Preferred Carry Round for Snub Revolver

[garand4life]

Since I've never owned a revolver I am curious what other's prefer to carry in their compact .357 mag revolver. This is a Taurus compact frame .357 Magnum revolver. I like the flexibility of the dual chambering but for carry what have yall found to be a consistent loadout?
I am looking at Hornady Critical Defense .38 +P and Gold Dots .357 and .38 +P as possible options. I know it's going to come down to what I can handle for followup shots and placement. But, I am curious what others have learned from their experience to give get me on the right track.

[Walter45Auto]

I carry Magnum rounds in my .357's. I buy .357's for defense so I can carry full bore .357 Mag. rounds for the serious work. If I wanted to carry .38 Spl for defense, I'd buy a .38 Spl gun. I carried Silvertips in my J frame until I shot them. Harsh recoil. Golden Sabers are what's in it now. My 649, being stainless steel, is a little more forgiving of recoil with most loads. An Airweight or Ultralite would be harder to control with them of course. But, Golden Sabers, Magtech 158 gr, Winchester white box Personal defense, Blazer, all in .357 mag, and all just about as accurate as each other. Each of them were easy for me to get followups with. The only one I had a problem with in my J Frame were the silvertips. They do great in my Taurus 617, which is a 7 round .357 and a mere 5 ounces heavier than the 649. But they were a lot less manageable in a J Frame. (Not surprising seeing the Silvertips are designed for and geared toward hunting.) After shooting the 649 with the various loads, I carried the Winchester white box 110 gr rounds, but decided I wanted a little heavier bullet weight for carry, so I put the Golden Sabers (I think they're 125 or 135 gr, but don't remember off the top of my head.) in it. Each one of these loads worked well for me as far as accuracy and follow up shots. But I'm not exactly recoil shy about a .357. You'd really have to shoot with the loads you're considering and see which one you can perform with to your satisfaction. MY choice is Magnum rounds.

Out of curiosity, What model is your Taurus?

[garand4life]

605

[Walter45Auto]

Cool. My cousin has one (It Used to be her husband's. Then he let her shoot it. Then It was hers. I think she still lets him shoot it now and then. ). She keeps Magnum rounds in it.

[scott.ballard]

If you load .357 mag in a short barreled revolver you will get all the thump without any of the benefit.

The loss of performance from the short barrel is such that the .357 loads end up with .38 +P values.

From the Speer GDHP Ballistics Table:  http://www.speer-ammo.com/ballistics/ammo.aspx

.357 mag  135gr Short Barrel Load  990/294   2" bbl     velocity/energy   (at the muzzle)

.38 spl +P 135gr Short Barrel Load  880/222   2" bbl

.357 mag  125gr  Std GDHP          1450/584  4" bbl

.38 spl +P 125gr  Std GDHP           945/248   4" bbl       

They go to a heavier bullet to increase performance because they have to tame the loads so much to be reasonable in a short barreled revolver.

Why pay, in many different ways, for .357 performance if you are not going to get it?

The Speer GDHP for SB Revolvers in 135gr and the Hornady Critical Defense load both work very well  and post good numbers.  Either way, I suggest you stay with the .38 +P loads.  Even in your .357 mag gun. 

I know, sacrilege!!! How dare I?  and all that other stuff...So before anyone gets angry I am not disparaging the .357 magnum load, the weapons chambered for it or their owners.  It is just my opinion based on having fired .357 mag, .38 spl +P and .38 spl loads through my Ruger SP101 and MY S&W M&P 340.

In those guns I found the .357 mag loads to be highly unpleasant to shoot, difficult to control and expensive when compared to similarly performing .38 spl +P loads.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Patrick Sweeney did a segment on this very topic on an episode of Handguns.

In the end, shot placement is much more important.  I suggest that you take a self defense class as it relates to the firearm in CQB situations.

Stay safe,

[Sponsor]

[texcaliber]

Prefer the 38 +P Golden Saber from Remington in my J-frame's.

tex

[ericire12]

I didnt vote.... to keep the poll results "pure". If I did carry a snubbie, my choice WOULD be the golden sabres in .38+P

[shooter32]

Speer Gold Dot .38 spl +P 135gr  is what I use.

[CDR]

Speer Gold Dot 38spl. +P 135 gr JHP (short barrel) in my old Model 60 and also in my 4" Model 686.

There's a reason those in the NYPD who still carry revolvers use this load.  It replaced the Federal Nyclads they used to carry.  Its a great round.

[Timothy]

http://www.snubnose.info/docs/38-snub_vs_357-snub.htm

I'm not doubting Speers claims but S. Camp has chrono information that leads me to use .357 Mag 125 gr Golden Sabers.

To each his own...I do practice and can handle the load from a SP101.  It ain't pretty, it does hurt a bit, but it can be done!  I would never use them in a lightweight frame though.