question reguarding 357 mag or 44 mag

DIRTYCLEAN

DIRTYCLEAN

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ok, i shoot 9mm one to two times a week but i am thinking of getting a stronger gun.
i am getting a 45acp and i am looking to find a weel gun that kiks and as a good muzzle flash.
is the smith and wesson 686 6 inch 357 mag good for me?
what is the strongest bullets (recoil wise ) i can buy?
or should i go 44mag.

please pour some knowlage on me! loll
 
Well, .44 Magnum with hot loads would be very very strong-recoil wise and very tough to beat. It's similar to slapping ones cold, open-palmed hand as hard as one can down on a table-top after each shot. :)

Nothing else you've listed even comes close.
 
I was considering choosing between a 357 and a 44, and ended up going with the 44 only because I reload. You can load 44 Special equivalent loads(factory 44 Special ammo is expensive, as is 44 magnum), or shoot full power magnum loads from the same gun. If I didn't reload I probably would have went with the 357 because of the relatively cheep 38 Special ammo available, but still be able to shoot 357 magnum.
 
Humm.. I am a very skinny short man and can handle full house 357 mag without problems, in your case 357 mag seems to be too mile. Go for the 44mag for sure.

Trigun
 
.460 S&W.... :D

At some point I'm going to get something that'll do a nice big FlashBang as well just for the end of the day giggles. I've shot both a range members .454 Casull and a total of three .460 S&W and I far and away prefer the .460. The .454 hits your palm like a full swing hammer blow. The kick from the .460 is more like a 5 lb sledge from a short drop. THe first is a real smack while the second is still STRONG but it's more of a push than a smack.

I'm looking at the .44 Mag myself as an option and I was wondering if reloading with a slower burning powder would help to produce more of a short sharp push than an outright slap. As a side benifit the slower burning powder should provide more of a fire and brimstone show. Remember this is reloading for show and power with no requirement for any mamby pamby practicalities.... :D

I'm also thinking that the .44 Mag casings could be loaded with an alternative "plinking" load that would still be .357 like in their kick but with the weight and size of the .44 Mag revolver you'd have a nice platform for actually doing some decent groupings on targets as well. And then finish up with a cylinder of the big FlashBang loads that really lift the gun and make you suddenly crave red meat....... :D

At least this is my plan at the moment for somewhere along the way. I'm pretty new to this so I'm not sure if I can reload this sort of combinations or not.
 
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Get one of each, next will be a 460, then a 500

IMG_6661.jpg
 
This is no lie. About twenty years ago I was at the local range back home. I was shooting my Model 66 with factory 357's, minding my own business. When this farm kid walks in & goes a couple of stalls down. I really wasn't paying any attention to him as I was content putting a hole after ragged hole on my target.:rolleyes: Then 'CAABLAME', scared the shate out of me. I unloaded & made safe (& probably made on the floor) & walk over to this kid. Heres the kicker; this kid is shooting full house 45-70 loads out of a 10" or 14" bull barreled T/C & he's only got one hand. He told me about his magic trick with a combine when he was younger. So he asks me what I'm shooting & I sheeplishly tell em a 357 magnum. He laughs & says his little sister likes that gun too! Then he lets me shoot this beast & I'm no where near the paper, but I didn't put a hole through the ceiling. He then asks me if I want to shoot it again, I say "what?" & heard him the second time through the ringing in my ears because somehow I managed to slightly jar my ear protectors off when I shot this thing.:slap: I say no thanks & told him anytime his sister wants to go shooting to give me call... So be a man, go for the 44!:mad::runaway:
 
BCRider said:
I'm looking at the .44 Mag myself as an option and I was wondering if reloading with a slower burning powder would help to produce more of a short sharp push than an outright slap. As a side benifit the slower burning powder should provide more of a fire and brimstone show. Remember this is reloading for show and power with no requirement for any mamby pamby practicalities.... :D

I'm also thinking that the .44 Mag casings could be loaded with an alternative "plinking" load that would still be .357 like in their kick but with the weight and size of the .44 Mag revolver you'd have a nice platform for actually doing some decent groupings on targets as well. And then finish up with a cylinder of the big FlashBang loads that really lift the gun and make you suddenly crave red meat....... :D

At least this is my plan at the moment for somewhere along the way. I'm pretty new to this so I'm not sure if I can reload this sort of combinations or not.
Click to expand...

Right on! I haven't been shooting long but have experimented some with the calibre, it's incredibly versatile. Hot .44 Mags are great fun, pretty much as much fun as you can have with a big kicker without having to wear gloves. Light .44Mag loads (or better yet, .44spl) feel like heavier .38s, you can shoot'em all day long.

You're right about slow-burning powders too. I used regular powders in my magnum loads for a couple of months, but it wasn't until I bought some H110 that I truly started to unleash the true glory of the magnum load!

Finally, with regards to your comment about groupings, bigger doesn't necessarily mean less accurate, unless you've a tendency to flinch. I've shot tremendous groups (for me at least!) with .44Mags.
 
Cerdan, the few times I've shot the big .460 I counted myself lucky to hit the big paper target given all the shaking with fear and expectation of what was to come.... :D

So I'm on the right track with the slower burning powders for taming the slap and turning it more into a hard fast push? I'd love to be able to emphasise the push without it turning into a slap again. The Casull was brutal! And it sounds like the fast burn 44 Mags are in the same boat.

