Thinking about a .357mag

[Fordtough25]

And that used Blackhawk had $399 on it, not bad IMO.

 

[Philabuster]

Love my 3" sp101, but now they make it in 4"! Fantastic!

 

[mrortega]

I had a Taurus 66 many years ago and it was a great gun. It had a 4" bbl and was blue. It was very accurate and I remember doing a group with 140 JHP at 50 yds that was about 4" for 6 shots.

 

[sgreen3]

Shew, depends on finish I guess. I have seen them range from $300 to almost $500 and up used. Mine is stainless 4", the stainless guns seem to go for more. Great gun and caliber, althogh .357 isn't cheap. I shoot .38's through it usually, but .357 Mag's do some damage!

yea Ive seen that .357ammo is a little high, but i reload now so I could probably cut down on the cost a little bit with that. thats not a bad price though. Id like to have a stainless model of somesort if I can find one reasonably priced but its not a have to have.

 

[Fordtough25]

yea Ive seen that .357ammo is a little high, but i reload now so I could probably cut down on the cost a little bit with that. thats not a bad price though. Id like to have a stainless model of somesort if I can find one reasonably priced but its not a have to have.

Yea i'm sure reloading will help with that part of it, I would still recommend a good .357 anyways they are great! The used Blackhawk is stainless, ol George has a stainless 4" GP100 as well with black grips. The GP 100 is new, he did have a used GP100 th eother day as well, it was sporting a 6" barrel though. A .357 Mag is a versatile weapon.

 

[sgreen3]

Yea i'm sure reloading will help with that part of it, I would still recommend a good .357 anyways they are great! The used Blackhawk is stainless, ol George has a stainless 4" GP100 as well with black grips. The GP 100 is new, he did have a used GP100 th eother day as well, it was sporting a 6" barrel though. A .357 Mag is a versatile weapon.

Ive never had a wheel gun of my own so what better one to put in the stable but a .357mag. Im gonna try an get over there maybe over the weekend and check out what they have as well as a few shops around here an maybe seymour. Hopfully might be able to luck into a nice one for a decent price.

 

[lrahm]

I bet I put at least 10,000 rounds through my first model 19. Its hard to beat. I shot it at least 3 - 4 times a week for 10 years.

 

[shooter1054]

I love my Taurus 617. A 2" ported, 7 shot, no hammerspur, flamethrowing handfull of fun!

 

[sgreen3]

All this talk is just making me want one even more

 

[sadclownwp]

Ruger GP100

 

[sepe]

I picked up a 4" S&W 686 for $325. It was in great shape when I got it and other than needing a little bit of a cleaning job, it still is. I absolutely love that gun. If anyone is looking for a .357, I'd always recommend a S&W 686 as one to check out.

 

[686 Shooter]

I'll second the S&W 686, though they are harder getting "good" deals on them. There are still a lot of good deals on other S&Ws and Rugers. I picked up a really rough S&W model 65 3" barrel for a fair price, I'm giving it a little TLC and it will turn in to my EDC. There are a lot of model 65 4" barrels up for sale, they are "police trade-ins".

 

[indygunguy]

Bradis has a clean, used, stainless, 4", GP-100 for $349 right now... better hurry!

 

[Plinkuh]

S&W 686. It was the first revolver I ever shot, or even laid hands on. It was a 4" beauty, and I couldn't stop shooting it! Hell, this was only a few months ago.

 

[tgallmey]

Id suggest a classic S&W 19 or a 686. The 686 would be Better as it has a stouter frame. If you want the Cadillac go for nice Colt Python and it will be your safe queen. I love my Python but you probably wont wanna drop the dime for it and for me the cylinder release can be awkward. There would be nothing wrong with finding a S&W 28 in that price range. Those are Large frame guns and wont care about firing full power loads forever and If its just a range gun you wont mind the extra weight and it really tames the recoil (38s feel like 22s lol). If your an autoloader guy Why not drop the dime on a Coonan 357 or Desert Eagle. My 357 Desert Eagle is very very accurate with very low recoil and it holds 9+1 but the dang mags are expensive but its alot of fun to shoot. I cant attest to Taurus or Ruger as Ive never owned one but I know Taurus makes a 8 shot in the model 608 thats slightly above reasonable a new Gp100 will run almost $600 for $100 more you can get a 686 but thats my feelings on it

 

[CW White]

Don't know if you can separate fact from opinion on this topic. I can only speak from personal experience and offer a subjective recoil-sensitive shooters opinion.

I have and shoot several .357 Mags. They and the opinions are as follows:

-S&W M19-8: 4" Blued- Just bought at Indy 1500 and have only shot a few times on one outing. As all S&W's I have shot- great single-action -fair double action. A little stiff on hotter reloads compared to other .357's listed below. Will probably shoot lead reloads around 800'ps.

-S&W M28-2:- 4" Blued- weight helps reduce hotter reloads felt recoil- double action a little stiff, doesn't stack smoothly.

-S&W M586-1: 4" Blued- feels great in hand- nice single and double action workings- usually limit to moderate loads

-S&W M586-3: 6" Blue- everything great- same as 4", just not quite as handy.

-Taurus 608- 6.5" ported barrel, 8 shot. Nice single and double action and the porting makes full bore loads feel like .38 Spl. target loads.

-Taurus 608- 4.5" ported barrel, 8 shot. Same as above, just handier. When first purchased had some stickyness when opening the cylinder, especially after firing. I discovered the latch thumb-piece was a little long and bumping against the recoil shield. A little jewelers file time and crocus cloth on the thumb piece removed that problem.

All said, the 4.5" Taurus 608 is the first one I shoot for fun, because of recoil comfort, capacity, etc.

My favorite- S&W 6"-586 for smoothness on double-single action and accuracy.

I have only owned one Rugar - SP101-2" barrel: 10 rounds of .357 and I had had my fun for the afternoon. Over all a quality pistol if that is what you want. My buddy has an older Security-six with a trigger job that I am #1 on his sell list if he ever does. It may be as sweet as any of my S&W.

So, that is my subjective experience. If you can, get friends with different .357's to try and then buy what strikes you best that is affordable. I have paid $375 to $800 each for mine and like all for different reasons.


Happy banging!

 

[tgallmey]

If you were in Fort Wayne Id let you try the 3 I have but thats pretty far away

 

[sgreen3]

Bradis has a clean, used, stainless, 4", GP-100 for $349 right now... better hurry!

If they still have it next week Ill have to make a trip north! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[sgreen3]

If you were in Fort Wayne Id let you try the 3 I have but thats pretty far away

Appreciate the offer, but yea that would be quite a haul

 

[bigcraig]

Another vote for the GP100.