.357 magnum recoil question?

[.380awsome]

ok im planning on getting a ruger 2.75" six series model in .357 mag. how do you think my 13 year old son would be able to handle this,just curious im sure he will fire it some,hes fired .38 specials from a chief special and .380's from a walther ,do you think a 13 year old could handle .357's through a gun this small barreled

 

[James T Thomas]

not to worry

Dad:

Your 13 year old son will be a young man before you know it.

In the mean time there are many low recoiling rounds available in 357, and who knows, he might just man up at that age and have a blast with the magnum.

More to the point, I don't think one more inch of barrel will make much difference; as the four inch revolver recoil can be stout, but not severe enough to make him gunshy.

Please remember the eye protectors and "ear mugs" too.

 

[BADUNAME37]

Yes, if he holds on tight. Ear plugs and muffs are recommended so he doesn't hurt his hearing. Safety glasses (yellow would be nice).
He should be fine.

 

[buck460XVR]

my son started shooting my 6" 686 when he was 8. I did buy a box of 38's for him to shoot but he soon learned to shoot factory magnum rounds.

Ditto on the hearing and eye protection.....I recommend starting him at a bench on bags so he can focus on gripping the gun instead of holding it up.

 

[Walkalong]

He might do fine, but he might not. .357 recoil is something I never liked. I would rather fire a .44 Mag when I was young, and still would. I download .357's. I still shoot full house .44 mags some, but not .357's.

It is a huge step up from .380 & .38 Spl.

 

[Shawnee]

The muzzle blast is more likely to cause him to flinch than the actual recoil.

Be sure to have him use plugs and muffs.

 

[loneviking]

Load the gun with stock 38 specials---and not the +P stuff. There should be very little recoil and if he can handle that, then go to a 38+P load, see how that does. The muzzle blast is not that bad when you're holding the gun. I'm always amazed, when someone else is shooting my 6" .357 and I'm standing back watching, at how severe the blast is. When I'm shooting the gun, I really don't notice that muzzle blast.

Even better is to get a simple, single stage press and start loading rounds at various levels of power. You can fine tune a round that your son can handle, and you can both spend time together doing something fun!

 

[BigBlock]

Hell, when I was 13 I was building 2" bore cannons....

 

[Haywood]

Hope you have lots of ammo, he's going to love it.

 

[20nickels]

If you reload you can start off with the 148 grain wadcutter that made the .38's notable for accuracy. That will tell him where he is at on paper without all the blast, recoil and flinch. A longer sight radius is preferable, but shoot whatcha got.

 

[WheelgunZealot]

Your 13 year old son will be just fine with it. It's all about technique, not brute strength.

 

[TCmofo]

My dad is strictly a wheelgun man...that said I hadn't shot any revolvers until he took me shooting recently and I LOVED the .357 BANG and recoil. Yeah it is noticable from a 38 or 38+p, but WOW what a fun round to shoot. I shot from a 4 inch S&W model 66 and a Rossi snubby and I really enjoyed firing both.

Start him out on the 38 and move up to the .357 Zealot is right it is about technique not brute strength...should be a good time and bring a smile to his face.

 

[Smaug]

I don't like 357 Magnum loads, even from a 4" barrel, and I'm 31. There's always the possibility that he can handle it, but doesn't like it.

....

 

[Pure Kustom]

ok im planning on getting a ruger 2.75" six series model in .357 mag. how do you think my 13 year old son would be able to handle this,just curious im sure he will fire it some,hes fired .38 specials from a chief special and .380's from a walther ,do you think a 13 year old could handle .357's through a gun this small barreled

yes he can handle it. Just be sure he knows how to grip it. I have seen adults that didn't. And they won't forget it. Let him shoot .38 specials through it first. Then the magnums

 

[Guillermo]

recoil is a very personal thing. If he is not afraid, he can decide for himself.

Personally, I am fine with shooting a .357 or 44 magnum but absolutely detest shooting a light .38 snub. It is like I don't mind getting hit, but hate getting slapped...go figure?

My daughter shot .357s for a year (she is 15) and enjoyed it. Now, for whatever reason, I see her reaching for the .38s to reload her 4 inch Smith model 19.

(btw, I asked her casually and she said she wanted to get better with lower recoil and then step up. Undeniable logic, I bought more .38s)

So my advice is to let him decide. He might take pride in shooting the hotter round. Or he might enjoy the comfort of shooting the lighter cartridge. He certainly CAN handle it. The only question is whether he wants to.

 

[Marshall]

It depends.

