.357 or .45ACP

Damn! Hard question!

Depends on what you're going to do with it.

.357 for hunting deer/pig and longer range shooting.

.45acp for SD.

The recoil of .357 takes it out of the SD role in my mind, although it works just fine and a second round may end up being academic.

.45acp with cast TC bullets steps up the effectiveness and IMO makes it hunt-worthy at closer ranges.

Both is my answer.

.357 no question.
revolvers are cool, snub for ccw, 6 inch m66 for fun & hunting,
and if you feel that you need an automatic use the desert eagle in .357mag

Thread necromancy is frowned upon and frequently brings a closure. What on earth was the point of this?


Springmom

As a bullseye shooter I love my 45ACP LWSC in an accurized 1911.
I tend to "plink" with lightly loaded 38 special in my 357 revolver.

What a load of BS...

Someone said that .45 acp can do anything that a .357 magnum can do, but leave a bigger hole. That is pretty funny.

.45 acp is not even close to hot .357 magnum when it comes to penetration. .45 acp is a good round, don't get me wrong, but I would consider it vastly underpowered for hunting because of its lack of penetration. Buffalo Bore's 180 grain hard cast +p rounds travel at up to 1500 feet/second and have a sectional density of .202.

.357 magnum is more versatile, and in my opinion, is very easy to shoot when using a medium framed, stainless steel revolver.

45 ACP, Not wild about the blast and recoil of a 357.

my 1911 fire 357 mags with the same performance ooooo my!

Click to expand...

Get a Coonan.
I have been here since the beginning and didn't vote the first time around.

My carry gun is a 642, I guess my new carry gun is a four shot 45 acp?
I hate this type of choice.
Or is my new game gun a 8 shot 627 to replace my 625's? Would a five shot alloy L Frame in .45 acp replace my J Frame?
Can't we have more then one caliber in life?

I have 3 .45's and only 1 .357.

that being said, I'm glad I can own both .

5 YEARS BOOMER!!!

5 YEARS!!!!


J/K... had to give you a hard time, you thread necromaniac you.

That's funny there's actually a term for thread resurrection.

But anyway, I posted a similar poll...SP101 vs Sig 220 if I had to sell one of them. The 220 was the clear favorite. I tend to agree, follow up shots with the 45 are a LOT easier.

what about a 10mm ? 357 energy in same gun as any .45 with higher capacity

To download the .357 magnum loading for a 170 grain JHP bullet to the energy level of a 230 grain JHP in .45acp, the .357 magnum becomes a 'pussycat' with regards to recoil.

Geesh folks that keep believing the .45acp can do anything that a .357 magnum can.

Buffalo Bore shows top energy in a .45acp+P load to be a 185 grain JHP at 1150 fps for 543 ft-lbs of energy.

http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm#45acp

Buffalo Bore also shows its top ebergy load for the .357 magnum (note no +P required) is 802 ft-lbs with its 125 grain JHC bullet at 1700 fps.

http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm#357

Tough call. In principle I prefer the low-pressure, heavy-bullet profile of the .45 ACP -- less hairy to touch off in low light without ear protection.

But you can fit multiple rounds of the skinny .357 in revolvers much smaller than with any big-bore cartridge. And quality .357 rounds have nasty terminal ballistics. The .45 is perhaps easier to deploy well, but the .357 Magnum is at or near the top of the list of handgun cartridges one would least like to get hit with.

.357 all the way-much more powerful and versatile

Nothin wrong with ol acp, but it just cannot compete with the .357 in raw power, flat trajectory etc. and loaded lightly the .357 is just as accurate. I think I'd want a 1911 AND a 686.

shooter429

.357 all the way.

I love the versatility of the round.

I traded my latest .45 (G30) in for a .357 (686) last week, in fact. If I lived somewhere where 2 legged threats were all that concerned me, I might have stayed with the .45. However, I live somewhere where 4 legged aggressors can also be a real concern and the .357 is a far better multitasker. Plus, it shoots more accurately, and IMHO, is just more fun to shoot.

Threads like these are truly silly when unqualified, and basically serve as nothing but a caliber popularity contest.

"Suppose you could only have one"; yeah, BUT FOR WHAT?

Would my expected needs be for CCW, home defense, hunting, woods-walking, target shooting, plinking, hiking in the Antarctic, or walking across the Yukon? One might be better than the other, or neither might serve, depending upon conditions.