Previously, I had settled on a revolver cartridge for a sort of do-it-all cartridge that could be reloaded with a focus on black powder but could also be reloaded hot for much more powerful loads. The idea was you could have one cartridge that was fairly common but that you could use in both types of firearms and make powerful enough ammo from scratch and scavenged materials. I had settled on 45 Colt for its use in not just pistols but rifles, it's large case capacity which is an advantage in black powder and that many guns are chambered in it. At one point, I ended up with a Cabela's special 45 Colt Single Action Army clone and a case hardened Winchester 94 AE Trapper that was beautiful. Which the Winchester was able to handle the real heavy loads of the 45 Colt +P-esque loading from Buffalo Bore, they are not recommended for SAA clones since they'd explode. Too high of a pressure for the old 1870's designed frame.
I had those guns for quite a while but over the years, I acquired several other similar guns. The project dubbed ArgentVaquero, or Silver Cowboy, chambered in 357 Magnum offers better smokeless powder performance without the need to use boutique ammunition. Though those Buffalo Bore 45 Colt are more powerful from the rifle. I settled on the Remington HTP load in the semi-jacketed hollow point at a standard 158 grains. The folks at the Chopping Block on YouTube (might be under ARFCOM now) tested that load in ballistic gelatin from both a 16 inch rifle and a revolver. It was found to perform to acceptable standards from both guns. Since I have a 4 inch barrel revolver and a 16 inch rifle and was trying to standardize my ammunition choices, the Remington was a clear winner. I stocked up on it a while back and continue to do so. I've since then also replaced my Taurus model 85 in 38 Special with a model 605 in 357 Magnum. Both are 5 shots but the 605 is able to handle the full pressure of the 357 while I would have to settle for lesser power 38 Special. This stable of bulls gives me a concealed carry gun, a larger gun for other work where open carry is permitted (such as on the family's farm) and a rifle for defense and hunting applications.
To further the concept, I picked up reloading dies a while back in 38 Special / 357 Mag from Lee that I've been using to load for some time now. Most of the time, I'm loading heavy weight 200 gr 38 Special for the Marlin 1894 CST as a subsonic round for plinking. I started loading full power 357 Magnum with 160 grain cast hollow points for use in the revolvers. I'm still working on an accurate load.
My recent intrigue with 357 Magnum came after I started working more with 38 Special and trying to find a good load for my Taurus 85. Once I started looking into good finding that the best loads for 38 Special, I learned that they are usually in the +P range and can be a big tricky to make up. If you want to make your own ammo, you need to run a very soft lead bullet at low velocity or a harder lead at higher pressures. Since 357 Magnum has a far higher chamber pressure rating, loading 357 Magnum to those +P 38 Special range gives you a pressure rating well below the max 357 pressure. If those 38 Special +P rounds are 19,000 PSI and with peak 357 Mag being around 35000 PSI. Plenty of room to work with. As I got more in depth with those 38 Special rounds and cast bullets, I also started to learn about the exploits of men like Elmer Keith. He's a very storied man to say the least. He's also part of the reason we have the Magnum cartridges in the first place. He had a hand in the development of 357 Magnum, he pretty much created 44 Magnum with his friends and later created the 41 Magnum.
For a while, I had considered that a 44 Magnum setup was a better choice and that I had screwed up going for 45 Colt instead of 44 Mag. While that may be true, I'm not sure that I would have been better suited in the end. Maybe for black powder that will be true given the case capacities but from a modern perspective, the 44 Mag is a better choice for factory loaded rounds. It also turns out the the 44 Mag is a good round to load for as Elmer Keith found out.
That said, I settled on 357 Magnum for the time being. Folks such as Dan Wesson and Skeeter Skelton championed the 357 Magnum and spent a ton of time getting it right. Dan Wesson used it during his hunts around the US to promote the capability of the cartridge and Mr. Skelton found great use in Lyman cast bullets for taking of jack rabbits and other game animals. While the 44 Magnum may be better for larger game such as elk, here in the middle parts of Georgia, I am unlikely to stumble across anything so large. Deer and feral hogs, coyotes and armadillos are the most likely of critters for hunting and a 357 Magnum can take such critters based on the experiences written by these men and many of handgun hunters on the Internets.
For defense, 357 Magnum has been used by police departments long before I came along, to put down bad guys. Many outdoorsman have deployed successfully the 357 Magnum in the woods, mountains and plains of the US as bear defense and populates many of the stories of defensive tools cataloged by various states in their reports. I feel, to say that the 357 Magnum is capable for defense, would be a true statement.
The hunting and defensive capabilities of the 357 Magnum merit a well-reasoned do-it-all cartridge when coupled with the correct firearms and ammunition choices. If it came down to a single decision, my stable of 357 Magnum weapons and the reloading equipment plus the various factory offerings makes the 357 Magnum cartridge a stellar choice in my opinion. It may not be as elegant as the basic 4 inch barrel 44 Mag revolver that Elmer Keith championed but it does offer options based on one cartridge.
I look forward to learning how to cast my own bullets and load my own ammunition over the next few years with the 357 Magnum. I think a good Ruger Blackhawk should be in my future.
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