Author Topic: At least 1 more for me! 44 or 357? (Read 3504 times)

ousooners1baby · « **on:** February 20, 2014, 11:33:39 AM »

Which one do you'ins prefer? Why?

Flynmoose · « **Reply #1 on:** February 20, 2014, 11:43:58 AM »

No help from this corner...get BOTH!! You probably will end up with both of them eventually, might as well enjoy them now!
FM

Spanky · « **Reply #2 on:** February 20, 2014, 11:54:09 AM »

I can predict the answers to this one...
You are going to hear "get the 357 and ream it to Maxi" and "get the 44 and ream it to 445"
Seems as though a few turns of a reamer turns either one of them into a fire breathing monster.
I've owned several examples of both and have had good luck with them. Either one can be reloaded cheaply and they're both pretty versatile.
My choice would be a 45LC... it does more than either of the other two.

Spanky

ousooners1baby · « **Reply #3 on:** February 20, 2014, 11:56:32 AM »

Really?
Speaking of that. I noticed the other day that the bc has the same length barrel(I think) as the 45/410 and the same twist. Then why is the combo barrel not as hot a commodity as it could be?

Spanky · « **Reply #4 on:** February 20, 2014, 12:00:16 PM »

Quote from: ousooners1baby on February 20, 2014, 11:56:32 AM

Really?
Speaking of that. I noticed the other day that the bc has the same length barrel(I think) as the 45/410 and the same twist. Then why is the combo barrel not as hot a commodity as it could be?

Lack of sights would be my guess.

Spanky

Ranger99 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 20, 2014, 12:06:27 PM »

bofem

quickdtoo · « **Reply #6 on:** February 20, 2014, 12:33:42 PM »

Quote from: ousooners1baby on February 20, 2014, 11:56:32 AM

Really?
Speaking of that. I noticed the other day that the bc has the same length barrel(I think) as the 45/410 and the same twist. Then why is the combo barrel not as hot a commodity as it could be?

No sights, just a bead as Spanky pointed out, not drilled and tapped for a scope rail either, and the ~2" of freebore with Colt ammo!

Tim

ousooners1baby · « **Reply #7 on:** February 20, 2014, 12:50:26 PM »

Yeah, ta part does not excite me. I got one coming next week. Then it's off to the GS to drill and tap. Then it's going to have about 2 inches cut off the end. Then BANG!

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #8 on:** February 20, 2014, 01:09:38 PM »

I would guess it would depend on what you plan on hunting.
If it is going to be a deer rifle eaither will work and well.
If you are also going to shoot black bear. The larger hole will help to track the bear with holes in its lungs.
Both 44 and 357 are available in most gun stores. 357 Mag in the same line le's say Federal American eagle the 357 mag 158 grain SP is cheaper than the box of 240 grain soft points by a few $. More bangs for the bucks and practice is what will matter.
As a pistol caliber rifle i have a 44 Mag. And own three 44 pistols and three 357 mags.

greywolf444 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 20, 2014, 03:26:26 PM »

I use several pistol caliber rifles. Marlin 1894's in 357 and 44 mag.Both work on deer at woods ranges. The 357 is more fun at the range. I bought a Handi in 357, put on a red dot, maxed it and took it hunting. Very handy to carry. Accurate with 38's to 50 yds, 357 mags to 100, 357 maxi's further if I want to. Its a very slick little rifle and will always have place in my safe. If I had bought the Handi first I probably wouldn't have bought the Marlins. Repeat shots don't mean much in the woods. Small game and plinking with 38's is an absolute blast. Its the gun I use with new shooters. Simple, tough,reliable. Triggers are easy to fix once you think it through. Mine took all of 15 minutes after I got brave enough to punch out the pins. Nothing to it.

cudatruck · « **Reply #10 on:** February 20, 2014, 04:29:23 PM »

I have the .357 and love it. The guys on here that have the .44 seem to love them too. There were reports of the 44 having issues with throat diameter or bore diameter problems but I think that has been sorted out. My 357 is reamed to Max and I DO NOT regret that at all. They guys with the 44 reamed to .445sm all are pretty stoked about it. I don't think you could make a bad choice here.

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #11 on:** February 20, 2014, 10:21:27 PM »

I had both. I really liked both. I sold the .44 the other day and I still have three .357's, I think I like them better, A lot better.

twoshooter · « **Reply #12 on:** February 20, 2014, 10:47:17 PM »

Just an observation. I hear lots of 357 people talking of how well and how much fun 38's are in their gun, do not hear much about 44 Specials in the 44 mag. That shows more versatility/ utility I would say.

