UncleEd
Member
357smallbore,
Which ever one you like.
Which ever one you like.
The model 19 shot great with .38 Special and +P ammo, as well as my S&W model 15's. However, the gun would not function reliably with .357 ammo.
Jim
I also have both. A 3" speed six and a 3" 66-1. I rotate between them since they share the same holsters, though they do not use the same speed loader so I always have to check.
The S&W is a *little* lighter and a *little* thinner. It's not much but you can feel it when wearing it.
The S&W has a replaceable front sight, which I took advantage of and of course the adjustable rear, which I haven't found to really snag for me. That being said the Ruger shoots on point with my practice and carry loads with the fixed sight.
The S&W trigger is better, that's probably its main advantage over the Ruger though my speed six is well broken in and I think it has an acceptable trigger - just not like the M66.
The S&W has a considerably longer extractor than the Ruger, though both are 3". Definitely an advantage when carrying .357.
There are many more grip options for the S&W, though both of these are wearing Badgers because I like how they fit my hand.
I really like the way the Ruger comes apart for thorough cleaning. Really neat design, whole trigger assembly drops out the bottom.
In my usage, the Ruger gets the majority of my practice time to keep wear and tear off the more valuable gun. I don't hesitate to carry it at all, but the S&W has tangible advantages for carry which I've outlined. It's the better gun - but it's probably not twice as good and definitely not three times.
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Mavracer,
We have to agree to disagree.
Your argument only works if you shoot .357 ammo heavier than 125 grain sjhp. I do not. The heavy bullets are meant for hunting and I use my .357's primarily for self defense so all my shooting is done with 110 grain and 125 grain ammo. I also want it as a companion piece to a .357 magnum carbine.
Jim
My Speedloaders (HKS and Safariland) work in my K frames and my Sixes.
Upon further review, the K-frame speed loader (K2C) works in both, but the Ruger speed loader (R4C) doesn't work in the K-frame. These are safariland comp IIs.
You do realize that that trope is from Evan Marshall's made up one shot stop statistics and isn't based on factual data.The +P+ 9m.m. and 110 and 125 grain .357 magnum loads, earned great reputations for stopping gun fights, the 158 grain did not.
The problem with the 110gr JHP .357 was that it tended to come apart in heavy clothing and, of course, it had issues with penetration. The thing the Highway Patrol just loved about the .357 back in the 1930s was penetration. They needed something that would punch through vehicles, and the 158gr round nose .38Spc, especially out of their off-duty 2-inch barrels, just didn't do the job. But the .357 did everything the .38 didn't. And even though the original factory loads have been tailored down a bit, the .357 factory loads of today (and the reloads) are phenomenal. But the 110gr JHP have proven just too underwhelming. In fact, I don't know why they're even manufactured. They are hard on guns with flame-cutting in blast areas and in the forcing cone erosion. If some bad guy is wearing light clothing, the 110gr is just ferocious as a manstopper, but then, so are factory and handloads using 125gr and handloads using Speer 140gr JHPs. People who want to have good defensive ammo can use 125-140gr JHP, and those who hunt can use 140-158gr bullets (JHP/JSP).... The .357 magnum, either 110 grain or 125 grain jhp (which worked very well), and the 9mm +P+, which I choose to carry. The +P+ 9mm worked great for my agency and also was the chosen load of other law enforcement agencies which had nothing bad to say about it. We did not stop using .357 magnum or in my case, 9mm +P+, till we were issued .40 caliber BERETTA 96D Brigadier pistols in about 1996. ...
The S&W 13 is a wonderful classic handgun. I used to recommend them to people who wanted a good drawer gun and didn't have a lot of experience with firearms. They had a classy look, the S&W logo stamped in the sideplate, and was dependable as you could get. The Ruger was just as good, though.My agency issued me a S&W model 13 with a 3 inch barrel in 1993. They were still issuing them two years later, before we went to the .40 caliber. They were supposedly from FBI buys (but the FBI now wanted an auto and bought the awful S&W 1076 pistols). After we switched, I was told we gave them to the U.S. Marshall's.
My experience with the model 13 was quite different. In my class at the academy, 46 model 13's were issued, about 10 to 12 of them had issues. Mine had the sideplate screws overtorqued. At least one of them went out of time and was spitting bullet fragments. Another just froze up and the officer could not fire a shot. Overall, I think the model 13 suffered from the same problems as the model 19. It was a great .38 Special revolver, easy to carry on and off duty, but not up to continued use of .357 ammo.
I just wanted to let y'all know that I blame you all for this.
I almost had a 15-2 (2") this year, and I put off getting a 686+ (3"), then I ended up splitting the difference with a pre-owned 66-2 (2.5").
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I just wanted to let y'all know that I blame you all for this.
I almost had a 15-2 (2") this year, and I put off getting a 686+ (3"), then I ended up splitting the difference with a pre-owned 66-2 (2.5").
View attachment 983925