.357 or .44

Full house reload in my .44 Vaquero birdshead.

Mark_Mark said:

don’t know... but that .357 would be a fun project caliber. See how hard you can push it

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It could be fun, if you really know what you're doing (which for all I know, you do). But for most people, including myself, finding out how hard a bullet could be pushed in a given firearm, is dangerous stuff.

Mark_Mark said:

the .460 is the best fun you can have with 2 hands!

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Gonna have to agree to disagree on this one - ever shot a 500 S&W Mag? THAT is the best fun you can have lol.

I bought one, but with the 8 3/8” barrel. I absolutely love it, and actually the best thing is seeing the huge smile or laughs from people that I hand it over to to take a shot or two. But back to your question, I’d go 44. Down the road you can get yourself a nice rifle and be able to reload for your pistol and your rifle! I have a S&W 44 mag and that’s my plan, buy a rifle here soon to go with it.

44

I also live in the pnw and spend a lot of leisure time in the cascades. In your situation I would get a .44 over the .357. As you stated you handload so you can tailor loads as fast or slow as you like and for that I think the .44 has the advantage in respect to load versatility. With a GOOD belt and holster, I find the weight of the gun to not be a problem.
When I’m bumming around the cascades I will usually carry my 5.5” .44 special blackhawk loaded with 200gn rnfp that’s moving about 1100fps.Im about to order a mould for 255gn Keith bullet which will replace the 200gn load, probably at the same velocities.
Other woods gun is a 6.5” .41 magnum blackhawk but I tend to go for the .44 special with its shorter barrel.
As for the holster I use a simply rugged sourdough pancake with their “ real mans” 1.75” belt. Shortly after getting this rig I was out working on my property and I had a sudden panic that my gun was missing from the holster and reach down in a panic to find my gun nice and cozy where it was supposed to be. The holster and belt just worked so well I forgot a had a 42oz revolver on my hip, I Couldn’t feel it after getting used to it.

If I was in the market for a double action woods gun I think the s&w model 69 would be at the top of the list. I’d want a 4” barrel and I’d load it with some hot .44 special loads.

Mark-Mark if it smells terrible and remains unseen it must be bigfoot! At any rate I would go 44 MAG as I believe there is no such thing as overkill.

My vote would be for a short barrel Ruger Redhawk. I have a 71/2" Redhawk and a Marlin with 24" barrel. I get 1320 fps ( pistol), 1750 fps ( rifle). That is with a 300 gr hard cast LBT, gas checked. I think that Rugers are better, heavier built, for a steady diet of full house loads. Other may disagree, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Do not want to start an argument here

Not quite answering the question but, for protection in the woods, I carry a 10mm loaded with hard cast 200gr. bullets. Either a Glock model 20sf (15rds) or a Tanfoglio with 14rds. I prefer the Tanfoglio but am comfortable with either. Best wishes!

Mark_Mark said:

my 1st and only revolver is a S&W .460 V. I’m really only good for 1 accurate shot then I flinch so bad I’m better off throwing that gun at a bear. I love the idea of a 340gr hard cast in a 2.5” barrel!

what’s the heaviest .357 bullet they make?

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I cast 200 grain flat nose.

On the OP. A Super Blackhawk with a 4 5/8 barrel is easily manageable with a 300 grain bullet and h110.
If I did not carrying than shooting. That would be my choice.
If I shot a lot. I would prefer a GP1000 or K frame and run 180 WFN bullets.
BTW that smelly thing is probably bigfoot.

Years ago I read an article in one of those soft-cover handgun hunting publications (I think that’s what it was) on the topic of “if I could only have one as I bug out” and the author’s conclusion was a 357. He’d compared a 44 and even 41( along with others as I recall), but decided the versatility was just that much more in favor of the 357, especially with recoil and reloading. A pound of powder would go longer than a bigger bore, and loads could be tamed for everything from field mice to bears.

