Newbie tried to school me on the .357 mag vs .45acp

you may have been being sarcastic and i didn't catch it, but i wouldn't consider 100 grains weight difference and 600 fps speed difference little lol.
 
If you are shot in the head with a .45 your chances of survival are close to zero.

If you are shot in the head with a .357 your chances of survival are close to zero.

Caliber wars are stupid, and so is your guy from work.
 
Both.

The only major concern I have is my house being too full. I have 4 pets [one is 'mine'] 2 teen/young-adult kids, a 'daughter-in-law' and granddaughter and my wife living in my house.

So, I decided to do some research and choose my home defense loads to reduce the prospect of over-penetration, as I don't want to hit someone in another room if I can help it.

I was also advised to avoid full-power .357mag loads for Home Defense if I valued my hearing.

So, I have +P .38spcl and standard p .45acp loads I use for home defense [no, not in the same gun, obviously].

Both guns will do it for you.

That said, I like the semi-auto platform better, so I have more .45s.

On the other hand, I was thinking of picking up a .357mag in a 4" barrel soon, as my 6" barreled GP100 is a tad large for the home.

As I said: both are great rounds.
 
A .45 won't overpenetrate? Have you thought about .45 ball ammo--the quintessential 230 grain FMJ? It's almost guaranteed to go all the way through.

The .357--in the 125 grain JHP loading--is the benchmark for "stopping power"--even though the savvy pistoleer knows that the real objective is creating hydrostatic shock, and the biggest wound channel possible.

As far as effectiveness, I guarantee that the .45 Gold Dot (230 grain), Golden Saber (230 grain), Hydra-Shok (also, 230 grain) or SXT (230 grain) will ruin a bad guy's day.

Moreover, unless you have Popeye forearms or are shooting a REALLY heavy revolver (the Smith M27 comes to mind), the .45 is much more controllable than the full-snort .357 rounds.

The .357 also has an earsplitting CRACK when fired, and can be VERY disorienting when fired indoors.

As far as the .45 being a poor caliber, tell that to the folks who packed the old .45 Colt loading--250 grain bullet at about 800 fps--which the .45 ACP in current loadings beats.

Both the 230 grain Gold Dot and the 230 grain Hydra Shok break 900 fps from a 1911 pistol.

Slow and heavy is a great combination. My .45-120 Sharps will barely reach 1700 fps with 120 grains of Goex 1F or Swiss 1 1/2F powder--but it's pushing a 500 grain lead bullet. This rifle can anchor a full grown buffalo with a single, well placed shot.
 
i disagree powder man. i am a pretty small for a dude, 140 lbs 5'9", and i have no problem handling hot and heavy .357 loads. i shoot out of a medium framed 2" and a 3 inch sp 101 and the recoil/flash/noise never bothered me. in fact the first gun i ever shot was a .357, putting .38's through it to get familiar, about 25 shots into the session i shot some 158 grain .357's. didn't bother me at all. to be honest i find it as controllable as any of the .45's i have shot.
 
IMO both are excellent choices but I have to give my personal nod to the .45 because of the fact is is subsonic and is slightly less likely to leave me deaf if I have to shoot without hearing protection. I regularly bring a .357 loaded with 38+P ammo with me on outdoor adventures, and have a full size .45 acp at home...
 
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A while back I had a Taurus 608, an 8-shot .357. This revolver was ported and made recoil less than that of my current 1911. Making follow up shots nice and easy. If we're strictly talking about concealable revolvers, well then recoil can be an issue.
 
My vote is...both:)

I carry a big ol' .357 for camping and woods carry sometimes. It has plenty of oomph to stop a threat, and outdoors I'm not QUITE as likely to lose my hearing from the report.

Day to day, if I'm carrying an auto it's a plain jane unsexy Glock 36. It's small, reliable, light, and didn't cost a fortune. I usually run 230 ball ammo through it because it's cost effective and I like to carry what I shoot, and I feel perfectly fine with that. It is also my HD first response gun to use to check out a bump in the night or fight my way to the 870.

Now, the beloved hypothetical, if all you could ever carry with you day to day as your only handgun that would be responsible for feeding and protecting you, what would you carry? For me, that would be the .357. It'll eat pretty much all varieties of .38 and .357, it's in a reliable format, and there are no magazines to lose.

..but for non-fantasy real world protection, I'll stick with my .45 when I'm in the urban jungle.
 
Helter, I dont know about you, but I typically dont practice shooting indoors, at night, with no ear protection.

Thats what he is talking about.
 
Yep, lots of jaw flappin' going on.
Either is a good choice, although has been said, if using for home defense, the .357 is a bit more daunting in terms of noise and flash.

even though the savvy pistoleer knows that the real objective is creating hydrostatic shock
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Most everything I have read says that hydrostatic shock is a non-issue for handgun rounds, and any round below 2000-2500 fps.
 
This debate truely doesnt matter. At what point in time did the power of a .357 come into question?? At one point, the .357 was the big boy in town and got that respect. Now, there are lots of calibers that are physically and ballistically bigger, but that doesnt change the fact that the 357 is still a very (some may consider to) powerful for soft targets.

Just because we now have larger calibers to compare the 357 to, doesnt mean that the stopping power of that cartridge changed. I think we are getting caught up in the bigger is better debate.

Th 45 is a great defensive round also. I like the 357 because my Smith j-frame is small and compact. I have yet to find a 45 that is as small and concealable.

Bottom line, you DONT want to be on the recieving end of either the 357 or the 45. In fact, you dont want to be on the recieving end of anything. They all have the potential to end life. Practice and shot placement is more important than caliber. A larger caliber will NOT increase your change of success if you do not practice.

-George
 
1911 with Rem. 230hp for home defense. 357 sp101 with 125 Barnes XPB for carry. I feel very comfortable with both in my hand.
 
I own both carry the .45 ACP. The .357 is a Colt Python 4 inch with the wonderful flawless Royal Blue finish so I will not subject it to holster wear. If I had a .357 mag I was not worried about the finsh on I would carry it if need be.
 
i have no problem handling hot and heavy .357 loads. i shoot out of a medium framed 2" and a 3 inch ...
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Even though the Ruger is a good gun and plenty rugged, IMHO, no medium frame .357 will handle really hot and heavy loads. Neither will some carbines or single shots. I know this from personal experience. You may think they are hot and heavy loads, but in relaity they are just "warm", compared to what the .357 can do in the right gun.

I have a 125gr load that clocks 1670fps from a 6" S&W Model 28. You cannot safely shoot this in a K frame gun or smaller. Shooting it in the Marlin carbine and T/C Contender means extraction trouble. But out of my M28 or Ruger Blackhawk, it works fine and extracts normally.

Original 1935 .357 Mag ammo was loaded much hotter than anything you can buy today. It will not work well in small light guns. The original .357 was a 158 SWC @ 1550fps from an 8 3/8" barrel. Smith N frames can take that today, and a couple of others can as well, but the vast majority of .357 chambered guns cannot.

The .45 is a great caliber, and does the job of defense as well as anything can. THere are no magic bullets, and "one shot stops" are distorted data, useful for general comparison, but little else.

Since both rounds are more than adequate, it becomes a question of which platform you prefer, and there are many to choose from. Enjoy each, for what it is, and what it isn't!
 
Urination distance competitions concerning stopping power are wonderful for theoretical discussions. But, dang, after a certain point, things can get silly.
".357 vs. .45 acp, hmm. Well golly, if they aren't up to it, maybe I need to step up to a .88 mag, that ought to do it. They shoot through schools." :D
 
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