Yep,,, that's why this is the only 357 I own,,,, obsolete :lol:Tioga County said:
Is the .357 Magnum obsolete?
- Thread starter Bear Paw Jack
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Armybrat
Buckeye
Sweet Ruger wheel gun! 1,450 fps!
Some folks just don't know how much fun they are missing. 8)
Some folks just don't know how much fun they are missing. 8)
What I see here is the confabulation caliber and firearm. The rimmed cartridges are pretty synonymous with revolvers, or actually considered anathema for box magazines or even clips. The advent of the Mossberg 590M & Remington 690DM show that is practical if not easy to build a box magazine for rimmed cartridges. This eliminates the magazine (tube, rotary,...) problems. Now there is no reason not to build any gun with a box magazine that takes rimmed cartridges! (Well not revolvers.). So there is no need to banish rimmed cartridges to the revolver.
The demise of the revolver for LEO is largely due to form factor and convenience not calibers. The SIG357 and the 41mag are examples of pistol calibers that have failed to get traction with LEO. The fact that the 45CAL is inextricably entangled with the 1911 (as well as they work together) is why the 45CAL isn't popular with LEO.
I would contend however; that popularity with LEO is not a factor in obselence. If it were the: 22, 32, and 41mag et al would be obsolete.
It is easy to confuse duty LEO guns with good self defense guns. This simply is a falicy!
And the meme that the only excuse for a gun is hunting (however reprehensible) and self defense is simply silly. For instance it ignores plinking and target shooting for fun!
The demise of the revolver for LEO is largely due to form factor and convenience not calibers. The SIG357 and the 41mag are examples of pistol calibers that have failed to get traction with LEO. The fact that the 45CAL is inextricably entangled with the 1911 (as well as they work together) is why the 45CAL isn't popular with LEO.
I would contend however; that popularity with LEO is not a factor in obselence. If it were the: 22, 32, and 41mag et al would be obsolete.
It is easy to confuse duty LEO guns with good self defense guns. This simply is a falicy!
And the meme that the only excuse for a gun is hunting (however reprehensible) and self defense is simply silly. For instance it ignores plinking and target shooting for fun!
Flexible for ... what? It is not a big game cartridge. Nor would I want it in a self defense situation with same if one could help it. More of a medium game cartridge (small deer, badger, coyote, etc.) or human self defense. Shooting gophers, rabbits with a .357 is over kill. Yes you can shoot .38 Special as well as .357 Magnum as well as load up or down if you are reloader. But then I can do the same with .44 Special and .44 Mag.... or .327 and .32 H&R Mag. Point is, I consider most cartridges as flexible. And which one you chose will depend on the situation/need. Tis, why most of us own several different revolvers in different calibers.
varminter22
Single-Sixer
grobin said:
Not sure if that is directed to me, but likely is.
Lots of factory loads are available for various unpopular calibers.
I didn't even come close to saying the .357 is obsolete. I simply said I have no use for it because the other mentioned calibers do everything I need done with less muzzle blast and less recoil. What's not to love?!
There are several factory loads for the .32 Mag (although I'm not real familiar because I handload.) That has been discussed on this forum before.
I didn't say anything at all about the .32 Short.
I did mention the .38 Short Colt. I understand one can occasionally find factory loads for it but they are super anemic. It matters not to me as I handload it to a power factor of 125 to 135. It is like the .38 Special but loads into and ejects from the cylinder faster than the unnecessarily lengthy .38 Spec and .357 Mag.
And I stand by my speculation that many folks don't shoot .357 Mag ammo all that much due to the blast and recoil. Does the .357 have a place? Of course I think so. But I'll bet not many people shoot thousands of rounds of it per year.
Flexible for...what
Do you mean how or why is the 357M flexible or do you mean what use is the 357M?
Let's start with what use is the 357M? It can be used for target, self-defense, small game, large game, and plinking. Can other cartridges cover this range...yep. But if you think about it, the 357M is right in the middle meaning something like 32 caliber is bit small for large game and 44 caliber is a bit big for small game.
How is it flexible? The market supplies a range of handguns from 2" snubbies to 14" single shots. It can indeed fire 38 specials. There is a very large supply of ammo available for it and at a reasonable cost. It can be loaded with cast or jacketed. It can be loaded with wad-cutters, semi-wad cutters, round nose, etc.
It is extremely low cost to reload, probably more so than any other handgun cartridge given the wide availability of reloading supplies and inherent efficiency of the cartridge. It is a very efficient cartridge ballistically which means energy downrange for given amount of powder. The cases last a very long time meaning they can be reloaded upward twenty times.
It can be loaded mild or wild. So let's compare that to the 44 special. The 44 special can be loaded mild to wild as well but ballistically the 44 special wants to see a bullet weight in the range of 250 gr. Anything more or less and the efficiency drops quickly. Not so with 357M as it is just as efficient from 125gr to 180gr.
Why is the 357M flexible? This has to do with the design of cartridge meaning caliber, case length, operating pressure range, lineage tied back to the 38 special, acceptance in the market place, and handgun availability.
If one puts their biases aside for a moment and score the 357M against any other handgun cartridge you will see it is the most flexible; it is quite adaptable and covers the widest range of applications.
Note that I never said it was best handgun cartridge as I contribute that to the 44 special but that cartridge isn't nearly as flexible as the 357M. So how can something so flexible go obsolete...it can't...just like the 44 special never went obsolete because it is the best handgun cartridge.
Do you mean how or why is the 357M flexible or do you mean what use is the 357M?
Let's start with what use is the 357M? It can be used for target, self-defense, small game, large game, and plinking. Can other cartridges cover this range...yep. But if you think about it, the 357M is right in the middle meaning something like 32 caliber is bit small for large game and 44 caliber is a bit big for small game.
