Then you NEED a .357. A .22 is a fun gun for plinking, target shooting and maybe small animal hunting but it really is NOT a good self defense round.

 

What she said up there ^^^.

 

i have to agree. if you are wanting to use a pistol for self defense, then the 357 Magnum is the better choice. if recoil is a problem, or you are new to shooting pistols, then you can always use the lighter 38 Special loads instead. and despite what some may try and lead you to believe, a 38 Special at close range is a perfectly suitable self defense round.

and the recoil isn't near as bad a many would leave you to believe either. my young nieces have been shooting a 357 Magnum for a couple of years now. the oldest one, who is now 16 might weigh 100 lbs. soaking wet, and she is even shooting light magnum loads out of the pistol.

and if you are considering it for carry, i would try and stay with one with a 4" barrel or under for easier ability to conceal. and just because a revolver has shart barrel, doesn't necessarily mean it's less accurate either. just that it has a shorter sight radius, that makes it harder to aim more accurately.

personally, i would always choose a 357 Magnum over a 38 Special revolver, since it gives me the option of two different cartridges. you could start our with light 38 Special loads, and work your way up to the hotter 357 Magnum loads, as you gain confidence and experience. plus, as general rule, 38 Special loads are a bit cheaper than the 357 Magnum loads.

 

You are obviously new to shooting. I’d recommend that you get a 22, and practice until hitting what you are aiming at is natural. That requires one thing, lots of practice. The 22 will cost far less to shoot that many rounds.

And, honestly, until you have sufficient skill to consistently shoot with a high level of accuracy, under a range of conditions, and positions, you shouldn’t even consider carrying a weapon.

 

More times than not I carry a .22, BUT if you are NOT sure just go for middle of the road and get a .32 !.............

 

Whichever you chooses, just avoid a snubnose like the plague.

IMHO, a .357.38 with a 4 inch barrel is close to ideal.

 

What they all said! The 357 is good in that you will be able to get ammo (38 sp, 357 mag) about any where that sells ammo and you can use the lighter 38 until you are comfortable with the 357. Not to mention the cost of 38 sp target grade reloads is very reasonable. And yes a 4 inch medium frame revolver is as good as it gets for what you described.

 

JMO but a Ruger SP101 3in bbl .357 is the ticket. You can practice with. 38s then load. 357 may to carry.

A. 22 is better than harsh language but hardly a SD caliber.
I'll have to differ with the opinion you need to be able to be highly accurate in different positions, under various conditions to carry.

You could very well NEED your revolver for sd and it'll do you no good if it's at home and your out and about.
One should work toward being as skilled as possible, but SD with a handgun isn't rocket science.

 

To assist in clarifying why a "snub nose" revolver is not the best, it is not that they are inaccurate, but that the sight picture is better with a longer barreled revolver.

This helps with getting the basics of shooting down pat.

 

For a good name brand, cost of a .22 and .357 will be roughly equal.
Maybe a little more for the 22. The 22 will be more fun to shoot.
The 357 will be more practical. Locutus is right, the blast and muzzle flip
on a snub nose is miserable.

 

I really appreciate everyones advice, all of these replies will help me make a decision on what i decide to get. Thanks again guys!

 

A vote for a quality snub nose. In some jurisdictions, if you can't smell his breath it isn't self defense. If you have to aim it's combat,

Quality is spelled Smith & Wesson, Ruger or Colt. Anything less is not reliable, anything more is bling and flash.

If you need one, you need two. If you fire in self defense you may have your gun seized and placed into evidence. You need another gun because bastards have brothers. This is why you don't buy an expensive gun for self defense.

 

If you plan on carrying it, get a 357 with a three inch barrel. It will be much more comfortable vs a four inch, just my opinion and your mileage may vary.

As noted above, if you can afford two, even eventually, start with a longer barreled .22. Practice, train, and practice some more. Then realize you started an addiction and find a nice 357. Then realize you want a semi auto and get another 22. Then a 9mm....

 

Good idea.

