aaaaa
Member
Tough question because for me, .38 Special and .45 Colt are both right up there, but I have a lot more revolvers in .38 (only 1 in .45 Colt), so voted .38 Special.
Favorite Revolver Cartridge
- Thread starter WisBorn
- Start date
I saw some mention, in the earlier pages, about the .357 Magnum’s bark being worse than its bite. Well, it does certainly bark, which can be used to the defender’s advantage, because the defender knows that bark is about to happen, and should have trained to prepare for it. The hand-held stun-grenade effect can be a useful asset. One night, in 1993, I set off that effect, with intent, and was glad to have had it working for me. The sound was like a toy pop gun, to my ears. By that point in time, high-quality duty ammo was low-flash, but the scene was not fully dark, and I perceived no flash.
So, yes, a reason I chose .357 Magnum was, indeed, because it saved me serious harm, or death, almost thirty years ago, when I was duty-bound to stand my ground, and stop an attacker from harming me, my colleagues, or the private citizens who were nearby. Of course, I was carrying personally-purchased* .357 Mag, in my personally-owned duty revolver, because it was, already, a highly-favored weapon, chambered for a highly-favored cartridge. The weapon, a GP100, is shown in my avatar image.
To be clear, I am not recommending full-pressure Magnum ammo for intentional usage in tight spaces, where the intense sound and pressure waves will be bounced back to the shooter. As I type this, in the evening, after dark, in a darkened room, my nearest-at-hand handgun is .38 Special, and the next-nearest firearm is a Benelli M2 shotgun.
So, yes, a reason I chose .357 Magnum was, indeed, because it saved me serious harm, or death, almost thirty years ago, when I was duty-bound to stand my ground, and stop an attacker from harming me, my colleagues, or the private citizens who were nearby. Of course, I was carrying personally-purchased* .357 Mag, in my personally-owned duty revolver, because it was, already, a highly-favored weapon, chambered for a highly-favored cartridge. The weapon, a GP100, is shown in my avatar image.
To be clear, I am not recommending full-pressure Magnum ammo for intentional usage in tight spaces, where the intense sound and pressure waves will be bounced back to the shooter. As I type this, in the evening, after dark, in a darkened room, my nearest-at-hand handgun is .38 Special, and the next-nearest firearm is a Benelli M2 shotgun.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
I looked at M2's last week. Awfully tempting!
Armored farmer
Member
Old Dog
Member
Looks like .38 Special for me. If I still had something in .45 Colt, maybe that'd be it...once upon a time I'd have said .357 Magnum, back when it was the "cool" cartridge, but I just like going with something easy to shoot these days. And mostly out of old school revolvers.
jar
Contributing Member
Kinda a tie. I seem to have the same number of revolvers in 38S&W, 45acp and 38 Special but the 38S&W and 38 Special ones seem to get about equal carry time. The 45acp are all either Improved New Service or S&W 1917 so longer barreled larger framed ones that go WalkAbout very seldom these days.
1976B.L.Johns.
Member
Yeah, he did! (Nice collection!)
And the best part is there were no staples in his "centerfolds".
Old Hobo
Member
The .357 mag for most folk. Cartridges in .38 Spec. can be chambered / fired -- just watch out for ringing. Polish the chamber if it gets mega-nasty or develops a ring.
Next up, the .41 mag. This cartridge is often overlooked. The .41 mag can do what the .44 mag. can do ... and more efficiently so. Save powder. Save lead. What the .44 mag. can kill, so too will the .41 mag. ... using less powder and less bullet lead. Just can. Look it up.
Henry Arms makes a lever-action rifle in .41 mag.
Y'wanna go larger, then go for the cartridges designed for Alaska situations ... brown bear and whatnot. Alaska handgun cartridges have much higher energy ratings than the .41 mag., more than the .44 mag.. Need that sort of power? Do it! If you must, then for heaven's sake, go BIG! Brown bears and polar bears are monsters!!! Monster loads are needed if you don't want to die a horrible death. When a cannon is required ... well then, get yourself a cannon. The .44 is "big medicine"; however, it is not a cannon. Handgun cannon revolvers and their cartridges are very available. Were I living in Alaska or the Yukon, then by-golly, I'd buy me a cannon revolver/chambering; probably would learn to reload for it, also. Gotta do what'cha gotta do.
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Next up, the .41 mag. This cartridge is often overlooked. The .41 mag can do what the .44 mag. can do ... and more efficiently so. Save powder. Save lead. What the .44 mag. can kill, so too will the .41 mag. ... using less powder and less bullet lead. Just can. Look it up.
