Tough double-action .357?

For snorts and giggles have a look at a Dan Wesson (15) series. They are every bit as tough as a Smith or Ruger. They are very well built, strong and have many features still not found on more recent offerings from other companies.

Good luck and have fun looking for a new blaster!

The big N frame model 27 or 28 would be my suggestion as well if you like the look of a blued steel over silvery stainless.

Hey, the N frame is "good enough" to be chambered for .44Mag. So you KNOW it's beefy enough to deal with anything you can dish out with SAMMI compliant .357Mag loads.

+1 GP100. I really like mine, and the 357 mag recoil with max published data for 158 grain bullets is quite mild. Loud, but not hard on the hands. Accuracy is good too. I'm told, and can easily believe, the S&W double action trigger is smoother; with the GP100, you will feel some internal clicks as you fire. But for toughness, I think they are second to none, at least for a "production" gun as opposed to custom.

Howdy

Nothing beats a S&W Model 28 in my book.





Or the original 357 Magnum, the Model 27. But they tend to be a bit pricey.

This last summer, I purchased a new Performance Center 627. It's the N-frame 8 shot. That weapon could not hit the broadside of a barn. The barrel actually looked crooked to the naked eye. It was shooting three feet left at 25 yards!

It went back to S&W. the barrel was not bent but the frame was crooked. I do not hear any of these stories regarding Ruger on recent production. If uou have to go new, I would recommend a Ruger GP100. I wish I bought one originally.

9MMepiphany:

You don't need any ammo with that long-barrel for hunting....just lean down out of the tree-stand a bit and whomp Bambi upside the head....

easyg said:

Yep, Ruger GP100

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NOT to down your GP, but would you consider that to be an excessive "Turn Line"?

Thanks..Bill.

People who worry about "turn lines" are, for the most part, collectors who don't shoot all that much. It doesn't do any harm. It's like worrying about how clean and shiny the frame is on your car. Life is too short. Personally, that turn line looks very good. I like to know that the bolt is definitely going to find and enter the locking notch on the cylinder as designed. Intentionally timing a revolver so that the bolt doesn't rise until the last possible second is a downgrade IMO. I have never understood the logic of "safe queen" guns. I would much rather invest in gold or silver or platinum and shoot all of my guns. That is a beautiful Ruger GP. GPs are VERY tough but not indestructible. Feed it 110/125 gr. maximum loads and you can burn out or crack the forcing cone in fairly short order. I didn't believe this until I trashed my GP. The forcing cone looks as if someone took an oxy-acetylene cutting torch to it. If you really want to see how much abuse a Ruger DA revolver can take read Kuhnhausen's Ruger DA Shop Manual. It is truly frightening what some of his cutomers subjected their Ruger revolvers to (and destroyed them) Everything made by man has limits. The most startling photos in his book shows a Ruger DA barrel that was filled from one end to the other with 5 bullets jammed into a squib. He sawed it in half lengthwise to show all of the bullets. The barrel did not blow. Pretty tough stuff.

I like Rugers, and they are good guns. But I am sure the Ruger fans would have a collective heart attack if they ever find out that Ruger cylinders are

(Shock! Horror! )

made from the same steel composition bar stock, and often bought from the same supplier, as S&W cylinders.

And whatinheck does using MIM parts have to do with strength and ruggedness? The only recent S&W hammers I ever saw that failed were 1970 vintage, and not MIM.

Jim

Like Rugers too, and the lack of a side plate in the design did some good to add to inherent strength. That slab like beefy frame though is cast. Cast very well mind you but not as strong as an identical forged one. The strength crown worn by the GP-100 is an "internetism", experts have said the Colt MkIII is likely the true heir to that throne.

This being said, the GP-100 is still plenty strong.

Actually, some independent testing labs have run severe testing (to destruction) on Colt, S&W and Ruger DA revolvers and the Ruger was the strongest. They threaded to muzzle of each to recieve a plug and fired heavy loads into the plugged barrel until it blew. The Colt and S&W blew after 2 or 3 rounds. The Ruger was fired until the barrel was completely filled with bullets and it never blew. Kuhnhausen talks about this test in his book. While Ruger's investment casting process is probably the best in the industry (they also make aerospace parts) what really makes a difference is the extensive Xray and Zyglow testing they do on every part. They "might" produce a defective casting with a void in it but it will never make it out of inspection or go into a gun. It will be remelted and used for the next batch. Chances are the landing gear on the last airliner you flew on used investment castings for the landing gear structural parts. Parts of the space shuttle use castings from Ruger's Pine Tree Castings foundry. If someone tells you a forged frame is stronger than an investment cast one just smile and say "Sure".

