I have heard .357 doesn't have any advantage over a .38 round in a snubby. The barrel isn't long enough to use all that energy, so instead you just get a big fireball.
It's been awhile, but remember seeing a chart on velocity between the two rounds out of a snubby, and there wasn't much difference.
Any input on this?
I have heard .357 doesn't have any advantage over a .38 round in a snubby. The barrel isn't long enough to use all that energy, so instead you just get a big fireball.
It's been awhile, but remember seeing a chart on velocity between the two rounds out of a snubby, and there wasn't much difference.
Any input on this?
This is generally true, but like most general rules has exceptions. With the popularity of snubbies some companies do make a faster burn .357 that will see some gains out of the short barrel. Another poster has already put up an example.
Traditional .357 rounds were concocted with a 6-8" barrel being optimal, though, and with those what you get is more recoil and muzzle flash without much difference in fps. There's more variety in factory ammo now, though, and you can get rounds tuned for short barrel, tuned for longer (carbine) barrels, or traditional. Just make sure you know what you are getting and match it to what you want to run it through for optimal results.
Personally, I use .38 +p in my sub-2" barrel revolvers. I've tried .357 and found that it was slower for followup shots (especially off hand only) and the muzzle blast was distracting in low light conditions. I'd like to try a .45 moon clip revolver and see how it compares but no one I know has one and I'm not willing to drop the kind of cash it takes to buy one just to test it.
Hence my post earlier about using Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel ammo - both out of a 2" barreled gun.
-J-