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #13 on:** February 20, 2014, 11:10:36 PM »

Quote from: twoshooter on February 20, 2014, 10:47:17 PM

Just an observation. I hear lots of 357 people talking of how well and how much fun 38's are in their gun, do not hear much about 44 Specials in the 44 mag. That shows more versatility/ utility I would say.

38 specials are easy to find and are a lot cheaper than the 357 mags in target ammo. 44 specials are the same price as the mags and are not as easy to find on the gun store shelves.
For some target shoots I load a warm special (180 grain bullet using blue dot in a mag cae to 1,100 FPS inbetween 10mm and 40 S&W) my S&W revolvers are a hoot to shoot and they push either steel of bowling pins around with out the massive recoil or the flash of the magnum loads.
But ballistically the 44 Special with a 240 grain bullet is very similar to 45 colt and that too is expensive but fun to shoot. Look at what they guys here say about the Buffalo Carbine in 45 Colt.
With that said. My 44 mag rifle is a Ruger deer field carbine. It will not shoot the light loads without being a bolt action. But the day I picked up my rifle i headed to the range with it and my 30 Carbine. Loaded the mag and shot 4 times and was suprised when it went click on #5 thinking I was shooting my 30 carbine. Only time I have ever been confused as to what I was shooting. Recoil was not very hard and 44 specials may not be needed to have fun at the range.

jpshaw · « **Reply #14 on:** February 20, 2014, 11:14:12 PM »

If you're into cast bullets the .44 will kill deer better then the .357. You will hear a lot about how many cartridges the .357 Maxi will shoot. What they don't tell you is that the POI of each one is in a different zip code.

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #15 on:** February 21, 2014, 12:18:13 AM »

Quote from: jpshaw on February 20, 2014, 11:14:12 PM

If you're into cast bullets the .44 will kill deer better then the .357. You will hear a lot about how many cartridges the .357 Maxi will shoot. What they don't tell you is that the POI of each one is in a different zip code.

Not always true, My max with 180 grain bullets @2000 fps shoot to almost the exact POI at 50 yards as 125 grain .38 popgun loads do. And with a little Kentucky windage.........That is a moot point.

And as for the .44 killing deer better with cast bullets, Pure nonsense. I have killed with both and there is no way you can tell the difference.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #16 on:** February 21, 2014, 12:50:32 AM »

Ive had both 357 and 44Mags, I still have the 357. Ive thought about a 44 again, but if I where to go that way a 444 would make more sense to me; a better twist, more load possibilities, and IIRC no overbore issues (?). It should be more popular than it is; think of it as a 44Mag Long Rifle.
If you already load for one and not the other that would be the way I'd suggest going.

bigvarmnt · « **Reply #17 on:** February 21, 2014, 01:00:35 AM »

Ask Atlaw, he bought the 44 Specials I was thinking of trying. Unless he is going to make something exotic out of the brass

I decided against them cause I used to load mag cases with light Clays loads and don't have to adjust my die as much. I almost took them though as I've been thinking of trying them for a while. Hope he lets us know what he thinks of them.
Most different loads/combinations will change POI so you know that going in. If you always shoot the same load it don't.
Dowuw2dwi

Come on crank, you know you need all three.
There's a 444 in classifieds

Jim Stacy · « **Reply #18 on:** February 21, 2014, 08:43:27 AM »

There is a way to increase the power of your 357 with out rechambering it. Std 357's are 1.290 . 360 Dan Wesson is 1.45 and Max's are 1.605 --- done from memory --- may be a little off.
Most of the 357 Handi have a long chamber and freely admit the DW length cases. A simple way to check chamber length is to do a casting or take a 357Max case flair the case mouth slightly and slide it into the chamber till it touches the end of the chamber . Mark the case and cut to chamber length plus cut an additional .005 to be sure and allow case release of the bullet. Load the modified cases with 360 DW loads and you will pick up a couple hundred FPS and usually improved accuracy because of less bullet jump. A friend in SC has been using this process for several years with Hornady 180 XTP's with very good results at 100-125 yards .
Try this some what wild cat method at your own risk but it is not as much pressure as the Max and the Handi will handle it .

gcrank1 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:42:44 AM »

If I did not have the 45-70 UH Id seriously consider the 444

Spanky · « **Reply #20 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:54:41 AM »

My next 44 will be a 444.

