.38 vs .357 snubbie

P

poperszky

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My wife has decided that she wants to start carrying, something similar to the Taurus Model 85 that is my normal CCW. Now, since she already likes my gun, I was thinking of letting her have it and getting a .357 snub to replace it, but I have "heard" that the 2" barrel really doesn't allow you to develop the pressures that would do justice to the .357 cartridge. Any thoughts?

Terry
 
Hog wash, the 357 mag is way above the 38 Spl. ballistics. You wan't get the same ballistics as you will from a 4" bbl but, what you will get will be better than that from a full size 9mm auto. Magnum snubbies are hard to handle however.
 
I just bougth a S&W 640 in 357 magnum and really like it. I have shot the cor-bon 180 grain 625 fpe 357 magnum load and it was fairly easy to shoot, granted you wouldn't want to shoot it all day. If you are going to go with 357 magnum I would stick with a steal gun and not Ti.
 
While my experience with Cor-Bon Ammon in my M-640 do not mirror Bruce Banners' experience, I do agree that the .357 Mag snubbies are far mor powerful than the .38 SPL even from a 6" gun.

I find the recoil from Cor-Bon 125 gr. JHP and especially the 200 gr. LBT Flatpoint to be fierce, and unpleasant but managable. Then again Bruce was probably using the factory issued rubber grips. I too them off and replaced them with old J-frame wooden service grips long ago.

Terry,

Anyone who tells you that the .357 Mag from a 2 1/8" barrel has no advantage over the .37 SPL does not know what they are talking about.

My S&W M-640,with the Pact Pro Chronograph screens six feet from muzzle produceds the following results:

White Box Winchester 110 gr. JHP's average about 1215 fps

Federal Premium 125 gr. JHP's average 1207 fps

Cor-Bon 125 gr. JHP's 1260 fps

You will not find any factory .38 S&W SPL ammo that will produce numbers like that even from a 6" barrel.

Go with the .357 snubby and practice a lot. the controlability is differednt from the .38 snubby you are accustomed to shooting.

Doc
 
I was using the rubber grips that came on it when I shot the 357 mags. Like I said it's not what you would call a plinking gun when loaded with the magnums.
 
I have the Ruger SP-101 and really like it, although it is a little heavy for such a small gun. This however is an advantage when you are shooting a .357. I have fired over 100 full house .357s out of my '101 in one session and didn't think it was bad at all. There are some practical decisons to make with a gun like this. If you are carrying it, you want something as light as possible. But when you are shooting real .357s out of it, you want it to be as heavy as possible. You have to decide where your priorities lie. A gun is no good to you if it is lying at home (because it is too heavy to comfortably carry), it is also no good to you if you can't hit anything with it (because it is too painful to practice with). Which ever way you go, the .357 is tops for a defensive caliber.
Just to beat a dead horse some more, let's look at the .38 vs. .357 one more time. If a .357 produces more velocity than a .38 in an 8" barrel and in a 6" barrel and in a 4" barrel, why would this sudden go away on a shorter barrel ?
 
Ya know what I really want to hear about-bad? I want a range report of the new scandium snub J frames with full house .357. That will be interesting. It will take a brave man. Even with my 342Ti a 95 grain +P feels like the thing is exploding in your hand. I am going to start wearing shooting gloves for my next few range sessions. It is all I can do to muster 50-75 rounds or so per session.
 
It will take a brave man ? I am at your service. Send me one, and I will be happy to let you know how it performs.
 
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