38Spl Semi-Wads for self defense?

Gotta weigh-in on this one......

To practice with .38 ammo and carry .357 mag ammo, to me, is risky.

One of my maxims is: PRACTICE WITH WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE CARRYING DAY-IN-AND-DAY OUT

If I'm carrying a .357 mag loaded with .357 ammo, you can bet your life that I'm not going to be practicing with .38 spcl anything!
.357 mag ammo is not that much more expensive to practice with and with practice, you will get very proficient with it.

I think I'm on the right side of this; your comments are always welcome.
 
Have to agree with 22lovr. Practice with the same ammo you intend to shoot with. I shoot both .38 spl and .357 mag. pistols, and whatever round I practice with is the round I load them with. Different cartridges will shoot differently. the last thing in the world you want in a self-defense scenario is to be trying to remember whether this ammo shoots higher or lower than what you practiced with.
A similar scenario happened once to me while deer-hunting years ago,(not exactly the same level as self-defense, but it is similar in that you have just a couple of seconds to make a shot and decide where to aim at, adrenaline racing and the gun getting heavy. You need to know and then know-that-you-know exactly where that bullet is going to go when you pull the trigger so that the whole thing is an instinctive reaction. (my dad had 2 scoped rifles, one shot low and to the right, the other shot high and to the left, both sighted for 100 yds. Surprised 3 deer in a field at 150 yds. and couldn't remember whether the rifle I had shot low or high. I ended up kicking dirt on the deer's hooves)
Of course in a self-defense scenario the pressure is really on you
because a mistake could cost you your life.
 
Well now, let's see............PRACTICE WITH WHAT YOU CARRY! That DOES go against the advice of Keith, Jordan, Adkins, et all, who said that in the SHTF phase of life you will never feel the recoil OR hear the noise. That advice was the result of suit's against cities and LEO's. Practice with LIGHT loads and get confidence in your ability. If the distance is such that point of impact will vary, consider another course of action.
 
I grew up hunting birds and small game with a side-by-side 12 ga. While actually shooting game I never noticed the noise and recoil. However, you'll never catch me pleasure shooting a 12 ga shotgun.
 
First, I believe in carrying what you practice with, it just makes sense. Second, I would love to practice with 357's, and so I went to look at grips today, and the local store didn't have any, so I'll order one.

And the hole "if you can't handle it, practice and you will". That is BS... the webbing on my hand will only handle so much, and no amount of practice will change that...

I can get use to the recoil, but if it's ripping my hand, then not much I can do...

Thanks for all the advice though, but I think from what I am reading, 38's are fine, but I want to see if I can step up to 357's consistantly... Hopefully a grip change will help.
 
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