Thoughts on lightweight 357mag

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detructo4130

New member
I plan on purchasing first revolver within the next two weeks. What i want is a 2" or snub-nose 357mag. Doesnt matter how many rounds it holds. I will mainly be shooting 38specials out of it. You know just the occasional 357 for fun and thats what ill keep in it for hd and sd. i currently carry a full size 9mm. just wondering what peoples thoughts were on recoil compared to any other caliber in a semi-auto. I have shot all of the run of the mill calibers , 9mm,380acp,40s&w,45acp
 
The lightweight .357 mag snubs aren't much fun to shoot with magnum ammo. Being that this is your first revolver may I suggest a steel medium frame model with a 4 inch barrel. They will be a lot easier to shoot as none of the calibers you have already shot compares to the recoil of a .357 magnum.
 
.38 spl ammo is fine in any .357 mag revolver no matter what it's weight. It's just the full power .357 mag loads in the lightweight snub models that turns them into little beasts. Try to find someone at the range with one and see if they will let you fire a couple of rounds thru one. It will be an eye opener.
 
Well my friend bought one of the scandium PD models in .357 mag - paid somewhere around $525 for it.

I bought a 637 in .38spl for around $325.

We shoot at the range together.....we each shot a cylinder full of .357 mag out of his gun - thats the only .357 ever fired out of it. He carries it with .38, shoots it with .38s. Seems like the $200 difference wasnt worth it to shoot 10 rounds of .357 mag.

Point is its HARSH. I say shoot one first, if your not going to enjoy shooting .357 out if it then why buy one, pick up the .38spl and save some money.
 
I agree with everyone else who has posted.

Either get a medium steel frame with a four inch barrel or get a steel framed 2-3 inch model.

In my area you can get k-frame smith's for not too hefty a price due to their discontinuation. I had a Ruger GP-100 and I really enjoyed the gun, if you are looking for a tank, it will do the job fine.

For a snubby I would go for a either a smith 640 or 60 depending on what kind of shooting or concealment you want to achieve. Also, Ruger SP-101s are very nice for the money.

If it's just going to be a range gun, I would go with a 4" barrel.

Have fun and enjoy.
 
point of aim will change a lot on a small 357, when switching between 38's and full bore 357 mags too, If you want light just get an airweight smith in 38 special(they are bad enough) or do like the post above and get a steel k or l frame (medium)
 
I've got a Taurus 605 snubby.

I think it's fun to shoot .357 out of occasionally. Especially at an indoor range or just as the sun is going down but before it goes dark. A great fireworks display.

I've found I can fire it pretty accurately with .357, BUT my shots are necessarily slow because the gun is WAY off target after each shot -- a lot of recovery time. And it's hard not to anticipate the recoil, but that's the case with any hard hitting pistol. You've just got to not think about it.

I'm a pretty big guy, and while I wouldn't want to shoot .357 out of the snubby all day, a cylinder or two is a lot of fun.

Mostly I just keep .38 +p in it when using it as a CCW. I load .357 in it when I go into the mountains.

That said ... unless you're going to use it for a CCW, why not get a 4" like has been suggested? My 4" is much more fun to shoot with .357. In fact, it's also more fun to shoot with .38 and will drive tacks (when I'm having a good day, anyway).
 
well i will be using it as a ccw peice too i should have included that in the original post i will also take it into the woods to protect myself.
 
Then I think a .357 snubby is a good choice. Easy to conceal, and you can carry .38 +p around town and .357 up in the mountains. I figure the .357 is going to give me a little more power in the unlikely even a 4 legged predator appears and will certainly do the job on a 2 legged predator (much more common anywhere in the world).

As many will point out (and I haven't done the testing myself) with a 2" barrel you only get a limited benefit from .357. And a 3" barrel might not be that much harder to conceal than a 2" barrel. Couldn't say because I don't own a 3", just a full sized 4".

But I figure there's still some return, and that snubby conceals better than my similar sized auto.
 
If your not going to put allot of heavy .357 loads through your snubby, I recommend a M66 'K' frame. It carries well and is nice for HD. It does kick a little! I'm putting on larger wood grips later this week.
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If you want something smoother this one may be too heavy for carry, but it's a great shootin iron!
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Detructo,

Speer is coming out this month (October 2005) with a new round designed for short barreled .357 revolvers. It consists of a 135 gr. Gold Dot bullet at an advertised velocity of 1050 fps from a 2 inch barrel. Currently they produce a +P 135 gr. Gold Dot load for the .38 Special snubby which is an increasingly popular carry load. I am looking forward to the new .357 round and plan on using it in my recently acquired S&W M66 2.5 inch.

Point is — the new .357 round just might be the ticket for a light weight .357 and a good compromise for full house .357 loads. If you want a light .357 snubby, I say go for it.

If you reload you will love matching loads to the gun. My favorite .357 Magnum mid-load is a 125 gr. Remington SJHP at 1182 fps in my 4 inch S&W M19. It's about 200 fps slower than factory .357's and about 200 fps faster than the .38 Special, in 4 inch guns.
 
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I just stopped after work and the gun shop had a used ruger sp101 357 snubby for 337 that sounds like a good price right. its not quiite a lightweight but it seems pretty nice
 
I just stopped after work and the gun shop had a used ruger sp101 357 snubby for 337 that sounds like a good price right. its not quiite a lightweight but it seems pretty nice
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Not real light, but very compact and the extra weight means .357's are so nasty to shoot. It's almost like a K-frame S&W. Strong enought for a steady diet of hot loads if you so choose.

I've seen new ones for about $370.
 
A lightweight .357 is IMHO not the best idea. Firing .38's in a .357 chamber robs them of velocity which is fine at the range but not what I want in a fight. Besides recoil, .357's are known to jump crimp in lightweight revolvers and bind up the cylinder which is never a good thing. If you want a lightweight get a .38 and if you want a .357 get a steel frame.
 
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