I think it matters more which gun it is fired from. IMO the 44 is much more versatile if you're using full size guns. My 4" Smith 629 is only ever so slightly thicker through the cylinder than a 686 or Ruger GP-100. But the 629 was actually lighter to carry. Granted by only 1 oz, but the point is that carrying the 44 wasn't any more of a hardship than one of those 357's.

But if you want to carry a more compact K frame or something like a Ruger SP-101 I think the better 357 loads are good enough. Buffalo Bore and DoubleTap offer some 200 gr loads at right around 1300 fps that would work on anything in the lower 48. I don't know how close you could come to duplicating that with handloads. But for no more of those than you'd shoot a box or 2 would last a lifetime. You can use cheaper handloads for the range.

My personal choice for such uses is a G29. It is even smaller, lighter, and more compact. It holds 10, or 15 rounds depending on the magazine I choose and I can mount a light on it at night when camping. The 200 gr DoubleTap loads at 1300 fps help me sleep well at night in bear country.

But I do have a 2 3/4" Smith 66 on my wish list. I've been trying to locate one for months now.

SharpDog said:

329:

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WrongHanded said:

I've never shot a S&W .460, but I know they're a powerful cartridge in a very large gun. I can understand you developing a flinch from that.

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If anyone developed flinch from a 460 then the 329 is an absolutely terrible choice. I have shot multiple hundred rounds through my 460 and 500 in a day. A friend of mine is a small guy and he loves the x frames. He whines about the 44 blackhawk. I once shot maybe 100 (and maybe not that many but it was several) through one of my 329 and my hand was bruised the next day at work. I'm known as the guy who can handle recoil or take a hit. So now everyone is terrified of my 329. Lol

That was with the factory rubber grip I believe but may have been with the factory wood. I have since put x frame grips on the 329.. Helps some. My main problem is getting the guns to stay together. I also take off that v notch rear sight they come with


3 friends of mine (one is BIL) have stopped before the cylinder was empty. All avid shooters. Of course that was with the wood ahrends for good measure


The 357 and the 44 are far too different IMO. They are more like comparing 380 to 10mm than 9mm to 40. Just my opinion. I have both. If I wanted to ccw it would be a 357. For any hunting or real work I use the 44s.

As far as handloading both are extremely straight forward and versatile. Components are plentiful (well.... you know. Normally) and choices are many.

Wyo82 said:

I bought one, but with the 8 3/8” barrel. I absolutely love it, and actually the best thing is seeing the huge smile or laughs from people that I hand it over to to take a shot or two. But back to your question, I’d go 44. Down the road you can get yourself a nice rifle and be able to reload for your pistol and your rifle! I have a S&W 44 mag and that’s my plan, buy a rifle here soon to go with it.

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I see this responce a lot and if the companion rifle comes into play then its 357 all day every day. The common practice in 44 is to have a bigger bore spec in the rifle and cast dont work well for both... jacketed seems to work well but lead was being discussed. It's not something I expected but there is many a post on it. 357 seems to transition between guns better. The 44 is the only one I repeatedly hear problems with.

jmr40 said:

I think it matters more which gun it is fired from

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What he said

AJC1 said:

The common practice in 44 is to have a bigger bore spec in the rifle and cast dont work well for both..

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My experience as well.

Bronco72 said:

I think that Rugers are better, heavier built, for a steady diet of full house loads. Other may disagree

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If your talking about Smith then I highly doubt anyone disagrees. It's pretty widely known. Smith will even tell you that. Ive sent two back for rebuilds and they will tell you to shoot more specials if you want them to last. Lol.

They won't fly apart in your hands and they aren't dangerous. Don't take it wrong OP. But they will shoot loose sooner. (Still many thousand dollar in ammo usually) They feel better IMO though. I use the rugers for hunting. But they are big blocky bulky pieces. But many manuals even list loads just for ruger and bfr/freedom etc

Penn bullets has a 200gr truncated cone fyi. Coated too.

The more I shoot 44 and 45 revolvers, the less I care about the 38/357

But you should definitely get both