snub .38 vs .357 vs .9mm etc

I get that there is more powder behind a 357, but with a shorter barrel, that powder doesn't have the opportunity to deliver the punch it could with a longer barrel (rifle cartridges shot via pistols being the prime example). As I understand it some rounds are manufactured with faster burning powder to work better with shorter barrels. All the same, they can really only make powder so "hot" and still safe, so at some point, as the barrel gets shorter, the larger cartridge must provide only diminishing and marginal returns with some of that powder not burning before the bullet exits the barrel and not contributing to the bullet's velocity...right? I was never trying to indicate a 9 mm has anywhere near the powder capacity of a 357, it doesn't, but as the barrel gets shorter, it stands to reason that the extra powder in a 357 delivers less punch...OR maybe the powder wizards have it worked out so that it does, I am still learning.
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All good points uradaisyifudo.

The cartridges themselves should never be up for debate, but what they are fired out of is definitely negotiable.
A two inch revolver is going to lose roughly 150 fps over a 4" revolver. To compensate and reduce muzzle flash I use a faster burning powder in my snub, but this will not increase velocity because the faster burning powder reaches the pressure ceiling with less powder (the pressure is more concentrated). There is no velocity increase but it does reduce muzzle flash, noise, and save money in wasted powder.

The advantage of a longer barrel with a slower burning powder is the pressure is less concentrated and distributed down the barrel. This allows for more powder which in turn increases velocity.

When I first started reloading this old guy took me out on this concrete slab with 5 different types of powder. He pored them out evenly in 5 rows about 10 feet long and lit them up. Just like you see in the cartoons ;). The faster shotgun powder reached the finish line far before the rifle powder.
 
A lot of these caliber wars talk fps, energy, etc. But they leave out bullet design. Look on YouTube TN outdoors does a lot of well done testing. If you notice Speer gold dots in 357 will clock in at 9mm +p ranges out of a three inch barrel. However, they expand to 0.75, whereas a 9mm is lucky to pull 0.6ish on the expansion. Revolvers are not restricted by bullet shape to feed like an automatic. The trade off is you get 1/3rd the capacity. That is why law enforcement has gone to automatics.
 
All of these post make me wonder if maybe my wife wasn't born a man (if she was her surgeon was incredible). She shoots her snubby .357 with a 125gr bullet at 1300fps all day long. And yet I keep seeing these male mammals post about how the 357 is too brutal in a snubby.
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My wife was so tickled by the sP-101 fireball that she would shoot all my 125 grain Federal Mag loads up, if I didn't hide some.
 
Don't forget about the psychological effect the blast, fire and sound the snubby 357 is going to have on the person being shot at.
 
Don't forget about the psychological effect the blast, fire and sound the snubby 357 is going to have on the person being shot at.
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Do you honestly feel that's true?

Once the trigger is pulled and the bullet is on it's way towards them, I don't really think a person cares about things like that.
 
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I dont know of psychological effects but im very sure of the overall effects that having 10-15 holes in the torso region can do to a persons psyche. :D
 
Yes. Barrel length matters as far as the velocity of the bullet is concerned. The longer the bullet is exposed to the expanding gases produced by the burning gun powder it's velocity increases. The moment it leaves the barrel it begins to slow down.

In short barrel firearms sometimes the powder does not have enough time to burn completely before the bullet exits the barrel and begins to slow. So the extra discharge produces extra recoil, noise and flame.

Many ammunition manufacturers produce 'short barrel' ammunition using proprietary powder mixtures specially designed for snubbies and the like.

Many people like 357Mag snubbies. I don't fault them, I'd certainly hate to be in front of one.

Fact is the recoil from a small 357Mag like an SP101 is brutal! And the SP101 is pure stainless steel and heavy for it's size.

Shot placement and quick follow-up shots are more important than caliber. Try firing 5 or 6 357s and then 5 or 6 38spl+Ps. You'll find that you'll get back on target and be able to fire your follow-up shots a lot quicker with the 38s. IMHO - three quick 38spls on target will trump 3 badly aimed 357s.

Shot placement if King,
Penetration is Queen,
And all the rest is, dust in the wind.
 
From a 1 7/8" S/W 640 145 STHP's crony 1250 FPS and 125 Winchester's Crony 1350 FPS.

You will find more variation from barrel to barrel tan you will with a shorter barrel.
 
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