686 vs 625 for home defense??

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I have never fired a 45acp wheelgun such as the 625, but I note that there are a lot of forum members that speak very highly of them. Being that I need to help my son choose a home defense gun, I thought I would consider both a 686 (.357) and a 625 (45acp). I am very familiar with the 686 and plan to rent a 625 to shoot this weekend as a comparison.

My son has been shooting for only a few years - he is 24. He tends to prefer revolvers. Which would you prefer a 686 or a 625 - and why?

Thanks.
 
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.45 acp has a pretty good reputation as a defensive cartridge, but no better than the .357 mag. If you handload, that picture may change but only because of being able to load it with a better bullet.

I think I would choose the .357.
 
Although I am a huge fan of .357, I don't really use it for home defense..... Too loud and too much muzzle flash for use indoors (at night). Between those two calibers for a home defense gun, I'd go with the .45.
 
I have both and I like both. I do keep my 686 loaded with .38 special, though. Magnum rounds for home defense might be a bit of overkill.

Either gun will serve you well. Choose the one you shoot and like the best.
 
I would go for the 625 since finding cheap practice ammo is much easier and the practice ammo would match the hd ammo more closely compared to practicing with 38 and keeping 357 mag for hd.
 
Either will do.

I think the 357 magnum is about the best overall straight walled cartridge invented so far. However, I really wouldn't advise full power 357's indoors in a handgun just because of the noise. It is true that auditory exclusion will cause your brain to filter the sound but the hearing damage will still be there. One advantage to the 357 is you can use 38 spl +P without worrying about the gun.

If cost is a factor then the 357 will be the most expensive, the 38 spl the least and 45 ACP falling somewhere between the two.

IMO, the choice between the two should be heavily weighted by which gun he prefers to shoot. Liking the gun does not guarantee he will practice more but if he doesn't like he will certainly practice less. I can shoot my 686P better than the 625 and I like the handling better. Therefore the 686 is my HD/SD gun. If the situation were reversed then I'd be using the 625 in that role.
 
I have more than one example of both. They are both fine revolvers and really, neither can be considered a mistake.

All of that said, my vote goes to the 625. I have a pair of them and now shoot them more than any other revolver I own. I'll put 5000-7500 rounds through mine in a year.

I cast my own bullets and reload, so both are inexpensive to shoot.

Dale53
 
Consider the reload. A full moon clip with .45ACPs can just about be thrown into the cylinder. They are chamber seeking missles. Keep a full moon clip beside the gun and when you pick up the gun, you can stab the center of the moon clip with your pinkie and head out with a full gun and a quick reload. Easy drill to train on. If used in low light, the .357 can blind you. If loaded with .38's you are REALLY losing ground to the .45ACP. I own and appreciate both guns, but this one is easy. Let's have a hard question.
 
I would go with the 45acp for home use due to a lower level of blast if fired. Otherwise they are probably a toss up for which is better.
 
I would normally pick the smaller caliber b/c usually there is a capacity advantage involved. However, in this case I would choose the 625. Any round fired indoors is going to permanently damage your hearing but it will be much worse with .357s. He could always use 38spec but in that case I would give the performance nod to the .45.
He needs to be aware that there's a little more fiddling involved getting a moonclip gun set up and reliable.
 
I don't think it matters: either is wonderful for the role. My L-frame stays in the safe, though, and my 625 has home-defense duty. My wife likes it more, both for the ease of reloading with the moon clips and for the big fat holes it leaves. It would work fine and my wife likes it and will go to the range to shoot it? That's the one! :cool:

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I love my Smith & Wessons dearly. But my main carry and home defense weapon is a Colt Commander / Springfield Armory in .45 ACP. Pushing a 230. gr. Speer Gold Dot at a reasonable velocity should get it done. Them magnums flash like crazy at night and WILL deafen you indoors.
As beemerphile stated you can reload them moon clips mighty fast for reloads if needed.

If given the two choices you are asking I'd go for the 625. That round has been taking bad guys down with authority coming up on 100 years and is still an excellent fight stopper to this day.

One of these days I will have one myself:)!
 
Great discussion! Thank you for all the replies. Especially on the 357 muzzle flash and noise. I will let you know how we like the 625.
 
ted1trading said:
I have never fired a 45acp wheelgun such as the 625, but I note that there are a lot of forum members that speak very highly of them. Being that I need to help my son choose a home defense gun, I thought I would consider both a 686 (.357) and a 625 (45acp). I am very familiar with the 686 and plan to rent a 625 to shoot this weekend as a comparison.