 

I agree with those that advocate getting a 22 revolver. As you stated it is better than nothing, but in expertly trained hands it is lethal. The reality of the matter is that a large number of people carry but not everyone practices enough to remain proficient in their shooting skills. This is due to a number of reasons such as work, time, and accessibility to a range, but the biggest culprit at times is money. Shooting is expensive and if you are new to this and are on a limited budget even buying ammo 38 special at $21 or more for a 50 rounds is expensive in comparison to buying 500 rounds for $30.

Shooting 50 rounds goes buy real fast. Shooting 500 rounds gives you the opportunity to train and develop muscle memory and endurance. Allows you to practice on your trigger control and on your sight picture and follow thru over and over. You will be able to return to the range again the following week with another 500 rounds. In a months time you will shoot over 2000 rounds for $120 vs 300 rounds of 38 special at the same price more if it is .357. Rimfire training also gives an advantage because now you can practice shooting with your weak hand as well and do drills.

My only recommendation is that when you are done training with your hand gun load your hand gun with reliable ammo like eley or lapua for self defense. Quality is higher on this ammo and it is more reliable than bulk ammo.

Though the .357 is a fantastic caliber for self defense, I really would not recommend you shooting it inside the house as the report from this caliber is extremely loud, to the point of being very painful. And if you shoot the six rounds you could very well suffer hearing loss.

 

Mr. Huckleberry, some very excellent points that you made, and i agree for the most part. you give some great advice and something for the OP to give some consideration to in deciding which direction he wants to go in.

the point in the cost of ammo to training was very good point. i sometimes lose sight that not everybody reloads and has to resort to buying factory ammo, and i forget that it's much more expensive to buy most center-fire vs. rim-fire ammo. very good point.

the only thing i disagree with some bit is about the noise level. anything including rim-fire is going to be beyond acceptable safer limits for hearing within the confines of a house or small room. no one is going to keep or use hearing protection if awakened in the middle of the night. IMO the trade-off for me is i would rather suffer some hearing damage, even if permanent, if it meant keeping my loved ones safe and protected. there was an idiot on another forum that preached keeping hearing protection next to your bedside self defense gun. but of course an intruder is going to allow you time to insert your hearing protection? he believed that nonsense!

but other than that minor difference in opinion, a most excellent post with some great advice.

 

no one is going to keep or use hearing protection if awakened in the middle of the night.

Mr. Dallas you are correct no one will keep hearing protection in their bedside, as it would be a moot point to take the time to put it on when you have only seconds if that much time to respond to a home invasion from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. And regardless of the caliber use the noise of the report should not be taken into consideration during those intense moments.

In my younger years when I first became eligible to purchase a handgun my first buy was a 686 .357 smith and Wesson that was over 36 years ago. Than a 9mm was used as a home defense and then a shot gun and then over the decades as I got older and wiser from all the bad decisions I have made I now sleep with a FNX 45 tactical and a suppressor. The suppressor makes it easy on the ears.

But my experience of shooting many different calibers to me, the report of the .357 handgun is very very loud as compared to the 45, the 44 mag, the 38, and the rifle calibers without a muzzle break. I have been exceedingly stupid in firing all these and other firearms without hearing protection.

In conclusion I totally agree with you as does everyone else I am sure we all are willing to make the sacrifice of a little hearing loss to protect our loved ones should the need ever arise.

 

Mr. Huckleberry, if a person can have a suppressor, that would ideal at reducing the sound level, and if possible a good idea. and if they do end up passing the Hearing Protection Act, it would make suppressor much cheaper and easier for people to own. and i'm hoping it does.

but until then, for some, it's not legal, or even cost prohibitive, and takes time and paperwork, at the speed of bureaucracy!

now something i have read a few times over the years, but so far ii haven't found credible proof of, is that in a very high adrenaline, fight or flight situation of life or death, that the body will shut down the auditory sensors in the ear to protect it. as i said, i don't know if that's factually true or not, but it may be, and if so, it might not really matter what gun or round a person chose for self defense.

