[Sven]

I'm interested in getting my first revolver. I want something in a 'self defense' caliber, and I'm leaning toward .357 - so far.

I do not need to conceal the handgun, and want a heavy frame and medium to longish barrel for target shooting.

Completely open to suggestions, give me your thoughts... I'm all ears!

[Frohickey]

Ruger GP100, 6inch barrel, stainless, adjustable sights, full-lug barrel

[JPM70535]

You can'y do better than to get yourself a S&W 686 with 4 or 6 inch barrel. It has everything the Ruger has and if you opt for the 686+ version you get 7 shots. Either way they are dead bang accurate and completely reliable.

If you've got big bucks, get a Colt Python.

[Jason Demond]

Ditto on the 686.

[Frenchy]

I'll also suggest the 4" 686. I feel its the best length for both target and defense. Very accurate and one of the finest "out-of-the-box" triggers you will find.

[JoeHatley]

4" S&W 686 would be very hard to beat.

Joe

[P95Carry]

Yep ........ guess the 4" 686 has to be pretty much tops ..... tho I'd happily go for a used one, earlier version. Used to have a 6" ... loved that.

The GP100 tho will serve very well ... marginally tougher but trigger not quite to good.

Of course, loving my 5" M27 Smith as I do ...... would have to say that if you found one of those you could well fall in love!!

[DeltaElite]

Smith 686, 66 or Ruger GP100, with 4"bbl.
I prefer the the 3"bbl, I feel it balances better in my hand.
Losts used guns out there and it is hard to find a bad revolver.
You will be served well.
Have Tamara hook you up and ship you a winner. :D

OMG, this was 1000th post. :D
Sadly only 100 of the 1000 made any sense. :uhoh:

[Sven]

Any _disadvantage_ to a 686+ versus the 686?

[Nightcrawler]

Well, it won't be as strong, if you want to shoot really hot stuff. The 6-shot model has much more metal between chambers. For most shooting, though, I don't know that it would matter. If you really want to put a lot of hot stuff through it, get a GP100 variant.

[Nick96]

Well, there you have it. S&W 686 or Ruger GP100. Kind of a Ford Vs. Chevy choice. Common wisdom is the Rugers are more durable and a bit less expensive. The S&W's are a bit nicer finished and have a bit lighter stock trigger feel.

In terms of accuracy, reliability, size & weight - no practical differance.

[TechBrute]

4" 686. When your bank account recovers, get a trigger job, convert it to accept moonclips, and chamfer the cylinders. Then buy Advanced Revolver with Jerry Miculek. ;)
Common wisdom is the Rugers are more durable...
Huh? What makes a ruger more durable? Nothing against Ruger, just wondering how one makes that claim.

I prefer the S&W simply because more people can work on them. Terry Tussey won't work on Rugers at all, and Clark Custom Guns only does 2 models of Ruger DA revolvers. I suppose you can find a local smith to do the work and hope for the best, but it ought to tell you something when some of the top gunsmiths in the country don't like to work on them.

[stans]

.357 Magnum is an excellent and versatile caliber. Revolvers I would consider: Colt King Cobra, no longer in production.

Ruger GP-100, available new and used, very strong and accurate.

Smith & Wesson model 19/66, good size, but not the strongest 357.

S&W model 27, sometimes a used one can be found at reasonable prices.

S&W 586/686, new and used available, some police trade-ins are out there at good prices.

Dan Wesson 17/715, strong design, accurate, interchangable barrels.

[Hal]

'self defense' caliber to me means .4X and above.

I honestly feel if you can handle the recoil, the .454 and the .480 may be the best defense calibers going. The .500 may overtake them, but the cost and availiblity is limited right now.

B4 anyone poo poo's the idea, do a little research on the ballistics.

[Bruce H]

Well why not just carry a twelve gage with slugs? That wasn't what he asked. Any good wheel gun in 357 will do for starters. Shoot lots of regular old 38 special for practice. Don't bother with the +P foolishness. Get very comfortable with whatever you buy. If you find that you shoot 38spec better than 357 mag it really isn't that important. Hitting what you aim at where you aim is really important.

[Hal]

Bruce,
Beg your pardon but what he asked was not for a "carry gun" as you suggest, nor are the .454/.480 class calibers the ballistic twins of a 12 ga slug gun. They are nearly the twin of the 16 ga though. ~ 300+ gr @ ~ 1500/1700 fps. What he asked is for suggestions, and offered that he was "all ears" and the .357 had caught his attention ---"so far".

All I offered was an alternative to the "parrot crowd" that repeats only what they hear.

- The poster (Sven) is no newbie to guns. No doubt, he's got sense enough to know a "good deal" when he see's one. There's plenty of second hand .454's and .480's out there for exceptional prices.

-He's "dangerously close to getting into reloading " as he stated in a post a few days ago. Reloading/handloading for either of the above allows you to tailor your target(see the original post) loads, or in the case of the .454, to use .45LC SD loads.

[charleym3]

Have you considered a Ruger Redhawk?
I've wanted one for a long time and finally got a 7.5" version in .45 Colt. They go for around $400 on the auction boards.
Make no mistake, this is a very large revolver. Loaded the weight is 4 pounds. It is not a good candidate for a carry gun, but it is a blast to shoot. Even heavy loads are no problem. Accuracy is excellent. They are also available with a 5.5 inch barrel. Great fun to shoot.
I've been tinkering with some of the 185 and 230gr "flying ashtray" bullets. When driven at really silly velocities, they, well, I think the correct term is "splinter" on impact with soft tissue or water jugs. The results are spectacular. I would be very comfortable hiding behind one of these if my home was invaded. If it runs dry it's big and heavy enough to be used well as a club. Just try that with a little ole 686. :D

You may want to look at a S&W 625 in .45ACP. Moon clip guns are great fun. Quick reloads. Big gun to soak up the recoil. The price is erroding on used 5" models because they are no longer legal in IDPA.

