.357 vs .44 for home defence?
- Thread starter STEVR
- Start date
Darren Constable said:
Just curious. Can you please give me a reference for this. The last time I asked the CFC (in writing) for a definition of a "safe" versus a "gun storage locker" they said (in writing) that there are no regulations, specifications or formal definition of what a safe is.
I would be very interested in seeing where it is written that 400 pounds is the cut-off.
Thanks.
Question was .357 vs .44
came across this info. Don't know credability of the writer. See the .357 calibre details:
357 Magnum
The most effective handgun round on the market - regardless of caliber - is the Federal .357 Magnum 125 grain jacketed hollowpoint (357B). This load has more stopping power than any other handgun bullet (and this includes more powerful rounds like the .41 and .44 Magnums). I advise all experienced revolver men to carry the legendary Federal 357B in a .357 revolver, or the equally good Remington full-power 125 grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint (R357M1).
There is one caveat, however. The 357B and other full-power .357 Magnums have a lot of blast and kick. If you are not comfortable with the buck and roar of full-house .357 Magnums, I would strongly suggest that you use a lower-recoil round. Controllability is important, and you will be able to fire lower-recoil rounds more rapidly and accurately. All of these .357 loads have excellent stopping power, so don't worry that you are giving up too much.
In descending order of severity of recoil (i.e. the Silvertip kicks the most) I recommend the Winchester Silvertip 145 grain JHP (X357SHP), The Remington Golden Saber 125 grain JHP (GS357MA), Federal 110 gr. JHP (357D), Remington Medium Velocity 125 grain Semi-Jacketed Hollowpoint (R357M11) and the Cor-Bon 115 grain JHP. The latter two are excellent rounds I strongly recommend for .357 Magnum 2.5" and 3" barrel snub-nose revolvers like the S&W Models 66, 19, 65, 13, the Colt King Cobra, the Ruger GP100 and especially the small-frame Ruger SP101. If you still find that your .357 kicks too much, carry the Cor-Bon .38 Special+P 115 grain JHP discussed above. Two or three hits with good .38+P slugs beat any number of misses with .357 slugs.
Note well: if you are using the factory wood stocks on your S&W or Taurus .357 revolver, you are a fool. Ruger and Colt .357 Magnums come factory-equipped with recoil-absorbing ergodynamic rubber grips, and I have no idea why S&W and Taurus continue to put wood grips on their .357 revolvers. The difference in control is enormous. Get some good, compact rubber grips from Uncle Mike's or Pachmayr and slap them onto your .357 revolver ASAP. I used to cringe every time I fired a full-power load in my .357 Magnum snub-nose. Once I put some compact Pachmayr grips on it, however, I had no problem firing the 357B accurately and rapidly. These grips only cost twenty bucks. Buy some.)
Other good .357 Magnum loads.
The 125 grain jacketed hollowpoints by Cor-Bon, Winchester, and CCI are all good stoppers. The CCI Blazer 125 grain jacketed hollow-point is a very good buy, both for practice and self-defense use. The 110 grain jacketed hollowpoints by Winchester, CCI and Remington are all good for use in snub-nose revolvers, or for those sensitive to recoil. You never go wrong with a 110-125 grain .357 jacketed hollowpoint from the Big Five. All are great stoppers.
Crappy .357 Magnum loads you should not carry for self-defense.
came across this info. Don't know credability of the writer. See the .357 calibre details:
357 Magnum
The most effective handgun round on the market - regardless of caliber - is the Federal .357 Magnum 125 grain jacketed hollowpoint (357B). This load has more stopping power than any other handgun bullet (and this includes more powerful rounds like the .41 and .44 Magnums). I advise all experienced revolver men to carry the legendary Federal 357B in a .357 revolver, or the equally good Remington full-power 125 grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint (R357M1).
There is one caveat, however. The 357B and other full-power .357 Magnums have a lot of blast and kick. If you are not comfortable with the buck and roar of full-house .357 Magnums, I would strongly suggest that you use a lower-recoil round. Controllability is important, and you will be able to fire lower-recoil rounds more rapidly and accurately. All of these .357 loads have excellent stopping power, so don't worry that you are giving up too much.
