Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 357 Shot loads for self defense?

I have to admit that when thinking back, I covered the head of quite a few suspects with my Glock while on a lot of felony stops and a couple of hostage situations. Of course, during the hostage situations we had two sniper teams at each scene, and each was resovled without anyone being harmed. I knew in those circumstances that by the time I knew there was a green light given to the snipers, the suspect's head would have already undergone a total cranial evacuation.

Never hear it quite put as a "total cranial evacuation" but that is very accurate based on the head shots I have seen with .308s..

Good luck and stay safe out there, sometimes I miss it but with todays west coast media Im kind of glad Im out now.

I'm not commissioned by anyone; I've been in school since I left LE, augmenting our household income by teaching, some semesters full time. I have about 1 year left and I should have the degree I seek.

I've been out 10 years and I still miss it.

Lee,

I did go to med school, ALL of it and biochem and genetics were not required coursework at our school. They were prereqs. Where did you attend these classes?

There ya go duckster, let the cat outa the bag!

God, what a strange thread

Lots of good info punctuated by Liar's foolishness. I have him on ignore, but his posts keep coming up in the quotes.

I shot some soda cans one day with .22, .357, and .44 shotshells at 15 feet or so. The .22's might have dented them a little; the .357's would put a couple holes in them, and the .44 would actually shred them enough to make you think, "that would actually kill a snake". I will stick to bullets for two legged vermin. I also prefer autoloaders to revo's, but this one is a pretty good tool for defense:



Don't own it anymore, but the .357 in its original platform is no slouch

old speer manual gives info.

I cannot believe I just read the whole thread.

A few years back I took a local deputy prosecutor and his Dr. buddy down to a local ranch. They wanted to kill some rattlesnakes.

My prosecutor buddy had a cheap (Star or Bersa or something) 9mm.

At a distance of about 10 feet on a side hill full of shale rocks, he bounced a load of snakeshot off a flat rock (and snake) squarely into my face. Fortunately I was wearing wrap around ESS shooting glasses. A funny conversation followed.

Stung a bit but that was it. I got some great mileage with that one though. Standing around in the halls at court, my friend got ribbed quite often over that one. He was the only local deputy prosecutor to have a reputation as a cop shooter.

The snake was unfazed until I popped him with a 240 grain SWC from a .44.

I don't use the .357 much, as I prefer .44s. That being said, I have used one effectively in defense from Monty Python type killer Jackrabbits that stalk the Great Basin Range of the West.

How much did it cost you to have that awesome surface texture applied to the metal?

PS I know the story. I was joking. Actually does look cool, tough.

You know Hawkeye,

The sad part is you know the story. I have been spending too much time gone and retelling old stories instead of being afield making new ones. I am back in the states now, so it is time to get out into the deserts and mountains and get back at it.

I just have not acclimated to the cold yet though. Winter in the Rockies is a bit cooler than where I have been.

Mackay

Careful how you sit that Ruger, it could fall off and scratch the finish.


Please tell me it is not 13076, She would never forgive me for trading her into that life!

Is that the one advertised as 8 pound sledge with finished highlights of ball peen?

Welcome home, Mack. I'm glad you're safe and sound.

Now getting back to the "Bird Shot" or whatever some wish to call it, I have shot snakes with a .357 mag and #7.5 shot and #6 shot out of a .357mag cal. handload. The #6 shot penetrated better but the #7.5 shot scored more hits on target, distance being 15 feet.

However, I found it much more effective to use the .44mag cal and #6's, as it kills big snakes (rattle snakes) dead as a door nail at 20 feet.

I would never consider using a .357 mag loaded with #7.5 or #6 shot as a means of self-defense (only as a last resort thing) being there were no 158 grain hollow points around for the pistol.
I do believe that a .44 mag pistol loaded up with #6's, would at 6 feet cause an attacker to be disabled or slowed down a whole bunch! Once again I would much rather be in that situation with my pistol loaded up with 240 grain hardcast bullets.

Now if we are going to discuss med school, anatomy is a 1st year required course for grad students enrolled in medical school. One does NOT simply just sign up and walk into class. It does NOT work that way gentlemen, as most of you already know. In some schools Pharmacy students and medical students share the same classes for the 1st year and courses for the first 2 years are very much alike.

There just is not enough room for random people in those classes period. Classes are always put together by school officials and if your not majoring in the medical field, your not going to get into a class, just because your wanting to learn this or that.

Tonk,

That was what we called our frequent fliers in the Sheriff's Department; we called them "Tonks." Although we did not purposely strike anyone above the collar with an expandable baton (ASP), except in very limited circumstances, if one happened to slip, or the suspect bobbed into a blow, the sound of a baton striking a head was a hollow "TONK." Of course, intentionally striking someone above the collar with a baton was considered using Deadly Force against that person. So, when a "TONK" occurred, one had better be justified in shooting the suspect. If it was an accident, first the suspect was taken to the hospital for at least a CAT scan (after a baton strike anywhere, we took the strikee to the hospital), and then the offending officer had roughly a ream of paper to write in an attempt to stay out of jail, keep from losing everything in the inevitable civil suit and keep his job.

Yes,

Welcome home, Mackay! I think you missed the worst of it - the cold anyway.




I've been hit by reflected snake shot from a handgun round too. That is why I don't use it against snakes on reflective surfaces - and also never without good eye protection. "You'll put your eye out!". Stings - doesn't it?

Really - if one sets out to clear snakes as a mission, it's a lot cheaper and safer to just use a shovel. We (my crew and I) killed dozens....maybe hundreds of rattlers along the tracks in Wyoming - using simple hand implements, and even a couple hydraulic tools. But the snake-loaded handgun is a lot easier to pack around. Still - if you haven't verified a good dense pattern (which I've found comes best from larger bores), those loads ain't much use against anything at all.

I use #12 shot in handloaded Speer capsules. They do work well out to 10 feet or a little beyond and the small shot gives me a dense pattern. I was surprised by how well a .22 LR crimped shotshell worked against a rattler at about 6-8 feet with a head shot. It dropped and did not even twist or writhe about like I expected. DRT. .38, .44 and .45 Colt work even better. There is a lot of #12 shot in a .44 or .45 shot capsule! I load them up very light, as that provides better patterns.

Laughin' at the mental image - FreeMe and the Braveheart crew on a snake binge.