I also have a GP100 and a 686. Both came with crappy triggers out of the box. The GP has cleaned up better than the 686. Personally I prefer the GP. You can have the 686 for $425 and shipping.

[Kahr carrier]

S&W 686 or a Gp100 you cant go wrong with either one or if you have a big budget a S&W 627 PC.:)

[TechBrute]

'self defense' caliber to me means .4X and above. All I offered was an alternative to the "parrot crowd" that repeats only what they hear.
Give me a break, Hal. That whole ".4x is the only good size" is the most parroted thing on every board I've seen. I'm not really sure how one can claim that the .357mag is insufficent to knock someone on their keister. And yes, I'm familiar with ballistics.

[P95Carry]

TechBrute

Re your comment a few posts back ..... re Ruger toughness etc .......

Whilst I am an out and out Smith addict I do feel that when it comes to hottest loads in particular, the Ruger has to have an edge. Two reasons ...

1] It has a solid frame ...... no side plate .....

2] The cylinder notches on Ruger are machined off center ..... whereas Smith puts them in thinnest part of cyl' wall. So seems probable that a Ruger would be harder to ''burst'!!

However ...... I think my M27 N frame would take a lot of bursting and do not intend to test it quite that hard anyways!!:p

[Ala Dan]

Simple, a nice used (LNIB) 4" barrel Smith & Wesson
model 19 in .357 magnum. With .38 Special's for
general target work or plinking; and the HOT 125
grain JHP .357 magnum's for defensive carry. This
weapon is an "all around" favorite of many person's
on this forum; including myself. There are many other
fine choices out there; but this one ought to be the
very first!

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

[10-Ring]

I recently picked up a S&W mod 19. I can't express how truly surprised I was the first couple of time I shot it. FANTASTIC in every sense, recommend them highly!

[Jim March]

TechBrute:

There are four advantages to the Ruger design that speak to strength:

1) As stated, cylinder notches are offset.

2) As stated, no sideplates. The lockwork "slides up into" the frame from the bottom, a technique borrowed from Ruger's Single Actions and ultimately goes all the way back to the Colt SAA. Charter Arms uses the same trick (designed by a former Ruger guy). In all cases, it makes for a stronger and "symetrically stronger" frame, where an S&W will have a "strength gap" on one side. Push a Smith too far, and it's liable to blow the sideplate clean off.

3) Rugers lock up at the crane, there's an "extra latch" there that holds the cylinder more rigid when firing.

4) Ruger's metallurgy is VERY good.

Upshot: Cor-Bon uses GP100s for their load development work in 357, including their "heavy hunting loads" with 180 and 200 grain loads at max, and has never managed to break one.

Another advantage: Rugers can be field-disassembled MUCH more easily than an S&W for thorough cleaning, without risk of buggering frame screws.

IF you're one of those shooters who likes a "light barrel" feel, get a shorter-shroud variant, 4" or 6". These feel quite "lively", even out to 6". Strength and accuracy aren't affected, but they'll kick a bit more.

[TechBrute]

Ahhhhh... yes.... thank you.

[Dr.Who]

Gee, where to start...

My first 2 were a Colt Police Positive Target .38 6 inch and a 1917 S&W .45 acp. Both are great shooters. The police target is a tack driver with the right loads at 25 yards. The 1917 is just a blast to shoot, what history....

Next set was a pair to Ruger's SAA Vaquero's.357 5 3/4, their bullet proof. Had to adjust the sights but enjoy them any way.

Then picked up a used S&W 686-6" .357. The prior owner could not get it to shoot to point of aim. Once the Front sight was corrected, it shot great groups. This is a strong good buy of a model that is still being produced.

Most current purchase was a 625 PC .45acp in 4 inch "N"Frame. I would also recommend this gun as well.

Don't get me wrong, these guns are all ones that I would not get rid of and enjoy shoot'n in different venues. What gun to recommend is very tough, there are great choices out and about. The question to ask you is how do you plan to use it? What game or competion do you plan to shoot? Do you have big hands or small? Find a few friends that have revolvers and ask to try shoot'n them while at the range, or go to a range that will let you rent or shoot different models. You really can not go wrong with a name brand gun for your first. If I had to start over again, I would pick either the S&W 686 in 4 inch or the 625 in 4 inch or mountain gun. These can be still purchased new... Enjoy :rolleyes:

[happy old sailor]

hiding behind a Redhawk. what a good idea, no, great idea.

naah. blood, guts, and dodo all over the paneling, carpet, furniture. too expensive to replace all that stuff.

back to the .357. an old K19 is a very sweet gun. will kill anything but a really big bear and for that you need a really big gun. is also a darling on the range. my .02

[coonan357]

having owned botha 686 clark custom gun (moonies,accurrized and triggerwork ) and a ruger KGP161 (adj sights 6"full lug stainless) I can say if you want to starter gun get the ruger ,the trigger will be a little stiff at first but change to wolff springs($20) and keep dry firing and it sweetens up , but if you have cash to burn and don't want to wait , go with the smith , granted the smith will easier to work later on in time , but the ruger can be dropped and kicked ( mine has ) and still shoot straight, and it makes a good hammer also :Dalso can be used to work up loads and won't come apart with mistakes made ( 17+of 2400 don't try this at home I am a professional ammatuer idiot ) :rolleyes: :D

[ChuckB]

I'm curious why the Ruger SP101 hasn't been mentioned. I'm considering one, but haven't had a chance to shoot one. Why a SP100 instead of the SP101?

Chuck in Governor Daley's Dictatorship of Illinois