Front Sight, Press has an interesting comparison of the .44 Special vs .357 magnum for carry.

It seems to me that .357 is generally cheaper and easier to find.

Back when I was looking to buy a .357 snubbie, I noticed a plethora of .44 Special snubbies at the gun show that day.  I don't remember seeing any such ammo, however.  Maybe it was there and I just missed it, but if it was there, it was hard to find.  No such problems finding .357 ammo, though.

Thanks to Shooting The Messenger for this info.  Double Tap Ammo has a .357 magnum load that pushes a 200-grain bullet out of a 4-inch barrel at 1200 fps.  As tested in a 4-inch Ruger GP-100.

Or 1305 fps from a 6-inch barrel.

Makes me fantasize wonder what kind of muzzle velocity it would have from a rifle with a 20-inch barrel.

Check out this link for the full list of their .357 magnum ammo.

UPDATE:  In comments at his blog, Fits answers:

Double-Tap 125's do about 2350 fps from a 20".

Their 200's, a squeak above 1900.

At that velocity, the 125's can splatter, deform, and tumble upon penetration, not impact, but no one I know has tried them in gello. Water baggies and moistened newsprint, yes. Some are extricated pristine, others in pieces. This spring, we've plans to create a JayBox, with a friend in Iowa putting together an admiteddly Rube Goldberg setup whereby fresh rib bones can be suspended in water baggies. None of it will prove a damned thing except show what the rounds look like, but if they stay together reasonably well there are a few prepared to go hog hunting.

At The Snubnose Files.

Range Evaluation:  Ruger SP-101 with 3 1/16" Barrel by Stephen A. Camp,

...and...

The Ruger SP-101 by George (mad ogre) Hill.

Thanks to Syd for tipping me by email.


UPDATE:  Posted this for my 357 Magnum category as reference.  The SP101 is my usual carry gun.

Fits over at Shooting the Messenger (new addition to my blogroll, btw), noticed some unusually hot ballistics listed for Wolf Gold .357 Magnum ammo at the Cheaper Than Dirt website,specifically that it's shooting a 158-grain bullet at 1607 fps.

If they're talking handgun velocity, that's hot.  It's also what Wolf claims, so this time is isn't just a CTD typo.

As I learned back when I was writing up the article on the Winchester 94, Winchester has .357 Magnum ammo listed on their website with a MV of 1830 fps, however, this ammo is listed only under the rifle section, therefore I must assume that this is claimed velocity for rifles only, and I personally would probably not try it in a handgun.

This is wrong.  Hey, I made a mistake!  (My theory about about making declarations instead of asking questions holds).  See comments.  I'll do a better update later.  Will also have to update the old Winchester post.

I think Wolf's ballistics for its .44 Magnum Gold is also kind of high.  Also wrong!

Anyway, Fits fired off an email to Wolf so it will be interesting to see if they send any reply.

I think James at Hell in a Handbasket posted something about this gun when he was still on his old site.

Someone has a NIB C O P 357X4 on GunsAmerica for $1,035.

An odd little gun, designed as a deep concealment for off-duty or undercover police officers.  Chambered for .357 magnum, with four barrels and a rotating firing pin.

Despite its compactness, its unloaded weight is 28 ounces--3 ounces heavier than an unloaded SP-101--but a good 1.5" shorter, too.

The company that made them is now defunct, so I guess they're collectible, hence the asking price.

Follow the link if you want to see a photo of it.  Another good page on it is here.

Since I routinely carry a snubby (as you probably already know), I am finding these articles to be of significant interest.

.38 Snub Vs. .357 Snub debunks the opinion that a .357 is no more powerful than a .38 in a short-barreled gun like the snub.

Getting a Grip on the Snubnose is all about grips for your J-frame.

The Theory of the Snubnose Revolver, the title explains it.

.38 Special Snubnose Ballistics:  Real-world guns (not test barrels) and a variety of .38 ammo shot into water jugs.  Bullet diameters after expansion and pictures of the recovered bullets.

Lots of excellent reference material for my .357 Magnum category.

Here's one I've never heard of.  On GunsAmerica, a Ruger Hawkeye in .256 magnum, selling for $1,995.

A single-shot pistol built on a revolver (Blackhawk?) frame, apparently.  According to the seller, the .256 is a .357 magnum necked down to .25 caliber.

Interesting.  Follow the link to see a picture of it.

Over at Ninth Stage.  Very good quality picture, too.  Wallpaper worthy.

A Coonan semi-auto is up for sale at GunsAmerica.

Front Sight, Press has a great post about the .357 Magnum as a personal defense load.

For the information of anyone who cares:  I carry mine with Remington Golden Sabers.  This cartridge is in between .38+P and full-blown .357 magnum.  According to Remington, their .38+P is around 900 fps (muzzle velocity), Golden Saber .357 around 1200 fps, and full .357 around 1400 fps.

I also live in the country, and like having the option of loading it with something more powerful should the occasion arise.  I'm thinking those reloads I mentioned recently would be very potent wild hog medicine in my rifle.

The versatility of this round is amazing.  For the hunter, with varying loads it can be used for anything as small as rabbits up to medium-sized game like deer, or even some large game if you're really good.  For defense purposes, a new shooter can start out learning with lower-powered .38 loads, and then move up to more powerful loads without even having to change guns.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say that I'm going to create a new category just for the .38/.357 so I can put all these posts in there for easy reference.  I'll probably need to go back and re-categorize some of my old posts.