Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns what's your opinion on 357mag?

So very true. Wife has a 640-1 with a 2 5/8" or so barrel, painful with magnums for sure. Spectacular yes, but painful.

357 revolver is a great gun for the handloader, bullet caster. It's also nice for shooting in the snow if you keep your brass.

Still viable for personal defense, small/medium game, target.

I've got a couple myself, Ruger Security Six 4", and a Ruger LCRx 3". Definitely keepers for me.

It is probably the single best revolver chambering for 95% of most folks usage. With today’s ammo price and availability it is most likely a hand loaders proposition. That’s ok, as hand loading will let you get the level(s) of performance you want at a reasonable price per round. If all you ever shoot are full throttle factory .357 and wimpy factory .38’s, you are missing the fat part of the .357 curve.

My 357 is a S&W 28-2, 6". Paired with my my 29-2 44. With factory load options I can do about all I could want to do with a handgun.
My 9mm's, not so much

Worth keeping?

What a stupid question. Let the late Skeeter Skelton make the case…

http://www.darkcanyon.net/MyFriend_The357.htm

The .357 is probably the best cartridge devised for a fighting revolver. It also plinks very cheaply < maybe $0.15 a round under normal circumstances, something like $0.20 with everything screwed up now.

Hunter Company
https://www.huntercompany.com/?gcli...VG0plyKgwphq8qVo5odkv-sPYERoCTW8QAvD_BwE

A wise man once told me - “the two best reasons for any shooting enthusiast to own a revolver are the .357 and .44 magnums.”

Here in Alaska, the handgun is one of the most important tools I own. I only use and own one. From small game on the trail using various fmj's over alliant unique, to full power 180 grain swift A-frames clear through a bull moose neck as a finishing shot, the 357 mag is the most versatile, compact trail gun anyone could ask for.

As a dog musher, I can't help the dogs run a sled up a trail with a 40+ ounce 44 mag bouncing around in my parka pocket. I don't even notice an SP101 in my parka pocket.


Late season moose will hog the trail, and won't leave. They're so grumpy, they stomp dogs to death. I cannot use hardcast, for fear of over penetration and killing a dog.

The swift A-frames will punch clear through a bull moose, and stay in the offside.

I've done some survival training in below zero weather, where the only thing you have, is what's in your parka pockets. A 357 mag was at the top of the list, out of the tools I tested.

Anyone who claims that a 357 mag isn't useful, is smoking crack-mother-fkn cocaine.

Finishing shot though the neck of this moose and the recovered bullet:

It replaced my 40oz single six and my 3 inch 44 mag.

Single six with 22 magnum cylinder



629 Talo 3 inch 44 mag:

Mostly 158 Speer tmj and 170 sierra over 7 grains unique in 357 mag brass:

How much does it eat when it's in the safe?

A .357 revolver and a couple of boxes of ammo tucked away may well offer some peace of mind

That. When I actually run full .357M loads through my SP101 I prefer to be wearing a glove.. I don't use mine for varmints or other game - mine is to be used strictly for self-defense if the need arises... FWIW..

I still have the 3” Mod 60 that my Ex and son learned to shoot handguns with about 25 years back, likewise with mild .38 loads. It did kick like a mule with full-bore .357 rounds but it did shoot them. In the woods and camping I would keep it loaded with .357 rounds.

For nearly two decades that gun loaded with .38 Plus P’s was the at-hand home defense gun, simple for anyone to operate.

I kept as a companion piece a .357 Marlin 1894 (??) carbine. Seems kinda quaint now, but the ol’ Cowboy “one caliber for my rifle and handgun” concept had appeal.

The first Marlin I owned would feed both .38’s and .357’s. I gave that one to my brother, the same model Marlin I replaced it with only feeds .357-length cases, no idea why.

Anyways, I’m pretty much a 9mm guy now, even bought a Ruger PC carbine, tho I ain’t shot it much yet.

Back in the 1980s and 90s I had a Rossi Saddle Ring Carbine in .357 Magnum. It was a faithful replica of the Winchester Model 92. It would shoot .38 Special and Magnum just as reliably and accurately. Sure wish I hadn't sold it. The ones they make today have safeties on them. No thanks.

That companion piece is one of my favorite rifles. To much fun with 357 mag revolver and a 357 mag carbine, kids love shooting that rifle. And yes, it's the 1894.

I kept my Python 6".
Just because.

Played w a 3 screw 4 5/8" this week.
It shot well. Surprisingly well.

Med/ hot 158s. Recoil was more in the Ruger. Not bad but way more than in the Python.

The issue i found.....was blast. The Ruger was annoying.
The 6" Colt wasnt bad.

Used to shoot 180s from 4, 6 and 8 3/8" Smith .44 mags.
Maxd out.

Get used to barn burner .44 mag and then go to.
357 and you think youve got a cap gun.

Bud has scandium J frame and Corbon .357 in it are downright nasty.

Recoil is stout, blast is wicked.

Way i shoot, my hands....i get some bump of trigger guard on knuckle. Not horrible but after a few rounds gets more noticed.

Id have to practice a lot to work one of those little bastards

Looking at going 10mm auto to cover what would be .357 duties.

Wheelguns are cool. Shot em a bunch over thr yrs.

Dont do as much now, dont need as much.

A 22, 9mm and 10mm proly do everything i need.

.357 just sit in safe

My experience is a fraction of many on this board, but my opinion about the .357 Mag is it one of the best if not THE best all-around cartridge for the average person who owns just one centerfire handgun (we all should have a .22lr...right?).

The average person just target shoots with handguns - there are MANY .357 loads for that. The average person might hunt deer with a handgun but not much else - there are many .357 loads for that. The average person wants to shoot as inexpensively as possible - before the world flipped, there were many 38 Special and .357 loads for that. For personal defense - the 357 is proven beyond discussion. Small game? There are great loads for that. Cowboy action shooting? The list goes on...

And I don't know if someone has mentioned this already, but considering the small amount of handgun cartridges I have handloaded for, the .357 Mag. has by-far been the easiest to get to shoot little groups with. I've made my .357 shoot groups that even surprise me (considering my marksman skills are nothing to write home about). This could lead to another conversation about competition cartridges and how the 357 fits in there.

A .22lr, a 30/06, a 12ga, and a 357 Mag. Not much a person cannot get done with the set.