.357 Magnum vs. .44 Magnum, pros and cons!

[Zaydok Allen]

Congrats on the GP100. I'm pretty sure you'll love it.

As far as loads. I'd look at Hornady, Speer Gold Dots, and Winchester PDX for your HD rounds.

If you do ever decide to get a hand cannon, consider a S&W 460 Magnum. They are more versatile than a .44. They are also unfortunatley quite expensive.

I say, if you're going to do something wrong, then do it right.

Enjoy your new gun, and welcome to the .357 lovers club!!!!!!!!!

 

[fixxer]

Well, that settles it. You gotta have both! We can't let you not have a personal defense peice as good as the .357 mag AND a .44 mag for protection against stalking predators. But seriously. I have both a Ruger .357mag (the short barrel that you hated) and it is a superb CCW/home defense pistol. I also have a .44 Mag Colt Anaconda with the long barrel. It makes the big bad .357 look like a little toy. It is a superb handgun for backup hunting. I am going to scoop up a Colt snake .357 to match the Anaconda. The Ruger is okay but they just don't make em' like this Colt anymore. Butter smooth trigger out of the box, perfect fit and finish. Probably the reason they sell for about 3 times the price as when they were new. I still like them Rugers too though. Especially after a Wolf spring kit job. .357 wheel guns and 1911's. Gotta love em.

 

[DemonTweaks]

Well the 'test ammo' is here!
If it only where tomorrow so I could pick up the GP...

 

[LKB3rd]

I've never owned a .44 magnum, but for me a great advantage of .357 is the .38 special, which is mild to shoot, accurate, and widely available.

 

[Spec ops Grunt]

Just got a 4 inch Speed Six in NIB condition.

 

[Barkoff]

Congrats on the .357. Throw a little Buffalo Bore in her, with the lighter pistol, those loads will give you a thrill close a .44

 

[Old krow]

Congrats on the Ruger! It's a good choice IMHO.

Like everyone else has said, you might as well start looking for 44s now.

I generally find .38 SPL to be a little less expensive than .357. You should be able to find them pretty cheap if you look around a bit. I agree with the guys advocating them for range use. I personally think that the .357 is more fun to shoot though.

I recently got a .44Mag gun of my own and i'm seriously looking forward to loading up everything from cowboy action type softies to full house barn burners that shoot out a massive eyebrow singing fireball along with the hunk o' lead.

Cuz sometimes you wanna burn the paper after you've killed it
Got to love reloading

 

[snooperman]

The 357 magnum is much more versatile than the 44 mag....

You can practice and hunt small game with 38 special and have the power of the 180 gr 357 if you need it. There are far more 357 's made and sold each year than the 44 mag for this reason alone. The ammo is also cheaper as well. If I could only have one revolver it would be the 357 magnum.

 

[jrb_pro]

To each his own, but I chose the S&W 629 6" .44 Magnum, and have never looked back. I wanted a big bore revolver for shooting paper or shooting game...and that would be sufficient for personal protection if I needed it.

Could I have picked something else? Sure. Would I enjoy it as much (based on other guns I have shot in different calibers)? Probably not.

But, like I said, to each his own. That Ruger you bought is a NICE gun, and I'm sure you'll absolutely love it.

 

[Hedgemeister]

I have a 3" GP100. The balance of this gun is awesome, IMO better than the 4". I can't believe the accuracy of this thing with a 3" barrel. It is now my trusted woods carry. Congrats on yours and I am interested in hearing the range report.

 

[DemonTweaks]

Range time went well!
Cool thing is that the shop I bought it at have a nice indoor range and they gave me one month free pass!
Nice service, thanks!

So initial tests concluded; no apparent difference between 38spl @ 125gr. (Magtech 38Q) and +P @ 110gr. (Fiocchi).
Same with 158gr. Magtech 357A @ 1233fps and Hornady 125gr. XTP @ 1500fps.
Both loads in respective cambering felt about the same compared to each other. (Bullet weight takeout the more powerful loads?)
BUT, off course, rather big difference from 38 to 357! And I like that Magnum kick! So I just ordered up some 'Buffalo Bore' 125gr. that is rated @ 1700fps and 800+ ft/lbs and some 'Double Tap' 200gr. @1300fps and 640 ft/lbs. Will be interesting and fun to see how they feel/behave with super heavy vs. super fast.

And you guys where right with the 'have both'... Already been looking around the net for some 'cannons'
Cuz' it seams that alot of guys go out and buy the biggest, baddest calibers there is in either huge size (Ruger SRH 9.5", Raging bull 8.375"etc.) or too small (Ruger 'Alaskan') and shoot them extremely seldom since they didn't realize that it gets kind of crazy with massive power (and even more so with a 2.25" barrel...) And then they sell them! Often for a pretty low price too.

 

[youngda9]

^^^ We have all just witnessed the birth of a recoil junkie.

Welcome to the club.

My cannons:
Ruger SP101 3" .357 mag
S&W 686-4+ 4" .357 mag
S&W 629-4 6.5" .44 mag