I can definitively write from a perspective of experience that a 4" 586 is a heavy weapon. However, its weight adds insufficient ballast necessary to mitigate recoil. A bipedal self-defense handgun's recoil must never jerk its muzzle off a threat. A tactical handgun's recoil will never jerk a good guy's handgun's muzzle off a threat.
The .357 Mag is quintessential diminishing returns. Added velocity above threshold necessary for penetration and prayed for expansion offers no benefit.
Advertised .357 Mag velocities were achieved using handguns with 8.375" barrels, and even with massively long and tactically useless barrels, velocities were exaggerated.
Out of a 4" 586, the best I could manage was ~1250 FPS with 158 grain factory rounds and hand loads. I'd never use a lighter bullet for self-defense. It's all about momentum sufficient to cause necessary penetration.
To achieve anywhere close to advertised .357 Mag velocities, slow burning powder is necessary, and, of course, a very long barrel. When exaggerated velocity rounds are fired from more convenient 4" barreled revolvers, velocities are pedestrian. That's because slow burning powder require excessively long barrels to maximize use of gas created by slow burning powders. Reduce barrel lengths to 2.5", and a .357 Mag is indistinguishable from the FBI load. Slow burning powder is not efficient with short barrels.
A double action revolver has more moving parts than a semi. When a revolver malfunctions, a good guy would be holding a throwing object. In very rare instances in which a semi malfunctions (I cannot recall ever witnessing any good quality semi malfunction, and I'd bet that I've seen more semis on firing lines than most shooters will see in their lifetimes.), they're almost always cleared within a second or two, and a good guy is back in the fight. A semi is simplistic in operation compared to double action revolvers, and it has less moving parts.
Besides unwieldy recoil, muzzle flash of .357 Mag could blind astronauts in orbit, which means it'll destroy a good guy's night vision, which is always bad when a bad guy wants a good guy deep sixed.
The .357 Mag's report is loud...deafening and disorienting loud. Try firing a 4" .357 Mag in an enclosed room. You'll do a Three Stooges Curly routine. Couple night-vision-destroying muzzle flash with the .357's disorienting muzzle blast, and a good guy is severely tactically disadvantaged.
Using a speed loader, a hand shift is required to reload six more rounds in a revolver. Worse, a good guy has to take his eyes off of a threat to reload. This is a potentially fatal flaw of revolvers, that and he's loading only six more rounds. If a good guy is trying to speed loader his revolver in darkness, he had better be praying. If he drops his speed loader, he’ll be holding a throwing weapon. The FACT is a semi is far easier to reload far more rounds, a good guy can keep his eye on a threat while reloading, and a semi is easily reloaded at night.
A revolver is a potentially fatal disadvantage were there more than one bag guy. It's a very wise idea to hold the belief that should a good guy confront a bad guy, he'll have his buddies around, possibly right behind a good guy.
Comparing a .357 Mag double action revolver to a semi is like comparing an ocean liner with a DC-8, the latter putting the former out of business. There's a reason why the HMS Queen Mary has been locked and docked at Long Beach since 1967. Technology put passenger ships out of business. Semis put revolvers outta the cop business.
Not one of these FACTS will dissuade shooters who have bought in to .357 Mag mysticism. The three most difficult words for people to say are, "I was wrong."
I have no emotional adversity to the .357 Mag. I own one. It excels as a trail gun. If an arrow flying ~300 FPS will kill North America's largest game, a 180 grain .357 Mag bullet, cast or Partition, will do a much better job. However, big game doesn't shoot back.
