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Mysteries of the 357

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DenmanShooter:
       Many police of the 20th Century used to pack revolvers chambered for the .38 Special cartridge.   The .38 Special designation was a holdover from previous caliber designations (38 Short Colt and 38 Long Colt)  as the diameter of .38 is actually the diameter of the case rather than the bullet.  The bullet being .357 in diameter.  Which means it should have been called the .357 in the first place but conventional naming customs caused it to be called the .38 Special. 

   As certain police departments began encountering dangerous criminals carrying superior fire power, the .38 Special began to lose favor and was looked upon as a weak round.  John Browning’s .45 caliber Colt 1911 had been in production for many years and had an excellent track record but, for the most part, the civilian police agencies opted instead for the .357 Magnum revolver to replace their .38 Specials. 

   It soon became clear the extra power of the .357 was having a negative effect on the marksmanship scores of police since rarely do police spend much time honing their shooting skills.  The .357 Magnum recoil paired with the heavier frame necessary for the cartridge was just a bit too much for most officers.

   Enter the 9MM.  As police agencies began transitioning to semi auto side arms the most ubiquitous caliber became the 9MM Parabellum or 9MM Luger which had been introduced back in 1902.  The 9MM bullet diameter just happens to be .356 and also uses a case approximately .38 of an inch in outside diameter (actually tapering from .391 to .381).  But two years earlier the 38 Super Auto was introduced which used the same .356 diameter bullet but in a case about 25% longer then the Luger.

   In the mix is also the .380 Auto, a short version of the 9MM Luger called the 9MM Kurtz but it has only a .374 case diameter.  This is especially suited to concealment although it lacks the “punch” of its larger siblings.

   With calibers ranging from the .22 to the .45 and even larger, why does the .38 or rather the .356/.357 diameter bullet continue to see so much success?  What makes the .357 such a magical number?

   I argue it has to do with a ratio of cost in weight and efficiency of velocity to powder charge to the end effect of terminal ballistics which makes the “.38” caliber such a persistent winner for over a century.    While the .45 packs a heck of a wallop, it tasks the operator with a heavy recoil as well as a disadvantage in number of rounds per pound of weight carried.  Smaller calibers, while maintaining some impressive numbers in velocity and carrying capacity, present a smaller cross section on target and therefore lose the energy transferring edge of velocity over their larger cousins.

Just a few loads for comparison…

38 Special 110 Grain XTP max load 1308 FPS
9 MM 115 Grain XTP max load 1305 FPS
357 Magnum 158 Grain XTP max load 1686 FPS

I don’t know what the future holds but I am willing to bet the thirty something caliber will be around and viable for a long time and that mid thirty caliber .356/.357 will be there also.

What do you think?

ILoveCats:
It's a decent "all-around" cartridge that I have in fact toted "all around" the world. And if I could only have one handgun I guess this would be it. In fact it was not practical for me to have more than one personal handgun when my agency shipped me from station to station (and even that involved way too much paperwork and written testimonials and whatnot) so my one handgun was a Colt King Cobra. Hiking and hunting and birdwatching, the meanest critters I ever felt compelled to carry it for were hyena and snakes and I suppose it was "good enough" size for that. Living out in Virginia it accompanied me in the Appalachians a couple times and I tried to tell myself that it would be an OK black bear gun if needed.  ::)

The 357 has lost a bit of appeal for me over the years. All I have now is an SP101 and I don't use it for anything more than 38 special. I want to keep my tinnitus to a minimum so all magnums have lost their appeal and I'm subscribing to the old Jeff Cooper theory that when you need "more gun" the answer is usually more bullet; not just shoving more powder behind the same size bullet. If I were to move back to an area with bigger and nastier critters, I would probably be in the market for a .44 special like Ruger's recent run of Blackhawks in that caliber.

Kendahl:

--- Quote from: feralcatkillr on August 30, 2016, 10:32:28 PM ---It's a decent "all-around" cartridge
--- End quote ---
That sums it up perfectly. If you can have only one gun, a medium frame, steel, .357 magnum revolver can shoot anything from mild .38s to hot .357s. If you can also afford a lever action rifle, the longer barrel will make the .357 even more effective.

BranchMillardian:

--- Quote from: Kendahl on August 31, 2016, 10:44:53 AM ---That sums it up perfectly. If you can have only one gun, a medium frame, steel, .357 magnum revolver can shoot anything from mild .38s to hot .357s. If you can also afford a lever action rifle, the longer barrel will make the .357 even more effective.

--- End quote ---

If I could only take one caliber from everything I own it would be .357 Magnum...if I was starting all over again from scratch though it might just be .41 Magnum. I won't be surprised though if a few years from now all I have are 357's and my 12 gauge.

I just bought a Rossi Model 92 in 16" this past winter to go along with my other .357 Mangum revolvers. I was really holding out for a Marlin or Winchester, but could never find exactly what I wanted and just went with the Rossi. It's been great but I need to change out the sights. Something about those buckhorns, I just don't like how much it occludes my sight picture.

I also reload and am finding it's just great for mild to wild. I'm still trying to work down a cat sneeze load with Bullseye. So far I'm down to 2.0gr behind a 158 LSWC. I've even test fired a couple of glue gun bullets behind a primer only charge. Very quiet, varmints beware.  ;D
 
I'm still working out an all round load that will work in the revolvers and this rifle. I'm consolidating and I've picked two bullets; Hornady 158gr XTP and a 170'ish grain Keith cast bullet. I'll probably have a "low" and a "high" powder load for each. So far the XTP with a healthy dose of HS-6 is showing to be very promising. Last I checked it chronos around 1000-1100 from my SP101, and I think that will put it right around 1400fps in the Rossi. Right on the upper end of the expansion velocity for that bullet. The Keith I'll hot-rod a little for whitetail...if I ever get to hunt again. I got married about ten years ago and the kids started popping out. 

SemperFiGuy:

--- Quote ---So far I'm down to 2.0gr behind a 158 LSWC.
--- End quote ---

Wow!!    That's getting right in there kinda tight, just a notch above the +Squib+ load.

sfg

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