Depends. For some reason I shoot 357 mag better than 38 special. First of all, to be honest, I'm not a very good shot. Last time at the range was typical. I was shooting my 686 SSR at a target with 4 targets on a 8.5 x 11 piece of paper if that makes sense. At 30 feet I shot 38 at three of them and 357 at the other. My groups were 4-5 inches for the three 38 special efforts and 2.5 inches for the 357 mag. I sometimes think the extra velocity lets the bullets leave the gun before I have a chance to screw up. If I wasn't worried about over penetration, I'd use 357, just to increase my chances of hitting what I was aiming at.