Nightcrawler:
Recoil sensitive? Why the dislike of .357s, or even +P .38s?
I don’t “dislike” either the .38 Special Plus-P or .357 Magnum cartridges. I admit that I suffer from a combination of old age and a medical disability that has crippled my hands, but I never take this into consideration when offering advice to others unless they are in the same boat. Happy to say, you aren’t.
The current thinking on this forum seems to often be that one should have the most powerful cartridge possible in even the smallest and lightest guns. I disagree.
Let me digress for a moment to make my point: Recently a deranged teen shot his ex-girlfriend at point-blank range 4 times with a .44 Magnum. Then he turned the gun on himself. From all perspectives this was a terrible tragedy, but even so we can learn from it. The victim was taken to a hospital, and although grievously wounded she survived, and even went home after a few days. I am delighted with this outcome, but it points out that big bullets in Magnum cartridges are no guarantee that a hit, or several hits, will stop a shooting. Under the rules of engagement, dictated by law in most states, a person cannot respond with deadly force unless they are under some kind of lethal attack. That means that the aggressor(s) usually get to start, and under the best of circumstances means that they’re victim is at a disadvantage. To survive they must (1) quickly respond and hit the attacker, (2) hit them precisely in a vital place so that they will be instantly disabled and cannot continue the assault, and (3) be able to do this repeatedly and quickly.
It is not necessarily a Magnum cartridge or high-performance (hollow point) bullet that will get the job done, but rather the exact place that bullet hits. As I illustrated above, simply making holes in someone doesn’t necessarily work, and while it isn’t working you may still be under fire. The FBI learned that the hard way, in a Miami, Florida shoot-out some years ago.
Just to humor a demented old man, take a .38 pocket revolver (such as a J-frame Smith & Wesson or ’85 series Taurus, and fill the chambers with either 148 grain mid-range target loads (somewhat hard to find these days) or some 158 grain “cowboy loads,” made for cowboy action shooting. Mount a piece of regular 8 ½” x 11” printer paper about 5 ½ to 6 feet off of the ground. This represents an assailant’s head. Stand back about 12 feet, draw the revolver as quickly as you can, and empty the cylinder as fast as you can and still keep the shots in the center of the paper. (Shots on the edge, “near hits”, and misses don’t count). Don’t make the mistake of accepting poor marksmanship in exchange for faster speed.
See if you don’t find that the greater accuracy and speed isn’t worth giving up some raw power that you can’t control as well.
Oh, and I think Plus-P .38’s and .357 Magnums are fine in an appropriately sized and heavier revolver. There I can take advantage of the greater power without sacrificing those other important considerations – accuracy and speed.
