I have been shooting mostly .38 Special/.357 Magnum revolvers for 30 years. I have fired such ammunition in 4-6 inch barrels. My personal experience firing either loads in total darkness is nil. In low light, that experience is broader. I had always been of the opinion that .357 Mag. loads produced a much more pronounced muzzle flash that that produced by effective .38 Special loads. I am very much impressed by the demonstrated results using the Rem. R357M2 158 gr. SJHP as fired in the 4" 686. The virtual absence of flash at the cylinder or muzzle is remarkable and impressive. As I will today be visiting a church member in the hospital, I will go by the local gunshop and see if they have that item in stock (yes as the poet said, "hope springs eternal from the human breast...") along with maybe some affordable .40 S&W in something other than 180 gr. FMJ.

Thanks to Mike for contributing the ammunition and Dave for doing the testing and photography that produced this thread. The information is very useful. As I do enjoy hunting hogs and deer, I am thinking that the Rem. load will be a good choice for me to use when I take my M-28 hunting. The results of this thread will be of less application for SD/HD as for that our weapon of choice is a G-22. I would be very much interested to see similar examination of available .40 S&W loads fired from service length barrels demonstrating muzzle flash in low light conditions. Again I express to both Mike and Dave my thanks. Sincerely. brucev.