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Post by howler on Mar 19, 2019 2:35:21 GMT
The beauty of the .357 lies in the variability of power level you can choose to use. Use a weak, average, or +p .38 special cartridge, or step up to a reduced, average, or hot .357. From plinking for new shooters & recoil sensitive to taking out a charging grizz with 800ftpds. It is the best revolver choice. No argument from me about versatility. The point I'm trying to make is that a snubby .357 negates the advantages of having a .357 due to the nature of the short barrel. A .357 is a better choice in 4" where the versatility can be used to it's full advantage. From my experience with a snubby .357- the truth lies in the fact that even though you are paying for .357 power,what you are going to end up shooting is .38 Special for the reasons I've outlined earlier. Even .38+P is a waste of money in a snub. Because of that, it's better to buy the cheaper .38 snubby and forget about trying to shoot .357 through a 2" barrel. Your point on .357 and snubby revolvers not mixing is one of the more fundamental truths in firearms. You pay a big penalty for a little more performance out of your 2" (or less) barreled boom stick in the form of a noisy, blinding flash (in the dark), flinch inducing painful, muzzle rising recoil, and slower follow up shots. you really have to practice with the small sight radius on those snubs, regardless of the chosen load. I think 4" is great and 3" minimum, as you have an incredible loss of velocity and ft. lbs. energy by going from 3" to 2" (or sub 2") in barrel length. I own a 4" barreled 8 shot, N frame S&W and a Ruger SP101 5 shot with 3.1" barrel, btw. We haven't even discussed the horror of shooting the 12-15oz. titanium/scandium/polymer ultralights...OUCH, a cherry bomb just went off in my hand...have we.
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Post by RufusScorpius on Mar 19, 2019 8:58:07 GMT
As I mentioned earlier, I had a SW snubby .357 and couldn't wait to get rid of it. Probably one of the only firearms I never regretted selling. At the end of the day, I couldn't hit a 5 gallon bucket at 15ft with it- literally and with no exaggeration. It made a hell of a noise for sure, but I never could find where the bullets went after leaving the barrel. I ended up shooting only regular power .38 Special through it, that worked out well, but it never sat well with me to have a .357 and not be able to shoot .357 with it.
I've had other .38 snubs that were just fine, although my personal opinion is 2" to be the absolute minimum barrel length. And as I alluded to earlier, I may or may not own a firearm at this time, and if I did, it may or may not be a Colt Trooper police surplus .357 purchased at an auction for $195 and may or may not be an absolute excellent gun- accurate and handles well- if I owned a firearm....
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Post by howler on Mar 19, 2019 19:08:49 GMT
As I mentioned earlier, I had a SW snubby .357 and couldn't wait to get rid of it. Probably one of the only firearms I never regretted selling. At the end of the day, I couldn't hit a 5 gallon bucket at 15ft with it- literally and with no exaggeration. It made a hell of a noise for sure, but I never could find where the bullets went after leaving the barrel. I ended up shooting only regular power .38 Special through it, that worked out well, but it never sat well with me to have a .357 and not be able to shoot .357 with it. I've had other .38 snubs that were just fine, although my personal opinion is 2" to be the absolute minimum barrel length. And as I alluded to earlier, I may or may not own a firearm at this time, and if I did, it may or may not be a Colt Trooper police surplus .357 purchased at an auction for $195 and may or may not be an absolute excellent gun- accurate and handles well- if I owned a firearm.... Yup, unless one is very proficient, the snubby really is a point blank belly gun, so maybe you justify having a hot .357 load against a large, drugged out perp or maybe a last ditch lightweight hiking gun when in grizz country. But frankly, in my opinion, it is a niche choice that gives up too much. If you owned it, that Colt Trooper would sound like a sweet pick, hypothetically speaking, of course. Sadly, all my guns fell into the water on a night when I drunkenly decided to clean them in a row boat. Don't inebriated people do the silliest things.
