Would any cop today feel an advantage with a .357 Magnum revolver?
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thomasinaz
US Veteran
I have been mixing revolvers with semi autos, at work, for several years now. I've used this one for a couple of years, recently. Before that it was a Mountain Gun in 45 Colt. I'm happy with several Glocks and 1911s for duty, just as well as any suitable revolver. With the introduction of the 8 shot 357, Smith & Wesson raised the bar for "tactical" revolver use. Most 1911s carry 7 or 8 +1 in 45 ACP and I believe this 8 shooter is on an even footing, for the first 8. After that the shooter's skill in reloading (either revolver or 1911 auto) comes into the mix. With the high caps, obviously, reloading skill comes on after many more rounds. Then there's always the worry over semi autos malfunctioning......
Is 8 in the gun enough? We're all legally responsible for each round fired, so up to 8 should work in 99% of legal shootings. What lurks around in the back of my mind though, is the other 1%. Also the area being worked is a real factor. In the County where I'm employed, you can start out in the city and end up out in the boonies, during any shift. And of course with the border being "secured" by our fearless leaders in Washington, there is a strong probability of working one of the busiest smuggling corridors, any time. No matter which handgun carried, there's always a long gun in the work truck, to back up the pistol or revolver of the day.
Is 8 in the gun enough? We're all legally responsible for each round fired, so up to 8 should work in 99% of legal shootings. What lurks around in the back of my mind though, is the other 1%. Also the area being worked is a real factor. In the County where I'm employed, you can start out in the city and end up out in the boonies, during any shift. And of course with the border being "secured" by our fearless leaders in Washington, there is a strong probability of working one of the busiest smuggling corridors, any time. No matter which handgun carried, there's always a long gun in the work truck, to back up the pistol or revolver of the day.
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model70hunter
Member
Nice set up Thomasinaz. I carried a 357 Python as a Deputy sheriff in the 80's most of the time and did not feel undergunned. Today is in a different criminal era and century.
There were a few Border Patrolmen who did well with 357's and 1911's. Col. Askens come to mind. The difference is their shootouts were with folks who had similar firearms. Today one might be facing a gold plated AK47. As much as I love my 19 and 3.5" 27 I think my 12 round Sig 40 would give more comfort due to the potential of facing more than one or two heavily armed folks.
There were a few Border Patrolmen who did well with 357's and 1911's. Col. Askens come to mind. The difference is their shootouts were with folks who had similar firearms. Today one might be facing a gold plated AK47. As much as I love my 19 and 3.5" 27 I think my 12 round Sig 40 would give more comfort due to the potential of facing more than one or two heavily armed folks.
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I put 30 years in law enforcement in Southern California. During that time I carried a .38, a 9mm, a 45acp, and a .357. I felt very safe with the .357, partially due to its power, and partially due to my confidence in my shooting ability. I'm retired now and mainly still carry a 686 2 1/2 inch with full factory loads. Its a great round!
I carry a 625-8 in .45 acp and the Hornady Critical Defense loads and 4 moonclips loaded with the .45 acp rounds. After test firing yjese rounds,Hornady has come to be my favorite bullet. rz625-8 Amd I carry my 5 inch for security work in a nylon holster made by Python.
Model29Lover
US Veteran
You suspect wrong
I am in my twenties and would rather carry a revolver than an auto, anyday!!!! I was an 0311 who carried the 249 SAW and had to use the Beretta 92!! How many times does one tap-rack-bang an auto? It happens eventually, and it is possible for it to happen on the 1st round. I would rather have a 44 magnum with 200 grain 44 spl hollow points or a 357 magnum with 158 gr xtp hollow points anyday, with a Mossberg close by!!!!!! Don't disrespect guys with more experience than you or me! They usually have done more with less, and are no less "high-speed" than you!!!
I am in my twenties and would rather carry a revolver than an auto, anyday!!!! I was an 0311 who carried the 249 SAW and had to use the Beretta 92!! How many times does one tap-rack-bang an auto? It happens eventually, and it is possible for it to happen on the 1st round. I would rather have a 44 magnum with 200 grain 44 spl hollow points or a 357 magnum with 158 gr xtp hollow points anyday, with a Mossberg close by!!!!!! Don't disrespect guys with more experience than you or me! They usually have done more with less, and are no less "high-speed" than you!!!
