What is better for my 357?

[posigian]

Ok, I have a 686+ with a 2" tube. I started reloading a few months ago and wanted to ask what is better for my 357? Shooting 38s or 357s?

For punching paper, what is better? 38s or 357s?

Is there a difference in the wear and tear on a gun between 38s & 357s?

Is there an accuracy differences between 38s & 357s?

Thanks for the feedback,

 

[38Mike]

You could use .357 mag cases and load mild loads with, say, a 158 gr. lswc bullet. They would do the trick for paper punching. Using the .357 brass avoids the ring of "crud" in chamber from the shorter .38 spec. case. 38 specials will work, just be sure to clean out chambers real good.


Mike M.

 

[Cheapo]

>>For punching paper, what is better? 38s or 357s?

Depends on your paper-punching objectives. To develop extreme accuracy and cure your flinch, a lot of mild .38s is best (add a lot of ball-and-dummy, too). But if your objective is to train for real self-defense, you should run something like the IDPA classifier once or twice a year with your "real" ammo, with some extreme close-in and low-light exercises probably four times a year. Minimum.

>>Is there a difference in the wear and tear on a gun between 38s & 357s?

Probably not noticeable in the first 10,000 rounds. Will you shoot it enough to make it a problem? If you're spending that much on ammo over only a few years, don't worry about it and just budget yourself for a replacement gun every so often. At the really cheap rate of $10/100 rounds, 10K is a thousand bucks in ammo.

Better to wear out than to rust out. As the industrial espionage geek said to Dobson in _Jurassic Park_, "Don't get cheap on me."

>>Is there an accuracy differences between 38s & 357s?

Depend on the witchcraft of guns and ammo. I've seen it go both ways--some do better with .38s, some with .357s, and EVERY revolver shoots better with some .357s than some .38s, and vice versa.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Most people shoot .38 spl or .357 magnum cases loaded to 1000 fps or less. Competition revolver shooters usually shoot revolvers chambered for .357 magnum, but use either .38 spl for quicker follow up shots and quicker reloads. Or else they go all the way to exotic home brews.

If you intend to use yours for serious work make sure you throw in enough sessions with serious ammo that you are competent with it as well. I seldom shoot .357 magnum rounds any more--just enough to keep current. Oddly enough they almost always end up shooting just as well as the .38 spl. I guess they either both shoot with equal accuracy in my guns or else the lack of recoil in the .38 helps me shoot whereas the .357 magnums are just abundantly accurate despite me.

Probably the two items that would cause most wear are jacketed bullets and hot loads pushing light bullets.

You can get jacketed in .38 spl or .357 magnum. The lower velocity in the .38 spl might make a difference in using jacketed, but probably not in your lifetime.

Hot .357 magnum loads with 125 gr bullets tend to put more hot gas from burning powder across the forcing cone, causing erosion of the inner edge at point of entry. I don't know how much more detrimental the hot loads are versus 'standard' 158 gr loads over the long run. My 686+ shows some erosion after maybe 7000 or so rounds of PMC target rounds, less than 100 hot Corbon rounds and maybe 50 rounds practicing with the expensive Federal Hydro Shok self defense ammo. The 627 shows no erosion, has fired less than 500 .357 magnum rounds--including hot PMC ammo--and about 8000 rounds of .38 spl. The 627 is a heavier frame item, too.