Yesterday's Weapons Forums

....ok....SP101 Ruger....love to shoot .357mag 154gr in it(125's ok )....while at Wallyworld today I sauntered past the ammo dept to look since they usually have sparse shelves with limited selection,and what they do have is usually well picked thru before I ever get there....saw they had 2 boxes of Winchester 38 SPL. +P 125gr. JHP....labeled"personal protection"....so I had some spare change and figgered I'd try a box....now the question...which in your opinions would be more "appropriate" for stopping power-carry wise....as I said,I love the .357mag,and the 38spl....well....they look so.....uhm.....short-compared to the 357... ....opinions requested pleas..

What is the velocity of 125 gr +P ? Do you want this for up close and personal protection or to protect the whole neighborhood by sending 357 mags into the next couple of blocks?

WW 125 grain 38 special +P is listed at 945 f/s muzzle vel. I consulted reloading charts and some of them get 1100 f/s which is not as fast as an 125 grain 9mm. A 125 grain 357 mag bullet can get up to 1800 f/s. The nice thing is 38 special +P is milder recoil and you can always lend some to a friend in need who only has a 38 special revolver.

My 2 cents worth is that whatever you shoot best and have the most confidence with. I might get yelled at but a hit with a 22 beats a miss with a 44 mag. I carry a smith in 32 mag. i know it dosent start with a 4 but i shoot it well and often. The low recoil and noise is a pleasure to practice with and i shoot at least half a box every week. I load the rcbs 98 gr. swc with 7625. Hope i never have to use it for anything but practice but it goes with me every where i go.. joe gifford aka argie1891

In your situation, I'd go with 38 +P. In a 2", a lot of 357 mag powder gets burned outside the barrel which does exactly no good.

It's very much louder, too which can have an effect on accuracy if you don't practice often with hot ammo.

In dim light situations, powder burning outside the barrel can have negative consequenses for night vision.

Recoil isn't a pain issue here ( your recent circumstances excepted) but it does add miliseconds to the recovery time before an accurate second round can be gotten off, and accuracy is critical... so are miliseconds

I'd say go with dedicated personal defense 38 +P ammo. I've heard nothing but good about the Hornady TAP stuff, but it's hard to find.

As mentioned above, one 38 in the bad guy beats a cyl full of 357s continuing downrange.

SiL mooched me out of all my practice ammo - I need to crank up the Dillon & make more. As soon as I get off my butt, I'll send some of that & a few factory +Ps... and some accurate 7.62x54R...

It's on my long list of stuff I need to do. SW

well......everything goes in~ i've come to the conclusion.....just shoot.as many times as possible if needed. story of latest interest:
I have been dressing wounds on a cop patient that was shot by a perp at close range. Cop had the 357sig, BG had 45HP's....he cop got the 1st round off grazing the perps head....the perp got one off that went thru the mag pouch, belt and into cop's gut (bullet had lots of area here as he is a big fellow) and didn't exit....cop fell back into the hallway. Perp comes outta the bathroom(that's where he had the soon-to-be-exwife down on the floor with 45 to her head)...anyway, perp gets another round off, it travels thru the butt-cheek thru and thru....cop gets a few off then into the x-ring of perp ending the 10 second fight.
the thru and thru wound has healed up nice...'proudflesh" fills the butt wounds, in one check and exited same cheek~and takes very little care after only 2 weeks....the 'field dress' exploritory surgery to get all the mag crap outta the abdomen from the hospital has healed up well but skin abrasions from my tape and pads are starting to worry the area...so i've switched brands of dressings....the entrance hole is now sunk some and is "proudflesh' looking
he has had some tiresome days, laying on his back in the bed, not able to do much~....and no, he didn't wear his issued vest cause of the heat here...but the rounds would of missed it anyway...
so....name of the game?
shoot ALOT downrange.........reload and retreat to COVER....and wait for some backup with 12ga shotgun....

im favoring the plus P as well , but im also agreeing with Kaintuk - "well your honor the reason i put eight in him was cause i didnt have a ten round mag"

here they teach - "shoot to kill" because we are not allowed to shoot unless we feel life is immenently in danger ,

BTW- i like the 45acp and the 9mm because they dont kill the unintended three doors down - i like a 357mag for the hunting , not the self defense.......

just my 2-bits

...thank you very much for your opinions gentlemen.....this is exactly the type of feedback I'd wanted to hear...

pssst...



its what stays in my SP101.

that said I like some flames from my 357 mag handloads at the range for plinking .

pete

...it's you-know-who saying you-know-what...you've got a fine little blaster, there...don't make no difference how well written the letter...if it don't get delivered...158-gr LSWCHP+P...for those you really wanna stop...

In a pistol distance situation the +p is more than enough

i think of it as 2 sliders

Power

Placement

Sliding one up makes the other less critical

Hitting someone with the 357's just about anywhere would take him out of action

a vital hit with the plus p would do the same

a 9mm mak to the head would do the same

hittin him in the blinkers with a 22 would also do the same.

a miss won't do nuthin but waste ammo whatever the caliber

GG

P.S. If i really really want to be sure ....SEE my avatar

...please don't bet yer hiney on an anywhere hit with a .357...strange things happen...one of my buds shot a burglar in a drop ceiling six times...he got up and ran off...Norma 158gr JHP .357 out of a 4" M66...placement trumps power any day...here in this little town a perp caught a .45 Federal 230-gr. Hydroshock JHP in the chest across a room...the cop that shot him walked him out to the squad to wait for the ambulance...missed his heart by a coupla inches...bullets do funny things...

... "a miss won't do nuthin but waste ammo whatever the caliber..." now THAT'S golden truth...

People have a habit of hiding behind sturdy objects when shooting and being shot at in return, so I prefer the most penetration possible.
Dumpsters and car doors are a fairly common obstacle, and even a door frame can stop or slow down a .38 enough to make an otherwise fight stopper into an inconveniance.

For across a table a .32 short can get the job done, but for across a parking lot you need both accuracy and penetration.
I'd prefer the .357 over most handguns for a serious gunfight. It has accurate range and penetration to handle most situations. if you need more you should carry a carbine.

PS
We've all heard the old story of a .38 special bouncing off a windshield. I thought that was a myth till I examined a winshield after this had happened when a jealous husband took a potshot at a friend. The car was an old 50's Caddilac and the bullet hit right in the steeply curved portion at the side. it left a small crack and a smear of lead.

if your in offence mode i would agree but in defense[the law here] its not going to fly in court ,

i cannot disagree with much of what has been said and my thinking agrees with all of you , but i still look at the law here and agree that i must try to abide by it ,

im with pete on the range - lets see some smoke and fire ,
there is a cowboy shooter here that shoots all black powder - lots of smoke , and he loads his own - adds feathers for a little fun when the flames dont show well