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Post by Croccifixio on Mar 20, 2019 9:31:34 GMT
Have you guys tried the 9mm snubbies? Seems like it's actually the most logical choice for a carry revolver out there.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2019 13:30:08 GMT
There's the S&W 642 for use of .38 or 9mm but "oh my god!" only loads 5. Then the .45lc/.410 popularity contests
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Post by howler on Mar 20, 2019 18:03:45 GMT
Have you guys tried the 9mm snubbies? Seems like it's actually the most logical choice for a carry revolver out there. Very nice, as the shorter 9mm cartridge seems to get a little more velocity.
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Post by howler on Mar 20, 2019 18:10:07 GMT
There's the S&W 642 for use of .38 or 9mm but "oh my god!" only loads 5. Then the .45lc/.410 popularity contests I hear you on that, on why people think 5 pills from a belly gun at point blank range wouldn't be sufficient in getting the bad guy to cease and desist. Nice thing about a wheelie is if you pull the trigger and there is a dud, you pull the trigger again, no frantic slide drills. .45lc/.410 is nice, and fantastic (better than .357) when dealing with snakes.
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Sean (Shadowhowler)
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Post by Sean (Shadowhowler) on Mar 20, 2019 22:40:47 GMT
Honestly, if I wanted to carry a 357 around for personal protection, I would go save up for a Coonan or content myself with 357 Sig. 357 in semi auto is way too unreliable and 357sig ain't 357 mag. 357 mag belongs in a wheelgun with at LEAST a 3 inch barrel preferably 4 inch.
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Post by L Driggers (fallen) on Mar 22, 2019 19:55:19 GMT
If you have to buy special reduced power .357 ammo so as to control the recoil of your firearm, then I posit that you have the wrong firearm. What's the point of the .357 if all you are going to do is reduce the power down to .38 or .380 specs- or limit yourself to a very specific load combination? If you are going to to that, then just get a generic pocket .38 snubby for 1/2 the price of the Kimber and spend the rest of the money on ammo and range time. Besides, with such a short barrel, the powder will not have time to accelerate the bullet to full velocity before leaving the barrel, thereby wasting the extra energy that you would expect to get from the .357. It's far better in the .38 caliber, but then you won't be needed a gun with a heavy .357 frame. So in a nutshell, my opinion of the Kimber .357 snubby is "nope". Not unless you expect to shoot .38 special and just like the idea of having a stronger frame. Reduced loads you mean 38spl +p+.
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Post by bebut on Mar 30, 2019 2:47:23 GMT
There's the S&W 642 for use of .38 or 9mm but "oh my god!" only loads 5. Then the .45lc/.410 popularity contests I hear you on that, on why people think 5 pills from a belly gun at point blank range wouldn't be sufficient in getting the bad guy to cease and desist. Nice thing about a wheelie is if you pull the trigger and there is a dud, you pull the trigger again, no frantic slide drills. .45lc/.410 is nice, and fantastic (better than .357) when dealing with snakes. Classic belly gun:
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Post by Sanctus on Apr 24, 2019 21:57:48 GMT
It you insist on a revolver, get a S&W j-frame in 38sp or a Ruger LCR in 38sp
If you already own S&W revolvers, get j-frame. The cylinder release is the same (push forward) rather than push in. These simple things become second nature. Take advantage of it.
Do not get a 357 mag or 9mm using moon-clips. Yes, they have more energy, but focus instead on shot placement.
The 38sp revolvers will weigh less -- a biggy when it comes to everyday concealed carry -- and are easier to control.
Carry what you shoot well and (have) confidence in.
(Full disclosure -- I carry a Glock 26 in 9mm or a Glock 36 in 45ACP. It's the grip angle, and to a lesser extent the operator controls.)
