44 Spc or 357 for defense?

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I have both, and like both. Both are good shooters and both are pretty versatile.

Im always on the lookout for a S&W 24, especially one of the snubbies, but a 4" will do too. Always looking for the right 29/629 in a snubby too. :)

Thought about going the 69 snubby route, but keep talking myself out of it. Not that Ive seen any in a while anyway.

These are L frames, 686+ 357, and a 696 44Spl. One is a seven shooter, the other a five shooter. If I had to choose, Id go with the 686+, just for the extra two rounds.

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Taurus made one or more medium-framed 44 special revolvers at one time. Maybe it was in the 90's and/or early oughts? I think one of them was the Model 431, and maybe there was a model with adjustable sights, too? (Model 441, I think.)

Anyway, I've read a lot of posts by people who owned and liked them. I've owned a few Taurus revolvers from the 90's that I thought were very good.

The 90's Taurus in 357 magnum below was my preferred HD revolver for quite a while. :)

One 4" 357 or another has pretty much always been my HD handgun. Lately though, sometimes I just leave my Charter Arms Bulldog by my bedside if I was carrying it that day.

 
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I know, I should just buy both.
Yes, you should.

I have a 3" GP100 in .357 Mag. and a 2" Taurus Titanium .44 Special, both are intended and handloaded for CC. 9 out of 10 times its the Taurus that gets carried. If I have to pull my CC out, I want that person to look into that .44 caliber hole and decide whether or not they really want to argue with that 240 grain hollow point.
 
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My GP 100 3” .44 Spl. is a 5-shot.

GP 100’s in .357 can be 7 shot revolvers in the same size-weight package.

This would be my only concern for a ccw gun that’s full-sized like GP’s are. :)

Other than the capacity difference, which may or may not be an issue for you, I love them both. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
Bigger bullets make bigger holes
Bigger holes make for more blood flow
Bigger bullets carry more knock down force to target
That said
I have and shoot both
I’d rather have the 357/38
That my lie and I’m sticking to it!!!!
 
You stated that you have both (calibers, I presume) and you reload for both.

On that, .357 is going to much easier to find. A .44 Spl is going to be more desireable. IF you find a .44 Spl, get it. A 3" K frame is a handful in .357. Non-essistent in .44. An L frame is outstanding to carry and shoot. 6 shot .357, fairly easy to find. 7 shot .357, exist, but costs more. .44 Spl, the Spl refers to the rarity as much as the cartridge; if you find one, jump on it.
The GP100 is an excellent gun, but it isn't small.
The N frame Smith can be found on both calibers, plus .44 Mag (shot loaded with. Spl).
The N frame is a big gun, available with 2 3/4" up to 8 3/8" barrel.

Which to get? Whatever you can find, it a decent price. I have .357Mag, .41Mag, .44Mag and .45C. They all work, extremely well, when loaded correctly.
 
My short answer: If that 65-3 truly checks out as “nice,” get it.

I am a sample of one, but I used one round of .357 Magnum, during a defensive incident, to defend myself, and others who were present. So, I am not without confirmation bias.

My trigger fingers are not long enough to reach the face of a N-Frame trigger, while maintaining an ergonomically-proper grip. (Using an ergonomically-IMPROPER grip is a large part of what wrecked my right thumb, hand, and wrist.) So, to use properly-fittin’ revolvers in my K-Frame/L-Frame/GP100-sized hands means having five rounds of .44 Special, or six rounds of .357 Mag. Well, .44 Special is, indeed, special, but, if defensive carry is the task, well, it is not special enough for me to give up that sixth round. There are enough robbery crews, around where, that run in threes and fours, and they do not stay in “their” parts of town.

It is no secret that I carry a second gun, much of the time, but no “NY Reload” is as fast as pulling that trigger a sixth time.

For a fun gun, of course, .44 Special is wonderful, though I am without any sixguns so chambered, but have several .45 Colt revolvers, and a .41 Mag, though the .41 is retired, due to being a bit too loose, in the moving parts. IIRC, my only .44 Special was a Model 624, a very long time ago, probably early Nineties. Being retired, and in a nostalgic mood, occasionally, I do keep an eye out for a nice .44 Special sixgun.
 
IF the revolvers in comparison will hold an equal number of rounds and IF they have a barrel length you want then I'd go with a 44 since you say you can load for it.

If it's going to come down to a six shot 357 versus a five shot 44 I'd go with the 357. I prefer 44, but losing a round in a home defense gun matters. If it's a concealed carry piece maybe not.
 
I do not think that they are interchangeable.

If you want a compact 6 shot, you can get a .357 in a K-frame or even smaller, the COLT King Cobra. If you go with a .44 Special, and do not want to carry an N-frame sized gun, then you will end up with a 5 shooter, like the S&W 69 or GP-100. Also, .44 Special ammo is hard to get these days and your choice is very limited and usually expensive. If I cannot find .357, I can still buy .38 Special

Also, unless you get a CHARTER ARMS Bulldog, you are going to be carrying a heavy gun when you go with a .44 Special. I like the .44 Special, but I consider the .38 Special/.357 magnum much more versatile and practical.

Besides, FEDERAL does not make an HST round in .44 Special.

Jim
 
My dilemma is that I have several various 357s. A 686 no dash 4", a Taurus 689 6", a Taurus 65 4", and a Uberti El Patron 5.5".
I only have 1 44 Spc, and it's a Bulldog.
I've never fired the CA, because I bought it unfired, and it's from the 1970s.
I do have a bunch of ammo for it because I will probably shoot it someday, but would love to find a full size 44 Spc to add to the accumulation.
 
