I can't imagine a reason on God's green earth you'd need more power than a full-house .357 for home defense. It's been efficiently decking bad guys since 1935. It also comes in slicker and handier guns, and recoils considerably less than a full-house .41. Load with the revered 125 grain JHP and you'll be fine. Practice frequently, because even this load kicks a bit, is loud, and flashes pretty brightly.

If you absolutely need maximum power to flatten someone with a single shot, a blast from a 12 gauge is far better than any handgun, regardless of caliber.

I prefer quieter, less flashy handgun rounds for defense, as opposed to magnums.

Originally Posted by Mike Barham at Galco

I can't imagine a reason on God's green earth you'd need more power than a full-house .357 for home defense. It's been efficiently decking bad guys since 1935. It also comes in slicker and handier guns, and recoils considerably less than a full-house .41. Load with the revered 125 grain JHP and you'll be fine. Practice frequently, because even this load kicks a bit, is loud, and flashes pretty brightly.

If you absolutely need maximum power to flatten someone with a single shot, a blast from a 12 gauge is far better than any handgun, regardless of caliber.

I prefer quieter, less flashy handgun rounds for defense, as opposed to magnums.

+1 dude

Having shot the .357 most all my life, I can tell you they are hot. They will stop anybody any size. I like the the 158gr bullet over the 125gr as I think it has a better shock value. The 125gr tens to cut through things like a knife. After all most of them are going around 1500ft a second. The 158gr slowed down to about 1150ft a second gives more shock value I think. After all you got to stop the threat frist before you can controll the fight.

Sorry guys but I prefer the 41 Mag. Why? It is a bigger and gentler caliber; its recoil is similar to a 44 Special. In a house I like big and slow. Regards, Richard

Originally Posted by Richard

Sorry guys but I prefer the 41 Mag. Why? It is a bigger and gentler caliber; its recoil is similar to a 44 Special. In a house I like big and slow. Regards, Richard

You're seriously going to claim that a full-house .41 Magnum recoils LESS than a full-house .357? Unless you're comparing apples and oranges (light .41 load vs. full-house .357, or N-frame .41 revolver vs. J-frame .357), I don't see how in the world the .41 can be "gentler" than the .357. It's far more powerful, so according to simple physics, it has to recoil more. Full-house .41s are big and FAST, not big and slow.

Having fired full-house .41s and .44 Specials, I can say pretty definitely that the .41 kicks considerably harder unless downloaded to ".41 Special" specs. The .44 Special is a relatively weak round, as factory loaded, compared to both .41 and .357 Mags, so it shouldn't be surprising that it kicks less.

Originally Posted by Mike Barham at Galco

You're seriously going to claim that a full-house .41 Magnum recoils LESS than a full-house .357? Unless you're comparing apples and oranges (light .41 load vs. full-house .357, or N-frame .41 revolver vs. J-frame .357), I don't see how in the world the .41 can be "gentler" than the .357. It's far more powerful, so according to simple physics, it has to recoil more. Full-house .41s are big and FAST, not big and slow.

Having fired full-house .41s and .44 Specials, I can say pretty definitely that the .41 kicks considerably harder unless downloaded to ".41 Special" specs. The .44 Special is a relatively weak round, as factory loaded, compared to both .41 and .357 Mags, so it shouldn't be surprising that it kicks less.

Michael, you know I am refering to mid range 41 Mag loads for self defense. I do not consider a 44 Special loaded with Corbon 165gr bullets or Winchester 200gr Hollow points anyone's weak sister. Those along with the 41 Mag mid range loads are fine fight stoppers. Lastly, I find more than a cylinder full house 357 Mags in a K-frame a little less than pleasant to shoot. Regards, Richard

My M58:

Originally Posted by Richard

Michael, you know I am refering to mid range 41 Mag loads for self defense. I do not consider a 44 Special loaded with Corbon 165gr bullets or Winchester 200gr Hollow points anyone's weak sister. Those along with the 41 Mag mid range loads are fine fight stoppers. Lastly, I find more than a cylinder full house 357 Mags in a K-frame a little less than pleasant to shoot. Regards, Richard

Just "Mike" is fine. Okay, I see your point. But you're comparing apples and oranges, to a degree. A downloaded .41 in an N-frame is indeed more pleasant to shoot than a full-power .357 is a K-frame. But the original post asked about a comparison "all parameters being equal." To me, that means guns of equivalent weight and full-power loads in both. (Maybe, though, he means equal energy output.)

Most people don't select K-frames anymore (I believe S&W has discontinued the K-frame .357s, in fact). Most choose heavier guns, like L-frames or GP100s, for home defense, which are closer in weight to N-frames. These guns are far more pleasant to shoot than a K-frame, but their smaller frames are not as bulky and unwieldy (in the hands of many) as an N-frame.

I had forgotten about the hot Cor-Bon .44 Special, but Cor-Bon isn't really on my radar screen since my personal experience with their quality control hasn't been good. If I recall the ballistics correctly, the 200 grain Winchester isn't that hot.

All will work fine for HD, I just don't see any reason to replace a .357 with a .41 or a .44. Maybe with a .45 ACP revolver, because of the fast moon-clips reloads, though!

Mike, where do I start? I do not like the the muzzle flash from hot 357s at night and I do not want a bullet that is going to exit my house because it has so much energy. Is there a 357 I think is a great house/PD revolver that no one else mentions? Yes, my M60-10, as setup, is a great house/PD revolver. Take a look and give me your opine. Regards, Richard

M60-10:

Originally Posted by Richard

Mike, where do I start? I do not like the the muzzle flash from hot 357s at night and I do not want a bullet that is going to exit my house because it has so much energy. Is there a 357 I think is a great house/PD revolver that no one else mentions? Yes, my M60-10, as setup, is a great house/PD revolver. Take a look and give me your opine. Regards, Richard

Nice gun.

Lightweight hollowpoint .357s aren't much, if any, more likely to go through a house than a .41. Cops used .357s for decades without significant liability problems in that regard. The heavy bullets used in most big-bore loadings have significant momentum and usually penetrate pretty deeply, unless specifically constructed to avoid deep penetration.

Muzzle flash might be an issue if shooting in complete darkness, but I assume we all plan to ID our targets before we fire. Thus, there will be ambient light to ID our target, whether from house lighting or a flashlight. This ambient light means our eyes are already somewhat adjusted to light, and reduces the muzzle flash issue.

I grant that a ".41 Lite" or .44 Special will have less flash. I am just not sure this minor advantage is outweighed by the fact that large frame revolvers are heavier with a higher bore axis, and just not as slick and fast-handling as a medium frame .357.

But what the hell do I know? I sold every last one of my revolvers last year, when I decided they were obsolete for defense!

in the 1960's I was a small town police officer. We didn't even have police radios and used a town owned flashing blue light and siren on our own private cars for patrol. since we almost always were ALONE I felt that I would need the best Firearm posible for my protection. I gave up my .38 special for athis new .41 S&W Model 58. Remington had 2 loads. The powerfull full house 210 gr JSP load and the 210 semi wadcutter lead that was at least unofficially the M&P load. I found that the full house load was wonderfully accurate, clean and powerful but walked back smartley, the Remington M&P load was too dirty, inaccurate, and gummed up the barrel with soft lead in no time. I searched for a load that would be better. as there was no prejudice against hand loads I soon found that the Speer semi Jacketed SP 220 Gr and hp 200 grain in front of about 10 grs. of Herco powder gave me every thing I needed. clean burning , clean bullets, low recoil and wonderful accuracy.