What is the difference between a .357 and a .357 magnum? Is it the caliber of ammuntion you shoot?

Question

I recently went shooting with my dad, and he let me fire his .357. Is a .357 always a magnum, or is it two different guns? I also fired .38 ammo out of it, which made it more of a chick gun. I actually like the reg ammo as opposed to the smaller ones. I made a comment about a .357 being a total "chick gun," and the response to that made me think that the gun I shot wasn't an actual magnum. Help?

By "chick" gun, I meant the recoil is much less than a .45 cal or something of the sort. I guess a .357 sounds bada** or something, but it's easy for me to fire!

Yes, I'm shooting actual .357 ammuntion(not .38's). 38's do feel like a 22 as far as recoil goes.

Answer 1

There is no difference.*

Answer 2

A .357 Magnum is always a .357 Magnum. It is a medium bore revolver cartridge that can have more recoil than a .45 acp. If you are shooting a lightweight .357 Mag. (such as the Smith & Wesson Model 19 or 66) it will have pronounced recoil. If you are shooting a behemoth Desert Eagle (a heavy auto-loader available in .357 Magnum) or an old Smith & Wesson Model 27 or 28 you will probably think it has less recoil than the .45 acp because the weight of the pistol will damp the recoil.

All .357 Magnums can shoot .38 ammo but not the other way around. The only time a .357 might not be a .357 Magnum is if it is a .357 Sig. The .357 Sig is a shorter, bottleneck cartridge designed to duplicate the performance of the .357 Magnum out of a semi automatic pistol. The two will NOT interchange.

Hey, if you consider the .357 Magnum a 'chick gun,' more power to you. I am all for chicks being proficient with handguns in order to defend themselves. I've known several women who actually like the .357 Magnum in the medium frame S & W 686 or Colt Python. Example, I knew my sister-in-law had a gun (for home protection); she is very petite,5' and 110 lbs. soaking wet, and very feminine. Imagine my surprise when I learned her CCW gun was a big S & W .357 Magnum w/4" barrel. And yes, she can shoot it.

Best.

H

Answer 3

In the context in which your question applies, yes, a .357 and a .357 Magnum are the same thing, just a shorter way to refer to the .357 Magnum. All .357 Magmums will also fire the .38 Special ammo. Certainly a cost benefit shooting the less expensive .38 Special ammo while out "plinking" or practicing. The .357 refers to the diameter of the bullet. The same bullet used in the .357 is also used in the .38 Special, the only difference between the two cartridges is the length of the casing and the amount of gunpowder in the caseing.

There are rifles that fire .357 bullets, but that is beyond the scope of your question and another animal altogether.

Those who label a .38 as a "chick gun" are falling prey to too much testosterone. The military has long used the .38 Special as one of thier standard sidearms along with the .45 ACP and now the 9mm. Remember that a .22 caliber will kill you just as dead as a .50 caliber and warrents just as much respect. Truth be known, if I just had to get shot, I would rather it be from a .50 caliber than a .22 caliber! A .22 caliber with it's high velocity and low weight tends to ricochet when it hits a solid (like bone) while the much heavier bullet just plows through.

The .38 Special does have less felt recoil than the .357 or .45 calibers but all three calibers recoil is quite managable. In fact the .45 can actually be fired holding it with only two fingers (forget about aiming though). Most of the recoil is absorbed by a spring inside the gun used to operate the slide and chamber another round.

A word on the "power" of a particular bullet, "power" as it applies to ammo is very very relitive. The larger question lies in what are you trying to accomplish with the bullet? If you are simply shooting for recreation at targets or tin cans then "power" is not really an issue. However, if you are looking at self-defense, "power" should be translated to mean "penetration" and bigger does not always mean better. A bullet that does not penetrate deep enough to do sufficient damage is of no use and one that over-penetrates and kills three innocent by-standers behind your attacker is not a desireable one either. Both possibilities exist with all three calibers.

