At 50 yards- .22 or 357, and barrel length.

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el Godfather

el Godfather

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Dear THR:
Question I. For shooting plates at fifty yards in your private range, which would you rather have: a .22 or .357?

SD/HD is not a consideration.

ONLY objective is shooting steel plates and other targets at 50 yards or so.

You may factor in all other variable likes cost, fun, ballistics etc.

Question II. What length of barrel would you choose for the stated purpose? I am thinking between 4 and 6 inches.

Question III. I have in mind a specific revolver, without disclosing it, I would like ask you what would you choose?

Thanks.
 
I shoot silhouettes monthly using both calibers and do alot of practice using gongs/swingers between matches. I have a Colt MK III Trooper 6" in both .22lr and .357. They look identical. Although, I don't regularly use either of them for silhouette, I have tried them. I would take the .22 if I had to choose based on my personal hits I have experienced with each.
 
What kind of steel plates are you shooting at? A .22 won't tip over the plates on a standard steel plate rack unless the plates are balanced so near their tipping point that it becomes a pain trying to reset them. The reset arm will bounce them down.

A .357 or .38 will not have any problems.
 
At 50 yards I would opt for a S&W Model 27 with a 6" barrel and with a target trigger and hammer.
 
I like the 357 for shooting steel. There's no doubt when you hit.
.22lr barely tips our plates at 10 yards. No satisfaction there.
I like a 4" stainless revolver as an all arounder, but if the only consideration is static shooting at 50 yards, a 6" barrel might be the better choice.
I shoot a 4" GP100 FWIW.
 
"ONLY objective is shooting steel plates and other targets at 50 yards or so."

It would be hard to beat a used Smith and Wesson Model 17 with a 6" barrel. One without a lug under the barrel balance the best.

The full lug 6" guns like the 617 can be a little front heavy.

Of course, this ridiculous .22lr ammo shortage might make thing difficult unless you have a good stash of ammo already.
 
.22 ammo is a lot cheaper, when you can get it, but .357 is pretty easy to reload. Probably going to shoot better with a longer barrel. I think I'd find 50-yard steel shooting a nice excuse to buy a 6.5-inch Ruger Blackhawk in .357 Magnum.
 
I've never shot one, but I've read such positive opinions about Dan Wesson revolvers' accuracy, that, combined with some longer barrel lengths available, would make me inclined to consider one of those in .357.
 
That depends on what you want the plates to do when hit. If it's just expected to go ding, then the .22 would be perfect. If you want it to fall over, then the .357. I would have thought this sort of thing to be intuitively obvious to the most casual observer. Thank goodness we have el G to promote discussion of such things, however. You never know when an observer might turn out to be intuitively impaired.

As for barrel length, at 50 yards, sight radius is going to be your friend. This gives an excellent excuse to pull out the 6" or longer guns that don't see a lot of use, otherwise.
 
I would have to second Bannockburn's suggestion of a model 27 or model 28 but a 586/ 686 would do the job also with a little smaller frame if it fits your hand better.

Single actions are fun also and .357mags have so much versatility all the way around over a .22.

If you reload for the .357 you can load everything from mouse fart 38 spl loads up to full house magnum loads and could hunt with it if the notion moved you.
 
Mat said:
As for barrel length, at 50 yards, sight radius is going to be your friend. This gives an excellent excuse to pull out the 6" or longer guns that don't see a lot of use, otherwise.
Click to expand...

This, exactly!
 
Depending on your budget, this is how I started.

1983 S&W 586..lightened the trigger a bit on mine. SW586.jpg

1978 DW 15-2 PP DWpp%2520032.jpg

1978 Colt Python Colt6inPython1978.jpg

For your uses I'd go with the DW and a 6" or 8" barrel,,,,4" if you want to keep it interesting ,,, with .357 I like a 6" best.
With a Pistol Pack you can become proficient with several barrel lengths.
 
content said:
Thanks, yes very smooth action.

CPE ya caught me :D should have the straight line checkering.
Do you know the era of my grips?
Click to expand...
There is no definite time line on grip changes....Yours were used from 62 or so until 73 or so....I know 1974 guns wore straight lines. I have two with them.
 
MAT "I would have thought this sort of thing to be intuitively obvious to the most casual observer. Thank goodness we have el G to promote discussion of such things, however. You never know when an observer might turn out to be intuitively impaired."

Gets my vote.
 
That is quite a big difference in calibers.

I enjoy both, but prefer shooting the .22 at plastic water/soda bottles on the berm, bouncing them all around. I do shoot them at steel as well though.

I really enjoy shooting .357s (And .38s) at plates from 25 to 100 yards, but not full power loads.

A favorite caliber not mentioned is the .32, whether a .32 Long, a .32-20, or a .32 mag. Lots of fun and a favorite to shoot steel plates with.

So I guess I can't choose. :)
 
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