Bear in mind that in this size gun it's not going to be just cartridge effectiveness, but capacity as well. I like the .44 Special and figure it's probably a bit more effective than the .357, but is it enough better to justify losing one of an already limited supply? I'm honestly not sure - although I don't have any K-frame .44 Specials lying around anyway...
 
Taurus made one or more medium-framed 44 special revolvers at one time. Maybe it was in the 90's and/or early oughts? I think one of them was the Model 431, and maybe there was a model with adjustable sights, too? (Model 441, I think.)

Anyway, I've read a lot of posts by people who owned and liked them. I've owned a few Taurus revolvers from the 90's that I thought were very good.
If the Taurus 41 Mags were the same "medium-frame" as the Taurus 44 Specials, yeah, it was in the '90s when they made them. I like mine a lot - it was my "backpacking" gun. It still would be if I could still manage hikes longer than hikes out to the mailbox and back.;)
 
If the Taurus 41 Mags were the same "medium-frame" as the Taurus 44 Specials, yeah, it was in the '90s when they made them. I like mine a lot - it was my "backpacking" gun. It still would be if I could still manage hikes longer than hikes out to the mailbox and back.;)

The mailbox hikes mean you're still on the right side of the grass. Right?
 
Bigger bullets make bigger holes
Bigger holes make for more blood flow
Bigger bullets carry more knock down force to target
That said
I have and shoot both
I’d rather have the 357/38
That my lie and I’m sticking to it!!!!

The endless back and forth is eternal .
I'm with @Catpop , bigger bullet = bigger hole.
At pistol velocity there will be little to no hydrostatic shock. Bullets regardless of material & design can and will fail to perform (expand) randomly. The only thing that makes sense to me is to use a larger bullet that can't shrink.
Nope, I'm not a boomer.
I'm not delusional about "stopping power" or shot placement. I'm familiar with the characteristics of pistol cartridges wounding ability and I'm realistic about round count available . you'll find 1,000 well informed trainers that advocate more rounds and just as many that say bigger bullets.
There is no right answer , just what we're comfortable with.
I much prefer 45 acp to 9mm, internet Rambo will scoff and declare me an idiot. That's ok, I like a big heavy projectile at subsonic velocity. No one has been able to convince me otherwise . so for me? I'll take the big bullet.

Now food for thought:
If you shoot a squirrel in the head with a 50 bmg, will it be any deader than the squirrel shot in the head with a 22 short?

357 magnum is an all time favorite of mine (I don't own a 44) , there's not much on planet earth that can take a couple rounds of 357 magnum to the vitals and survive. Humans aren't tough and were burdened by emotion , no one should ever depend on an attacker being demoralized by a hole punched in them. No one should count on intimidation by the sight of a gun that looks bigger or sounds scarier, that stuff does work but rarely (very rarely). Every single encounter will be unique and trying to tailor your weapon to a situation you imagine isn't going to work. Carry what you shoot well and you'll do just fine. Internet wisdom is worthless but it's intended to get your gears turning, you're the one that decides what will work for you even if everyone else thinks your nuts.

When I was a dumb kid I was obsessed with single action revolvers. I even carried one for self defense in 2005-2006, I cringe now thinking back on it but at the time you couldn't have convinced me otherwise. We all need to do what we feel is best and hope we never find out if it was good planning or an awful mistake.
Stay safe
 
Go for diameter all the way! That is why I decided on a 625 in 45lc. After a year of looking for a affordable 625 in 45lc a Dan Wesson 744 in .44mag came along at an excellent price and I jumped on it. That was a couple years back and I had really never considered getting a 44mag. I still don't have a 625 and haven't ever missed it even though I still think .45cal bullets are superior to .429 bullets.
 
The endless back and forth is eternal .
I'm with @Catpop , bigger bullet = bigger hole.
At pistol velocity there will be little to no hydrostatic shock. Bullets regardless of material & design can and will fail to perform (expand) randomly. The only thing that makes sense to me is to use a larger bullet that can't shrink.
Nope, I'm not a boomer.
I'm not delusional about "stopping power" or shot placement. I'm familiar with the characteristics of pistol cartridges wounding ability and I'm realistic about round count available . you'll find 1,000 well informed trainers that advocate more rounds and just as many that say bigger bullets.
There is no right answer , just what we're comfortable with.
I much prefer 45 acp to 9mm, internet Rambo will scoff and declare me an idiot. That's ok, I like a big heavy projectile at subsonic velocity. No one has been able to convince me otherwise . so for me? I'll take the big bullet.

Now food for thought:
If you shoot a squirrel in the head with a 50 bmg, will it be any deader than the squirrel shot in the head with a 22 short?

357 magnum is an all time favorite of mine (I don't own a 44) , there's not much on planet earth that can take a couple rounds of 357 magnum to the vitals and survive. Humans aren't tough and were burdened by emotion , no one should ever depend on an attacker being demoralized by a hole punched in them. No one should count on intimidation by the sight of a gun that looks bigger or sounds scarier, that stuff does work but rarely (very rarely). Every single encounter will be unique and trying to tailor your weapon to a situation you imagine isn't going to work. Carry what you shoot well and you'll do just fine. Internet wisdom is worthless but it's intended to get your gears turning, you're the one that decides what will work for you even if everyone else thinks your nuts.

When I was a dumb kid I was obsessed with single action revolvers. I even carried one for self defense in 2005-2006, I cringe now thinking back on it but at the time you couldn't have convinced me otherwise. We all need to do what we feel is best and hope we never find out if it was good planning or an awful mistake.
Stay safe

Very well reasoned response.
 
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