Another Newbie question. Practice and Defense ammo in 4" 357 revolver.

[indie]

I've learned so much from you guys already.

i've never fired a gun before. But im buying a Taurus 66 4" K Frame 357 magnum for home/personal defense, likely today.

I want to begin shooting at a range up the street. I've seen people reccomend starting off with 38 special loads and working your way up to 357.

I have decided that i want to use 38 +p 158 grain LSWCHP(FBI Load) ammo for defense primarily, at least until i can handle a 357.


I want to know, would it be difficult for me as a novice to start off practicing with my defense load instead of the regular 38 special? Will it be a major difference in recoil in that size and weight of a gun?

I'm a very large strong guy if that matters any, but hopefully i can get my wife to start shooting too soon. I just feel like i should be practicing with the defense load i intend to use.


also, will mixing ammo size and weight in a revolver effect timing or cause any problems. like for example in a seven shooter i want to keep it loaded with 5 38+p 158 grain LSWCHP and 2 357 magnum 125 grain jhp?

 

[Bacchus]

I think that you'll be OK with the 158 gr loads, especially in a heavy revolver. And no problem mixing up 38s and 357s in the same cylinder--great way to check for flinches...

 

[1man]

Make sure you clean your revolver, how often is up to you. I clean all my guns after each use!
I once heard someone on the net stating that they could not load any 357 cartridges in the cylinder(rounds would not go in all the way for the cylinder to close). That looked like someone exclusively shooting 38 special without(if ever) cleaning it!

I hear the Corbon DPX 357mag loads aren't full-power(mid-level), I'd look into those as well. I'm going to try them out after I restock my practice ammo for 4 other calibers.

 

[NoirFan]

Hello indie, from one beginner to another,

I also have a K-frame magnum and out of that gun I have never noticed much difference between .38 specials of any kind. Light target wadcutters and +P loads all feel almost the same: quite mild. I don't see a benefit to practicing with expensive .38 hollowpoints when you can match the recoil with generic jacketed target ammo.

Mixing loads in the cylinder is no problem, and it does help with flinch. A better way is to load five live rounds, and one empty casing. It helped me improve on my flinching VERY quickly.

 

[SJshooter]

Practice with whatever you can to hit the target in small groups. If bad guy comes through your door and you can put rounds right in his sternum, he won't be asking about caliber.

What's more, I would never use .357 as a home defense round. You haven't shot yet, but the report on a .357 is considerably louder than a .38 - to fire on inside, say, a bedroom without ear protection is a recipe for lifelong deafness. And even though I am proficient with the ..357, with the smaller recoil of the .38 (even +P) I can put follow-up shots on target faster and in tighter groups. Plus, I live in a neighborhood where there is 10 feet between houses. I don't need rounds going into people's homes.

If I were you - I would forget about the .357 --- temporarily. Get the same size gun in a .22. If you want to go shoot .38 special at the range, you are looking at $9-13 a box of 50 rounds (.357 is more) and it is really easy to put 200 rounds downrange really quickly. Meanwhile the .22 costs pennies to shoot. If you buy the .22, and every time you go to the range you put the $20-40 you would have spent on .38 ammo into a jar, you will have the money for a .357 gun in a VERY short period of time. You are going to want both guns eventually, and if you really want to learn how to shoot accurately, you should start on the .22. You will learn to shot without flinching, be able to shoot thousands of rounds for dirt cheap as you learn, and like I said you'll have the money for the .357 put aside in no time at all.

 

[indie]

thanks for all of the great advice so far guys. I just got back from buying the gun. And i bought some Breakfree CLP and a little cleaning kit.

I used the timing and bore checking methods linked at the top of this forum before getting the gun. All stuff i would have been clueless about if it wasnt for THR


Noirfan good idea on the flinch prevention. I will try mixing it up a bit to see how that helps. I also want to get some snap caps for dry firing. Anyone know of where to get a pack of more than 6? maybe 8 since i have a 7 shooter.

i was going to use the Georgia arms 158 grain 38+P LSWCHP, which is currently 17.50 per 100 as practice ammo. I was going to order about 500 rounds of that for now. And a get a box of maybe the remington in the same for a defense load.

SJshooter, I want to get a box of like 50 357 to have for when i am ready to give that a shot. But im very content and patient with just learning how to shoot and treat my gun for now. I will definitely heed your advice, and advice of many others i have found searching the forum that 357 might be too much for an enclosed setting.

looks like im getting in at a bad time for ammo prices. lol