Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 357 Magnum just about dead

The fact that you can also shoot .38 Special from a .357 Magnum revolver makes it incredibly useful. The average shooter isn't a reloader.

Of course, with a simple barrel swap I can shoot .357 Sig and .40 S&W from my P226. That gives me a much cheaper option that is similar in recoil for target practice.

You won't find the cartridge capacity (headstamp) making up nearly as much ground as the package.

A 38/44 is perfectly fine handling a 357 style load in 38 case.

Matter of fact, just by seating a bullet to the "magnum" case length in the parent case, as long as the GUN is capable of the length, the title on the cartridge does not matter.

I agree that it’s a very effective cartridge. Probably thee most effective common handgun cartridge for defense against people. The guns (revolvers) that are chambered for them are the drawback if you take away the fun and nostalgia of a quality revolver and strictly want a carry gun.

Sure you can download a 357 Magnum or carry 38 Special ammo but at that point it’s basically a typically heavier all metal low capacity and slower to reload 9mm. There isn’t anything wrong with that but from a strictly utilitarian standpoint it doesn’t make a lot of sense and is more of a niche gun. IMO that’s the biggest reason for the decline in 357 Magnum’s.

The 357 Magnum’s sweet spot is as a man stopper but the guns that chamber it are no longer the typical self defense handguns. I love classics and nostalgia but for a workhorse carry gun a polymer striker fired pistol has a lot going for it.

What you say is true

But the 8 shot 627 is on my hip right now.

BMT

Enter the 357 Sig.

A lot of guys say the 9mm (9x19), is more powerful. Not even +P+ ammo. What the hell are they smoking? I don't see it going away any time soon. Sure it's not carried by cops anymore but, a lot of shooters still use it.

The .357 Sig gets up to .357 mag territory.

But not enough agencies bought them. And many t that did are reverting to 9mm

My first 357's were S&W 586/686's, followed by Dan Wessons back in the late '80s. I always wanted a Python back then and ordeed one that was a real disappointment. I didnt keep it and moved on from 357's to larger bores. When Colt reintroduced the Python, I got interested again and my wife bought this one for me a couple years ago:



The 357 isn't dead for me...

The 357 magnum in a 4 inch revolver is a lot like a 30-06 in a rifle. It can do just about anything if you know how to shoot. There are cartridges that can beat them for specialized tasks, but very few cover the ground that they do in their respective fields.

Watching a Ron Spomer You Tube interview with Phil Shoemaker. Phil was recanting his 9mm story killing an 800# bear while guiding fishing clients. He shot Buffalo Bore 147 hard cast. Hit him three times behind the shoulder. Bear turned, went 10 yds and died.

Phil likes .357 and 9mm. His 9mm is a Smith 39. He says he can hit more times with that size round vs .44 Mag, .454, etc. Penetration and shot placement are key, more important than power.

He said his daughter Tia asked why didn’t he pack his .44 mag. Phil took his wife and daughter to the range. He had them shoot .44 mag and 9mm. He put up targets at 10 yds, the distance he shot the bear. He said, now see how fast you can hit those targets. Of course, they did much better and shot quicker with the 9mm.

He made his point. He likes 180’s in the .357, 147’s in the 9mm, all hard cast. The three 147’s that hit the bear all went thru his heart. One was under the skin on the far side. He went back, skinned the bear. Possum cops require skinning a bear shot under those conditions, they want the hide, skull and claws. He said there was massive bleeding, thus a relatively quick kill for a big bear.

Check out that interview. I enjoyed hearing Phil give his account.

DF

Forgot to add, his Smith 39 is a DA only. No levers, etc, just like shooting a DA revolver. Simple and consistent.

He bragged on his clients, a husband and wife. When the bear charged, they grabbed each other and hit the ground. That was critical. It got them out of the line of fire and confused the bear. The bear was almost standing on top of them but was slinging his head, biting at the wounds as Phil was working on him.

Very interesting interview with lots of details I had not heard.

DF

Here's the Phil Shoemaker interview on the 9mm bear kill.

DF

Thanks BMT.

I was FINALLY able to get a bunch more components in.

For a cartridge that one or two people say is just about dead, I have a heck of a time keeping it in stock!

I just got some components in and immediately started making ammo, and it is one of those things that I wish I had 10X the amount of components for and a machine solely dedicated to it. The .357 Magnum with a 170 grain Keith wide nose hard cast SWC is one of those loads that simply does a lot of things well.

That is why when it was time for my kiddo to pack a revolver in the backcountry of Idaho while running pack strings of horses, I gave her my 2.5" Combat Magnum and had it stoked with those loads. From Mountain Lions to Bears to putting stock horses down if need be, I knew it was up to the task.

Nice pre-82 specimen you have there. By coincidence, I just shot my 1980 vintage Combat Magnum today.

Mac, you should make a Colt revolver load. Something shorter.

Another load is on the works.

It is important that it be a tack driver though. Lots of times just the velocity numbers are looked at and there is no concern for how the load actually shoots. Reliability, Accuracy and Velocity all need to come together to make a great load.

There is a considerable amount of time invested during development.

But when it is finished I will make sure I post it up here.

That 358429 is no joke. I’ve shot almost through 3 feet of mule deer before exiting.
Smallfry

Impressive!

People forget, the 357 has stacked up a lot of game. It was THE cartridge to use on dangerous game. Even 158s at 1100-1200 have good penetration. 3” 686 plus is a fantastic gun in a chest rig.
Smallfry