357 Pistol

Question
I would like your advice on .357/.38 pistols.  I am looking for a good midprice gun (not sure if I want a revolver or pistol), and would like some advice on what to look for.  I want one that I will use for hunting.  I have heard good things about Smith and Wesson, Taurus, and Rossi, and was wondering what you thought.  Do you have any others that I should be looking at.  Thanks.

Answer
Jason,

If you're looking for a hunting arm, you're definately going to want a revolver with at least a six-inch barrel. The only autopistols that chamber the .357 Magnum cartridge are well out of the "mid-price" range (LAR Grizzly and Magnum Research Desert Eagle, for example).

Sig Sauer sought to pack the power of the .357 Mag into an autopistol cartridge when they introduced the .357 Sig about a decade ago. In reality, a .357 Sig falls about 30 fps short of the .357 Magnum in velocity out of barrels of the same length. Probably the most reasonably-priced pistol firing the .357 Sig is going to be the Glock.

Revolvers, are, however more inherently accurate than autopistols and as this is to be a hunting gun, accuracy is important.

In terms of reasonably-priced production reovlers made in the US, there are simply none better than Smith & Wesson, but they do tend to be a bit more expensive than similar models by other makers. Of course, with S&W you aren't just paying for the name, they do things differently in making guns than other makers and that's why they average about $100 more per gun.

The premiere American-made .357 Magnum revolver is the Colt Python, recently re-released by Colt as the Python Extreme. They retail for about $1,000.

Probably the best American-built .357 Magnum within the reach of most consumers is the S&W model 686. Smith makes a slightly smaller .357 Magnum revolver, the model 66, as well. The heavier the gun, the more recoil it's going to absorb, so that's the trade-off you need to consider, lightweight vs. increased felt recoil.

Taurus has come a long way in recent years. Five years ago I wouldn't have recommended a Taurus to anyone for any reason. As of late, however, their quality control has gone way up and they do offer a lifetime guarantee on their producs (of course, S&W does too). Taurus revolvers are very reasonably priced. I would, however, avoid Rossi's products.

Ruger makes some good, reasonably priced revolvers in either single or double-action. A single-action gun isn't bad for hunting as having nothing but that light, quick, short trigger pull makes a lot of sense, since you likely wouldn't even try to fire a shot at a game animal DA unless it was a follow up to a miss on a fleeing animal. Ruger's Vaquero series and Blackhawk line are excellent and offer a variety of barrel lenghts, finishes, front sight styles and grip styles.

Ruger's double-action entries aren't bad either, they just tend to be a bit bulkier than S&Ws (their frames are investment cast vs. S&W's forged frames) and their lockwork isn't quite as smooth. Their GP100 is a solid, DA revolver available in a variety of barrel lengths.

In short, I'd give S&W a look first, but if they're a bit too pricy, I'd definately check out Ruger's offerings before going to Taurus.

Hopefully I've been of some help,

Kyle