Any reason to own a 357 mag if you already own a 44 mag?

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There are some interesting perspectives here, but I'll hazard a guess that 99.99999999% of the folks who own .44 Magnum's don't "need" them. The exceptions are individuals like CraigC who actually hunt with revolvers. If all you do take your revolvers to the range, a .44 Magnum is a waste of powder and lead and the .357 is infinitely more versatile.

For the last several years I've fired countless thousands of .44 Specials and 45 Colt's with the former being my all time favorite cartridge. For the longest time I carried a SA .44 Special everywhere, all the time. Then a year or so ago I dug out one of the Uberti Hombre .357's I bought several years ago when I dipped my toe in the CAS water. Damn. I discovered right quick that I could hit my 75 yd. steel just as easily, actually easier, with .38 and .357 loads than with my .44 and .45's, all the while using less powder and lead. So now when I'm dicking around outside in the evenings, mowing, cutting firewood, etc., I carry a .357. When I'm hunting or lollygagging out in the pastures and woods where I'm liable to happen upon a bunch of swine, I carry a .44.

35W
 
If you want to minimize your reloading supplies and dies, and already have a 9mm and .44 then there is no "need" for .357. The 9mm will do anything the the .357 will do competition and self defense with less blast and recoil. And the .44 will handle larger defense such as bears (and yes I do often hike in large black bear country), and can also be downloaded to any level for target or self defense as well.

I've had .357 in the past, SP101 and GP100, and .44mags. Now I only have the .44 mag in revolver. Loading 7 gr Unique under 240 gr bullet for soft target, or 10 gr Unique for mid-range, or full loads of W296. All the fun you can want out of a revolver. And if you want cheap shooting then the 9mm is even cheaper than the .357. I have a .40 semiauto so between that and the .44 M29 I see no need or desire for me to ever again get a .357. The M69 is very tempting.

Buy the .357 if you want it, but if you just want a smaller frame revolver then I would go with the GP100 .44spc, S&W M69 .44mag (L-Frame 5shot), or the 9mm revolver and moon clips. I have shot a 1917 .45ACP with moon clips and those are pretty dang cool. Very fast to reload.
 
The thing that sucked me into the revolver world is my buddies who like going at each other on the dueling tree... which is a ton of fun! But I couldn't compete with my 1911... as in I would blow them away with my 1911 against there revolvers so bad it just wasn't fun for anyone. Of course once I bought the Dan Wesson 744 I really got a taste for revolvers.

I do own a break top Webley that was milled for 45 acp with moon clips. The trigger on the Webley is so horrendous that I couldn't even start to compete with my friends S&W's. I am not really a fan of the moon clips with the Webley, they are fast but no where near as satifying as thumbing in individual 44 rounds. I was aware that a 7 shot is and odd duck in the revolver competition world where you either need a 6 shot or an 8 shot to really compete but I do like the size of the 986 better than the bigger 8 shot 929.

I wish there was an availability of Dan Wesson 9mm revolvers... to the point that I actually looked at having a Dan Wesson 715 cylinder shortened and rebored for 9mm and a .355 barrel blank cut and threaded to fill in the extra cylinder gap. Which doesn't seem as outrageous as it sounds... a 357 case is straight and smaller in diameter than both ends of a 9mm case which makes reboring a .357 cylinder for 9mm possible at least. I have a decent lathe that I am proficient enough with that I could turn a 9mm blank down to the correct diameter and purchase the proper dies to thread the barrels... which are kind of off beat threads. I could then just use the stock Dan Wesson barrel shrouds. I won't do this... even though it is fun to think about.

I apreciate everyones replies, it is great hearing all the different perspectives.
 
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A Dan Wesson 715 is one of the finest "mass produced" 357 magnums that you can own, the 744 is nice but a 715 is "just as good" and 715 is cheaper to feed than a 744.
 
I have 4 .357's, a DW 715, a DW 15-2, an S&W 28 6", and a SAR sr38. All are a lot of fun to shoot and with the DW 44, I can have some bigger caliber fun once in a while.
Get the 715, it's a little different (mechanism is totally different inside), and I really like mine. First gun and best deal I ever made on an auction back in '06.
 
Since I got a .44 Mag I have pretty much forgot about my .357.
And this is true for me as well.
Since I cast bullets and reload, ammo cost isnt much of an issue. Lately I would rather shoot downloaded. 45colt than anything.
Here is some early spring tillage using a .45colt .
20190329_170249.jpg
...so now I have posted both pro and con in this thread. I hope it helps.
Pass the waffles!
 
Aside from meat preservation when small game hunting, I don’t see that 357 in a big gun does anything better than a 44 magnum.

It is fun to shoot in my opinion and cheaper. But I don’t think you’d miss it if you skipped it.

That being said, reloading setups and a single gun isn’t a huge investment in the long run. So I say go for it.
 
The advice about the Ruger Blackhawk 357/9mm convertible was good.

My SA revolvers are my favorites. They are seriously fun to shoot.

My BH 357/9mm shoots 38's, 357's, and 9mm's. It shoots all of them well. The OP could shoot 9mm out of it most of the time, and just buy an occasional box of 357 if/when the mood struck him.
 
There's not really a need for a 357 if you have a 44 mag, but there is room for a 38 IMO.

My 357 revolvers see a lot more 38 specials than they do magnums. Mostly, I drop in a cylinder of two of 357s just for grins - more noise, more kick, bigger explosions on water jugs, it's fun - but a 44 more than has that niche covered.
 
As I write this, on my hip rests a Smith & Wesson 27-2. To tame the loudness a touch, I carry a Keith cast bullet that runs 173 grains, which puts it at a performance level similar to the old 38 WCF. To answer your question, will this three five seven do anything my similar model 29's with three and four inch barrels won't do? Certainly, I like it's capacity to shoot the .38 wadcutters, but I'm not really saving that much over a .44 caliber 185 grain wadcutter.

So why the affection for the old 27? Part of it is the memories, it was the first double action revolver I worked with extensively. Beyond that, I leave you with a bit of John Keats, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever."
 
Everyone should have a 357 mag, unless you're a commie.
I do so admire an old boy who has got his mind right.

Imagine the embarrassment, when a gun conversation starts up with some of these younger types who know only the plastic, when you intimate that you would look at their .357's, and they're forced to admit they don't own a single one.
 
Does Dan Wesson still make the 744? All they have listed on their website is the 715?

The Dan Wesson 715's, 722's and 744's all stopped being produced when CZ bought out Dan Wesson. For a few years they only produced the DW 1911's. A few years back they started building the 715's again. They do sell new production 715 and 744 barrels. I purchased a 744 4" barrel and it is every bit as nice as the original 8" DW barrel. I believe the DW 22 revolvers are out of luck as far as new barrels.
 
I started small and finally went big
But
There’s nothing wrong with doing it the other way!
By all means, you need both!!!!!
 
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