For perspective, I
LOVE 3" revolvers including the SP, and I love 357 Magnum as well
I've been shooting both for 50+ years including as LEO back in the stone age
158gr 357 Magnum out of a 3" SP101 is
not fun
It will promptly grab your attention and I find most folks are done after the first box
If not then their practice suffers as they try to push through another
But the reality is that there really isn't a need to run 357
38 Special is perfectly fine for self defense and a great match for a 3" SP
Yes I know the tuff guy crowd will start bleating about how you
"have" to use 357... that 38 is for
"the ladies"
It's utter BS
38 Special is actually fun to shoot out of a 3" and you'll want to practice more
It's also (normally) much cheaper than 357 Magnum
38 is also cheap and easy to reload with less than $50 bucks worth of equipment
Either way the 3" SP101 is a fine gun