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Revolver noob alert

5K views 83 replies 47 participants last post by  Glock40man 
#1 ·
Hi guys. I have mainly semi-auto 9mm and 380 Glocks at home. I use them for carry and shooting sports.

I was thinking of getting a 357 magnum S&W 4" barrel for a bedside gun (with other firearms having more capacity available if more than a few minutes of lead time is available).

The goal of this gun would be in the emergency case of a crazed single robber bursting into the bedroom with a knife or gun without any warning (very unlikely due to security measures) and at close range. If there was more time (funny sounds maybe downstairs or outside the house), then I would probably get the shotgun or bullpup rifle out of the safe.

Is the 357 magnum a reasonable pistol for this function?

Reliability seems like a plus. From what I've read, it can be a pretty robust cartridge depending on the load. It would be for extreme close range use. In addition, I'd like to get more familiar with different handgun platforms and a revolver seems like a good type to have in training.

Anyone have any negatives against picking up this kind of pistol? Should I be thinking of a 10mm semi-auto instead? Not bother with a 357 over the current G26?

Any and all advice appreciated. If any "must have" revolver accessories, I'd love to hear about them too. Speed loader is about the only accessory I know about revolvers. Favorite self defense loads? I'm a fan of Speer in general.

Thanks in advance!
 
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#5 ·
There might be a lot of hate regarding this, but I was reading some of Mas Ayoob's books and I liked that his bedside gun when he had small kids was a revolver with the Magna-trigger safety. If in a critical urgent time pressured situation, I would be less likely to attempt to grab a firearm that could be used against me. And more likely to try for it if I knew it couldn't.

If they made a quick and reliable semi-auto "smart gun," I personally would opt for that (that's a very personal situation and I understand that many would not). I don't think that technology is quite ready for prime time.
 
#7 ·
Is the 357 magnum a reasonable pistol for this function?
Getting a .357 magnum is reasonable. But whether you'd want .357 magnum as your home defense round or not is debatable. You might want a good .38 special load, depending upon your needs.

There's not a lot that a revolver will add over your Glock 26. If attacked by a bear in your house, then yes definitely go with hot loaded .357 magnum. Otherwise, the 26 likely has more available rounds on board.

If introducing the home defense gun to your wife, then a revolver would be easier to teach the operation of. Although she too would likely be able to learn on a Glock 26 if she is interested.

An advantage of a revolver as a drawer gun is the harder to pull DA trigger. An unholstered Glock with an exposed trigger is not my favorite thing to have bouncing around loose. I operate my glocks strictly from holsters, but I allow revolvers more flexibilty in that regard.

For the charging bear into your bedroom, a shotgun loaded with slugs and kept handy would work better :)
 
#8 ·
It's been a while since I heard about a Magna-trigger. It was/is an interesting concept that seems to have worked quite well if you are someone who wears rings 24/7.

Everybody needs a good .357. The sheer versatility is amazing. Even if you don't reload, there is an incredible variety of ammunition available to suit almost every need. I'm a fan of the pre-lock Smith L-frame (586/686 series) but have no hesitation to recommend a Ruger GP-100 or Security Six, Smith K-frame, N-Frame, or Colt Python, although the cost can get fairly steep.
 
#13 ·
I would feel safe with a 4" Smith loaded with 135g Gold Dots short barrel .38's and a couple of Comp III soeedloaders nearby.
Got it. You may want to think about shooting .38+P though.
Thanks! Will definitely check that out!
0.38 fits in a 357 (revolver, not semi-auto) without any issue / modifications right? I heard diameter is the same but length is different which doesn't matter in a wheelgun.
 
#11 ·
I'm a revolver snob, but would vote first for any high capacity full frame 9mm/.40/.45acp

We are revolver heavy in our home because my wife is a reluctant and infrequent shooter....

In our case a S+W 686 (or Ruger GP100) is a fantastic, recoil dampening option with .38 Special +P
 
#12 ·
Ok, my two cents.....(I know I don't have a high post count, but please bear with me)

I would believe in the simple concept of the revolver to be valid. But the execution is flawed. A bedside gun that is used to investigate a "bump" in the night should (IMHO) have a mounted weapon light. Additionally, if you can incorporate an instant on laser, such as a crimson trace, so much the better to assist in aiming the weapon during darkness.

Reason? The light- things go bump in the night. It's dark, you need a light to illuminate the target. Problem with weapon lights, while you are not only shinning the light on a target (maybe even a family member), you are also pointing the muzzle of your gun at them as well.

The crimson trace laser, just helps the sighting process, just normal grip, activates the laser.

Yes, there are a few revolvers that you may mount a light and laser on them, but not to many. The concept of the revolver in grab, pull trigger, go bang is good, but......

