45lc vs 357mag

[jk3006]

John Linebaugh states that the .45 (in strong Ruger guns, of course) is a bigger hammer when compared to a .44.  So, that must make the .45 a super sledgehammer when compared to the small .357.  The high pitch muzzle blast of the .357 is irritating, to say the least.   

besides the bullit size what kind of performance difference is there between the 45LC and the 357mag. thanks

[Old Griz]

The high pitch muzzle blast of the .357 is irritating, to say the least

It ain't nothing out of a rifle though. The .38/.357 in a long gun is really a lot of fun.

[kevthebassman]

reloads can run as cheap as a box of 22's.

Are you sure about the cost being so low. Have you purchased any primers and bullets let alone powder lately? I've bought .22 bulk packs at WallyWorld for under $2@50. Recently .22 bulk pachs were running $10@500 and that's $1@50.

When was the last time you bought .22 bulkpacks at wallyworld?  Last time I was there it was $18 per 525.

[S.B.]

I just checked today and bulk 550 pack of Remington .22 were $14 at our Wally World here in town. Must be geographical thing?
Steve

[kevthebassman]

Must be.  Remington golden bullet HP, right?

[S.B.]

Yep!

[kevthebassman]

My Wal-Mart's giving me the shaft!

[bilmac]

$10.99 last I bought in Wyo. I thought Wally charged the same everywhere, my world has been shattered.

[John R.]

I have both, but I definitly prefer the 45 Colt for hunting applications.

[S.B.]

John R., my question would have to be, what bullet and velocity are you using that your so set in you ways? Are you one of the ones who prefer 350 grain rockets at 1600 fps?
Steve

[PanaDP]

I don't know about being that cheap but it's pretty cheap. Here's an example with some prices taken from midway. I'm sute one could do better casting their own bullets, buying larger quantities of powder and primers at a time, etc.

Anyway: My load of titegroup works out to 1400 per pound, $16 per pound. Primers are about $27 per thousand. Even if you don't cast your own bullets, you can get good lead cast bullets for $30 per 500.

$.011 per round in powder
$.027 per primer
$.06 per bullet

That's $.098 per round not including brass. Brass gets reused many time so it's tough to quantify exactly how much that costs you. If you want to say you reload each piece of brass 5 times, which is pretty conservative unless you only shoot heavy magnum rounds, it works out to $.036.

That's 13.4 cents per round. $6.70 per box. That's between half and one-third of buying factory ammo.

[Greeenriver]

Over the years, I've had several .357's. All were good shooting pistols. Also had several .45 Colts.

Currently, I have NO .357's, and three .45 Colts rifles and four .45 Colts revolvers. All are copies and not real Colts.

And will take delivery of two more .45 Colts revolvers early next week. These are Colts Revolvers, 4&3/4 bbl, B/CCH, Black Powder frames with the beveled cylenders.  They go for the one piece Ivory grips in late January.

I guess that shows how I rate the .357 against the .45 Colts caliber.

Greeenriver

[John R.]

I run a 300 to 320 gr. bullet @ 1200 fps. out of my 45 Bisley. This is not as fast as you can push them, but it's all in the world I need for deer and hogs. As a matter of fact, when strictly deer hunting I sometimes use the 270 SAA @ 1000 fps. It will stone them on the spot. The 357 cannot compare with this size hammer in any form. Bigger holes let more air in and more blood out.

[burntpowder]

I've carried .357's on duty for years, still own a couple and shoot them often, both single and double action revolvers. But my go to gun is a .45Colt, Ruger Blackhawk with the Bisley grip. It's much more pleasent to shoot, less muzzle blast, more manageable recoil even with the 265 gr, 1100 FPS loads I make for it! Someone said it's like comparing an F-150 to a Goldwing, I think it's more like an F-150 to an F-350, both can get the job done, but the bigger one does it with less fuss and bother. Have fun with the new gun.

[Mike in Virginia]

Anything a .357 can do, a .45LC can do better.  I'm an old guy; I've had 'em all, loaded 'em all, shot game with 'em all--357's, 44's, and 45's. I use, own, or carry nothing now but 45's.
If a .357 has an advantage over a .45, it's range, but when bullet drop becomes a factor, energy wins out over trajectory. I can load 45LC to surpass the energy of 44M, and at the same time keep pressure lower. Perhaps 45 brass is thinner, but I've never had one bulge or split. My current load of 2400 under a 300 grn. hard cast swc will stomp a deer as far as I'm able to hit.  Big deer don't go down immediately when hit with a .357 (I've seen it time and again), but they do with a heavy .45 slug. Sometimes old is better, just like a 230 grn. 45acp roundball is better, much better, than a 125 grn. 357 (regardless of the hype and lies that have been told about that round.)   

