.357 Magnum vs .45 Colt

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mcb said:
I personally can shoot my 44 Mag double action faster and more accurately than I can my single action 357 Mag but I like and practice with the double action and don't with my single action so there is that. I will take the guy that practices with his 357 Mag 686 in bear country over the guy the thinks his 500 JRH single-action means he doesn't have too any day of the week and twice on bruin-attack day.

Why to bear threads always turn into this? :p
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Who thinks that? There are a couple of factors that we need to assume in making comparisons and one is the shooters' marksmanship. Another is shot placement. I don't know anyone who hunts with revolvers and carries them regularly afield who doesn't practice -- a lot.

They turn into "this" because many weigh in without real knowledge.
 
Mr. Mosin said:
At all, I tried my buddies older Redhawk in .44 Mag. I didn't like his full house .44's, and I kept beating my knuckle on the trigger guard. That was more to recoil though, I think. I liked the gun, liked the sights, liked the trigger. He had some type of rubber grips on it, that did *help* the recoil, and helped the ergonomics; but it was full house .44 Magnums... they're gonna buck and toss.
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For me, the SRH is infinitely more comfortable to shoot than the standard Redhawk. A Redhawk .44Mag was my first big bore nearly 30yrs ago and it has since gone down the road. The RH grip frame is good small for comfy magna type grips and too big for oversized target grips. In my paws, the rubber/insert grips are the most comfortable but could use a little filling in at the top.

IMG_0071b.jpg
 
CraigC said:
For me, the SRH is infinitely more comfortable to shoot than the standard Redhawk. A Redhawk .44Mag was my first big bore nearly 30yrs ago and it has since gone down the road. The RH grip frame is good small for comfy magna type grips and too big for oversized target grips. In my paws, the rubber/insert grips are the most comfortable but could use a little filling in at the top.

View attachment 871161
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You should post a pic of your 5" gp100 with those Lonestar custom grips :)
 
I know this is not a bear, but I took this picture and I wasn't using a telephoto lens. When the animal locks onto you and makes eye contact with its dull yellow eyes and malevolently shows you his incisors, the contempt is palpable. This, my friends, changes the whole dynamic.

CatHunt-AH-1.jpg
 
mcb said:
What does recoil have to do with double-action? I can't remember the last time I thumbed back one of my N-frames. Even 44 Mag I shoot double-action, all the time. The last two deer I shot were both double-action. Unless I am shooting over a rest I am more accurate double action than single action. Last week I was ringing a 18"x24" inch plate at 100 yards double-action. The few time I have shot a buddies X-frame it was double action, the recoil was no worst for the decision. What does double-action or single-action have to do with absorbing the recoil?
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Grip angle. A Blackhawk rolls with recoil rather than hitting you straight on with it, it feels like a lot less. I shot a Redhawk 44 mag with some decent presentation rubber grips and heavy loads with it felt worse than a Blackhawk loaded heavier with the stock wood grips.

You more than likely will get 1 or maybe 2 shots. You are not emptying a cylinder and reloading while doing backflips. If you had a chance to fire and reload.....the bear is obviously not aggressive and attacking, it's far away and wondering *** is this guy shooting at me for.

I've shot lots and lots and lots of heavy 44 mag, 45 colt and even a bunch of 357 heavy loads. Cocking a single action after firing a shot is just as fast as getting on target with a double action and firing a second shot
 
Antihero said:
Grip angle. A Blackhawk rolls with recoil rather than hitting you straight on with it, it feels like a lot less. I shot a Redhawk 44 mag with some decent presentation rubber grips and heavy loads with it felt worse than a Blackhawk loaded heavier with the stock wood grips.

You more than likely will get 1 or maybe 2 shots. You are not emptying a cylinder and reloading while doing backflips. If you had a chance to fire and reload.....the bear is obviously not aggressive and attacking, it's far away and wondering *** is this guy shooting at me for.