An advantage that the semi-auto would have over the revolver is the ammunition capacity. Not counting a glock 43 vs a 7-round 357 revolver. But a full size semi (in a free state with a magazine of more than 10 rounds), has two to three times the capacity of a revolver. I have never met anyone who said they had too much ammo after being in a shootout.
 
#15 ·
As per my description, I have lights and lasers and semiautos with 20 round capacity and carbines and etc for things that go bump in the night.

That's not what this pistol is for.

It's for a "wake up and there's someone charging at you already in the bedroom so grab and shoot from the bed" kind of scenario.

Motion sensing will turn on the room lights before the bad guy gets in the room. From the bedroom, I can also turn on all the lights in the house and on the grounds. There are also internal cameras in the house that can be checked on my phone. I also have a night vision scope for one of the other guns.

The revolver would have a very limited use role that would hopefully never be needed.

I wouldn't use a revolver to go looking downstairs to investigate a "bump" in a dark house. From the bedroom, I'd trigger lights / cameras / alarms to figure out what the threat was and pick the appropriate firearm depending on what it was (if I had the time).
 
#22 ·
And the more time you spend at the range with it, the more effective it will be as a defense gun.

As an alternative I would recommend a Glock 21 in 45 ACP because a Glock is just as simple and instinctive to operate as a revolver. And why 45 caliber? Because they don't make a 46.

But I'm not trying to talk you out of a 357 revolver, because as someone else has already indicated, no one should have to go through life without ever having owned a nice revolver.
 
#19 ·
I LOVE S&W N-frame .357s and 357 Mag is one of my all-time favorite cartridges so I say GO FOR IT. However IMO a shotgun is the best HD gun hands down and I keep mine close at hand in the bedroom. That said, a 125 or 158-gr Rem HTP SJHP would do perfectly fine for the situation you describe (those are two favorite loads of mine).
 
#27 ·
Nice! It's interesting that people seem to like the 38sp +p ammunition for bedside.

If I'm reading correctly, 38 special is similar in power to a 9mm round right? Is that the sweet spot for controllability and defense?
Pretty similar, .38sp being a revolver round can be loaded all over the map from wadcutter at 600fps to 125gr @ 1300fps or 158gr @ 1100+fps depending on load and bbl length. Touching off full power .357mag in a small room is something you probably want to avoid.
 
#29 ·
.357 in a soft point is effective and a ton cheaper than hollow points.

One thing going for it.
 
#34 ·
-JCN-,
I can only encourage you to get a S&W revolver and a .357 Magnum gives you the option to shoot the less expensive, less recoiling, and much less noisy .38 S&W Special round. I enjoy pre-lock S&W revolvers very much and am particularly fond of K-frame revolvers like the S&W M19.

However, as a dedicated home-defense gun a revolver has little to no advantage over a semi-auto pistol. ithaca_deerslayer beat me to the point of the harsh report of a .357 Magnum, on top of that most four inch barreled .357 Magnums will also have an impressive muzzle flash that can impair vision in darkness more than a 9x19 with ammo selected for flash suppressants would have.

Here are three four inch revolvers that I used in my current low-threat environment as bedside guns:
S&W M65

S&W M19-2

Ruger GP100 with Nill grips


Something to consider in a four inch revolver is that there is more flash and less energy than in a six-inch gun.

http://ballisticsbytheinch.com/357mag.html
 
#35 · (Edited)
Beautiful pistols!

I'm starting to think that I just get a better quick safe option and stick with my G26 then try and get cute with the Magna-Trigger 357.

Maybe this one:


It has an Iphone app that allows you to remotely open it as well. Also tamper alerts. Might be a good compromise for the nightstand pistol.
 
#36 ·
Beautiful pistols!

I'm starting to think that I just get a better quick safe option and stick with my G26 then try and get cute with the Magna-Trigger 357.

Maybe this one:


It has an Iphone app that allows you to remotely open it as well. Also tamper alerts. Might be a good compromise for the nightstand pistol.
I think that is a viable alternative to getting a revolver for home defence to replace the Glock. This will allow you to get a nice target revolver to play with and opens many more options.

These two are (among) my most accurate and enjoyable six inch barrelled revolvers.

 
#37 ·
Okay, ordered the fancy safe AND am going to do the S&W revolver... :dancingbanana:

That's what usually happens to me. When deciding between one and the other, if I can do "both" then that's what I usually wind up doing. :devilish:

Question: has anyone ever shot 9mm Gold Dot +P out of a 357? All my other home and personal defense firearms use that round... from what I'm reading, accuracy may suffer due to the 2/1000ths diameter difference but at the distance I'd use it for maybe doesn't matter.

I have a Clear Ballistics gel block and it might be interesting to test the difference between the G34, G26, JR Carbine (in 9mm) and the revolver all with the same 124gr +P gold dot and then compare with a 38 special gold dot....
 
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