When S&W first offered their J-frame revolver in 357 Magnum I wondered what on earth they were thinking. When they offered their Ultra-Lite J-frames in 357 Magnum I figured out they weren't thinking...they were marketing. They remembered what the original Dirty Harry movie did for 44 magnum sales. It doesn't need to be reasonable, or practical, or even effective. It just needs to sell.
YMMV,
Dave
One advantage of steel frame J-frames chambered in .357 is you can use loads like the 125 grain Golden Saber, 135 Grain Gold Dot Short Barrel, and if memory serves, the Winchester PDX load. They fall into the "hotter than .38 Special, but not full rhino roller .357" category. Essentially they duplicate 9mm ballistics, without the hassle of moon clips and etc.
Reasonable minds con differ whether the juice is worth the squeeze.
I fired five 158 grain American Eagle .357 JSPs out of a friends LCR. That combination was useless for anything except aggravating my incipient arthritis. There are combinations of gun weight, ammo power and grips that might make a .357 small frame revolver sensible.
I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.
The bulk of the video focuses on handguns with a 4” effective rifled barrel length. I have never seen any assertion on this forum that the two calibers are equal out of that barrel length.Originally Posted by FrankB
Out of a 2” barrel, the author did find a smaller advantage with his choice of ammo. I question that any advantage that may exist is worth the decreased accuracy and increased time required for follow up shots.
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Any legal information I may post is general information, and is not legal advice. Such information may or may not apply to your specific situation. I am not your attorney unless an attorney-client relationship is separately and privately established.
Too much recoil to shoot fast, and too light to pistol whip someone.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
Both channels chose their ammo, and I believe Paul chronographed over 200 FPS more in a snubnose. Is that enough of a difference to make a difference? You be the judge.
I full well expected to carry the K6s with .38 Special +P. But I had to at least try out the .357, heck it said it on the barrel.
One of the ideas behind .357 snubs was as a back up to a full size .357.
You could load the snub with a good .38 load and in a pinch reload it with the spare magnum ammo on the belt if your primary went down or was otherwise lost.
It simplified logistics.
I can't name a single incident were it solved a problem, but it was a perceived need.
Along the lines of a G17 backed up by a G26, they can share magazines.
I believe we already know .357 of any velocity is not a significant advantage against in humans, relative to recommended 9mm ammo. @DocGKR
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....f-Defense-Ammo
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
No argument from me regarding effectiveness. MAC stated that the 9mm was just as powerful as a .357 Magnum, and that was the day I unsubscribed.
Despite the differences in the videos, one thing they do make clear is that the difference between .357 and 9mm is proportional to the barrel length. We have a greater difference at longer barrel lengths, and a smaller difference and shorter barrel lengths.
Is that difference worth the loss of accuracy? I performed significantly worse shooting a scandium .357 J frame than a subcompact 9 mm semi auto. Do we know of any component of stopping power that is more critical than accuracy?
Is that difference worth the increase in time required to make follow up shots against the accomplices of your attacker?
If we were talking about medium frame guns like a 2.5” K frame, 2.5” Python, or 2.5” Dan Wesson, then shootability becomes a much smaller issue. In that size gun, I would not hesitate to choose a .357. However, the subject of this thread is tiny, super lightweight J frames, for which the advantage is debatable, and the disadvantages are painfully clear.
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Any legal information I may post is general information, and is not legal advice. Such information may or may not apply to your specific situation. I am not your attorney unless an attorney-client relationship is separately and privately established.
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