[Redhawk1]

I have killed a bunch of deer with my Ruger Blackhawk in 357 Mag. Bullet choice and shot placement was always key. Over the years I have gotten into bigger holes in my game. I love the 45 Colt with hard cast bullets. Great on hog, deer and black bear.

Personally I am not a 44 Mag fan, I much prefer the 45 Colt.  Now I have a bunch of bigger bore handguns, 480 Ruger, 475 Linebaugh, 500 Mag and 510 GNR. I love them and they are great rounds. But my over all favorite round is the 45 Colt. Fun to shoot and kills good.

[tomray]

the 45 will kill better and do it with no more recoil and alot less muzzle blast. No comparison in my opinion. Im not a fan of the 357. to me its notihng but a noisy 38 special. You have to put up with ear spliting muzzle blast and marginal performance on big game.

This is so factual to me, I thought I wrote it!...............I agree with Lloyd, the bigger bullet seems to kill better and without the horrible biting muzzel blast.


Tom

[S.B.]

the 45 will kill better and do it with no more recoil and alot less muzzle blast. No comparison in my opinion. Im not a fan of the 357. to me its notihng but a noisy 38 special. You have to put up with ear spliting muzzle blast and marginal performance on big game.

Ditto my sentiments exactly! Every time I've shot game with a .357, I wonder who got the worst of it? My ears rang forever, just like the .22 mag revolvers.
Steve

[ShooterToo]

I read this somewhere else on the same debate topic, "A .357 might expand to .45 caliber, but a .45 will never shrink."

[kingpin1779]

yup the price of reloading has skyrocketed.  primers 80.00 per thousand, used to pay 55.00 per case-5000. powder,brass, bullets all have increased dramatically. ive been shootin hpa air guns, even that is costly. and yesi like both .357 and 45.  but!!!!!!! you cant beat them big holes!!!  denny

[Two401Pm]

I own and shoot 357 convertable,41mag,44mag,and 45 colt convertable... I prefer the 41mag and the 45 colt for the reasons given in earlier post.. I just don't like that ear splitting roar..

[kid buckskin]

My fealing on the 357 vs 45 lc is like the battle of the 9mm and 45 acp ! These two cal's are simular compasion even the fps are close the big thing to me is muzzle flip the mag is substanly more with factory loaded ammo and I like my cimaron modle p with cowboy loads its so steddy and still got good knock down even for 45

[rawhidekid]

I have both and each has it's place.  With cost of ammo & powder skyrocketing, you can shoot alot more .357 than .45  I had about given up on my .357 until I discovered the 180 grn bullets.  Added the fun back to shooting it again,(might not have if I didn't have Bisley grips).
Unless hunting most of my shooting is in the .357 or my .38 Super.   Simply more banging for the buck.

[RJL-77]

The report difference in DB is substancial My last .357 was replaced with my first .45LC  The .41mag, .44mag,  .45LC , will have to suffice.    Jim 

[NickSS]

I have shot 357 mag revolvers for over 40 years and the same for 44 mag revolvers.  More recently (like 30 years ago I started shooting 45 colt revolvers.  Even more recently I started using the three cartridges in rifles.  I have fired thousands of each so I am somewhat familiar with them.  All three will kill deer with proper shot placement.  All three are fun to shoot and accurate.  I shoot far more 45 colts and 357 mags per year than I do 44 mags but that is my preference nothing to do with the value of the cartridges.  I will say this I am one of those guys who does not hunt with a handgun but I carry one when hunting and have killed three deer with them more by accident then design.  I have also killed deer and boar with lever action rifles in 45 colt.  It kills well and my loads were not mag loads They were clocking about 1200 fps from my carbine.  Personally I would pick any of them to defend myself against a two leg preditor and I would pick none of them to defend myself against a large (read Kodiak) bear.  I know as I have had need of doing just that and the bear in question took three rounds from my 45-70 Marlin starting at 50 yards and the last one was at 15 yards before it dropped.  My rifle was loaded with 400 gr sp at 1850 fps.  After my blood pressure came down I Looked the critter over.  All three shots hit it in the chest area and penetrated the lungs and into the lower tract.  If I ever have the need to do that again I will try for a head shot or shoulder shot to break bone.