As far as the pistol caliber Handi's I'll stick with my 45LC... like I said it'll do more than the other two.

Spanky

theratdog · « **Reply #21 on:** February 21, 2014, 04:44:06 PM »

got a 44--357- 45-70 what to choose.unless i am hunting elephants.

jpshaw · « **Reply #22 on:** February 21, 2014, 08:59:38 PM »

Quote from: Badnews Bob on February 21, 2014, 12:18:13 AM

Not always true, My max with 180 grain bullets @2000 fps shoot to almost the exact POI at 50 yards as 125 grain .38 popgun loads do. And with a little Kentucky windage.........That is a moot point.

I'm in the process of getting a 200 grain cast to hit the same point as the 240 grain soft point WWB I hunt with. I'm getting there with Unique but my round is not going to be the most accurate. The most accurate one hits about 4 inches higher at 25 yards. BTW I do own the .357 and based my findings on shooting it. Took almost every round I had to the range and even at 25 yards you could see the spread. I too had a 180 grain Hornady at 2000 but it was again 4 inches away from my .38 Specials loaded with Titegroup. You're having better luck then I am.

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #23 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:19:26 PM »

Like I said thou...."Not always true". I have some loads that look like they were fired from different area codes.

I gave up on anything bigger than 180gr, They were to sketchy on the groupings for me, I am not sure but I think the twist is to slow for it. 180/190 range seems to work the best. In my rifle.

I use 158s a lot out of mag cases and 125s in .38 cases, But I have loads from 110s to 190 that I use.

That fact that you can load and shoot so many different charges is what makes the max work for me, I wouldn't hesitate to hunt anything from ground squirrels to Black bears with it.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #24 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:28:16 PM »

Jacketed or cast (or both) throwing patterns instead of groups? With jacketed it usually points to pretty serious barrel problems, if not just a loose scope base or a bad scope. With lead it often is too small a bullet dia., too hard an alloy or trying to drive the alloy you have too fast.

Lonegun1894 · « **Reply #25 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:38:53 PM »

I have the .44 H&R, and a Rossi 92 .357, and love both. Now my .44 is overbore, but works just fine with jacketed, and I just bought a oversize mold recently and no longer have issues with cast either. Before, I was paper-patching my .44 cast bullets and that worked great too, so no matter what you choose, these are great. For what it's worth though, .38Spl and .357 Mag brass is usually free for the taking at my range as most people just leave it in the dirt, but there's only so many shooting .44Mags, and .44 Spl seems to be even more rare around here at least.

petemi · « **Reply #26 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:46:57 PM »

.38s, mags and maxis can all hit the same POI........at different distances. Just play with it and find the magic numbers.
Brent (thejanitor) has loads for his Maxi that are dead on at I believe is 25 yards with .38s and 100 with the maxi. I have the loads down in the reloading room. I'll try them this Spring.

Pete

a4beltfed2000 · « **Reply #27 on:** February 21, 2014, 11:22:54 PM »

I prefer the 357. as pointed out you can plink with 38s hunt with 357 and even max it out should you desire. preloaded ammo is everywhere, from blazers to federal ammo, in just about any flavor you could want. light loads are good for small children and wifes (for shooting not hunting them

).Iron sights can easily be added should you want at a later date. If I was limited to one handi this would be it. its the remington 870 of the handi world

littledog · « **Reply #28 on:** February 22, 2014, 12:59:33 AM »

I have both 44 357 in a handi rifle at this time I have not reamed them. I like the 44 over the 357 If you reload, 44 special reload are about the same as 38s if you don't you should look into it saves cash and is a lot of fun. My marlin 1894 44 is my go to rifle it will do all I need done here in Iowa out to 150 yards plus.

Doublebass73 · « **Reply #29 on:** February 22, 2014, 03:03:18 AM »

Quote from: petemi on February 21, 2014, 10:46:57 PM

.38s, mags and maxis can all hit the same POI........at different distances. Just play with it and find the magic numbers.
Brent (thejanitor) has loads for his Maxi that are dead on at I believe is 25 yards with .38s and 100 with the maxi. I have the loads down in the reloading room. I'll try them this Spring.

Pete

This is true, my range is only 80 yards so I'd sight my 180 SSP/Lil Gun load in 2 inches high at 80 for the Max then I had a load of Sierra 140 grain JHP over IMR-4227 for the 38 Special that was dead nuts at 25 yards. I killed a few squirrels with that load.