S&W K-frame magnum revolvers, the 19, 66, 65 were designed in the 1950s to provide police officers the capability of firing 357 Magnum ammo. They were essentially 38 Specials with a LIMITED CAPACITY to fire the 357 Magnum. Police practiced with 38 Special ammo and carrried 357 Magnums. In the 1970s, they started practicing with their 357 Magnum duty ammo, which these guns were not built to handle on a full time basis. High performance 357 ammo came along, the 125 grain jacketed hollow point, which not only did a great job as a stopper, but also as a gun destructor. S&W has advised that 125 grain ammo can crack the forcing cone of a K-frame revolver within 50 to 100 rounds and there are no replacement barrels left. They advise to shoot 38s, but if you must shoot 357s, make it 158 grain, which is the ammo these guns were designed for. These are not hunting guns and there are much better tools for the job. They remain one of the finest combat handguns ever built, within their limitations. A K-frame loaded with +P38 Specials is excellent in all respects.
The Ruger Security Six is in all respects similar to the K-frames, except that they can fire approximately 3 times the number of shells as a K-frame before going back for maintainence. While much more durable than S&W, the Ruger Security Six also suffered maintenence problems when fired full time with 357 ammo. Both the S&W K-frames and Ruger Security Six were discontinued, replaced by the S&W 586/686 and GP100 respectively. Both of these guns were designed as full time 357 magnums.
For hunting, I would purchase either a 41 or 44 Magnum for game up to the size of deer. If you intend to scope the gun, Rugers Super Redhawk or one of their limited run Blackhawks Hunters are excellent. The Ruger Super Blackhawk was designed for hunting and remains a solid choice. S&W has limited runs of hunting revolvers, costing about triple that of a Ruger.
