Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 357 Magnum just about dead

I have a M19 4" & a M19 6" a M27 4" and a new model Colt Python 4.25" barrel Dick Thompson made me some 194 grain powder coated bullets that I'm getting 1268 FPS out of the Python. A some 175 grain powder coated hollow point that is going 1400+.

Should get the job done

Not in my Marlin carbine. It is a wonderful round.

Nice Rugers. A stainless Ruger Speed Six .357 Magnum was my very first handgun back in 1980. Still have it.

The old .357 ain't going anywhere, is alive and well.

I like my Premier Grade FA 97. I had to get a higher front sight for the 175 and 180's I'm shooting. Freedom Arms knew exactly what I needed. Swap out was quick with an Allen wrench.

These guns are works of art, lock up like a bank vault and shoot accordingly.

Sorta expensive but worth it, IMO. They're in a class by themselves for factory guns. It would take some serious bucks from a top builder to equal these and I'm not sure those would be more accurate.

DF

Well No Sir... it's feelin' fresh as a daisy.... in Fact, i do believe it's in it's Prime!...

Another 357 joined my stable last year

627- 8 shot.

The answer to this is quite simple. The market in the U.S. and Europe is flooded with plastic moderately to inexpensive 9mm pistols. The 9 was and is a NATO round and so had immediate inroads to our market including military, law enforcement etc. Such pistol designs will not shoot rimmed cartridges so the mighty 357 mag is solely a revolver cartridge where it excels. So are there more plastic cheaper pistols sold or pricier revolvers ?

Rick

Old, obsolete, Boomers like me will probably hang on to our .357 MAGs.

My 19 4", 27 3.5", 27 5", 66 4", 520 4" and 620 4" don't get a lot of use anymore, but they aren't going anywhere either.

I will say that I'm more likely to carry a .44 Special or .22 MAG a lot more often than I carry either the 66 or 620.

Wonder what the average age is for anyone owning one revolver. That age surely goes up quite a bit for owning more than one.

If the .32s are still going along just fine, the .357 is far and above them. It's not going anywhere soon. Now, 30 years from now when we are all buried, remains to be seen.



Yep, I love my FA97 in .327 & 32H&R. Very well made and a joy to shoot.
Not exactly in the 357 class, but 130grs at 1400fps sure does a lot of work a 9mm would do.

Folks have been raving about the Freedom Arms 97 for decades.

I have a 4” pork chop with fixed sights. It’s built like a tank and accurate.

It is preferred cartridge weak and gullible affectionately referred to as "Square Heads", ready to save the world from terrorists and mayhem. They ride trigger reset, wear beards and surround themselves with "fannypacks".
Calibers like .357 Mag and .44 Mag are for the more sophisticated and well to do young folk, dedicated but smaller following. The .44 Soecial, .32, .38 S&W,.... are typical Geezer calibers. I would have picked up that $750 Model 396 Airweight .44, I know good thing when I see it and have no problem being called a Geezer.

Geezer, Fudd, Old Fart, if the shoe fits……

To me it’s a badge of honor.

DF

No, not quite correct. You've forgotten the Desert Eagle and Coonan Model B.

GR

357 is as dead as the 30-06, not

A Marlin 1894 lever action is a pretty solid gun in .357 Mag as well.

Model 94AE.🤠

When discussing the general pistol/revolver market Desert Eagle and Coonan are non or almost invisible players. Coonan was a decent concept and built by a guy who could do it, Dan Coonan, then when he finally saw the handwriting on the wall ( meager sales ) he bailed and sold out to Mr. Bill Davis the king of zamak/pot metal and the funeral was around the corner.

Rick