I was hired as a police officer in 1988 and was issued the S&W 681 with 125grain 357 magnum loads. About two months later, I was issued an S&W 669 with standard pressure Remington 115grain jhp's. I felt then, that I had to turn in my 357 magnum for a semi-automatic "38 special". If i was still on the job today and had my choice between the two, I would choose the magnum although we have come a long way with bullet design, like the CCI Gold Dot round, etc, making the 9mm a reasonable choice now.