Seven rounds of .38+P, or five rounds of .44 special?

[Armored farmer]

Totally hypothetical just because.

In, say a GP100 with a 3" barrel in each instance.

All opinions/POVs welcome.

Oh, and the 3" GP100 in .44 is a fine lookin gun

 

[357 Terms]

With the platform specified (GP100) and the 38...44 special no doubt.
But why 38 in that revolver?
It's a 357! NOW....that! Changes everything.
Use the most effective round available! ?

Why limit yourself?

 

[GEM]

Seven shot gun is three opponents with two shots and 1 extra.
Five shot gun is 2 opponents with two shots and 1 extra.

No handgun round is a guaranteed one shot stop. No incident is guaranteed to be one or two opponents. No incident guarantees you will hit with limited rounds.

Given that the 38s are good rounds, I'd ditch the Dirty Harry for the capacity.

 

[Jessesky]

3 in barrel, 44 will have a more efficient powder burn

 

[Benp]

Both.

I love my model 69 combat magnum loaded down to light /moderate 44 mag. Extremely accurate, a peach to shoot and carries very well in a simply rugged pancake.

I recently got 200 grain gold dots to load for this very purpose.

I currently have a smith model 60 pro series and 357 lcr and am on the same path with 135 gr gold dots.

I want to get a 7 shot smith/ruger though sometime in the future.

 

[the Black Spot]

Dont forget the 45 colt if your lookin at CA's

 

[cfullgraf]

I tend to like big and heavy, or small and real fast. Not and, or.

The 38 Special is fine, but I kind of think 44 for me.

I'm with 460Shooter, I like big, heavy slow moving bullets like the 44 Special or the 45 Colt.

But, a hit with a 38 Special trumps a miss with any magnum round.

 

[Tallball]

I am okay with either, but I probably prefer the 44. It makes big ugly holes in things.

My Bulldog goes with me in my coat pocket sometimes. I feel the warm fuzzies when it is with me.
View media item 1991
The Rossi 720 is scary. It only has a 3" barrel, but if I don't mind carrying it OWB, it can make big holes in things from surprisingly long distances. Its trigger is absurdly good.
View media item 1900

 

[joneb]

For what purpose?

That's a good question, were I live our four legged threats are black bear and cougar. So a five shot 44 spl. seems like a good option, as does a 357 magnum. But now we have wolves in our neck of the woods and a high cap 9mm or10mm seems more appealing than before.

 

[SteadyD]

I’d prefer the 7 rounds of 38 special. Less recoil and more capacity both sound good to me. I see that I am in the minority by a large margin however.

 

[shoobe01]

That's a good question, were I live our four legged threats are black bear and cougar. So a five shot 44 spl. seems like a good option, as does a 357 magnum. But now we have wolves in our neck of the woods and a high cap 9mm or10mm seems more appealing than before.

Yup, if the threat is dangerous game bigger than snakes, then I like the 10mm options. Done very well, when properly employed (good holster, on your body) and well fed, on effective enough even bears itching to eat folks.

Now... if only there was a 10 I really liked. I don't shoot Glocks as well as I could, but all in all the G20 seems the best choice. Wish there was a 10mm M&P.

Once you get to shootable .357 and .44, I am not sure there's much advantage to the revolver. They are as heavy, and bulkier in many ways. Light frames are nice, but good luck with a followup. And if you already are being eaten, you might only have one hand and not much blood left for recoil control, reloading, etc. etc. etc.

 

[PistolPete45]

Love both calibers. I keep 44 specials handy for home defense. 38's target practice and killing the pesky tin can family . I just like the bigger heavier 44 if my life is on the line . My opinion 2 winners just pick your preference.

 

[Mike in Western Oregon]

My current set up is a 3 inch 586 loaded with the old FBI load .38 +p. I am getting into reloading and once I have a good supply of practice .38 special rounds (and my meager bank account recovers), I would very much like to start reloading 44 special and I'd have to get a new revolver to feed that too!

