CopperFouling
Member
I own a pair of .357 Magnums, one of which (a Smith & Wesson 686-6) was my first handgun. Here are my thoughts:
If you were new to shooting handguns and weren't used to recoil, then a .357 Magnum would make sense so that you could shoot .38 Special from it while learning to shoot. However, you have plenty of experience with the .44 Magnum, so that's not really a consideration.
If you were not a handloader, you would benefit from the cost savings and availability of shooting .38 Special as opposed to .44 Special. However, you indicated that you already handload, so you can load as many .44 Specials as your heart desires. You don't gain much by moving down. (You might save a little money from the reduced size of bullet, but that's going to take a little while after you have to buy dies, shell plates, brass, etc.)
If you were looking to hunt with it, a .44 is going to be a better cartridge, at least for large game, so that's not really a factor, either.
If you want a .357 Magnum, by all means, buy one, but I think I would dump the ~$1500 into something else instead.
If you were new to shooting handguns and weren't used to recoil, then a .357 Magnum would make sense so that you could shoot .38 Special from it while learning to shoot. However, you have plenty of experience with the .44 Magnum, so that's not really a consideration.
If you were not a handloader, you would benefit from the cost savings and availability of shooting .38 Special as opposed to .44 Special. However, you indicated that you already handload, so you can load as many .44 Specials as your heart desires. You don't gain much by moving down. (You might save a little money from the reduced size of bullet, but that's going to take a little while after you have to buy dies, shell plates, brass, etc.)
If you were looking to hunt with it, a .44 is going to be a better cartridge, at least for large game, so that's not really a factor, either.
If you want a .357 Magnum, by all means, buy one, but I think I would dump the ~$1500 into something else instead.
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