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Post by howler on Apr 25, 2019 19:51:36 GMT
It you insist on a revolver, get a S&W j-frame in 38sp or a Ruger LCR in 38sp If you already own S&W revolvers, get j-frame. The cylinder release is the same (push forward) rather than push in. These simple things become second nature. Take advantage of it. Do not get a 357 mag or 9mm using moon-clips. Yes, they have more energy, but focus instead on shot placement. The 38sp revolvers will weigh less -- a biggy when it comes to everyday concealed carry -- and are easier to control. Carry what you shoot well and (have) confidence in. (Full disclosure -- I carry a Glock 26 in 9mm or a Glock 36 in 45ACP. It's the grip angle, and to a lesser extent the operator controls.) I assume your only focusing on concealed carry edc, correct? In that case I would still want ability to use .357 because you can choose lower recoiling .357 loads if desired. It's really just having variable velocity options. No arguing that shot placement (and quickly placed) is of primary importance. For hunting and home defense using larger frame revolvers (and longer barrels), .357 just crushes the .38 special, and the highway patrolmen realized this.
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Post by howler on Apr 27, 2019 5:20:53 GMT
The beauty of the .357 lies in the variability of power level you can choose to use. Use a weak, average, or +p .38 special cartridge, or step up to a reduced, average, or hot .357. From plinking for new shooters & recoil sensitive to taking out a charging grizz with 800ftpds. It is the best revolver choice. No argument from me about versatility. The point I'm trying to make is that a snubby .357 negates the advantages of having a .357 due to the nature of the short barrel. A .357 is a better choice in 4" where the versatility can be used to it's full advantage. From my experience with a snubby .357- the truth lies in the fact that even though you are paying for .357 power,what you are going to end up shooting is .38 Special for the reasons I've outlined earlier. Even .38+P is a waste of money in a snub. Because of that, it's better to buy the cheaper .38 snubby and forget about trying to shoot .357 through a 2" barrel. Yeah, no doubt .357 suffers immensely from a shortened barrel. I've never bought a snubby due to this, and .38 just doesn't do it for me. I do think 3" is adequate, but 4"+ is ideal. Still, an all steel snubby using .357, if used at bad breath distance can probably approximate 9mm performance (with potent loads), but this would probably be a small niche environment of use (undercover operations against drugged up perps and whatnot). Intermediate distances would suffer due to accuracy and follow up shots from the recoil and short barrel. I'm gonna probably buy a Sig P365 next...because 12rnds. of 9mm is damn attractive.
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Post by augustine on Sept 19, 2019 0:33:24 GMT
Bump with update
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Sean (Shadowhowler)
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Post by Sean (Shadowhowler) on Oct 3, 2019 7:30:52 GMT
So what do you think of the DA/SA Kimber? Only thing I didn't like about the other one was DA only.
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Oct 3, 2019 7:42:37 GMT
I'm just a heathen but I think a 9mm LCR is the smart choice. A 357 kimber is the choice I might make if I were rich.
I had a 357 LCR and it was perfectly controllable. It's just super expensive to feed and the performance increase was marginal over a 9mm.
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Oct 3, 2019 7:47:39 GMT
I'm happy for you, and it looks awesome... but it's definitely a belt holster gun. An LCR does pockets. I prefer an auto once you get past pocket guns.
I hope we see a range report soon.
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Post by howler on Oct 3, 2019 19:07:12 GMT
I'm just a heathen but I think a 9mm LCR is the smart choice. A 357 kimber is the choice I might make if I were rich. I had a 357 LCR and it was perfectly controllable. It's just super expensive to feed and the performance increase was marginal over a 9mm. I like the LCRx models with the 3" barrel, but sadly, the .357 version weighs significantly more (around 21oz.) than the .38+p option (around 15 oz.) and would only be good for momentary placement in coat pockets and clearly not everyday pants .
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Post by augustine on Oct 4, 2019 4:34:08 GMT
So what do you think of the DA/SA Kimber? Only thing I didn't like about the other one was DA only. Just picked it up this afternoon, so haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. Very ergonomic/comfortable grip/low resistance SA. Two thumbs up so far.
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