Opinions wanted on .357 snubbies

Which .357 snub for EDC

  • Total voters
    3
Bobster said:
Reviews say the Rock Island is similar to the old Colt revolvers. I wouldn't know--what would you say? The black grips shown also come with it. (customer review pic)

Speaking of old school, I have some 125gr Nyclads I may keep in it. :)

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I haven't shot mine side by side with a Colt but it is a solid utility grade pistol. It's not something I'm going to put a lot of rounds through. Can't beat the price. It's not pretty but it goes bang. If I was changing grips I would get a set like the ones I have on my Bond Arms. Walnut and Pearl are a nice mix. The factory grips are again very utilitarian and functional.
 

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Bobster said:
Reviews say the Rock Island is similar to the old Colt revolvers. I wouldn't know--what would you say? The black grips shown also come with it. (customer review pic)

Speaking of old school, I have some 125gr Nyclads I may keep in it. :)

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You pull back on the cylinder release on a Colt. Push forward on S&W. So in that way, the Rock favors the Colt. I don't think parts interchange but that's just throwing a wild guess out there.
 
My only "snubbie" is a Ruger SP101. I believe it is the proverbial brick shithouse of small .357 revolvers. It would take a lot of full power rounds to loosen that one up. It is not a light weight pistol.

I shot some full power reloads that were loaded with H-110 magnum powder. I doubt I got more than .38 Special velocity out of its short 2.25" barrel but the fire ball was impressive. These loads came from a friend that worked them up for his S&W L-frame with an 8" barrel. My reloads for the SP101 usually use nothing slower than Unique or similar.

I saw some factory .357 loads specifically for short barrels. They use faster burning powders to get the most out of the short barrels. Forgot who produced them but an internet search is easy enough.
 
bkbrno said:
That would be a brickshithouse on steroids!
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The 454 loads ... you lose a filling and rattle your brain every time you pull the trigger. It's pretty awesome. At the range, I practice mostly with 45 Colt. Slightly softer shooting. When shooting the 454 Casull rounds indoor, everybody stops shooting and looks. It's also quite a flame thrower with that short barrel.

It's for big bears. Thus the chest rig. I sprayed the holster and gun with silicone when hunting/hiking/camping in the PNW. It's wet all the time. I found that makes water, snow or mud just roll off. The mini bandoleer came with the holster but I never used it. I preferred a speed loader. It's one of the few guns I own that I did not ditch the rubber grip.

Regrading 454 Casull... As Harry Callahan might say, "It'll blow your head clean off."
 
Bongo Lewi said:
The 454 loads ... you lose a filling and rattle your brain every time you pull the trigger. It's pretty awesome. At the range, I practice mostly with 45 Colt. Slightly softer shooting. When shooting the 454 Casull rounds indoor, everybody stops shooting and looks. It's also quite a flame thrower with that short barrel.

It's for big bears. Thus the chest rig. I sprayed the holster and gun with silicone when hunting/hiking/camping in the PNW. It's wet all the time. I found that makes water, snow or mud just roll off. The mini bandoleer came with the holster but I never used it. I preferred a speed loader. It's one of the few guns I own that I did not ditch the rubber grip.

Regrading 454 Casull... As Harry Callahan might say, "It'll blow your head clean off."
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That's so 20 years ago. You need a 460 or 500 S&W to keep up these days. Maybe a 45-70 Snubby?
 
Hvymax said:
That's so 20 years ago. You need a 460 or 500 S&W to keep up these days. Maybe a 45-70 Snubby?
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It's true that caliber has fallen into obscurity. The gun is getting close to 20 years old. The 460 and 500 ... equally impractical hand cannons. Handgun hunting never interested me. The short-lived craze for big bore revolvers in the early 2000's faded pretty quick.

The Ruger does shoot 45 Colt, which is a bit cheaper and easier to find than 454 Casull. Also easier on the wrist and elbow.