As for not grouping with the hot loads I'm sure that will come with more shooting. It's been hard to figure out where the .460 hole is since I've always shot into well peppered targets. And by the time the concussion wave is finished making me flinch it's just not possible to pick out the new hole.

And of course all this assumes I get into reloading which won't happen for a few more months at least or I may leave it until next Fall. Got too much on the burner these days. Really don't even have time for this new shooting hobby but what the hell, right?
 
DANCESWITHEMPTIES said:
This is no lie. About twenty years ago I was at the local range back home. I was shooting my Model 66 with factory 357's, minding my own business. When this farm kid walks in & goes a couple of stalls down. I really wasn't paying any attention to him as I was content putting a hole after ragged hole on my target.:rolleyes: Then 'CAABLAME', scared the shate out of me. I unloaded & made safe (& probably made on the floor) & walk over to this kid. Heres the kicker; this kid is shooting full house 45-70 loads out of a 10" or 14" bull barreled T/C & he's only got one hand. He told me about his magic trick with a combine when he was younger. So he asks me what I'm shooting & I sheeplishly tell em a 357 magnum. He laughs & says his little sister likes that gun too! Then he lets me shoot this beast & I'm no where near the paper, but I didn't put a hole through the ceiling. He then asks me if I want to shoot it again, I say "what?" & heard him the second time through the ringing in my ears because somehow I managed to slightly jar my ear protectors off when I shot this thing.:slap: I say no thanks & told him anytime his sister wants to go shooting to give me call... So be a man, go for the 44!:mad::runaway:
Click to expand...

...yes indeed, buy the 44mag simply to be a "man", a .357 is a "girl's gun"! I love the machismo on here sometimes, quite entertaining. What's a 9mm or 38sp then, a gun for toddlers?? I guess theyr're such wimpy guns you could easily take a couple shots from one. Get a 44 if you want just for the fun of a bigger gun, but I can assure you a 357's got plenty of flash and bang to it too :)
BTW, some women I know can shoot better than a lot of the guys who post on here...
 
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c_diddy said:
...yes indeed, buy the 44mag simply to be a "man", a .357 is a "girl's gun"! I love the machismo on here sometimes, quite entertaining. What's a 9mm or 38sp then, a gun for toddlers?? I guess theyr're such wimpy guns you could easily take a couple shots from one. Get a 44 if you want just for the fun of a bigger gun, but I can assure you a 357's got plenty of flash and bang to it too :)
BTW, some women I know can shoot better than a lot of the guys who post on here...
Click to expand...

SAR-CASM: a cutting or contemptous remark. :rolleyes: I only own one handgun now, a toddler's 9mm. I won it along with all his candy at halloween in a card game. & I bet you my old lady could not only out shoot you, but could probably beat you at arm wrestling over broken wiskey bottles!:p
 
DANCESWITHEMPTIES said:
SAR-CASM: a cutting or contemptous remark. :rolleyes: I only own one handgun now, a toddler's 9mm. I won it along with all his candy at halloween in a card game. & I bet you my old lady could not only out shoot you, but could probably beat you at arm wrestling over broken wiskey bottles!:p
Click to expand...

Wow, that must be one hell of a woman :cheers: gotta find me one like that! I love the toddlers 9mms too :)
 
For blowing holes into paper I have found enough stopping power in the 9mm or the 38/357 mag. The recoil has never been my bag. But for some one handed farmers they gotta have that feeling of recoil, all in one hand...
 
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Ran some errands at the hardware store tonight and as chance would have it the range was only a few minutes away when I was done so out we go to empty another couple of boxes... :D

In talking over the idea of the Big Bang gun option for the quiver the guy said he had a .44 Magnum that I could try. So I bought a cylinder full and out to the station I go. I have to say that while it was impressive it lacked the huge effects of the 454 Casull and .460 S&W. In fact I found I liked it and could imagine going through a couple of dozen rounds with it here and there.

As it turned out it was the same blued S&W with the 8 inch barrel that Callahan is holding in the post above this one. So I shot the Dirty Harry gun! ! ! !

The longer barrel definetly made for a nice gun to shoot but it let much of the burn take place in the barrel so the flash was there but it wasn't huge from my point of view located behind the sights. As for having a kick I would have to say that it's built in with the caliber. This definetly ain't your basic 38 special ! ! ! Perhaps playing with some reloads and various powders with longer burn rates would tailor the load to be showey or buisinesslike on demand.

And it turned out that the gun is for sale. I'm just waiting on finding out the price. Can you imagine the looks on the official's faces when I yard out this thing to shoot in IPSC revolver? :D
 
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DIRTYCLEAN said:
ok, i shoot 9mm one to two times a week but i am thinking of getting a stronger gun.
i am getting a 45acp and i am looking to find a weel gun that kiks and as a good muzzle flash.
is the smith and wesson 686 6 inch 357 mag good for me?
what is the strongest bullets (recoil wise ) i can buy?
or should i go 44mag.

please pour some knowlage on me! loll
Click to expand...

Hi dc,

If I were you, for the sake of a magnum blast, and a nice muzzle flash - it's hard to beat the .357 Magnum. :)

If you buy a revolver chambered in .357, you can shoot .38 special through it when you like - and have the "flash-bang" effect with .357's whenever you want.

Go .357 Magnum...you can always buy a .44 later if you so desire.

Jeff/1911.
 
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