Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Have the .357 Magnum and 45 ACP Become obsolete?

Factory stuff for the ignorant general public shooters.

Hand loaders are in the know!

Yes...and very likely cheap-ass steel case ammo, at least where 9mm and .223 are concerned.

How many posts have we seen in which a firearm/caliber is chosen based solely the cost of the ammunition?

My experiences with the "cheap-ass steel case ammo" are very good; never had even a hint of a problem. Remember, the US used to make "cheap ass steel case ammo" as well.

The .357 mag is the second most popular revolver cartridge in sales behind the first place revolver cartridge, being the 38 Special. Both, individually outsell every other revolver cartridge manufactured and sold. And as far as manufacture of revolvers, the 357 mag revolvers way outpace all other chamberings of revolvers made, to include 38s. So, add 38 Special ammo sales with 357 mag sales, and they add up to a pretty big chunk of both ammo and weapon sales.

So, not sure your point. If you think somehow the .357 is dead in the water, then what do you think of .45s, .44s, and .41s? None of those come close to being as popular in sales and profits compared to the 357. None of those come close to the total number of 357s built and sold each year. I just do not see any of those revolver chamberings going by the wayside, and I certainly do not see the most popular revolver made, probably going back decades into the last century, as being anywhere close to dying out. The gun and ammo makers just plain see too big a chunk of their profit out of the 357 to let it go.

Best

What's popular don't mean what's right.

Stumble into my abode uninvited & you'll be greeted with 45's like a shower head, from all angles.

I had my eyes dilated at my eye appointment an hour or so ago and can't see crap but I can see that and it is funny.

Well guys I went to Ruger site and the S&W site and both have 15 or 16 models of .357 revolvers and I didn't even bother with .38 Special revolvers.

Pretty good for an obsolete caliber.

LEO's carry and shoot what they are issued.
Off duty and back up's are a different story, but are often of a dictated caliber.

I carried one as a deputy sheriff during a hostage situation. I gave my 45 ACP to the chief deputy who responded to the scene unarmed. I had my 3" S&W 66 somewhere you don't show in public but carried it with me to the back door. As luck would have it, the armed hostage taker emerged from that door. Half a dozen guys armed to the teeth at the front door and me alone at the back. I was standing in the shadows and he didn't see me. Luckily, a relative talked the guy into surrendering. I didn't feel under-armed any time I had a .357 Magnum with me. They make a great night light for just a second when fired and hearing protection is a great idea too!

It is much more important to learn to shoot, than the particulars of a handgun cartridge. IF you don't reload, then it is darned smart to choose 9mm, (cheapest centerifre to shoot), over say the 10mm.

Learning to shoot and hitting your target wins over cartridge and platform worship any day.

Doubt either the .357 or .45 ACP is obsolete. I have individual Dillon SDBs dedicated to each cartridge, not that this means much to anyone but me. One thing I do know is how much fun I had shooting .45 ACPs today.



Excuse the photo quality - flip phone modified slightly w/Photobucket.

Paul

I was shooting a LOT of .38specialin the 70's, had something to do with getting it from the S.O. at 1.50 a box. My firearms instructor had some good advice that i never forgot. He said one well aimed shot is worth ten poorly aimed shots. Now his wife used to humiliate new deputies by using a j frame to make head shots at 50yards, she good do it.
I never felt underarmed with a .357 in a one on one situation.
But conditions change. As doc rockett said, enough in there for one confrontation without reloading, but what if you have multiple armed targets.
Now we practiced even then for that situation, but semiauto and hicap mags just do give you an edge.
we use to train double hand, strong hand, weak hand, barricade left side, right side, prone, kneeling at all kinds of ranges out to about 50 yards. I was really laughing hard one day when i took the highway patrol course which is basically draw from the hip and point fire at 5 to 7 yards. Now for those tail light chasers it worked for what they generally would face. We had different situations.
I do have a friend who i have timed. from a holstered revolver, draw and fire and hit six steel plates at ten yards in 1.45seconds. He's getting to be an old guy too by the way for you young hot shot wippersnappers.
i haven't practiced it in years, and surely couldn't do it today, but long time ago i pretty much could do 12rounds on target with a model 19 in about 8 seconds. And I wasn't that good.

Draw from a holster, fire and hit six steel targets at ten yards in under 1.5 seconds? That's pretty sporty...

at the time he was firing probably 30 to 40k a year in competition related events. He did manage to beat rob laetham a couple of times, but as he told me that was pretty rare.

Obsolete??

Gun stores in my area have entire display cases dedicated to the 1911, not to mention the other handgun models chambered in .45 ACP - Glocks, XD's, etc.

Smith & Wesson is still selling revolvers chambered in .357 Mag for $700+.

Electric typewriters are obsolete. .45 ACP & .357 Mag are not.

True .357 is a great round, but who really uses it? That's right. Almost no one.

.45. Almost same thing. Too big for military use, too big for most CCW--yeah there's a few die hards, but most of us carry something smaller. 380 is the most popular handgun among the masses. We're not typical on this forum.

.45 is still alive mostly for certain competitions and nostalgia.

"380 is the most popular handgun cartridge among the masses".

Are you high?

I'll have you hittin' paper plates @ the fiddy after six beers.



Travis

mrm- you do not know what the f...k your talking about. Get out and mingle with real shooters.

Guys I think mrmarklin is talking with tongue firmly planted in cheek.