I've shot lots and lots and lots of heavy 44 mag, 45 colt and even a bunch of 357 heavy loads. Cocking a single action after firing a shot is just as fast as getting on target with a double action and firing a second shot
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Exactly!
 
mcb said:
I have lived through a few life threatening events (non-bruin related) in my life and like I said the time pressure of competition is the close I have found for me personally, as it relates to firearms.
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I understand that competition is a higher than normal pressure situation but when you're on the ground with a critter that not only looks at you as prey but is very well equipped to give you the fight of your life, it's a totally different world. We drove by this belligerent water buffalo as it rose its head and looked down its nose at us in utter defiance and we ALL reacted. Even those who had been to Africa and taken lion and Cape buffalo. Get on the ground and square off with it and things change dramatically.

Water%20Buff.jpg
 
Mr. Mosin said:
I believe I've decided (based on cartridge) on the .45 Colt. However, I'm still gonna try to handle both the round butt and square butt Redhawk,and a GP100.
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If you can find one give a S&W Model 25/625 in 45 Colt a try too. The double-action trigger of an N-frame, especially one a good gun-smith has worked on, is a very nice thing. Most of the 25's will be square-butt and most of the 625's will be round-butt, so you have similar options with S&W. You won't be able to push the 45 Colt as hot in the S&W as in the Redhawk but I think the quality of the trigger and some of the other handling characteristics of the S&W would make it worth at least a look while you're shopping. Good luck in your shopping.
 
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I think I've decided against .45 Colt. It is expensive, and reloading components are expensive; moreso than .357 Magnum. I'll probably never need a full house .45 Colt.
 
Mr. Mosin said:
I think I've decided against .45 Colt. It is expensive, and reloading components are expensive; moreso than .357 Magnum. I'll probably never need a full house .45 Colt.
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It is definitely more expensive than the 357, but it is a better woods round.

If you do stick with 357, get buffalo bore 180gr for the woods
 
Mr. Mosin said:
I think I've decided against .45 Colt. It is expensive, and reloading components are expensive; moreso than .357 Magnum. I'll probably never need a full house .45 Colt.
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Are you currently a reloader? If you are what calibers do you currently reload for?
 
Mr. Mosin said:
I am not. Whatever caliber revolver I buy, I'll start out reloading for that caliber.
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I will likely earn more angst from some for this suggestion but have you considered a GP100 in 10mm Auto? Comes factory ready for moonclips. (All good revolver guys know moonclips rule!!! :p). The shorter fatter 10mm Auto reloads quicker than 357 Mag does on moonclips and moonclips for rimless cartridges like 10mm are more robust than those for rimmed cartridges like 357. With hot 10mm Auto is has comparable energy/ballistics to 357 Mag but does so with slightly heavier bullets on average. You can shoot 40 S&W in it similar to the way you shoot 38 Special in your 357 Mag for lower recoil, cost effective, ammo. Until you get tooled up to reload, the ammo cost are similar if not cheaper than 357 Mag. 40S&W can usually be had cheaper than 38 Special in factory ammo. Just and out of the ordinary revolver suggestion...
 
The OP mentioned "social functions" and "nightstand gun," and then this thread seems to have focused almost exclusively on hunting. I am not going to debate cartridges, but there is a big difference between a GP-100 and a Redhawk. The Redhawk uses a single main spring in the action. To have reliable ignition and trigger reset, it must be of a heavy rate. This, combined with the high recoil of the buffalo-slaying loads being discussed in the thread make for a poor choice for defensive use.

The GP-100 uses discrete springs for the hammer and trigger reset. It can be tuned for a lighter double-action trigger weight and a fast trigger reset. For hunting, this capability is not likely to be critical, but for multiple hits on target in a short amount of time, it is indispensable.