For an in depth discussion see these two sites:
http://www.firearmstactical.com/hwfe.htm
http://www.firearmstactical.com/wound.htm

My opinion, and hordes of others, is that .38 is the smallest self-defense gun advisable and larger than a .45 is impractical. For the purpose of this discussion a .44 Magnum is "larger" than a .45.

In reality, the best gun is one that you can consistantly put a bullet in the "10 ring" with. A nuclear bomb won't do any good if you can't get it on target and neither will the most powerful gun in the world. Get one that YOU are comfortable with and can place your shots exactly where you want them and then practice, practice, practice.

Answer 4

You fired a .357 Magnum. With a .357, you can fire full-power Magnums, or .38 Special or .38 Special +P ammuntion out of the same gun. Plus, depending on the loading (powder, bullet weight), they can be "soft" or really make your hand sore.

Regarding other .357's, however.....

I'm surprised however, no one has mentioned the .357 Maximum cartridge. Beware, that the .357 Maximum LOOKS almost exactly the same as the Magnum, but the case is .300in longer, and the loading is much more potent (up to 13,000 CUP more than a Magnum). Never confuse the two.

Answer 5

.357 is a magnum round the ,357 firearm will accept a .38 special round also which is nice because the price difference in ammunition is pretty big as for the .357 being a chick gun its not alot of studies of shootings over the years have listed this round in the top three of one shot stops ammunition does not have to recoil brutally to be effective hope this helps

Answer 6

The gun is chambered for the .357 magnum round, but can shoot the less powererful and shorter .38 specal rounds. Load up with full charge magnum rounds and you will feel the difference in handling and in recoil. You probably shot very light .38 special target loads.

Answer 7

The difference you feel in the .357 could be the ammo type. Some .357 is loaded for target shooting and moves about 200 fps slower than personal defense ammo. Most folks won't spend the money on the personal defense ammo just to go punch holes in paper so you may have shot target ammo. However, a .357 is always a magnum in a revolver.

Answer 8

.357 usually refers to the magnum, which is quite a round, and is a revolver. As you mentioned, .38 specials can be fired from .357 mags, good for practice, as there is less recoil and cheaper ammo.
There is also the .357 Sig, which is basically a .40 round bottle necked down to .357, and is a semi-automatic pistol.
I have a ruger GP100 .357 mag, and a Springfield armory XD-357 .357 Sig. The magnum I keep as back-up for hogs, and the Sig is for defense, some law enforcement agencies are switching to the .357 sigs.
as to your comment about "chick gun"... You must be referring to the .38's, which seem like a .22 compared to the .357 mags. However, for as little recoil as they posess, they are a decent round.

Answer 9

Unless you're referring to the .357-Sig (which is a reduced version of the .40-cal) ... you're probably talking about the .357 Magnum (which is a suped up .38-special). They don't make a .357 NON-magnum except for the aforementioned .357-Sig.

Depending on the type of the gun you were firing - the recoil and "shock" from firing a .357-magnum could have been greatly reduced (thus your impression that it didn't have a lot of kick - and thus feeling like a "chick"-gun)

Answer 10

A .357 is always a Magnum, unless it is a .357 SIG (which is chambered only in ugly flatguns, not lovely and elegant revolvers).

And yes, the .357 Magnum is the perfect "Date Gun" or "Chick Gun." You can load it to whatever level your girlfriend/wife/daughter can comfortably handle without going to lots of trouble.

Doc

Answer 11

YES...357 Magnum is ALWAYS a Magnum.....They are one and the same. 38 Special shot in a 357 magnum pistol has reduced recoil and velocity , but in no way would it be considered just a "Chic's gun". For it's bullet size and weight it is on top of the "food chain" as far as pistol calibers. There are larger calibers like the 44 Magnum and 500 and 460 Smith & Wesson cartridges..But again they are bigger bullets and just a tad slower