I’ve been a range officer for the last 25 years and get the opportunity to shoot a LOT. As such, recoil from the .357’s in J frames doesn’t bother me too much and I will gladly trade the increased muzzle blast and flash for the increase in performance. I have done a lot of testing with ballistic gel and most of the .38 special loads just do not expand out of a 2” barrel, even a lot of the plus P’s. That being said, everyone should carry what they are most confident at getting first rounds on the target with. As has been said before, a hit with a .38 beats a miss with a .44 every time.

The two J frames that I carry most often are my 640 Pro loaded with Remington 125 grain .357 Golden Sabers and my model 60 with the lug barrel loaded with 135 grain Speer .357 Short Barrel Gold Dot. After extensive testing I settled on these loads for these particular revolvers as they hit to the point of aim and shot the best groups at 20 yards out of their respective guns.

As an aside, being 60 my eyes don’t pick up those tiny J frame sights as well as they once did. I have replaced the front sights on both with an XS Big Dot sight with the tritium insert. Not the best choice for shooting tiny little groups but at 5-10 yards just place that big white dot in the center of a B-27 or bad guy’s chest and squeeze the trigger. I do a lot of camping and it is a comforting feeling to be in a tent and look over beside your sleeping bag at night and see that glowing green dot as a night light!