 

My experience has been nothing more than a ringing in the ear so loud that it muffles voices during bomb explosions ,artillery shells , and what not in battle. Eventually I would put ear plugs on if time allowed during those intense moments. Anyway chaos distracts you from and the smell in your pants as well.

 

It is true to some extent. When the 122 mm rocket hit my hooch one early morning while was dressing for an alert the whole world turned a bright orange and I found myself in a pile of debris BUT I do not recall hearing a thing, no auditory recall at all. The Doc said two thing happened, 1. As you said the mental part about me not hearing and 2. the physical part about the noise pressure physically damaging my ears. Just how much each had to do with it I do not know, but I have a constant ringing in both ears which is louder than anything else I hear.

 

A 357 magnum has the same 150 decibel rating as a 12 gauge shotgun. It is also more than is necessary in a house at close range. For HD/SD I keep 38spl +P. When hiking I keep a shot load and 357 in case of critters. A suggestion if you can afford it is a laser grip as a training tool. It will speed up your learning curve and you can use it while dry firing (unloaded). Dry firing with the laser will let you get your trigger control down.

 

i'll take your word on the decibel level of the two rounds, and if they are, the difference is where they are at when fired. a pistol is going to be closer to your ears than the end of the barrel of most shotguns.

now would this difference in distance be any difference in the sound pressure the ear receives when they are fired? i don't know.

but i know that the sound just seems louder for myself even with hearing protection shooting a magnum pistol vs. shooting a 12 ga. shotgun.

and inside a smaller room inside of a house, that also may play a factor as well.

 

Inside a typical bedroom with 4 walls a ceiling and a floor the sound of a shot will be reflected and magnified. sound doubles in intensity every 3 decibels. A typical suppressed 9mm is 125 db.

 

Having fired a 357 magnum with full magnum loads both in a car and a small building with no ear protection I can say you it's loud.
But unless one made a regular habit of it won't damage your ears or hearing beyond ringing for a hour or so after.

In a true HD/SD situation most folks will never notice the sound.

 

Having fired a 357 magnum with full magnum loads both in a car and a small building with no ear protection I can say you it's loud.
But unless one made a regular habit of it won't damage your ears or hearing beyond ringing for a hour or so after.

In a true HD/SD situation most folks will never notice the sound.

As a matter of science, gunfire without hearing protection = some permanent hearing damage .

 

My very first handgun was a Ruger Super Redhawk in .44mag. I was mainly a hunter and bought if for deer hunting. I was also 23 years old and new to my career. Besides liking to shoot handguns, I found that I could not easily afford .44magnum ammo for practice. I then bought a Ruger Mk II and that became my practice gun and one for the boat. It was many years later before a bought my next handgun; a Kimber Target II .45acp and then I was hooked...read all the advice and think about it for a few days. You will find your mind wandering to one gun over the other...that is your choice.

 

also a gun a person can afford to shoot is one they will practice with more. and practice putting rounds down range is about the best way to become an accurate and proficient shooter, and it builds confidence as well.

i advocate dry firing a practical way of practice, but there is just a different form of satisfaction in firing live rounds!

 

A 10 shots .22 revolver, with a .22 Win Mag cylinder, would make a very good first handgun that can cover the SD side of things. Even a straight .22 LR with correct shot placement will take care of an attacker.

The point about excessive noise from a .357 indoors is absolutely valid: after one or two rounds you’ll be totally hearing-impaired, to the point of it being painful. You may have permanent damage, and tinnitus - those who have been there know how much they wish they could “rewind” and have had an alternative, a less booming gun or some form of protection.

As for hearing protection... one can actually keep slim foldable ear protectors at hand, I know I do (not only on my bedstand, but in my car, and even in my pocket if I have a jacket or cargo pants on). Of course you won’t have time to put them on if you’re jumped in your bed, but if your house has a couple of layers of safety you should be warned long before your bedroom door screeches, and these still allow you to hear what is going on while keeping you from going deaf if you have to shoot indoors.