feel like you've wasted your money on a 357 because the added weight of the frame will help with recoil.
 
You are getting good advice here. A good 38 +P is an excellent choice for home defense. To shoot it in a .357 revolver such as the Taurus you purchased is another good self defense choice because of the recoil, accuracy, etc. Good advice all around. Listen to it.
 
I have 3" .38spec with 125 defensive Cor-Bons and 2.5" .357mag with 125 defensive Cor-Bons, along with .44 etc available to repulse an invader. I feel adequately armed with any of them. I do want enough penetration to reach CNS and plenty of expansion in case I miss that two/three inch stripe down the bad guy.

Sam...do we load green dot for St Paddys day?
 
Having experienced firing a .357 in an enclosed area, I would stick with a .38 spl. 158 gr. Lead Hollowpoint. The concussion of a full powered .357 in your house can shatter your windows, knock all of the knicknacks off of the walls and shelves, and scare the hell out of you and even disorient you when you least can afford to be disoriented. A full powered .357 indoors is not much quieter than the flashbang distraction devices that SWAT teams use during forced entries.

The .38 is less powerful. But, all handguns are underpowered for the task of self defense. Its just that they are so convenient. Marksmanship and adequate penetration are what will save you with a handgun, not a little more power.
 
Well, I guess I'll be the first to say go with Magnum ammo!

:)

.38 +p is NO where NEAR as good in the stopping power department as ANY decent .357 light weight SJHP.

IMHO the 110 grain semi Jacketed Hollow Point .357 Magnum round as loaded by Winchester, Federal, Remington and others is the best compromise between the soft recoil of a .38+p and the harsh recoil of the "Ultimate Manstopper" 125 grain .357 SJHP load.

It really should not be THAT hard to control in a medium framed heavy barreled/underlugged 4 inch.

As for the sound level indoors....ANY handgun going off inside a house with no hearing protection is going to be pretty damned deafening! So I wouldn't really worry about it too much. I really don't think the blast/noise/recoil will be that important to you when you are shooting for your life against a Bad Guy.
 
Ellsworth speaks the truth. After shooting a .357 snub my .40 cal Glock 27 seemed to recoil like a BB gun. No doubt a .357 is a better stopper than the .38. But man oh man, the blast!!

Will

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Mendacity is the system we live in.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WLM:
Ellsworth speaks the truth. After shooting a .357 snub my .40 cal Glock 27 seemed to recoil like a BB gun. No doubt a .357 is a better stopper than the .38. But man oh man, the blast!!

Will

[/quote]

It does pack a wallop but I'm telling you the 110 load recoils about 40% less than the 125 does. I shoot the 110 Winchester Magnum load in my 640 snub. Yes, it is a bit of a Flame Thrower but it can be managed. And this is with a TINY little 5 shot. In a relatively big medium frame gun with twice the barrel length it's almost a pussy cat!
 
The 110 gr. Federal .357 only recoils a little more than a Winchester .38 spl. +P 158 gr. Lead Hollowpoint. However, neither is a 12 ga. shotgun or a 30-06. I'm of the opinion that you are best armed with a weapon that you shoot well. I certainly can't shoot Federal 110 gr. .357s as well out of my 640-1 as I can 158 gr. LHPs and I doubt that many people can--even though the recoil is nearly equal. If I can put 5 rounds of .38s into a 3x5 index card at 10 yards, but can't do as well with .357s; then, there is at least the POSSIBILITY that I'll be able to shoot as well under stress. With the .357 its casino odds that I can even get close.

I gave up on the .357 as a deathray the winter that I shot a cottontail rabbit through the chest with a Remington 125 gr. .357 Magnum JHP from a 4 inch S&W 586 before finally running it down and killing it with a stick. The rabbit weighed less than the gun. The rabbit didn't know that he was expected to fall down after having been shot.

Conversley, I've shot deer with 500 gr. arrows topped with razor sharp broadheads, fired from a longbow at less than 200 ft. per sec. that didn't run much farther than that rabbit. Of course, those were thru and thru wounds that bled out very quickly.
 
The question can only be answered by you. There are plenty of threads that you can search through that discuss the various loads, but you need to spend time shooting and see what works for you. I purchased a Glock 33 in .357 Sig (not .357 mag) and discovered that it was a hell of a round, but even after a good bit of practice, I couldn't get in a fast accurate second shot. The stopping power on this round is great for a handgun, but it wasn't for me. Spend your time shooting different ammunition and come to your own conclusion.
 
Unless you have valid reasons for overpenetration and/or are new to handguns, I can't understand why you would compromise ? Most .357 loads are mild these days and designed for use in snubbies. Your average .357 defensive load is somewhere between 100-200 fps faster than a 9mm load in the same weight, put that together with that fact that a fullsize Taurus/S&W/Ruger revolver are considerably heavier than most fullsize 9mm's and there doesn't seem to be much of an argument. Yes, the .357 does create quite a "blast". but I can't think of a more accurate gun/load combo for me than a 4-6 inch S&W 686 and a Federal 158grn hi velocity .357.

Ultimately it's what works for you, if you find the .357 to be unmanagable then you should probably downgrade to .38+p.
 
Many thanks for the replies. My inclination is to stick with the 357 magnum loads. I have shot Federal HI-SHOCK 125 grain JHP, and Winchester 145 grain Silvertip HP. I have experienced not-a-bit of recoil firing these loads in the 7 shot, 4" ported barrel, Taurus M627. I'm new to handguns, but recoil is definitely not a problem for me with this gun. The challenge is trigger control, which I assume would be the same with any load. As for blast, I will be using Dillon Precision Peltor 7 electronic hearing protection, and lights will be on - triggered by perimeter sensors.
 
Not really related, but if a .357 blast is so bad indoors, what on earth would a HD 12 ga. do to your home/ears ???
 
Great question, RH. My primary HD gun (the 357 is for backup) is a Remington 870, and I don't think the 357 will outblast it.
 
Use Remington 125-gr. JHP .357 Mag. Golden Sabre.

Recoil isn't much worse than .38 Spl. +P, you get a bullet with an excellent track record, and it tends to be rather low flash, which is always a plus in a house gun.

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
Here's where I'm comming from on the 38 vs 357 issue.

I touched off a "Hot" 357 load in an enclosed tack room in a barn at a rabid critter.. sheesh.. I was stunned for a moment. I actually though the gun blew up and thought I had hurt myself. If I had been shooting a a real bad guy and I had missed I would be dead. The blast and concussion are just too great. The shooter is stunned and can't recover fast enough to take control of the situation and the gun in order to get a rapid second shot off.

Then there is the penetration/over penetration issue.

I now carry 38 special Federal non plus p 125 grain nyclads.
 
Blast is relative, had the pleasure of hearing .357 hunting load discharged inside closed vehicle. Loud? Yes. Better than the silence of death.

Sam....Eh?
 
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