Originally Posted By: Vern Humphrey
Of all the snubbies I've shot, the Ruger SP 101 is the only one I'd use 357’s in - The rest are mostly downright painful to shoot much. My feeling is if you practice with 357’s, you'll develop bad habits. If you are intimidated and don't practice with them, you won't perform well when the chips are down.
Wow, did you get that one right! Could not agree with this opinion, more. What I do whenever I’m training someone with this caliber is that, first, I start them off with anemic, ‘range ammo’ like overpriced Blazers or WWB. As the training session progresses I begin loading hotter and hotter high performance 357 rounds into the gun. The last several cylinders are always, ‘full house’ magnum ammo.
I’ve had very good success using this technique with, even, rank beginners. After an occasional comment on the increased muzzle blast and recoil, they’ll tend to continue hitting the target well. A 357 magnum Ruger SP-101 with a 3” barrel and hammer spur is the only small revolver I recommend for, BOTH, practice and EDC.
You’ve got to remember a snubby (any snubby) is NOT all that easy to hit with and, especially, at 10-12 yards. You have to know how to fire it smoothly in double action, only, and still consistently hit COM. The only complaint I’ve ever heard about this, ‘little tank’ of a revolver is that it’s too heavy; but, so far, nobody has complained about how much straighter he’s able to shoot with it. (Go figure!)
Originally Posted By: Steve Pearson
Are you saying S&W says not to shoot .357 mag in a .357 mag? What's up with that non-sense?
No, I’m not saying it. This is what Smith & Wesson told me when they replaced my beautiful old (Behlert customized) Model 19 - with a badly cracked forcing cone - for a brand new Model 686. I didn’t get back the cost of the custom work Austin Behlert had done for me; however, I did get a brand new, ‘L’ frame, 357 revolver entirely at the factory’s expense!
