Minimum barrel for maximizing .357

[Clark]

Guns are like boats, when you go to use them, you wish they were bigger.
When you store or transport, you wish they were smaller.

I bought a Colt 6" 357 magnum last night.
I am still carrying a Ruger LCP 380 with 2" barrel.

 

[geo57]

[QUOTE=jmr40;10087925........

Even with a 4" barrel you'll only be about 50 fps faster than 9mm.......




Total nonsense.

 

[Richard Head]

It is nonsense and I've seen him post it on numerous forums whenever the subject comes up.

 

[geo57]

Hi Richard. Yeah, I have too and others always call him on it.

His statement was almost as laughable as his " When .357 BBLs. are less than 4" 9mm bullets of equal weight will have more velocity " .

Maybe from a 9mm carbine but I like a 3" .357's chance to have more speed with 125 gr. and especially 158 gr. JHP's loaded full to that of even 5" 9mm's.

 

[Richard Head]

This thread piqued my curiosity so I went through my notes and looked at some of my hotter handloads from my SP101 with a 2.25" barrel.

158 grain XTP 15.5 grains W296 1054 fps ave.
180 grain XTP 13.5 grains W296 1002 fps ave.
185 grain WFN 17 grains PP300MP 1112 fps ave. - 1320 fps ave. from 6" GP100

I don't see any 9mm handgun matching these results.

 

[Clark]

Richard Head
This thread piqued my curiosity so I went through my notes and looked at some of my hotter handloads from my SP101 with a 2.25" barrel.

158 grain XTP 15.5 grains W296 1054 fps ave.
180 grain XTP 13.5 grains W296 1002 fps ave.
185 grain WFN 17 grains PP300MP 1112 fps ave. - 1320 fps ave. from 6" GP100

I don't see any 9mm handgun matching these results.

An SP101 with 2.25" barrel with cylinder is like a semi with a 3.9" barrel.
My 1907 Husqvarna 380 with 5" barrel has done 1187 fps with 158 gr

My 9mms do much better and my 9x23s even more.
The trick is extraction.
While the rimmed case is good for ~ 85kpsi, the finger tip extraction only good for ~ 40kpsi
Meanwhile the rimless case is only good for ~ 55 kpsi, the extractor can pull it out of there with a strong gilding look.

If you have a 357 mag, or even more a 357 max with really long throat and leveraged single extraction, all bets are off.

 

[Richard Head]

The cylinder gap of a revolver nullifies any advantage of the long cylinder. Wouldn't you agree Clark? A Coonan semi auto 357 Magnum with a 5" barrel will shoot the same ammo faster than a revolver with a 5" barrel and much faster than a revolver with a 3.3" barrel.

 

[Clark]

I don't have any cylinder gap data, but I have seen pics of the gas cutting on a thumb

 

[Onward Allusion]

3 inch barrel in a revolver is probably the shortest I would go for any kind of defense weapon in .357 Mag. If you refer to the chart from Ballistics by the Inch, it shows a fairly dramatic drop-off from 4" to 3 inch. HOWEVER, the test from BBI were on a Thompson Encore. The breech face and throat of the barrel start at about the same point. Whereas in a revolver, the breech face is over 1.5" from the throat. For a 3 inch revolver barrel, you will need to look at the numbers between 4" and 5" on the BBI site.

Be sure to have a pair of muffs next to your bed if you intend on using it for HD. It will be loud, especially with that short barrel.