A Brief History of the S&W .357 Magnum Revolver

[Ross7]

I have a 2.25" Ruger SP101 with CTC Grips in the safe loaded with Speer GDHP short barrel 135 gr. 357 ammo. Perhaps I should consider carrying it sometime...

A Brief History of the Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum Revolver

 

[SAWMAN]

To me,and this is simply an opinion,the SP101's are not my idea of a good carry gun. They are built like a tank,granted. But heavy and somewhat bulky. I also feel that I do not need a 357Mag for a carry gun although my EDC is a Glock 33 (Pocket Rocket). This "baby" Glock will produce about the same ballistics as a 357Mag revo if it is a snub gun. It will also give me 9+1 and my reload is a Glock 32 mag of 13 shots. A mag change is always faster than a revo speed loader unless your first name is Jerry.

What I do carry some is a S&W Mod 642 in a pocket holster. My wife carries the same gun in her purse for EDC and in a OWB holster at the hunting club. Somewhat smaller,super light,NO hammer. My wife and I both carry standard pressure loads in this gun. --- SAWMAN

 

[warbird1]

SP101 is a lot more enjoyable to shoot that the 642. My wife will only shoot revolvers so these two are hers.

 

[Ross7]

To me,and this is simply an opinion,the SP101's are not my idea of a good carry gun.

I'd have to agree SAWMAN. If I leave home I'm carrying, and while I have no problem carrying and concealing the Ruger in a JIT slide holster on the rare occasions that I do carry it, I find myself wondering why I'm carrying a 5 shot (with two, slow for me to load 5-shot speed strips) revolver instead of my regular and just as easy to conceal EDC which is a 14+1 CZ75 PCR with a spare 14rd mag.

And truth be told, even with Speer's advertised "short barrel" ammo I really question if you can get optimum .357 ballistics out of a 2.25" barrel.

 

[SAWMAN]

All the ballistic tests done with the 357Mag some time ago that pushed the chambering to the very TOP of the "one shot stop" pile was done with a 6" bbl IIRC. The terminal ballistics gained from a 125gr @ 1450 was high. Nowadays nobody carries a 357Mag with a 6" bbl. However powders have come along in the last 40 years or so that could(?)make the shorter bbl perform better,but I feel that with ANY powder you will never attain the "magic" that came from 6 inches of bbl.

Reloading a revo NOT from cover in the heat of battle would be damn near impossible unless you could effectively move,or convince the BG to stop shooting for a few seconds. A mag change would be somewhat faster ..... but still ..... ? --- SAWMAN

 

[MAXman]

You said the magic word sawman, cover.