Henry Arms makes a lever-action rifle in .41 mag.
Y'wanna go larger, then go for the cartridges designed for Alaska situations ... brown bear and whatnot. Alaska handgun cartridges have much higher energy ratings than the .41 mag., more than the .44 mag.. Need that sort of power? Do it! If you must, then for heaven's sake, go BIG! Brown bears and polar bears are monsters!!! Monster loads are needed if you don't want to die a horrible death. When a cannon is required ... well then, get yourself a cannon. The .44 is "big medicine"; however, it is not a cannon. Handgun cannon revolvers and their cartridges are very available. Were I living in Alaska or the Yukon, then by-golly, I'd buy me a cannon revolver/chambering; probably would learn to reload for it, also. Gotta do what'cha gotta do.
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Simple Shooter
Member
.44 Magnum. I have plenty of self defense guns chambered in 9mm, so a revolver is a wood and range gun for me. The .44 is just plain fun, and that's what I bought it for.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
That's true if we're talking about medium game. If it gets bigger than elk, the .44's capacity is significantly greater, as is its ability to go way over SAAMI pressure standards. The .41 can't compete with a 355gr at 1350fps.
Jimfern
Member
I reload and shoot 38 SPL through 45 Colt. I voted 38 SPL because it's easy to load and very accurate w/o beating you up and all of my shooting is at a shooting range.
Old Hobo
Member
People fear the recoil of the .44. Where I'm from most folk who have .44 mag revolvers have them chambered in single-action revolvers. With the plow handle type grip, these puppies roll back in your hand during recoil. The result of this is a marked reduction in any recoil punishment to one's hand. Those who buy large frame double-action revolvers in large-bore chamberings often have large hands to begin with. Me, I do not have large hands, but have owned .357 single actions and never thought the recoil abusive. Have fired hot loads in a .44 mag. single action owned by someone else. Due to the plow-handle grips, I did not suffer at all from the recoil.
Were some big old brown bear intent on ripping me up, I'd have to ponder the recoil some other time ... if my rounds dropped Mr. Bruin.
OR! Maybe I'd get me a Fed Class-3 license so that I could carry a sawed-off 10 ga. A 10 ga. loaded with 3½", 1¾ oz. slugs ... sounds about right. As a backup, I'd carry one of those anemic little S&W Mod. 500 revolvers.
"Nice bear!
, nice bear! 
, ... y'know, if you're having a bad day, hey, maybe we could just sit down and have a talk about things ... Oh, how's the salmon fishing going this year for your bruin crew?!" 
N555
Member
38spl hot loaded hotter than 38spl+p but just shy or at the entry level of 357mag power.
For use in 357mag guns only, obviously.
For use in 357mag guns only, obviously.
tark
Member
32-20. I just love everything about it. I've only got one revolver chambered for it, a Colt Police Positive 4" made in 1928, but it is very accurate.
foxmeadow
Member
Any love for the .30 Carbine? I had a Ruger Blackhawk chambered for it and it was a lot of fun.
aaaaa
Member
I would rather shoot specials out of my .357, .41, and .44 Magnum guns but it can lead to some nasty buildup in the extended part of the chamber, so preferably go with .38 Special and .44 Special guns. The .41 is not made in Special because there is no official .41 Special cartridge as far as I know. Of course I don't have to deal with bear, so I can afford to go with the lighter shooting rounds.
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
Tough call, but I voted .357 Magnum. If I could only own one handgun, it would be a 4-inch .357 Mag revolver. Great versatility loading the cartridge from mild to wild. I'm pretty partial to the .44 Magnum, too. While I like the .44 Special, the power range of the .44 Mag is greater.
aaaaa
Member
Can a Colt .45 compete with either of these?
OP
OP
WisBorn
Contributing Member
With Ruger only loads the 45 colt can compete with the 44mag. The standard 45 is similar to 44 special. As far as 357 & 45 they differ in how there energy is generated. Bullet mass versus velocity....
Vern Humphrey
Member
Yup. In a Ruger Blackhawk (and a couple more makes of guns) you can load the Colt .45 to 32,000 PSI (SAAMI limits factory ammo to 14,000 PSI). At that pressure, the .45 Colt will do anything the .44 Magnum will do -- and makes a bigger hole while it does it.
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
I like the .45 Colt, too, but the comments about it being loaded up to match the performance of the .44 Magnum evidence the reason for my preference for the latter. I’ll not try to convince anyone that my favorite is “better” than your favorite.
