This subject is beat to death, after I got my M19. started shooting .38 spl just cause its fun. shooting limited amounts of .357 likely wont hurt the gun. look at your forcing cone and compare it to a model28 you'll see the difference! I don't shoot 125 gr. because I don't feel the need to. as a carry gun 125's are probably the deal. a friend of mine did crack his back in the day, gunsmith replaced barrel. said he shot tons of hot handloads. 158's easier on your gun, .38's easier yet. IMHO hope I'm right