"The main reason for most of us, myself included, to own a .357 snub is the versatility. With the .357 you can safely shoot 38 special, 38 special +P, +P+, & .357 Magnum ammo. "
I have been known to shoot, if not well,
, some pretty heavy recoiling handguns. NONE of them recoil as hard, or as fast as my 360PD, or so it feels.
Speed kills, and, the scandiums are just too light for absorbing any kind of recoil.
Here are some loads,
uffalobore IIRC, that I tried ONE of each in my scandium, and gave the boxes to a friend:
360PD recoil figures:
180 gr. L.F.N. -G.C. (1,400fps/M.E. 783 ft. lbs.)
Recoil Energy of 41 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 60 fps.
158 gr. J.H.C. (1,475fps/M.E. 763 ft. lbs.)
Recoil Energy of 37 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 57 fps.
125 gr. J.H.C. (1,700fps/M.E. 802 ft. lbs.)
Recoil Energy of 35 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 55 fps
Now, get the gun weight around 32 oz, and compare my friends .500 JRH
recoil figures:
HELLBOY
RUGER MONTADO .500 JRH
275 GRAINS 1200 FPS BARNES
Recoil Energy of 19 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 23 fps.
275 grains 1300 fps Barnes
Recoil Energy of 22 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 25 fps.
325 GR. HDY XTP Hodgdon Titegroup .475" 1.740" 8.0 844 21,500 PSI
Recoil Energy of 11 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 18 fps.
325 GR. HDY XTP Hodgdon H4227 .475" 1.740" 27.0 1288 28,000 PSI
Recoil Energy of 32 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 30 fps.
370 GR. CPB LFP Hodgdon Titegroup .475" 1.770" 8.0 925 27,100 PSI
Recoil Energy of 17 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 22 fps.
350 GR. HDY XTP Hodgdon Titegroup 1.740" 12.0 1138 34,700 PSI
Recoil Energy of 25 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 26 fps.
370 GR. CPB LFP Hodgdon H4227 .475" 1.770" 25.5 1259 31,800 PSI
Recoil Energy of 37 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 32 fps.
On the last load, you can see that the energy is pretty high, but recoil velocity stays liveable.
Now, let's look at the absurd: 525 grain LFN's out of a Ruger Linebaugh Maximum, at 1550 fps.
Recoil Energy of 75 foot pounds, and Recoil Velocity of 37 fps.
It STILL doesn't get anywhere near the velocity you have to absorb with that little .357 coming back at you. However, the 75 ft lbs, though I've only shot that bullet at 1350 fps, for about 55 ft lbs, makes your hand feel like some one hit your palm hard with a baseball bat.
That was a LONG way to go, but my point is you are only going to be using the very low-medium level .357 loads in these guns, and, some of these are equaled, at least in recoil, by Plus P 38 loads.
Still, since scandium isn't exactly known for being long lasting, their is some comfort in knowing you are using a stronger gun on the low end of it's rating, rather then a weaker gun at the top of it's rating.
PS I should mention we use the same loading data for the .500 JRH as the .475 Linebaugh.