Cousin Pat
New member
Take a full power 357Mag (say 125@1450) vs 38Spec target load (say 158@770) -- 4-6" revolver -- 15 yards --- slow fire: In your experience, how much higher, if any, will the 357 bullets cluster vs the 38Spec?
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point of impact - 357 vs 38 Spec
- Thread starter Cousin Pat
- Start date
None. The .357 will print lower. POI in revolvers is mostly tied to bullet weight. This is due to the bore being above the grip. Recoil causes the gun to pivot and so bullets leave the muzzle at a greater "Up" angle the heavier the bullet. While the125 grain .357 will certainly recoil more than the 158 .38 it is traveling fasteraand the bullet gets away from the muzzle earlier in its recoil pivot. Generally same weight bullets tend to group veryu close regardless of velocity. Heavy generally hits higher than light
None. The .357 will print lower. POI in revolvers is mostly tied to bullet weight. This is due to the bore being above the grip. Recoil causes the gun to pivot and so bullets leave the muzzle at a greater "Up" angle the heavier the bullet. While the125 grain .357 will certainly recoil more than the 158 .38 it is traveling fasteraand the bullet gets away from the muzzle earlier in its recoil pivot. Generally same weight bullets tend to group veryu close regardless of velocity. Heavy generally hits higher than light
You just answered a question ive been having.
Long story short,my dads gun has been shooting low.My cousin who knows his guns and bows to an extreme said he would have his smith look at the gun.He brought the gun back to my dad and suggested he could change the sights,lower the front sight or "use heavier grain bullets".
The sights info i understood,but the heavier grain bullets sounded backwards,or just useless at best.
But the way you explain it,it makes sense now.
I was kinda leary of ever sending a gun to that smith if i needed his work,but now he sounds a lot more knowledgeable than required by me.
I use the same Lvman 358477 cast SWC in both 38s and 357 loads. Out of both my Model 28 and Model 27 Smiths.
At 15 years they impact the same place. Its not until you get out paste 25 yards do I see a differance.
I believe at the closer range, its the bullet weight instead of velocity that makes the differance, based on my 40 years shooting the 38/357.
This also works in my 642 pocket gun. I use a 148 Grn full WC for practice and the above SWC for carry. I load 3 grns of 231 for the 148 grn, and 4.5 grns of 231 for the SWC. At normal snub nose pocket pistol range, I cant see the differance in impact, high or low.
At 15 years they impact the same place. Its not until you get out paste 25 yards do I see a differance.
I believe at the closer range, its the bullet weight instead of velocity that makes the differance, based on my 40 years shooting the 38/357.
This also works in my 642 pocket gun. I use a 148 Grn full WC for practice and the above SWC for carry. I load 3 grns of 231 for the 148 grn, and 4.5 grns of 231 for the SWC. At normal snub nose pocket pistol range, I cant see the differance in impact, high or low.