Revolver noob needs help

[Uni-Vibe]

Grizzman's right. For my 686, I make two hand loads. One is a 158 grain cast SWC at around 1050 fps. The other is the same bullet at about 1375. The one is a pleasant load for informal target shooting which would also work fine for hunting or self defense against bad people. They run a bit hotter than Grizzman's .38 loads. The other might be a bit light for brown bear, but should protect you from anything else on the continent.

This is even more pronounced with the 44. You can load from plinkers to grizzly loads in a 629. Det-Sog is right about that.

Start loading. That $25 box of .357 will cost about $6.50 to make.

[howl]

Sweet piece. And if you decide you can't live without a 22lr or .44mag your holsters will still fit.

[gunnut284]

After reading the original post the options that immediately came to mind were the 686 SSR and the GP100 Match Champion, the same ones you came down to. Light enough and small enough to be reasonable carried but with enough power to do what you wanted. You should be very happy with the SSR. The other one I’ve been eyeing is the 686+ 5” with the SSR style barrel.

[Det-Sog]

After reading through this thread again, I took my 4" 686 + to the range. Well... The 686 is boring. It's so accurate and smooth to shoot, I could hardly get through a box of ammo and not go to sleep. Even shooting D/A, I had a tight group and the Glocksters either side of me were staring in envy. The ultimate combat magnum (IMHO). If this was lighter and smaller, it would be my EDC. I know... Us old Texas LEO's (former) and our wheel guns.

[Arik]

Are you saying the model 28 highway patrolman felt small and light? They're typically like 4lb guns! They're over 40oz.

Can't speak for J frame 357 but having a bunch of K and N frame 357 in 4in barrels I'd say with rubber grips you could comfortably shoot 357 all day in a K frame. Half a day using traditional wood grips. However, in an N frame (model 28) you could shoot 357 all weekend long!

[shadowrider]

What Det-Sog said in his 1st post.

I would add this though. For BIG bear country (browns) that S&W 28-2 in your list would suffice with the heaviest wide metplat, SWC gas checked, hard cast bullet driven very hard. If...If you can put it where it needs to go but that goes regardless of caliber. That gun is going to be night/day different from your previous 340 experience and it's got the juice to shoot those fire breathing heavyweights. Put some .38 +Ps in it for practice and plinking and you might even think it a rimfire in comparison. The 27/28 is the only S&W you can really shoot full house .357s through in quantity without much fear of shooting them loose. Even the L frames will shoot loose with lots of rounds. I'm like Det-Sog, the L frame is my favorite. But the N frame is the real workhorse. Rugers are great, but they'll never have that sweet S&W trigger. Lock time is just too long, but they are tanks.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Went out and shot her for the first time. Single action was so smooth and easy. Double needs some work. Kept my double action shots on an 8x11 target at 15yds, but they weren't grouped all that well. Shot some 38s, 38+p, and 357Magnum. The 357 loads, with the wood grips, werent all that fun. I've since changed out to the rubber grips. Doesn't look near as good, but form over function.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

She gets nice and dirty quickly...

[shadowrider]

That DA trigger will get better with use. About 5000 cycles and it'll be slicked up just as good as any gunsmith could charge you for. After you've put some serious dryfire stick a Wilson Combat kit or equivalent Wolff springs in it and you just might find yourself liking DA better than SA. People look at me like I have a horn growing out of my forehead when I say that but it's true. Congrats and welcome to the dark side.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

That DA trigger will get better with use. About 5000 cycles and it'll be slicked up just as good as any gunsmith could charge you for. After you've put some serious dryfire stick a Wilson Combat kit or equivalent Wolff springs in it and you just might find yourself liking DA better than SA. People look at me like I have a horn growing out of my forehead when I say that but it's true. Congrats and welcome to the dark side.

It's a fun gun to dryfire for sure. I stopped myself from buying a SW Model 19 Carry Comp recently, but I will say that revolvers are a lot of fun.