Like Drail posted. One can wear out a Ruger GP100 buy shooting to many 125 gr "flame throwers". These will erode and crack forcing cones and flame cut the throat of any revolver if a person shoots too many.
Here is a example:
100 hundred rounds a week for a year. Hornady XTP over 22 gr. of H110 with a Remington 5 1/2 primer.

+1 for not caring about MIM parts. For what it's worth, I'm a materials engineer (modern day metallurgical engineer) and have spent time working in aerospace. I can say that MIM, just like any other manufacturing process out there, is just as good or just as bad as the person/company doing the process. My dad has two artificial hips. The inserts that go into his femur? MIM. He was 42 years old when he got them, he's a bit over 50 now and still going strong. So are his hips.

Roaddog, I trashed my forcing cone (GP100) just like that in only about 4 to 5 months of shooting 125 gr. flame thrower max. loads. I will never ever shoot light weight high velocity ammo again in any brand of revolver. I wish that so many people would stop repeating the "mantra" that Ruger revolvers are indestructible and you'll never wear one out.

A famous gunsmith once said the King Cobra was the strongest mid-framed revolver made...My favorite one has going on 30k stout rounds thru it and is still tight....FWIW, I mostly shoot 125gr JHPs.

If you want tough, you want a GP100. I had one, sold it only because I condensed calibers. It was the 6" stainless version and it would shoot a 158gr Missouri SWC overtop 14.8gr of Alliant 2400 @ 1.600" an average of 1535 fps with single digit extreme spreads.

1) Ruger Security Six or GP 100
2) S&W L frame or N frame
3) Colt Trooper Mk.III or Mk.V

NOT to down your GP, but would you consider that to be an excessive "Turn Line"?

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Nope.
Heck, she aint even broken in good yet.

Metal on coated metal is going to leave a mark or trail, that's just the nature of things.
But it's just cosmetic.

I like S&W, so my .357 Mags are a 20-year old 586 and a Mdl 27-1. But I let a guy talk me out of a SS Security Six that I carried and shot for years. So I like them both. Had to do more tinkering on the Ruger's trigger to get it where I wanted it, but that seems to be the case on most Rugers I've owned.

The long barreled revolvers do look awkward, but some, surprisingly, are not. I once owned a very accurate S&W Mdl 25-5 with an almost-9" barrel. I'm a short guy, so figured I could always use it as a temporary crutch, if I had to......

Drail said:

Roaddog, I trashed my forcing cone (GP100) just like that in only about 4 to 5 months of shooting 125 gr. flame thrower max. loads. I will never ever shoot light weight high velocity ammo again in any brand of revolver. I wish that so many people would stop repeating the "mantra" that Ruger revolvers are indestructible and you'll never wear one out.

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Hopefully people will learn. No revolver is strong enough to take the beating of the 125 or lighter high velocity frame throwers. They pound any revolver and can result in a barrel replacement. I never will shoot these again.
Good luck and happy shooting Drail.
Howard

Gp100...

SDGlock23 said:

If you want tough, you want a GP100. I had one, sold it only because I condensed calibers. It was the 6" stainless version and it would shoot a 158gr Missouri SWC overtop 14.8gr of Alliant 2400 @ 1.600" an average of 1535 fps with single digit extreme spreads.

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That's almost my exact load! I shoot a Missouri Bullet company 158 grain SWC over 14.0 grains of Alliant 2400, out of my 6" S&W 586 "no dash" which is a stout enough load for me. After 50 rounds of this load my hand hurts where the backstrap contacts the palm. 15.3 Grains is the max listed - which is pretty hot IMHO.

Really, I think It would be hard to go wrong with either an L-Frame S&W or a Ruger GP-100. They are both excellent revolvers. I would probably just go with the best deal I could find first locally.