I started out with a ,357mag as a duty gun, been carrying a 9mm for over 20 years now though.
If I had to carry a 6 or 7 shot L frame nowadays I wouldn't lose much sleep over it, but,,,,
My Glock 17 with 127gr +P+ Winchester has nearly the horsepower of the .357mag 125gr Federal we used to issue for our revolvers, and I have 20 rounds IN the gun instead of 18 rounds on my whole belt, all with less recoil and, frankly speaking, more reliability.
No, I wouldn't change by choice.
If I had to carry a 6 or 7 shot L frame nowadays I wouldn't lose much sleep over it, but,,,,
My Glock 17 with 127gr +P+ Winchester has nearly the horsepower of the .357mag 125gr Federal we used to issue for our revolvers, and I have 20 rounds IN the gun instead of 18 rounds on my whole belt, all with less recoil and, frankly speaking, more reliability.
No, I wouldn't change by choice.
Sir, FWIW, my "high speed" days are long past. Back when I was a young 0311, we still had steel pots and jeeps.
I stand by what I said. You can probably find a few young bucks in patrol cars today who'd prefer a revolver to a hi-cap auto, but not many. The guys who do prefer revolvers are mainly old dudes like me, and older.
Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.
Ron H.
More reliability with an auto? That conflicts totally with my experience. In over 40 years of shooting handguns, I have never had a revolver malfunction. I can remember numerous malfunctions with autos.
amd6547
Member
I have seen a revolver malfunction...at the range. My friend was shooting factory ammo through his Ruger Security Six, when he had a squib which pushed the bullet half way into the forcing cone, leaving half in the cylinder.
His shooting day was over.
His shooting day was over.
Well, I have to take it back in my case, then, as well. I've seen one--and one only--revolver malfunction and it was a stuck bullet in the barrel of an old Colt single action. I personally would call that an ammo malfunction, not a revolver malfunction, as I would your friend's incident. His day wouldn't have been any less 'over' if he'd been shooting an auto...the bullet would still be in the barrel.
I do not have enough fingers and toes to count all the fail-to-feed, fail-to-eject and stovepipes I've had. That doesn't even count the ones I've seen happen to other people.
I do not have enough fingers and toes to count all the fail-to-feed, fail-to-eject and stovepipes I've had. That doesn't even count the ones I've seen happen to other people.
A great stopper-round in a reliable platform is nothing to sneeze at.
I would patrol with either a semi or a revolver, but I like the "for sure" part about revolvers. If carrying a semi, I ALWAYS want a revolver backup gun, not necessarily vise versa.
I would patrol with either a semi or a revolver, but I like the "for sure" part about revolvers. If carrying a semi, I ALWAYS want a revolver backup gun, not necessarily vise versa.
stantheman86
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I'm not a cop, but once I was an Infantryman in Iraq........I always daydreamed about having a .44 Mag as a sidearm, but if I was pressed into service again, I would prefer a .357 revolver as my sidearm, if given the option to carry a personal sidearm.
Odds are, if my rifle failed or I ran out of rounds, and I was for some reason alone and had none of my guys around me, any situation requiring a handgun would be close, quick and dirty. A .357 would penetrate most any soft body armor, and if not, a .357 to a trauma plate would take someone out of the fight for a while. I'm not sure if I would choose a .357 revolver as a primary weapon with nothing else, but as a sidearm to a rifle, it would be my first choice. At very close range, I know I'm not gonna miss, and I'll take 1 or 2 hard-hitters on target rather then 5 or 6 9mm's. Even a .357 in a non-vital area like an arm or leg, is gonna take most of that part with it, and thus take the guy out of the fight no matter what drug he's on, when he's missing a chunk of thigh or blood is pouring out of a massive abdominal wound he's not gonna want to play anymore.
There's a lot to be said for carrying a 6-shot slugger of a handgun, especially with very hot .357 HP's. Whatever they hit, tends to go down and stay down.
Odds are, if my rifle failed or I ran out of rounds, and I was for some reason alone and had none of my guys around me, any situation requiring a handgun would be close, quick and dirty. A .357 would penetrate most any soft body armor, and if not, a .357 to a trauma plate would take someone out of the fight for a while. I'm not sure if I would choose a .357 revolver as a primary weapon with nothing else, but as a sidearm to a rifle, it would be my first choice. At very close range, I know I'm not gonna miss, and I'll take 1 or 2 hard-hitters on target rather then 5 or 6 9mm's. Even a .357 in a non-vital area like an arm or leg, is gonna take most of that part with it, and thus take the guy out of the fight no matter what drug he's on, when he's missing a chunk of thigh or blood is pouring out of a massive abdominal wound he's not gonna want to play anymore.