In descending order of severity of recoil (i.e. the Silvertip kicks the most) I recommend the Winchester Silvertip 145 grain JHP (X357SHP), The Remington Golden Saber 125 grain JHP (GS357MA), Federal 110 gr. JHP (357D), Remington Medium Velocity 125 grain Semi-Jacketed Hollowpoint (R357M11) and the Cor-Bon 115 grain JHP. The latter two are excellent rounds I strongly recommend for .357 Magnum 2.5" and 3" barrel snub-nose revolvers like the S&W Models 66, 19, 65, 13, the Colt King Cobra, the Ruger GP100 and especially the small-frame Ruger SP101. If you still find that your .357 kicks too much, carry the Cor-Bon .38 Special+P 115 grain JHP discussed above. Two or three hits with good .38+P slugs beat any number of misses with .357 slugs.
Note well: if you are using the factory wood stocks on your S&W or Taurus .357 revolver, you are a fool. Ruger and Colt .357 Magnums come factory-equipped with recoil-absorbing ergodynamic rubber grips, and I have no idea why S&W and Taurus continue to put wood grips on their .357 revolvers. The difference in control is enormous. Get some good, compact rubber grips from Uncle Mike's or Pachmayr and slap them onto your .357 revolver ASAP. I used to cringe every time I fired a full-power load in my .357 Magnum snub-nose. Once I put some compact Pachmayr grips on it, however, I had no problem firing the 357B accurately and rapidly. These grips only cost twenty bucks. Buy some.)
Other good .357 Magnum loads.
The 125 grain jacketed hollowpoints by Cor-Bon, Winchester, and CCI are all good stoppers. The CCI Blazer 125 grain jacketed hollow-point is a very good buy, both for practice and self-defense use. The 110 grain jacketed hollowpoints by Winchester, CCI and Remington are all good for use in snub-nose revolvers, or for those sensitive to recoil. You never go wrong with a 110-125 grain .357 jacketed hollowpoint from the Big Five. All are great stoppers.
Crappy .357 Magnum loads you should not carry for self-defense.
Unregistered
Regular
- Location
- South Ontario
How does the equation change if you have a carbine like an 1894 trapper
At close range, a lever action .357 magnum with full house JHP loads is just about as scarey as it gets.
Plenty of kinetic energy and expansion for serious social encounters in a rifle that is cheap to buy and is PC.
And yet it's a non-restricted weapon because it doesn't look scarey.
Plenty of kinetic energy and expansion for serious social encounters in a rifle that is cheap to buy and is PC.
And yet it's a non-restricted weapon because it doesn't look scarey.
Clammy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
mr00jimbo said:
I can honsetly say that if someone broke into my house, and I was in the position where I feared for my or my family' lives, and I blew some scumbag's head off, that I would feel ZERO remorse. In that situation, it's him or or me, and I will do my best to make sure it's HIM!
As to the question of the thread: I would have to use either my .44 magnum Desert Eagle, or my S&W Model 29. Likely I would pick my Mossberg as first choice in self defence in my house, though.
Cheers!
Last edited:
Unregistered
Regular
- Location
- South Ontario
geologist said:
Would pistol hollowpoints off-the-shelf like the 125 gr. JHP expand properly out of an 18" barrel though?
Copied from gunblast.com:
While the 94 Ranger Compact is available chambered for the .30-30 cartridge, I prefer the .357 magnum chambering for a youth gun, for a couple of reasons. First of all, a hunter, any hunter, needs to practice. Rifle practice is also fun, especially for younger hunters just getting started. They love to shoot, if the gun doesn’t punish them too badly. Give a new shooter a hard-kicking rifle that doesn’t fit him properly, and he is very likely to develop a flinch, miss his targets, and would rather stay home and watch music videos than go hunting. The .357 Magnum in a carbine, is very light on recoil, while packing plenty of punch for whitetail deer, even the big ones.
Another advantage that the .357 has over the .30-30 is that of ammo availability and cost. To start off a new shooter, the .357 can use low recoiling and inexpensive .38 Special ammunition. This allows for quiet, relaxing practice that lets the shooter concentrate more on the fundamentals of shooting and less on muzzle blast and recoil. The young hunter can also load the Compact with .38 Special lead semi-wadcutter ammo for small game hunting with his deer gun. I know of no better way to practice for deer hunting than by hunting rabbits and squirrels. The light .38 Specials will anchor a squirrel or rabbit on the spot, without destroying any more meat than would a .22 long rifle bullet.
