Magnum Effects

[Stephanie B]

Found elsewhere:

[onehalfmvsquared]

[awp_101]

[Cheap Shot]

Probably was using Lost River Ammo.........

[HeavyDuty]

I bet this is the Eugene McDonald of Zenith Radio fame.

[Paul D]

I have never carried a magnum capable revolver for defense (usually a J frame at most). If you guys did carry a GP100 or maybe an L frame, would you load .357 or 38+P? I would probably opt for the 38. I cannot shoot fast with a magnum.

[SwampDweller]

I have never carried a magnum capable revolver for defense (usually a J frame at most). If you guys did carry a GP100 or maybe an L frame, would you load .357 or 38+P? I would probably opt for the 38. I cannot shoot fast with a magnum.

I think I am either settling on Barnes DPX 125gr all-copper, or Hornady Critical Duty 135gr. Out of a steel K Frame Model 19-10 or GP100, they have less recoil than most full house .357 duty loads and are controllable enough. The Barnes I think still gets 1400 FPS or nearly so out of a 4” barrel, but seems a little more manageable than a typical 125gr SJHP like the Federal 357B load.

[BillSWPA]

I have never carried a magnum capable revolver for defense (usually a J frame at most). If you guys did carry a GP100 or maybe an L frame, would you load .357 or 38+P? I would probably opt for the 38. I cannot shoot fast with a magnum.

When I first started carrying concealed, I occasionally carried a Dan Wesson .357 with a 2.5 inch barrel. It was loaded with Federal 125 gr. .357. The Dan Wesson is a reasonably heavy gun and my example has Pachmayr Presentation grips, so recoil is not bad.

.357 sized guns are not easy to conceal due to the frame size, grip size, and limited holster selection.

[HeavyDuty]

When I was a teen all of my shooting was 1911 in God’s Caliber and I was used to that big, gentle push and boom. When I turned 21, my first new gun was a 4” 586 L frame.

I found a few boxes of mid 60s era R-P 158 grain Magnums in my grandparent’s basement left over from when my uncle was a cop at the Zoo (they were sworn peace officers, and he always wanted to have a fighting chance anchoring whatever got out thus the Magnum.) Silly me goes to the local smoke pit indoor range, loaded up and proceeded to rattle my brain pan. Seriously, I thought my eyes were gonna bleed.

It took a few years before I actually became enthusiastic about shooting .357 Magnum.

[Malamute]

I have never carried a magnum capable revolver for defense (usually a J frame at most). If you guys did carry a GP100 or maybe an L frame, would you load .357 or 38+P? I would probably opt for the 38. I cannot shoot fast with a magnum.

When Ive carried model 19 Smiths, either 4 or 2 1/2" I mainly had Rem 158 sjhp or the older Winchester/Western 158 gr "lead", which was in fact a fairly well designed SWC that was Lubaloy coated, basically copper plated. I had a brief flirtation with the 125 gr Rem sjhp loads but didnt care for the muzzle blast, nor the amount of sight adjustment to zero.

I consider split times less important then shooting at assessment speed as Darryl terms it, and using a load I have a lot of confidence in, which I do in either of the 158 gr loads mentioned. Most of my life has been spent in black bear and grizzly country, I prefer the 44 mag in general, but as a lighter gun with the right loads the 19 is fine.

This tends to stir up feelings, but the ongoing comments of those that have experience killing game and such with 357s, they seem to have a significant advantage in making animals dead, over similar uses with 9mm, despite what non-living tests may indicate. Make of it what one may, but its a constant over time.