Which .357mag for wife?

W

Warm Bore

New member
Hello all,

I'm looking for a good .357 Magnum revolver for the wife to use as a home defense gun. I'm currently looking at three guns... the Taurus 608, Taurus 627 Tracker, and the Smith & Wesson 686 Plus. I personally like the Smith since it fits my hand like a glove but my wife prefers the Taurus Tracker. Her smallish hands likes the smallish grip. Ultimately we will rent the top two picks and she will shoot them side-by-side and pick the one she wants. My question... Are there other makes/models we've missed? Or are the three mentioned above satisfactory? They seem to be quality builds.

Thanks,

Warm Bore
 
I like your approach and your choices. If it is something she likes, she will like to shoot it. If she shoots it she will become more proficient with it.

I would add to the trial mix an older Smith 19, my choice would be early short lug 4". Smooth action, heavy enough to shoot all day, long enough sight radius for target work yet short enough to carry.

Sam...if it isn't broke yet, let me play with it.
 
I'll second that if it's her gun, the one that fits her best should be the right one. The tracker is ported as well, right? Might make it a little easier with the magnums unless she is experienced with the recoil. Rugers are good as well.

If you have the luxury, I would rent as many as possible. If it's at the same firing range, all you would need to do is pay the extra $10 or $15 for an extra rental - a small price to pay in search of a good HD gun.
 
Allow me to quote myself...

"she will shoot them side-by-side and pick the one she wants"

It WILL be her choice. Thought I'd made that clear. Oh well. I just wanted to make sure we had selected a few decent rev's to try out. Apparently we have.

Warm Bore
 
I'd recommend a Ruger SP-101. One lady I know likes hers a lot, and she has her pick of many different marques and calibers.
Depending on your lady's experience and recoil tolerance, I'd recommend .38 special loads for her house gun...and for practice. If she eventually carries outside the home, then the cylinder can be stoked with the magnum cartridges.
No one who has ever fired a short .357 in a closed room will forget the experience.
 
You mention grips. You might want to spend the time/money getting one or two different grips for each gun to swap out on the rentals. Grips can make a big difference. Some grips work better for DA than SA and vice versa.

I would also suggest getting a speedloader or two and trying with the rentals...grip and gun design affect the use of speedloaders.

I would also try to use at least a gunfull or two of whatever load you plan to use for "duty" load in the rentals. Full power 357/125's are very different from cheap 38's in recoil and blast.
 
As a rule of thumb...

*&*'s generally have nicer triggers, but in diddling with the most recent production medium-frame wheelguns from both manufacturers, there's surprisingly little to choose from between Brazil and Massachussetts. While the J-frame has a substantially better trigger and level of fit and finish than the small-frame offerings from Taurus, and nobody's big wheelguns are as nice an overall package as the N-frame, the latest round of medium-sized Tauruses (especially the Trackers, both Titanium and Vanilla) stacks up fine against anything in their size class on the market.
 
From the original post....

...and the models you mention, it looks like you're going with large, 'extra'-capacity .357s. Any particular reason for that?

If you're going with a large gun like those you mention, yet want to keep a smaller grip, see if you can find a DAN Wesson. Great accuracy and great strength plus some added bonus features.

With Dan Wesson's interchangeable barrel system, you can have several 'different guns' for different applications without spending an arm and a leg! Screw in a 2-1/2 or 4" for home defense and throw on a longer tube for target or hunting use. I personally have a 4" Vent Heavy (vent rib, full underlug), a 6" Vent Heavy, and a 8" Vent barrel assemblies for mine.

Also, since Dan Wesson has just a 1-1/4 inch long, 1/2" square peg for a grip frame, you can put some greatly different grip shapes on the gun without worrying about square or round grip frame. I have a set of factory oversize target stocks, along with a wood fingergrip style, Pachmayr Grippers and a set of compact grips for mine. They all fit on the same grip 'frame'!!!

So, as you can see, by changing barrel lengths and contours along with changing grip styles and composition, you can have a gun that both of you can be happy with! I like the 8" and the Pachmayr Gripper rubber grips and the wife lkes the 4" and the compact grips, sometimes the Grippers as well. Different stokes for different folks!

-------------------

Now for the disclaimers:

yes, Dan Wesson has gone out of production a couple of times over its history. That's what happens when the company gets sold to a non-gunny type. I believe the original family has regained control over the company and is trying to get back on its feet. Give them a chance. At least they havent sold us out like S&W or Colt has!

Yes, Dan Wessons may be harder to find than your garden variety S&W or Taurus or Ruger. They still have a near cult following in the silhouette community, and for good reason. Ask around. Someone you know might have one they'll let you borrow.

Regards
 
I recomment either the Smith & Wesson Model 19 or 66 (4 inch barrels), with Remington "Golden Saber" .38 special or .357 Mag. loads. My wife doesn't shoot much, but she can handle a Model 19 with ease! And with accuracy!
 
My wife likes her Taurus M85 .38. Also I can only recommend used *&*. I still have respect for my 2nd ammendment rights and vote with my money accordingly.
 
Personally I think a used 686 in 4" or Ruger Sp101 or even GP100 in 4" are a better weapons than the Taurus... buy her what she likes and talk her into practicing... it would be nice if she could test fire the recommendations of the posters before purchasing as some have
 
I shopped around for many years (my shopping and trying lots of guns is fun) to find the best revolver for my wife's home defense gun. The best I found (and I bought lots, and we tried lots more) is a Smith model 66.

Lots of grips are available to change the size for my wife's smaller hand, including the smaller Pachmyr Gripper Professional grips. She shot the larger K frame, with 4 inch tube MUCH better than any other smaller gun.

With a top quality trigger/action job (which it didn't really need, but I like to spoil her) the gun is really super smooth. My wife only shoots in double action in fact because the action is so very smooth. Besides that is how she will shoot it if she needs it in an emergency! She also seems to like the orange front ramp.

I think that for my wife at least, the 686 would be just a little to large to be comfortable.
 
I found a good deal on a 66-2 with a 2.5-inch barrel and took it over to Eagle Grips (10 minutes away) and had them fit a set of Secret Service grips. The grip is now small enough for my wife to handle comfortably and almost fits my hand as well. It's loaded with stout 38s and should work well. Btw, I sure like the old Smiths and their counter-bored cylinders. Excellent workmanship.
 
I recommend the Ruger GP100 series over the SP101 because the GP100 series has adjustable sights. The GP-141 or KGP-141 ar excellent choices, provided the operator's hands aren't too small.
 
Adjustable sights on a home defense gun are not really necessary. I would also reccommend the SP-101 or a used Security Six or Service Six. There are some used Service Six's in the last Shotgun News for under $200. They are stainless models. I have a Security Six with the small stock Ruger Grips and it fits my wife's hands very well, Actually works pretty well for me too and I have large hands. The grip is small, but shaped very well. Try out a few guns and see what she likes.
 
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