Is .357 Magnum Good for CCW?

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WheelGunRealGun

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I'm considering a 4" GP100 for ccw, loaded with Winchester Silvertip 145 grn ammo or federal 125grn .357 Magnum.


Disregarding weight, would this be a good CCW? What about Home Defense?

Can't .357 Magnum indoors without hearing protection can be disorienting and make hitting your target even harder? (This is my main concern)

I know .38 Special can be shot out of it but that defeats the purpose for me.
 
Great manstopper. However, for HD...... loud, bright flash, recoil, overpenetration in home and close community. For CCW, I find most heavy to carry daily concealed except for the small lightweights and these are awful to shoot IMHO. In a revolver, for social work, I prefer the .44 Special. I save the .357 for the woods. But I know a lot of people who use the 357 for carry and HD, just depends on what you like and can tolerate.
 
I would recommend a high cap 9mm. In the house at short range a 9mm will be more than effective. Plus you have a lot more rounds before having to reload if necessary.
 
I would bet the majority of people who own .357's practice with and load .38's for home defense (and i am one of them). Any round fired indoors will be loud, but the .357 is FAR more disorienting than a .38 is. The flash and boom are brutal, not to mention over penetration concerns. And a GP is HEAVY. I couldn't imagine carrying it all day, let alone concealed.
 
Why not consider an sp101? Then you can carry it in a pocket holster. It's massive enough to tame the recoil.
 
Can't .357 Magnum indoors without hearing protection can be disorienting and make hitting your target even harder? (This is my main concern)
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The GP would make a great HD gun. I don't believe that you would suffer any type of disorientation shooting a .357 indoors during a SD situation. It is loud but so is any handgun shot indoors.

As far as a CCW gun, you can do it, but it is pretty big and would require you to dress around it. A good leather gun belt and holster is mandatory. I'd also suggest that at some point, you'd get tired of carrying such a large and thick gun. I'd suggest a smaller gun like the Ruger SP101 or one of the various S&W snubs.
 
That gun is a great HD or CCW. You might consider having the hammer spur removed to avoid poking yourself.

Also, be sure to train double action only.

Train to reload, but frankly as civies, I think it is fair to assume we are fighting 1-2 aggressors. Speed loaders.

I think the noise factor is about the same between all viable gun choices. Your fear/ adrenalin will close off your ear canal like ear plugs!

Last, IMO, it is best to avoid super small ccw's until you really have stroking the trigger and the recoil stroke nailed with bigger guns.
 
I carry a SP101 loaded with 38 spcl+P JHP. I can't say enough good things about the gun. 357 is stout but the gun is heavy enough it is manageable. I have the 3.06'' barrel on mine. you really can't go wrong with this gun.
 
Disregarding weight, would this be a good CCW?
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Well... Yeah... But ya' can't disregard weight.

For me, light weight in a carry gun is HIGHLY important. That gun is too big for me to carry for more than a half hour.
 
.38spl +P 125grain is more than sufficiant for self defence. I prefer .357 mag for hunting wild bore, and small dear.
 
I think that the revolver would be a good choice for self defense and concealed carry (provided your wardrobe allows for it). I would find a lower flash/lower recoil .357 than the ones you mentioned. I have never had to fire a .357 indoors without hearing protection so I can't give an experienced opinion. However, my instincts tell me that it is not as big a deal as some may think, particularly with the low flash variant. After all, many police officers carried the cartridge for many years and I am assuming quite a few had to shoot indoors in deadly force situations. I have a buddy who was training a rookie who for some unexplicable reason accidentally cranked off a .357 round in an elevator while they were transporting a prisoner :eek:. He said that he couldn't hear for a couple of hours and had ringing in his ears for a couple of days but it had no long term effects. He quickly took control of the situation inside the elevator by having the rookie reholster.
 
Keep hearing protection on the bedpost regardless of gun you use.

Why not go with a gun in 9x19mm if you're going to go with 38 Special? Otherwise, it's just a low capacity 9mm -P- :)

Speer Gold Dot 124 grain JHPs clocked at 1150-75 FPS from a Glock 19. Speer #13 shows 38 Special 125 grain JHP +P maxing out at 1098 FPS from a gun with 6" barrel. 357 Magnum cranks velocity up to max 1443 FPS (6" barrel). If you are going to use a full sized revolver, either go big bore or 357 Magnum. Why not go with an S&W N-Frame in 45 ACP, 45 Colt or 44 Magnum (loaded with 44 Specials or 44 Magnum @1000ish FPS)?

Are there other concerns such as arm strength or arthritis that prevent operating a semi-automatic pistol in the conventional fashion?
 
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CCW for what? Bears, in the subway?

For me a GP100 4" would be to big, but I like to pocket carry either SP101 with .357hp of what ever, or my prefered CCW, my S&W 638 with .38 +Ps.

Some said 9mm which would be a little more power than a .38spl +P.
 
personally .357 has been my round of choice for years and i know everyone seems to have one. my friend is a .45 guy and ill admit that mine will sail straight through if the right bullets arent used and hell admit that his wont reach out as far (which doesnt matter id a sd situation try defending shooting someone at distance in court) his gun only holds 1 more round than mine and 2 more than my carry piece i dont think thats a great advantage.for the house id rather have the .45 but i dont so i just load real heavy .357swchp for that.
 
The GP100 might be a bit much to carry, but it depends on how you chose to carry...

In the winter I use a CC jacket and even my 45oz Ruger Super Blackhawk is comfortable, easy to carry, and doesn't print. I don't actually carry it that often because I have other guns that I bought for carry, but when I do the weight and size are not a problem at all.

In the summer I use either a messenger bag or a "Murse", both with dedicated CC pockets in them. The blackhawk doesn't fit in the Murse, but it does fit in the messenger bag. The size and bulk are not a problem still with my Blackhawk in the messenger bag, but the weight can be a little annoying at times since it is all on one shoulder. However, that is usually only when I put a lot of other stuff in the bag. Also, if it weighed 5oz less, like the GP100 does, and I only carried 6 rounds of reloads, then it would only be a couple oz more than what I usually carry in that bag. That would make it acceptable.
 
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