Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns The death of the double action .38 spec./.357 magnum revolver?

I have thought well of the .38 special/.357 magnum cartridge in general since I started shooting in the late 70's with many guns that I got to shoot/owned chambered for it. I hand load for it. However, look at the choices today, bad!! What do we have? Second rate Smith and Wesson's with a nasty hole in the side plate for a safety and 2nd grade fit and finish with an ungodly high price if buying new. Ruger, bought a new GP-100 in 2002, it would jam up quickly with fowling had to draw file the forcing cone as it was rough and too tight in regards to the front of the cylinder gap, paid $399.00 for it new then, blued finish. Now around $800.00 NIB, outrageous!!!! It started sticking on me to the point that I had to open the cylinder wiggle it again this week to get it to turn, the hammer would not move, irregularities with cylinder again.

Bought 2 Taurus revolvers in the late 90's, one a short barreled .38 special and a medium framed blued .357 magnum, soft steel with both, cylinders out of time. Sold em'. Read a recent online report of a guy who had to return 3 Taurus revolvers in .38 special as the transfer bars were so badly made they cracked. Had a used Banger Punta Smith and Wesson model 28 Highway Patrolman in .357 mag., decent gun, did me well for 20 years bought used in 1982, but traded it off as the steel on the timing for the cylinder was soft. My friend's Dan Wesson .357 magnum jammed up on him back in the 1980's, hammer would not fall, I managed to tear it down and fixed the internal part that came out of alignment as I have gunsmith skills, but told him not to depend on it, just use it for plinking.

Bought a Ruger Super Redhawk in .454 Casull for almost a thousand dollars in 2009, so roughly made I had to draw file and polish much of it to make it decent, thousand dollars for that!! And I still get stung occasionally in the left cheek with debris shooting out of the cylinder gap!

Ok, lets try overseas...the Philippine version of a Colt revolver RIA made, 20% of them are defective and the company just replaces them if bad. Of course Taurus, hit and miss, not likely to get one that you can depend on. My sister's Taurus looked like someone vomited on it with the rough finish, it even jammed on her. Charter Arms revolvers, bankrupt several times, said to be somewhat workable, but tinker toy.

Want the best? Try Korth of Germany, the best, but thousands of dollars to buy one.

In the end it looks like you have to buy an old Colt DA or a Smith and Wesson made in the 1950's to get a decent revolver. Thinking of selling my Rugers and just sticking to Glocks. Austrian engineering over over priced revolver junk. Too bad as the DA revolver in .38 special/.357 magnum has so much potential if done right.

Lol you forgot Rossi.

Man, that was a depressing read.

Yeah, the finish and fit on a Glock is awesome....and they are apparently infallible.

Most guns that are [bleep] up are generally owned by people with "gunsmithing" skills....YMMV

Damn! That is some bad luck right there.

yup, Rossi was taken over by Taurus.

Pragmatically speaking, the only place the revolver still holds a distinct advantage over the semi-auto pistol is with large caliber magnum cartridges. Attempts as corralling the power of large caliber magnum cartridges has been pretty much a failed exercise in practical terms, though the reintroduction of the Auto-Mag creates some small light at the end of the tunnel in that regard. If they could just make it (the Auto-Mag) affordable, I think it might sell pretty well.

Revolvers are simply a dated design, and ounce for ounce (and inch for inch) offer very little (if any) practical advantage over the semi-auto. It's a bit like analog or digital technology .... they both work, but one clearly has an advantage over the other in most circumstances.

I'm not anti-revolver by any stretch, but it is what it is.

Depressing. Are revolvers really that bad now?

He missed Kimber also.
And Glock to me = overpriced plastic gun that feels like crap.

Well my super redhawk in 44, my Blackhawk and my wife’s gp-100 in 357 and mine and the wife’s lcr’s in 38+p all have been flawless. And we shoot heavy loads 90% of the time. So I have no complaints about my rugers oh and I can shoot any and all loads from mild to wild in my rugers.

No they aren't. I have more than a few revolvers both Single Action and Double action that can be put into service at any time and prove to be very effective. I would have not problem using them for personal defense. Mostly Rugers, but also a C/A or two, couple of Taurus, a few S&W I don't think you want me shooting at you at all. Oh throw in a Colt or two.

I have a fairly new 629 and it seems fine to me, even with the lock hole

Hell 2 inch groups from a bench at 75 feet are an almost certainty with it

I have autos, but 98 percent of the time, it is a revolver I have with in reach.. I have been shooting revolvers probably well over 50 years.. I have never had a serious problem with one.. I do not live in an area with a large population.. So for most of what I do, hunting, target shooting, woods bumming, the revolver is perfect.. When I travel, I have glocks and extra magazine, but I also have my 44’s and .357’s in reach also..

Yup
.38/.357 revolvers should all be sent to the scrap heap
5 rounds of Federal Red Box .357's
At 100 yards I could barely keep this 5" 1955 Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum (pre-27) on paper

The only death in a DA revolver involves the need to make guns out of plastic.

I really dont find much enjoyment in shooting a contraption. Generally the triggers suck, they need coddled when it comes to ammo and the brass gets flung all over hell. They own firepower and are disarmed with more difficulty for defensive purposes, but for my tastes a DA wheelgun with the assortment of grips eat plinkers to hot rods is much more enjoyable.

I wont say how many are in the vault, but Ive never had an inkling of bad taste from any of them like the OP.

If they are dead, just send me the corpses and I'll bury them for you......

It aint dead on my farm, have an old first gen Colt Trooper 357 4" blue that runs like a sewing machine, even Wifeys little S&W model 60 38 is bulldog tough and STAYS ready to go too, I love those revolvers and will never sell em.

Yeah, right in some damn fine leather.

There are plenty of well made double action revolvers on the market today from Ruger, S&W, Kimber and Colt. However, quality control across the board is inconsistent for all of those companies, in my experience, so my rule of thumb is never to buy new-production revolvers sight-unseen.

Agreed on the older, not a 38/357 but when i saw that near 100% condition pre-25, Model of 1955 S&W 45 ACP 5 screw with a 6.5" barrel, with target grips, trigger and hammer for 800 out the door I had to jump, hope you have one or have got to fire one, talk about sweet!