Fits over at (new addition to my blogroll, btw), listed for ammo at the website,specifically that it's shooting a 158-grain bullet at 1607 fps. If they're talking handgun velocity, that's hot. It's also what Wolf claims, so this time is isn't just a CTD typo.
As I learned back when I was writing up the article on the Winchester 94, Winchester has .357 Magnum ammo listed on their with a MV of 1830 fps, however, this ammo is listed only under the rifle section, therefore I must assume that this is claimed velocity for rifles only, and I personally would probably not try it in a handgun. This is wrong.
Hey, I made a mistake! (My theory about about making declarations instead of asking questions holds). See comments.
I'll do a better update later. Will also have to update the old Winchester post. I think Wolf's ballistics for its .
44 Magnum Gold is also kind of high. Also wrong! Anyway, Fits fired off an email to Wolf so it will be interesting to see if they send any reply.
Someone has a NIB on GunsAmerica for $1,035. An odd little gun, designed as a deep concealment for off-duty or undercover police officers. Chambered for .
357 magnum, with four barrels and a rotating firing pin. Despite its compactness, its unloaded weight is 28 ounces--3 ounces heavier than an unloaded SP-101--but a good 1.5" shorter, too.
The company that made them is now defunct, so I guess they're collectible, hence the asking price. Follow the link if you want to see a photo of it. Another good page on it is .
Here's one I've never heard of. On GunsAmerica, a in .256 magnum, selling for $1,995.
A single-shot pistol built on a revolver (Blackhawk?) frame, apparently. According to the seller, the .
256 is a .357 magnum necked down to .25 caliber.
Interesting. Follow the link to see a picture of it. For the information of anyone who cares: I carry mine with Remington Golden Sabers.
This cartridge is in between .38+P and full-blown .357 magnum.
According to Remington, their .38+P is around 900 fps (muzzle velocity), Golden Saber .357 around 1200 fps, and full .
357 around 1400 fps. I also live in the country, and like having the option of loading it with something more powerful should the occasion arise. I'm thinking those reloads I mentioned recently would be very potent wild hog medicine in my rifle.
The versatility of this round is amazing. For the hunter, with varying loads it can be used for anything as small as rabbits up to medium-sized game like deer, or even some large game if you're really good. For defense purposes, a new shooter can start out learning with lower-powered .
38 loads, and then move up to more powerful loads without even having to change guns. I would also like to take this opportunity to say that I'm going to create a new category just for the .38/.
357 so I can put all these posts in there for easy reference. I'll probably need to go back and re-categorize some of my old posts. I was planning on taking the camera to the range today but I forgot it.
I went to our "private range." I started with some factory PMC loaded with 158 grain JSP (jacketed soft point). Recoil was pleasant but not intimidating, and it turned out that this was by far the most accurate (as in, already zeroed--no sight adjustment required) load for the range at which I was shooting, which was 50 yards.
The rifle was probably as accurate as it could be with me doing the shooting. Although I would not have been able to drive nails with it, if my dad had been there I'm sure he would have said, "that'll drop a deer." I had only 10 rounds or so of the PMC stuff left from previous handgun shooting, so it didn't take me long to finish it off and start on the various handloads that I have.
I didn't load them, but the person who did gave me all the details about them for my future reference. The first batch was shooting 158 grain JSP's with 13.3 grains of Hercules 2400.
Maybe that means something to you reloaders, but it didn't mean much to me. Until I shot it, that is. These were some serious reloads.
The recoil even punched me pretty hard a couple of times when the butt wasn't seated in just exactly the right spot of my shoulder. These loads shot high, but grouped well. Next time I might try some 100-yard shooting and see how these work.
These might turn out to be good 100-yard loads, and judging by the recoil, they would easily drop a deer. Also, our backstop is made of a couple of layers of heavy metal sheets angled to deflect the bullets downward. The PMC factory loads just clanged and ricocheted into the dirt.
These reloads were hitting so hard the bullets were exploding into puffs of lead dust upon impact. They were both loaded with the same kind of bullet. Like I said, these were some serious reloads.
I'm amazed that I've actually used these in the SP-101 before. After that I tried two other reloads, one a very lightly loaded .357 magnum and the other a plain old .
38 Special. Both were made to be very easy-recoiling target practice loads for snubby revolvers. Shooting them in the rifle was an anticlimax and sort of disappointing after the first two loads.
The .38 Special was so wimpy they almost felt like squibs, but weren't. Both of them shot very low.
I still have quite a few of these left, and will save them strictly for snubby practice. Next step is to figure out exactly how the PMC factory stuff is loaded so I can duplicate it. I think I may eventually start reloading just to keep myself supplied with .
357. As far as function, the rifle functioned well. There were no serious cycling problems, only a few minor ones because I was sometimes ejecting carefully to keep from losing any brass.
When I worked the lever like I was supposed to, it worked perfectly. The trigger is light and crisp, although I have no way to actually measure it. One quibble is that although this is supposed to hold 10 rounds in the tube, I can't get more than 9 rounds in it.
Still, 9 rounds of .357 magnum from a rifle is some pretty good firepower, especially if you have another one or two .357 magnum revolvers nearby to back it up.
Eh, I couldn't think up a good title for this post. Some comments on the good ol' .357 Magnum over at .
Things I like about it: can be used for self-defense as well as hunting, easily available, relatively cheap, can also shoot the even cheaper .38 Special for practice and plinking. I've never understood people who are recoil-phobic, either.
A friend of our family had a trick he'd like to do, by loading up one of his .357's with five .38 shells and one .
357, without saying anything. My dad says when this happened to him, the gun nearly hit him in the head from recoil, and he has always seemed to be recoil-shy with handguns. Odd, because recoil with long guns has never even been a blip on his radar.
As for myself, I'd much rather shoot "hard recoiling" handguns than long guns. I have sometimes returned home from a rifle shoot with a very bruised and painful sore shoulder, and recoil from long guns is something I notice. The worst beating I ever got was from my M44 carbine shooting 7.
62x54R. That thing beats the heck out of me. It also sets off car alarms in the parking lot, so it evens out.
When this friend of ours pulled his trick on me--and I didn't know about his little "trick" at the time, when I was about 13 or 14--the #6 shot was louder and obviously more powerful (I felt more recoil). I turned around and said, "That last one was different." "Well, what did ya think?
" he said. "Got any more?" was my reply.
I routinely spend range time shooting an SP-101 with .357 Magnum loads, and it just isn't a problem. My dad thinks I'm crazy.
But then he also thinks I'm nuts for eating habanero hot sauce. I think the recoil "problem" can be fixed for just about anyone with some experience and instruction on grip and stance. Another good thing about the .
357 is that in training a new shooter, one can start on plain .38 loads, work up to hotter .38+P loads, and eventually to .
357 Magnum. This might help in teaching new shooters that recoil is nothing to fear. I would also like to make clear that I am not a large or especially physically strong person.
I think if I can shoot the .357 without being bothered by recoil, anyone should be able to.
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