I don't find myself in places where there are grizzly's these days and I have no plans to change that. Although I rarely see a bear now, they are around. The smaller black bears in my nick of the woods can be stopped if necessary by the 10mm Glock 20 I carry in the same type of chest rig.

After many years hunting in some very remote, backwoods places two hours from nowhere I have yet to find it necessary to kill a bear or cat. I've seen and encountered them quite a few times. But you never know. It pays to be prepared. If I'm not going to eat it, I don't kill it. Unless I have no choice. I don't like trophy hunting. I think it's the sport of psychopaths.
 
brian said:
I know. Just being a smart a$$. Dirty Harry's quotes are great.
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Ha! That recent video of the 'trainer' having a negligent discharge? If he were mishandling my Ruger Alaskan, his brains and skull fragments would have been found in the next county.
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I have a Taurus 65/4in barrel, a Ruger sp101/4in barrel, a S&W 66 and a Windictor 357/4in barrel. The Windicator isn't even close to being the same quality as the Taurus, Ruger or S&W
The EAA Windicator /357 has a paper thin forcing cone that's destine to not have a long life, an enormous amount of endshake -so much so that if it was a quality brand, it would be in dire need of repair. The timing is acceptable/ the barrel to cylinder alignment is OK, the cylinder to barrel gap is greater than ideal, the lock up is terrible, there is no front of cylinder lock at all. The trigger pull in double action is weird, but the gun does shoot fine and it's fairly accurate.
My favorites in order of best to worst are the S&W, Ruger, Taurus then the Windicator.
 
I love my 605, had a titanium 605 that traded for ??? Regrettably. Its was lighter then current steel 605. My current 605 only draw back is weight. With the addition of the grip its close to perfect for me. It can handle 158gr softpoint & semi-wadcutters.
I carry my Charter Arms 1968 Detective Special on occasion, but it stays in safe with rest of the stubbies- I like the 605.

Mostly I carry a 1911, but this little pea shooter works also and doesnt pull my shorts down when letting dawg out at 3am. 22mag 3 gampoint and 2 snake shot- got speed loader for ROFLMAO
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The NAA Blackwidow- I have some 22LR 800fps fragmentation rounds CCI. They fragment on cardboard and empty milk jugs. They also flat fuck a rat up. 1hole in 6 out. I found my Judge to be a bit of over kill. Kinda like those guys in 90k trucks and 8k in tires and rims. Definitely tryin to compensate for some thang/lack of.
 
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Stephen G said:
I love my 605, had a titanium 605 that traded for ??? Regrettably. Its was lighter then current steel 605. My current 605 only draw back is weight. With the addition of the grip its close to perfect for me. It can handle 158gr softpoint & semi-wadcutters.
I carry my Charter Arms 1968 Detective Special on occasion, but it stays in safe with rest of the stubbies- I like the 605.

Mostly I carry a 1911, but this little pea shooter works also and doesnt pull my shorts down when letting dawg out at 3am. 22mag 3 gampoint and 2 snake shot- got speed loader for ROFLMAO View attachment 17706View attachment 17707

The NAA Blackwidow- I have some 22LR 800fps fragmentation rounds CCI. They fragment on cardboard and empty milk jugs. They also flat fuck a rat up. 1hole in 6 out. I found my Judge to be a bit of over kill. Kinda like those guys in 90k trucks and 8k in tires and rims. Definitely tryin to compensate for some thang/lack of.
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I could never get comfortable with the idea of parking the hammer between rounds on the cylinder as a safety. I had a couple of NAAs at one time but never carried them.
 
It is odd. The firing pin resides in the 1/2 notch. I havent been able to get it to fail.
 
Stephen G said:
It is odd. The firing pin resides in the 1/2 notch. I havent been able to get it to fail.
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That's what everyone has told me. Cocked and locked or the Glock trigger dingus and similar striker safety systems never concerned me. I just couldn't bring myself to trust those mini revolvers. People who have them tend to really like them.

In the 22 miniature realm I like the LifeCard. Mine is a 22 WMR.
 
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