Simply put, the Redhawk is not a combat/defensive revolver nor is it practical to make it one. Regardless of caliber, the GP-100 (or any S&W) are better for that purpose.
 
labnoti said:
The OP mentioned "social functions" and "nightstand gun," and then this thread seems to have focused almost exclusively on hunting. I am not going to debate cartridges, but there is a big difference between a GP-100 and a Redhawk. The Redhawk uses a single main spring in the action. To have reliable ignition and trigger reset, it must be of a heavy rate. This, combined with the high recoil of the buffalo-slaying loads being discussed in the thread make for a poor choice for defensive use.

The GP-100 uses discrete springs for the hammer and trigger reset. It can be tuned for a lighter double-action trigger weight and a fast trigger reset. For hunting, this capability is not likely to be critical, but for multiple hits on target in a short amount of time, it is indispensable.

Simply put, the Redhawk is not a combat/defensive revolver nor is it practical to make it one. Regardless of caliber, the GP-100 (or any S&W) are better for that purpose.
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The GP-100 is far stouter than any Smith, and w/ enough work, can have a trigger like a Smith ?
 
The point was not that the .45Colt is a monster masher. The point is that it can cover any and all purposes for which a handgun is appropriate up to and including mashin' monsters. It will completely encompass and exceed any and all of the .357's capabilities. Choose the 4" convertible version and there is nothing at all wrong with it in the role of a nightstand gun. No shortage of good defensive loads in .45ACP. As I said before, it is a paltry 4oz heavier than the 4" GP.
 
labnoti said:
The OP mentioned "social functions" and "nightstand gun," and then this thread seems to have focused almost exclusively on hunting. I am not going to debate cartridges, but there is a big difference between a GP-100 and a Redhawk. The Redhawk uses a single main spring in the action. To have reliable ignition and trigger reset, it must be of a heavy rate. This, combined with the high recoil of the buffalo-slaying loads being discussed in the thread make for a poor choice for defensive use.

The GP-100 uses discrete springs for the hammer and trigger reset. It can be tuned for a lighter double-action trigger weight and a fast trigger reset. For hunting, this capability is not likely to be critical, but for multiple hits on target in a short amount of time, it is indispensable.

Simply put, the Redhawk is not a combat/defensive revolver nor is it practical to make it one. Regardless of caliber, the GP-100 (or any S&W) are better for that purpose.
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Animal defense, not hunting and in this capacity, the Redhawk is quite good. If the gun has to perform multiple functions as outlined by the OP, the most extreme role is bear/animal defense, so by default I believe the larger caliber should get the nod. You can load the .45 down to mouse fart levels, but you’ll never get the .357 up the hot .45 Colt levels.
 
Mr. Mosin said:
The GP-100 is far stouter than any Smith, and w/ enough work, can have a trigger like a Smith ?
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It won't have a trigger like a S&W. The Smith trigger is a shorter travel, but from my memory, it also stacks earlier and then eases off towards the end of the pull.

The GP100 is therefore a slightly longer trigger pull. And out of the box, most GP100s are gritty and a little heavy. This can be smoothed out simply with lots of dry firing, for a thoroughly acceptable double action trigger. However, there is another way. With the polishing of some internal surfaces; a reduced weight spring kit; and an optional shim kit (not necessary but sometimes beneficial), you can have a great trigger on your GP100. There are YouTube videos on this stuff, and advice is always available here. Although some prefer to have a gunsmith do the work, and I can't fault that.

I wouldn't have 4 of them in the household if I didn't like them though. So I might be a little biased.
 
There is a price difference between 45 colt and 357 when you reload, but you can dip down into 357 pricing with lighter weight bullets.

The 160 grain bullets for 45 colt from acme are 10 cents more per 100 than the 158's for 357. Brass is more expensive for 45 colt, but lasts what feels like forever at low pressures. 45 acp brass is also fairly cheap and an option. Primers cost about the same. A load of titegroup is really cheap either way and is one grain difference or so in powder.

Reloading 45 colt mildly doesn't have to be expensive. And you always have to choice to up power it.
 
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