I understand you point, and that is why the 38 special still exists. It is not as loud, it is not too much of a good thing as you state. It will not leave you as stunned as a 357 mag will do in a close battle.

So let me flip this back your way. Why wimp out the 357 magnum and bring it down to 38/44 power levels when what you really should do is keep the old power levels and just sell different ammo to the customer?

This is what I see has happened. Every 357/38 revolver round has dropped one power level in the last 40 years. Basically since the 357 Maximum came out, they all dropped one level. I have chrono-ed old ammo and modern ammo. It is fascinating to see that modern 357 Magnum ammo is about the same velocities at 38/44 ammo from the early 50's.

In my mind and my chrono tells me that regardless of the propaganda, modern 357 magnum is about equal to 38/44. Modern 38+P is about equal to old 38 special. Modern 38 special is about equal to old 38 long colt or 38 S&W depending on your take.

I have loaded up to full 1930's power level 357 magnum in my 8 3/8" pre-27's. It is impressive what the big guns can do with decent ammo. Put that same load in a 6.5" Registered magnum and it is also impressive. Big boom, lots of recoil but the cases just fall out of the cylinder. Would I want to shoot a lot of those in a K frame lightweight gun? No.

Buffalo bore and a few others have basically made a business out of providing folks what they used to get from the big boys like Fed/Win/Rem.

Some will argue many points as to why. Different technologies for measurement, liability, weak guns, light guns etc., but at the end of the day the results are the same.

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SWCA 1646