As far as power, the .357 Magnum using the right ammunition is in the same class as a good .30-30 load, while shooting a bullet of larger diameter. From a sixteen-inch barrel, factory thirty-thirty ammunition from the big ammo manufacturers drives a 170 grain bullet at just under 1900 feet-per-second (fps). The .357 Ranger Compact, with the same length barrel, drives a 180 grain bullet in excess of 1800 fps, and this too is using factory ammunition available from Buffalo Bore. I tested the Ranger Compact over the chronograph using a variety of factory ammunition, along with two handloads, with the following results:
Load Velocity (fps)
Grizzly Cartridge Co. 180-grain cast lead 1502
Buffalo Bore 180-grain cast lead 1812
Cor-Bon .38 Special 125-grain Jaketed Hollowpoint 1437
Handload 125-grain Jacketed Hollowpoint 2003
Handload 180-grain Hornady XTP Hollowpoint 1831
The carbine extracts much more power from the .357 than is obtainable in a revolver. The reason for including the lightweight Cor-Bon hollowpoints I will get to later.
While the 94 Ranger Compact is available chambered for the .30-30 cartridge, I prefer the .357 magnum chambering for a youth gun, for a couple of reasons. First of all, a hunter, any hunter, needs to practice. Rifle practice is also fun, especially for younger hunters just getting started. They love to shoot, if the gun doesn’t punish them too badly. Give a new shooter a hard-kicking rifle that doesn’t fit him properly, and he is very likely to develop a flinch, miss his targets, and would rather stay home and watch music videos than go hunting. The .357 Magnum in a carbine, is very light on recoil, while packing plenty of punch for whitetail deer, even the big ones.
Another advantage that the .357 has over the .30-30 is that of ammo availability and cost. To start off a new shooter, the .357 can use low recoiling and inexpensive .38 Special ammunition. This allows for quiet, relaxing practice that lets the shooter concentrate more on the fundamentals of shooting and less on muzzle blast and recoil. The young hunter can also load the Compact with .38 Special lead semi-wadcutter ammo for small game hunting with his deer gun. I know of no better way to practice for deer hunting than by hunting rabbits and squirrels. The light .38 Specials will anchor a squirrel or rabbit on the spot, without destroying any more meat than would a .22 long rifle bullet.
As far as power, the .357 Magnum using the right ammunition is in the same class as a good .30-30 load, while shooting a bullet of larger diameter. From a sixteen-inch barrel, factory thirty-thirty ammunition from the big ammo manufacturers drives a 170 grain bullet at just under 1900 feet-per-second (fps). The .357 Ranger Compact, with the same length barrel, drives a 180 grain bullet in excess of 1800 fps, and this too is using factory ammunition available from Buffalo Bore. I tested the Ranger Compact over the chronograph using a variety of factory ammunition, along with two handloads, with the following results:
Load Velocity (fps)
Grizzly Cartridge Co. 180-grain cast lead 1502
Buffalo Bore 180-grain cast lead 1812
Cor-Bon .38 Special 125-grain Jaketed Hollowpoint 1437
Handload 125-grain Jacketed Hollowpoint 2003
Handload 180-grain Hornady XTP Hollowpoint 1831
The carbine extracts much more power from the .357 than is obtainable in a revolver. The reason for including the lightweight Cor-Bon hollowpoints I will get to later.
- Location
- Prince George, BC
get a shotgun. Not only will it be alot more scary to the person and may just mkae them run away without having to shoot. Also with a shotgun you can load it with non leathal rounds if thats a concern to you. (not sure about the legality of non leathal rounds in Canada though)
IM LUGER I shot my 357 once without ear protection outside and my ears rang for quite some time. For house protection I think I would use my Model 19 357 loaded with 38 specials. However I would never have time to get to any of my handguns as they are stored as per regulations. If an armed intruder broke into my home it would not be a level playing field.
- Location
- North America
Oh guys...you have to get a PTRD-41. It fires a 986 grain 14.5mm round at 1,000 metres per second (3,280fps) - more than enough to handle any scumbag stoner high school roobers. Over penetration isn't an issue. It will only go through 3 or 4 other homes or buildings. What are the chances of actually hitting anyone else? Plus the robber would get scared when he hears that 14.5 mill round get mother fu@kin' racked and jacked. Its also got recoil absorbsion...so you won't hurt your shoulder! Plus when those rounds hit him/her...they get torn up before it even hits them cause of air pressure!
I challenge anyone to debate my point.
I challenge anyone to debate my point.