 

[Haywood]

I guess it would be 7/357or 38 since that’s what I have. Most likely it would be 10/38s because I normally carry Two 442s

 

[Blue Brick]

I love the 45 Colt, but:
Its larger
Lower pressure
More expensive to shoot
Has less options for SD round (simple 255 lead @ 900 fps will do the job if it has too)

I also love the 38 Special
Small and lighter gun options
Still low pressure
Less than average cost to shoot
Lots of SD options
(Sharing similar calibers with a spouse is an advantage - Police Undercover and a standard Undercover is my goal)


I would switch to a long arm before I carried magnum rounds in my 357. But a 357 is a great back up gun to a long arm.

 

[Zendude]

In a heavy GP100, the 44 Special.

 

[Catpop]

Back in the 70s-80s, I carried a 5 shot SW M60 38 spc for years cruising timber in the deep southern woods.
I never had to fire on anything bigger than wild dogs and then the first shot put all of them in high gear!
I did put down quite a few timber rattlers and cottonmouths, but then only the ones longer than my machete! Hehe
Today I may have to rethink the issue. Two legged creatures are much more dangerous than 4-5 wild dogs. Wild dogs know when to run, those on dope think they’re invincible and are too stupid to run!

 

[golden]

No question for me. The 7 shot loaded with an effective .38 Special +P load like the FEDERAL 130 grain HST hollow point.
I like the .44 Special a lot, I enjoy shooting my model 24 .44 Special much more than the model 25 .45 Long Colt. However, we are talking about what works best. If you are carrying for protection against a large animal like a black bear (forget about brown bears, I want a .45-70 rifle or shotgun loaded with slugs for a brownie), then go with a .44 Special.
It the need is for self defense against people or feral dogs, then go with the .38. 7 beats 5 any day!

Also, you will have quicker recovery time between shots, very important in a self defense shooting against more than one bad guy.
I have found that really good .38 Special ammo is easy to get and almost always cheaper (sometimes much cheaper) than good .44 Special ammo.

If you think that the .38 Special using +P ammo is weak compared to the .44 Special, load your gun with .357 magnums.

Jim

 

[Benp]

No question for me. The 7 shot loaded with an effective .38 Special +P load like the FEDERAL 130 grain HST hollow point.
I like the .44 Special a lot, I enjoy shooting my model 24 .44 Special much more than the model 25 .45 Long Colt. However, we are talking about what works best. If you are carrying for protection against a large animal like a black bear (forget about brown bears, I want a .45-70 rifle or shotgun loaded with slugs for a brownie), then go with a .44 Special.
It the need is for self defense against people or feral dogs, then go with the .38. 7 beats 5 any day!

Also, you will have quicker recovery time between shots, very important in a self defense shooting against more than one bad guy.
I have found that really good .38 Special ammo is easy to get and almost always cheaper (sometimes much cheaper) than good .44 Special ammo.

If you think that the .38 Special using +P ammo is weak compared to the .44 Special, load your gun with .357 magnums.

Jim

I 110% agree with you on that.

 

[RealGun]

I consider the GP100 to be too much gun for 38 Special. I have your 3" GP100 originally 38 Special converted to 6 rounds of 41 Special. A lot more money invested but an outstanding gun that would probably sell well if commercial ammo was available. Starline provides the brass. Once I had the 41 Special I sold my 44 Specials except for my NMBH.

 

[DblActionJEB]

I would lean toward the 38 special.
Lots more factory ammo choices in both self defense and target shooting loads.
Plus, to my knowledge, all 7 shot GP100s are chambered in 357 so you could actually carry a reduced recoil 357 round that would be even better for self defense.

 

[whatnickname]

I have both and carry both. Which one I carry depends on what I’m doing and where I’m going. I don’t feel disadvantaged with either revolver. If push came to shove I’m pretty sure I could effectively take care of business with either one. I don’t really think the “more rounds” argument really carries much weight unless you are a LEO or military. Where deadly force is concerned for the rest of us, the whole situation is gonna unfold at close to bad breath distances or bad breath distances outright. Bottom line in this situation is that if you haven’t fixed your problem with the first couple of shots, you probably are gonna get killed anyway. Shot placement is everything in a situation like this.

 

[GEM]

We have descending into cliches about gettin' it done.

Closed.