There have been improvements by Charter Arms on their guns.
They are serviceable firearms and the snubs seem to work well.
The only problem I've seen as of late that the gun writers and shooters found, was on one model and 1 example only, was the fact the ejector rod came loose. Locktite took care of the problem.
I do like the Taurus snubs and own two. An old 85CH DAO only and one in .327 Federal magnum. These are giving good service and have had no troubles.
I also own a Rossi 462 six shooter which gets mostly .38 Special loads run through it.
I do not use full blown barn burner .357 magnum ammo of the 125gr. guise.
Lite .357 magnum rounds in 125gr. made by Federal and Remington are just fine. Speer's short barreled 135gr. .357 magnum rounds are also good.
Add to that the various 110 gr. JHPs in .357 magnum as well.
Since the 158 gr. LSWCHP +P and the Speer 135 gr. Gold Dot are the yardsticks by which . 38 Special and defense ammo are measured why not go with those. I do.
The first use of the 158gr. LSWCHP +P round saw a 300lb. miscreant being shot with it. He dropped instantly like a sack of rocks. This is a docmented case.
With those two loadings in .38 Special and various other cutting edge .38 Special rounds there seems little reason to use .357 magnum rounds out of the short barrels. Yes, there is a good case for them.
If one needs quicker critical shot to shot recovery times, is sensitive to recoil and horrendous muzzle blast then the .38 Special is the way to go.
Remember, if you let loose inside a dwelling or building of any kind the muzzle blast will be magnified and there will be little to absorb the noise.
Add to that the bright flash that can disorient people in dark or low light conditions.
Yes, there are .357 magnum rounds with flash suppressants in them. Those do a commendable job to a point.
Just depends on the gun operator and there ability to deal with all this. if you can handle it ,fine. If not there are other alternatives to go to.
What has to be remembered is that most .357 magnum snubbies were not designed for a vast steady diet of full blown barn burner 125gr. projectiles.
That fact is brought home by the fact that the K frame S&W wasn't designed or able in most cases to take a steady diet of the same loads without eventually having timing problems and getting battered to the point the gun will go out of service. This is documented well down through history. Not that there are not some exceptions to that. HoweverS&W went to the beefed up L frame to take care of that problem.
Now we get to subbies that are not L frame or similar. Why would they be able to take the pounding that the K frames cannot and be on a J frame or similar platform? There is that to consider.
There are the Rossi 461/462 series in .357 magnum and the 351/352 5 shot and in .38 Special.
Here's a cross section on the Charter, Taurus, and Rossi guns.
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=29625.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=31689.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=20884.0
The first link is mainly about the Charter Arms snubs.
The second link is a compilation of Taurus snub links and from the actual users and owners.
The third link is about the Rossis, but not as in depth.
Try them out and handle as many types as possible. I am always surprised by the number of people who buy something, but seem to seldom actually inspect the gun thoroughly and try it out before buying.
If one hasn't had any real experience with the various models then they will have nothing of substance to add to the dialogue. There might be minor exceptions to that.
S&W does make very good revolvers as well. The extensive list of them can fill the bill as well.
