First experience with 357 Magnum

[Cosmoline]

I always double up on ear protection. The plugs underneath then muffs to double the effect. It works great esp. with the magnums. And around here there's always a good chance someone is sighting in some monster gun next to you. Everything from a compensated magnum hunting rifle to a .500 S&W.

 

[MCgunner]

I ain't a wimp. I carry full bore 140 JHP concealed. In the house, I have a shotgun and a cap and ball .44 caliber revolver immediately at hand. BOOOOM goes the '58 Remington vs KAPOW! I love shooting that remmy, a real testosterone experience, but really, very low possibility of a night time home invasion out there in the woods. I looked on a crime statistics site a few days ago. Last crime anywhere near was an "unauthorized use of a motor vehicle" down on the highway a couple miles from me in 2010, over 3 years ago. I live at the end of a long dirt road. You'd have to be lost to end up here. The remmy is mostly decoration on the headboard, but it's loaded with 30 grains of Pyrodex P and round ball and ready to rock. That's just in case I can't get at my coach gun in the corner, and really, I'm most likely to need that for coyotes raiding my chicken house.

 

[Mike J]

A couple of weeks ago I took my sister out to shoot. We hadn't shot together in years but her husband had bought her a little Kel Tec P3AT & she hadn't shot it yet. While we were there after shooting the P3AT I let her & another friend of mine that were there shoot some of my different handguns. I pulled out my old Dan Wesson model 15 with a 4" barrel & my friend & I shot it a few times each. I reloaded & offered it to her. Now this girl ain't no wimp she has always been game. She has shot my 12 gauge & .30-06 before without batting an eye but is new to handguns. She shot the .357 loaded with Blazer Brass 158 grain JHPs once. Then turned to me holding the gun out arms length still pointed down range & said, "here you go."

 

[boom boom]

My first experience wasn't too bad. Bought a GP 100 and touched off some LE std. 125 grain bullets. If it had been one of those scandium snub noses, I probably would have never fired a .357 again. While the LE style ammo had impressive flash and boom, the recoil absorbed by the GP 100 reduced felt recoil to less than my Walther PPK.

Now, once, I was next to a guy zeroing his .308 AR-10 centerfire rifle with a muzzle break next to me. Despite using Muffs and earplugs, I felt and heard that rifle fire through bone conductance. My ears were ringing afterwards. Needless to say, I cut short my stay at that indoor range.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Now I don't ever want to shoot this thing indoors again. Cant imagine would it would be like with no hearing protection at all.

Yup, I used to load my 357's with Spears. Spears are loaded warm and perform well, but I realized I'd blow my ears and disorient myself too much to use the gun effectively. Switched to 38+p, and now to 45 acp.

 

[jad0110]

I'd rather have someone firing .357 next to me then the guy firing the short barrel mosin nagant next to me yesterday. Sighting in a .22, watching my breathing, trigger squeeze, etc. Slowly start pulling the trigger then BOOM with concussion before my little pop screwing up my shot.

The 20" Mosin M38s and M44s in 7.62 x 54R have a rather impressive BOOM, and a huge muzzle flash to boot. If you miss a baddie at close range, you can surely set his cloths on fire with that flame thrower!

 

[hipoint]

I think alot of it is in the grips as stated before. I have ruger security six with skinny grips on it, I do like the feel of the gun and the recoil is manageable, but when shooting my blackhawk in .41 magnum it isn't nearly as bad.

I don't like shooting at a covered range with anything, here in the country we have some ranges that are covered and I don't like them at all, luckily I have a 100 yard range here.

best advice, find someone with enough land to shoot on and ask them real nice if you can come shoot there. Try craigslist if you don't personally know someone. I once shot a deer on the farm out my door (legally with permits) using a ruger 10/22 I didn't have the muzzle all the way out the door, I will NEVER make that mistake again. I can't imagine shooting a "big gun" inside with no hearing protection, it would have to be awful. I bet if you get to shoot outdoors you'll like it much better.

 

[MCgunner]

I absolutely hated my Security Six's grips, tiny and felt like trying to grip a naa mini. I put Hogues on it, much better. I traded that gun for a Blackhawk I like much better, though.

 

[jakk280rem]

I guess I've grown accustomed to the recoil. I have a M66 and M586 and haven't run into a 357 load i didn't like. I haven't shot the 180gr Buffalo Bore bear load out of my handguns because it's a bit spendy and I use it for dear in my Marlin. I guess recoil is a matter of perception and acclimation.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I guess I've grown accustomed to the recoil. I have a M66 and M586 and haven't run into a 357 load i didn't like. I haven't shot the 180gr Buffalo Bore bear load out of my handguns because it's a bit spendy and I use it for dear in my Marlin. I guess recoil is a matter of perception and acclimation.

You know it really is. I think it also matters what you cut your teeth on.

The first time I shot a handgun my buddy handed me his Super Readhawk in .44 magnum with full puwer hunting loads in it. All he said was "Hold onto it."

The first rifle I shot was a 300 short mag.

After those two experiences, .357 and .223 feel pretty darn tame, unless fired from an ultralight gun of some kind. Now I find myself always looking for a bigger revolver to try out, and thinking about a 375 H&H or bigger rifle. And I have no need for a rifle even that powerful.

The first handgun I bought was a Ruger SP101 with a 3" bbl. The second was a S&W 460 magnum with a 5" bbl. I didn't progress, I leapt. I attribute it to starting out shooting on magnum revolvers and rifles. My only concern with recoil on any handgun anymore is bullet creep.

 

[RealGun]

Macho, macho man..........

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Ummmm..... no. Not trying to be macho. It's just how I was introduced to guns, and it has had an effect on my perception. I'm not saying I don't notice the recoil. I certainly do. I am saying that heavy recoiling guns is what shooting has always been to me, so it doesn't bother me, and it feels off to me when I am shooting light recoiling guns. I'm a firm believer that anyone can master any X frame out there, since the guns were designed to absorb recoil. Being a big dude does help, but I believe even an average sized woman can master a 460 or 500 magnum..

 

[osteodoc08]

You ought to try shooting a big bore magnum loaded all out with H110. If you don't hit em, you'll singe his eye brows and temporarily blind them. LOL.

Welcome to the world of MAGNUM.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Back in the late 70's I bought a s & w 66 with a 2 1/2" barrel and several boxes of Remington 125 jhp .357 full house magnums. I was hoping to master double action shooting of that combo. What I ended up was a new revolver with a cracked forcing cone, timing issues and a bad case of the flinches. The modern loadings for the .357 is quite a bit tamer than the older stuff, but I guess it's still pretty potent. Anyway I called s & w and true to form they paid shipping both ways and replaced the barrel, cylinder and retimed her in quick order on their dime. They did tell me that the k frames were not meant for a steady diet of magnums, especially the 125 loads of the day. I can tell you that it was a vicious load for sure.

 

[fallout mike]

I just started shooting .357 again. Loaded some 180gr hp with 14.5 gr of 296 to shoot through a Taurus 605. You know you have shot something when you pull the trigger. Especially shooting one handed.

 

[dprice3844444]

i love the feel of recoil in the morning