If I were restricted to one handgun, it'd be a .357 Mag. It's an extremely versatile cartridge. Were I in a war zone with enemy soldiers or urban bad guys trying to kill me, I'd want a battle rifle. And that brings us to another contested point. We have to examine causes of the US military transitioning to the 9MM. The 1911-A1 .45 ACP was designed to be an offensive battle handgun. It that role, it hasn't been surpassed, nor will it ever be. For the most part, except for highly specialized operations, technology has obviated battle handguns. Until magazine fed battle rifles were introduced, it took more than a few life-threatening seconds to reload 8 more rounds into a Garand. Modern technology has accorded our soldiers ability to reload 30 more rounds inside a couple seconds. I'd much rather reach for another battle rifle mag than any handgun. In fact, I'd rather carry more mags for my battle rifle than any handgun. Hence, technology, for the most part, has caused battle handguns to become obsolete.
Many shooters have incorrectly imputed illusory efficacy to the 9MM because the US military has adopted it. If they understood parameters the military was working within when change was approved, they'd recognize the fallacy of that assumption. The world's best bullet would never cause 9MM parity with the unequaled .45 ACP.
Self-defense is very personal. A person has to go the route that's right for him. If a revolver is his best option, that's the route he oughta travel. However, serious synapses misfires occur when shooters attempt to foist their very wrong opinions that a 6-shot revolver of any cartridge chambering is superior to a standard capacity (16 rounds) 9MM semi handgun. It is an illogical and unreasonable opinion.
While it might seem that I'd advancing attributes of the 9MM as a cartridge over the .357 Mag as a cartridge, let me assure you that I am not. I own no 9MM handguns. I am not a fan of the 9MM. If I carry a handgun, it's a P239 .40 S&W loaded with 180 grain Fed HST tactical rounds. I'd prefer a full-size 1911-A1 with 9 230 grain rounds, and I wouldn't care if they were ball. But that’s a big and heavy handgun, albeit easy to conceal. I'm looking at this objectively (factually), not emotionally. From experience, those who believe .357 Mag myths do so emotionally as opposed to intellectually.
I wish you all long, healthy lives. I pray that all of you are able to avoid gunfights, for a gunfight means a bad guy wants you deep sixed. My primary rule of gun fighting is avoidance. If I can avoid a gunfight, I won't have to worry whether my last breath is imminent. And I hope that all of you choose handguns that are perfect for you, and that you don't become ensnared in traps of buying handguns that are perfect for those trying to get you to buy their favorite handguns. What's right for one recommending might be all wrong for you.
The .357 Mag is quintessential diminishing returns. Added velocity above threshold necessary for penetration and prayed for expansion offers no benefit.
Advertised .357 Mag velocities were achieved using handguns with 8.375" barrels, and even with massively long and tactically useless barrels, velocities were exaggerated.
Out of a 4" 586, the best I could manage was ~1250 FPS with 158 grain factory rounds and hand loads. I'd never use a lighter bullet for self-defense. It's all about momentum sufficient to cause necessary penetration.
To achieve anywhere close to advertised .357 Mag velocities, slow burning powder is necessary, and, of course, a very long barrel. When exaggerated velocity rounds are fired from more convenient 4" barreled revolvers, velocities are pedestrian. That's because slow burning powder require excessively long barrels to maximize use of gas created by slow burning powders. Reduce barrel lengths to 2.5", and a .357 Mag is indistinguishable from the FBI load. Slow burning powder is not efficient with short barrels.
A double action revolver has more moving parts than a semi. When a revolver malfunctions, a good guy would be holding a throwing object. In very rare instances in which a semi malfunctions (I cannot recall ever witnessing any good quality semi malfunction, and I'd bet that I've seen more semis on firing lines than most shooters will see in their lifetimes.), they're almost always cleared within a second or two, and a good guy is back in the fight. A semi is simplistic in operation compared to double action revolvers, and it has less moving parts.
Besides unwieldy recoil, muzzle flash of .357 Mag could blind astronauts in orbit, which means it'll destroy a good guy's night vision, which is always bad when a bad guy wants a good guy deep sixed.
The .357 Mag's report is loud...deafening and disorienting loud. Try firing a 4" .357 Mag in an enclosed room. You'll do a Three Stooges Curly routine. Couple night-vision-destroying muzzle flash with the .357's disorienting muzzle blast, and a good guy is severely tactically disadvantaged.