How is it flexible? The market supplies a range of handguns from 2" snubbies to 14" single shots. It can indeed fire 38 specials. There is a very large supply of ammo available for it and at a reasonable cost. It can be loaded with cast or jacketed. It can be loaded with wad-cutters, semi-wad cutters, round nose, etc.
It is extremely low cost to reload, probably more so than any other handgun cartridge given the wide availability of reloading supplies and inherent efficiency of the cartridge. It is a very efficient cartridge ballistically which means energy downrange for given amount of powder. The cases last a very long time meaning they can be reloaded upward twenty times.
It can be loaded mild or wild. So let's compare that to the 44 special. The 44 special can be loaded mild to wild as well but ballistically the 44 special wants to see a bullet weight in the range of 250 gr. Anything more or less and the efficiency drops quickly. Not so with 357M as it is just as efficient from 125gr to 180gr.
Why is the 357M flexible? This has to do with the design of cartridge meaning caliber, case length, operating pressure range, lineage tied back to the 38 special, acceptance in the market place, and handgun availability.
If one puts their biases aside for a moment and score the 357M against any other handgun cartridge you will see it is the most flexible; it is quite adaptable and covers the widest range of applications.
Note that I never said it was best handgun cartridge as I contribute that to the 44 special but that cartridge isn't nearly as flexible as the 357M. So how can something so flexible go obsolete...it can't...just like the 44 special never went obsolete because it is the best handgun cartridge.
varminter22 I can see your point now. But to turn things around I don't have any interest in the calibers you espouse. But gustibus non disputandum est! There are always calibers, that for various reasons get less/more fame than they deserve. e.g. 257 roberts, 7mm 08, 416 Barrett, 50 BMG, 338 win mag, 378 weatherby anything, ...
varminter22
Single-Sixer
grobin,
Cool Latin phrase!
And I agree. Sometimes hard to understand why some calibers are so popular or unpopular.
Cool Latin phrase!
And I agree. Sometimes hard to understand why some calibers are so popular or unpopular.
I think some are getting lost in the difference between cartridge, and firearm! For me the 357 is never going to be extinct because it can do anything the 38 special can, but it is a 357. Some may not know it but the 38 special as well can do anything the 357 can do,, for the advanced hand loader! But the firearms they are both made for determine the way they can be used, not the other way around. The real difference would be in what a chief's special will take, and what a Redhawk Blackhawk or even a Speed Six will handle.
This is why it will never die, but I just can't wrap my mind around considering it as a big game cartridge,, unless one think a deer or a blackbear is all the same as big game,, if they do trust me,, Elk and Moose are in another league, and for me would be out in favor of bigger projectiles., and they are not as big a game as many use handguns for. For me it as at best a small game to medium game cartridge in real world hunting.
This is why it will never die, but I just can't wrap my mind around considering it as a big game cartridge,, unless one think a deer or a blackbear is all the same as big game,, if they do trust me,, Elk and Moose are in another league, and for me would be out in favor of bigger projectiles., and they are not as big a game as many use handguns for. For me it as at best a small game to medium game cartridge in real world hunting.
ProfessorWes
Hunter
No, the .357 is NOT obsolete, thank you very much. I just need to pair my 50th Flattop with a matching "obsolete" Henry levergun (preferably a Big Boy Steel, or one of the new color case-hardened frame versions).
dakota1911
Buckeye
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2009
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- 1,021
I don't think so. I think it is going to be around for a long time. At least down here in the SW I can buy it all over. If you reload it is wonderful.
RSIno1
Hunter
It's interesting in the 50s and 60s the good guys all had revolvers and the bad guys all had autos. Now it's just the opposite. You never see a revolver in the hands of a movie good guy. I've only got one 357 left (had 6) a Colt Trooper I bought in 1968 (my first handgun). I also have a S&W 642 38+P that I prefer to carry over my Glock 26 due to it's size and weight.
I was going to say as obsolete as an Iphone 10. But, next year the 10 will be obsolete and the .357 mag will still be doing what it's done since its advent.
dakota1911 said:
Where in the SW are you. I think I'd be good with a 357mag in the SW for just about anything. I wouldn't worry about it. Use a good bullet, go out.
leejack
Single-Sixer
Re: Is the .357 Magnum obsolete?
No it isn't.
I love shooting .38 special but it's nice to send a few maggies down range as well.
Plenty of love left for the .357 magnum and the revolvers chambered for them...
No it isn't.
I love shooting .38 special but it's nice to send a few maggies down range as well.
Plenty of love left for the .357 magnum and the revolvers chambered for them...
sailorb
Single-Sixer
So, is my 66 Mustang or my 69 Bronco obsolete? How about my 130 year old house. Obsolete is in the eye of the beholder. May be old, but that doesn't mean useless. Myself included.
pisgah
Buckeye
.357 obsolete? Sure, okay. Consign it to the ash heap of history, like the .30-30 and .45-70... :lol:
toysoldier
Hunter
Looking ahead to the possibility of a gloomy future for availability of ammo and/or need to dispose of most of my firearms, I acquired pistols and a Rossi 92 in .357. As others have cited, ready availability of a wide range of loadings, plus ease of reloading, makes the caliber useful for just about any scenario, short of hunting moose or bear. Oh, and they're fun to shoot.
ruger srh44/454
Bearcat
It is a great all around cartridge. You can shoot loads from Buffalo Bore than are very stout to .38 special which are very mild. It is legal for deer hunting in my state of Ohio. Gun frames in this caliber are a lot smaller than say a .44 mag and a lot easier to carry in a holster. Ammo is easy to find. I hope it never is obsolete in my lifetime.
