357Magnum

[28gauge]

I agree with earlier post after much experimentation:

Speer .357 135 gr. short barrel
Rem. .357 125 gr. Golden Sabre


Both very managable out of my 3 inch J frame.

 

[animalmother]

In my book a soft 357 load is the 38 Special.

 

[David LaPell]

I would say that it depends on the gun. Full house loads in my 686 that had an 8 3/8" barrel felt like .22 Magnums, but those same loads in my Model 13 barked pretty good. Now I have an N frame gun, and full house loads don't feel bad at all for me, even though I prefer handloads. But what the heck, I love shooting big bore handguns that end to kick anyways, so to me any .357 isn't that bad.
To me if you are going to use a "soft" load, use .38 Special +P's, alot of people do that anyways.

 

[BugBeard]

Originally posted by animalmother:
In my book a soft 357 load is the 38 Special.

I agree with animal. I'd use either Buffalo Bore 38+P LSWCHP or jump straight to full house 357. I have the SB 135gr Speer Gold Dot's and BB short barrel and wish I never bought them. The ballistics appear either worse or equivalent to the BB 38+P load. (going by the numbers) /Wondering what I could be missing.

 

[pownal55]

handloading is the answer.