Using a speed loader, a hand shift is required to reload six more rounds in a revolver. Worse, a good guy has to take his eyes off of a threat to reload. This is a potentially fatal flaw of revolvers, that and he's loading only six more rounds. If a good guy is trying to speed loader his revolver in darkness, he had better be praying. If he drops his speed loader, he’ll be holding a throwing weapon. The FACT is a semi is far easier to reload far more rounds, a good guy can keep his eye on a threat while reloading, and a semi is easily reloaded at night.
A revolver is a potentially fatal disadvantage were there more than one bag guy. It's a very wise idea to hold the belief that should a good guy confront a bad guy, he'll have his buddies around, possibly right behind a good guy.
Comparing a .357 Mag double action revolver to a semi is like comparing an ocean liner with a DC-8, the latter putting the former out of business. There's a reason why the HMS Queen Mary has been locked and docked at Long Beach since 1967. Technology put passenger ships out of business. Semis put revolvers outta the cop business.
Not one of these FACTS will dissuade shooters who have bought in to .357 Mag mysticism. The three most difficult words for people to say are, "I was wrong."
I have no emotional adversity to the .357 Mag. I own one. It excels as a trail gun. If an arrow flying ~300 FPS will kill North America's largest game, a 180 grain .357 Mag bullet, cast or Partition, will do a much better job. However, big game doesn't shoot back.
If I were restricted to one handgun, it'd be a .357 Mag. It's an extremely versatile cartridge. Were I in a war zone with enemy soldiers or urban bad guys trying to kill me, I'd want a battle rifle. And that brings us to another contested point. We have to examine causes of the US military transitioning to the 9MM. The 1911-A1 .45 ACP was designed to be an offensive battle handgun. It that role, it hasn't been surpassed, nor will it ever be. For the most part, except for highly specialized operations, technology has obviated battle handguns. Until magazine fed battle rifles were introduced, it took more than a few life-threatening seconds to reload 8 more rounds into a Garand. Modern technology has accorded our soldiers ability to reload 30 more rounds inside a couple seconds. I'd much rather reach for another battle rifle mag than any handgun. In fact, I'd rather carry more mags for my battle rifle than any handgun. Hence, technology, for the most part, has caused battle handguns to become obsolete.
Many shooters have incorrectly imputed illusory efficacy to the 9MM because the US military has adopted it. If they understood parameters the military was working within when change was approved, they'd recognize the fallacy of that assumption. The world's best bullet would never cause 9MM parity with the unequaled .45 ACP.
Self-defense is very personal. A person has to go the route that's right for him. If a revolver is his best option, that's the route he oughta travel. However, serious synapses misfires occur when shooters attempt to foist their very wrong opinions that a 6-shot revolver of any cartridge chambering is superior to a standard capacity (16 rounds) 9MM semi handgun. It is an illogical and unreasonable opinion.
While it might seem that I'd advancing attributes of the 9MM as a cartridge over the .357 Mag as a cartridge, let me assure you that I am not. I own no 9MM handguns. I am not a fan of the 9MM. If I carry a handgun, it's a P239 .40 S&W loaded with 180 grain Fed HST tactical rounds. I'd prefer a full-size 1911-A1 with 9 230 grain rounds, and I wouldn't care if they were ball. But that’s a big and heavy handgun, albeit easy to conceal. I'm looking at this objectively (factually), not emotionally. From experience, those who believe .357 Mag myths do so emotionally as opposed to intellectually.
I wish you all long, healthy lives. I pray that all of you are able to avoid gunfights, for a gunfight means a bad guy wants you deep sixed. My primary rule of gun fighting is avoidance. If I can avoid a gunfight, I won't have to worry whether my last breath is imminent. And I hope that all of you choose handguns that are perfect for you, and that you don't become ensnared in traps of buying handguns that are perfect for those trying to get you to buy their favorite handguns. What's right for one recommending might be all wrong for you.