There's a lot to be said for carrying a 6-shot slugger of a handgun, especially with very hot .357 HP's. Whatever they hit, tends to go down and stay down.
Respectfully sir, if you have never had a revolver quit on you then you have been lucky.
Yes, in my experience the Glock 9mms are more reliable than the model 66s we used to issue, same-same for the 5906s we issued after we transitioned to pistols from revolvers.
My experience base is not just from personally owned guns, but from watching a program involving 325 or so shooters over the course of 23+ years.
Back in the day it was common for guys running a qual to have to stop in the middle because the wheelgun wouldn't go bang. A common issue was to get powder grains under the extractor star, as an example, or to cath a rim of the casing under the extractor star during a reload (a real show stopped there), and for the guns to choke for various other reasons.
When we transitioned to the Glock I watched about 3/4 of a million rounds go down range, we had very, very few stoppages, almost all due to new shooter learning curve issues, and absolutely none when shooting up our duty ammo during quals over a three+ year period since.
That never happened when we had wheelguns.
I also find that the pistols are far more solid when dirty or abused. Get sand or dirt in a revolver, or drop it on the concrete, and it's probably going to need an armorer to fix it, our S&W and Glock 9mms commonly sluff this treatment off without choking.
There is a reason why every single military in the world issues pistols and not revolvers, and it has nothing to do with capacity.
Now, I love my wheelguns as much as the next guy, still carry my Security Six or 681 to the woods, and carry my 642 or 638 daily, but for a primary fighting handgun give me a pistol any day.
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Respectfully, none of this is true.
The .357 is no more likely to get through soft armor than any other high velocity pistol round, and less so than many 9mm and .357Sig bullets in my testing.
The .357mag is no more likely to drop a bad guy than a good 9mm or .45 load, fact of life. If hitting a bad guy on armor you have accomplished the equivalent of a somewhere between a paint ball hit and a good healthy punch, and they will likely ignore the hit, it is a pistol round, it is not the Hammer of Thor.
I am aware of total failures to stop involving center mass hits with the legendary 125gr .357mag loading from 4" duty guns, both locally in our OISs and elsewhere.
I like the .357mag round, and I have seen it's use here to very good effect, but false expectations of the capability of one's gear can get one hurt.
smith revolver cop
Member
Clearly has nothing to do with the fact that it was a revolver... no part of the revolver failed to function, and no part of the revolver contributed to the squib load... an ammo failure, which would have had the same result in a semi-auto.
Respectfully....I'm gonna have to see it with my own eyes.
My 40+ years of being around every type of handgun imaginable in virtually every condition has led me to exactly the opposite conclusion.
I've already seen PLENTY of semiauto malfunctions. If I live another 40 years, the revolvers couldn't possibly catch up.
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revolver vs semi auto
I have been working on the job in So. Fla for 17 yrs. I currently carry a 40 cal (mod 35) Glock as a duty weapon. This is a fine weapon/ammo combo and is hard to beat. I personally like revolvers and I would not feel at all endangered if I had to carry one on duty. An 8 shot 357 with full moon clips would make me even more relaxed! One advantage of the revolver that is frequently over looked is its reliability. Even if you pull the trigger and do not get a "bang," pull it again and you most certainly will. The same cannot be said of a semi auto. I suppose if I were in an area with more gang activity I would definitely side with the higher capacity semi auto.
I have been working on the job in So. Fla for 17 yrs. I currently carry a 40 cal (mod 35) Glock as a duty weapon. This is a fine weapon/ammo combo and is hard to beat. I personally like revolvers and I would not feel at all endangered if I had to carry one on duty. An 8 shot 357 with full moon clips would make me even more relaxed! One advantage of the revolver that is frequently over looked is its reliability. Even if you pull the trigger and do not get a "bang," pull it again and you most certainly will. The same cannot be said of a semi auto. I suppose if I were in an area with more gang activity I would definitely side with the higher capacity semi auto.