I don't know your sons stature. At 13, kids can be small or large, fairly developed or undeveloped. I don't know his mental framework either. The 357 Mag is a completely different category than a .38 special or .380 ACP. Muzzle blast is sever and kick is severe in that short barreled gun and while some kids may not find it intimidating, some may find it very intimidating. In other words, only you know what your son is ready for. I sure don't want to be the guy that recommends you go have him shoot it and for some reason it's not the right time thus turning him off or hurting him. With that said, with proper care, handling and instruction, chances are he'll be fine since you've been introducing him to other firearms for some time.

 

[.380awsome]

yes indeed well he has fired .357's but from a gp100 in 6" at a relatives house which dint give of much recoil becuase of the barrel and such he had 5 .38's and 1 .357 in there he sure could tell the difference but he claims he loved it,but this is a 2.75 inch barrel without an underlug so i dont know about the recoil?

 

[Matt-J2]

Hard to say. Even if he can handle .357 from one gun, doesn't mean he can from another. Barrel length isn't really it...weight of the gun, fit of the grips being a bit more important, IMO.
For me:
.357 from a Blackhawk? Yessir.
From a 2" SP101, stock grips? Well...not more than 20-25, please.
From a S&W M60 Pro? 10 is plenty. Seriously, did not like that one.

 

[MCgunner]

My security six was the absolute WORST medium frame gun with heavy loads for felt recoil and muzzle climb I've ever fired, bar none, case closed. He could handle it with .38s or reduced loads, but with heavies, it's a hand biter. It actually HURT and I had a Hogue nylon grip on it. When I first put that on, I had to shave the sharp edge off it that didn't quite match up with the grip frame cause shooting it put two bleeding cuts on the palm of my hand. DAMN that thing was bad. My 19 Smith, my Taurus 66s, even my light Rossi 971 and my 27 ounce SP101 were/are WAY easier to shoot. That's one reason I traded that S Six off on a new Blackhawk even up.

No kiddin', with a Hogue grip on the SP101, that thing is NICE even with 180 full house handloads. I'd never shoot those loads in that S Six, would be masochistic to say the least! I really don't miss that gun at all, though it was lighter and easier to carry than a GP100 and a strong action. I'd rather drop a round and gain some concealment and go with an SP101, major improvement IMHO. YMMV, most seem to. Just call 'em as I see 'em, but the SP101 is WAY superior as both a shooter and a concealment gun to the S Sixes.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

I conccur with MCGunner. My speed sixes hurt with full-house loads. That wide portion of the grip frame near the top feels like I whacked the web of my hand with a ball-peen hammer.

I have no trouble with my sp101s, redhawks, or super redhawks in the recoil dept. But the speed/securitry grip frame causes me discomfort.

 

[NGIB]

A lot depends on the grips the gun has. I have a 3" 686+ that wears Ahrends retro target stocks. These are very pretty - but they aren't built for shooting heavy magnum loads. Until this weekend, all I had shot thru this gun was .38s and these grips were just dandy.

Using magnum loads, it was hard to keep a good grip and it wasn't comfortable to shoot at all. I bought a set of Pachmayr Decelerators on the way home from the range...

 

[SlipperyShooter]

I shoot both .38 and .357 through my 2.75" J-Frame and while I can handle both, I will tell you that I very much prefer shooting .38.

Let him cycle through a few rounds of .357, but be prepared to let him switch back to .38. I suspect you'll find that his form and his "enjoyment" are both much better with the .38s........

 

[goon]

Depending on the kid, probably.
I've shot a lot of snubby .357's and they're not really that bad.
The noise and blast can be intimidating but with decent grips and a K-frame sized gun your son should be OK.
Even if he only manages a couple shots, you can still use .38's for introducing him to centerfires.

And FWIW, I really love mild .38's in a .357 snubby. Sometimes I load them so that you can actually see the bullet traveling to the target.
They are just about the definition of fun.

When I start casting I'm going to try my hand at loading some round balls into a 38 over a light charge of Unique. It should be economical.
Yeah, the economics, that's my only motivation.

Also, if you're willing to shell out a couple bucks you could give him a few rounds of the Speer short barrel 135 grain loads. They're not at all unpleasant, maybe even less than some .38's I've shot. You might even decide to keep some around for your own uses.

 

[Orange_Magnum]

What is your gain of risking his cartilage?

 

[TT]

If you are going to give a new shooter .357s, I would really recommend you check him regularly for flinching (dummy round in one of the cylinders-he shouldn’t know which one). Flinching can develop even when the shooter is having a great time, but it will definitely have a negative effect on accuracy and (at least for me) it is very hard to correct.