My son has been shooting for only a few years - he is 24. He tends to prefer revolvers. Which would you prefer a 686 or a 625 - and why?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
My defense gun is a 686 Plus (seven shot) with 6" barrel. Super dependable, shot it in competition for many years. You want an old friend watching your back when the SHTF. I shoot 128 grain .38 +p because of not wanting to risk over penetration of the .357. The .38 +p defense loads have plenty of muzzle energy.

If you do choose a .45 defense round, make sure you have at least 5" of barrel or it may not expand properly which makes it pretty ineffective.
 
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mr.revolverguy said:
357 is to loud for me and over penetration is highly likely. A friend and I did testing with 3 layers of denim over 14 inches of wet phone books soaked for 24 hours. The 45 penetrated about 8 inches, the 357 blew out the last phone book and kept traveling down range far enough we could find the round.
Click to expand...
We were stationed in the Phillipines in the 50's. my dad was military police. He carried a Colt Python .357. The gun control was so strict even US military had to allow the local civilian cops to shoot their guns and hold spent rounds for ballistic testing. So this local bozo puts the Python up to the test box which was against one wall and fires the thing twice.... and the guy about pees his pants because he had never seen a magnum before. Then he takes the lid off the test box and start combing through the sand to find the bullets. Eventually he realizes there is no bullet. He grabs the box and moves it and there are two little holes streaming daylight in from the outside world. The guy takes the spent brass out and says:

"We will keep these."

idiot.
 
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Find out which you are the most familiar with and the most accurate. Its not good if you fumble with an unfamiliar weapon during stress.
 
The point about the 625 with moon clips being faster to reload is a good one. In a moonclip versus speedloader face off the moonclips will always win. One of my 686's has been converted to use moonclips and it is still slower to reload than the 625. Maybe one or two tenths of a second but I've never tried to measure it.

Regarding the stopping power debate you'll have to pick your own poison there. You can find formulas and tables and "studies" to support just about any conclusion you can imagine. Taylor, Hatcher, Marshall and Sanow, Fackler, the Strasbourg tests, Smith, Momentum versus Energy versus Frontal Area -- the list goes on for a while.
 
ted1trading said:
Which would you prefer a 686 or a 625 - and why?
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert on this issue by any means and other members have offered good insights I couldn't improve on. Just some thoughts on why I chose the 625:

• In keeping with the premise that handguns are inherently underpowered to begin with - and therefore should shoot the largest caliber you can manage - I went with .45 ACP. If my hand were smaller or I couldn't control the recoil, a different frame/caliber probably would have been more appropriate.

• I live in an apartment w/ neighboring units on each side, so overpenetration is a concern. Actually I think that's an issue in any setting. Anyway the 625 can be chambered with everything from safety rounds to +P; whereas most magnum ammo tends to be high energy (and regardless of caliber, it's easier for some trial lawyer to portray you as the bad guy when shooting magnum loads).

• Also being the miser that I am, as the owner of only one other handgun - the Glock 36, my .45 ACP concealed carry pistol - I wanted to keep things simple in terms of separating ammo etc. Maybe that's just me.

Having said all that, I would appreciate others' input on holster options for the model 625-8 (5" barrel). I know there are pros and cons to hip vs shoulder rigs; and various manufacturers have innovative features for addressing these. I'm agnostic at this point b/c I don't try to carry this gun concealed, and am more interested in best choices for the field or range.

Thanks and regards
 
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Steve Old Boy said:
I would appreciate others' input on holster options for the model 625. I know there are pros and cons to hip vs shoulder rigs; and various manufacturers have innovative features for addressing these. I'm agnostic at this point b/c I don't try to carry this gun concealed, and am more interested in best choices for the field or range.
Click to expand...

I have two recommendations for 625 holsters for "field and range" and a third for competition. Folks have been carrying fighting revolvers in Threeperson holsters for going on 100 years. El Paso Saddlery makes one of the better versions in my experience. I hear great things about the Simply Rugged version of Roy Baker's "Pancake" holster idea and that would be another choice. For competition I have a Blade Tech Kydex holster that holds a 4" 625 securely but is very quick and easy to draw from.

YMMV as always,
Dave
 
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