Handguns are about bullets and in reality there is very little difference between what Buffalo Bore turns out and what one can easily make at home and even the neophyte will make it lead less if going the lead route.
The NOE 173 Keith is perfectly at home driven at 950 fps. in 38 cases in 4" 38 guns with Longshot powder or past 1,200 with 2,400 powder in adequate strength guns, sans a gas check.
Thje 180 FN by LBT, gas checked and driven to 1,400 in a six inch gun with 18 grs. of Hodgdon Lil' Gun is about all there is on tap in the 357. Like those of yesteryear discovered, the hitting ability of the 38 case wins in precision to the amount of velocity gained on the .10 inch longer case, which with solids is nil. The 180 LBT does make the heavy 357 fly well and still fit in most all 357 cylinders while the 173 Keith does not.
Noise, racket and recoil is primarily a function of powders stuffed into a handgun case; any ball powder after/slower than 2400 requires a bit of concentration that doesn't equate to any amount of velocity gained by using it, unless we are wanting positive expansion from jacketed bullets within certain ranges.
