2",4",6" barrel
.357 taurus 2" barrel is this firearm good or bad for cc,home d,an target practice?
what barrel length is best for these uses above?
what barrel length is best for these uses above?
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Great for cc, pretty good for home, poor for target.
Ideally you'll have a longer barrel for target, since more distance between the front and rear sight will increase accuracy.
Not to say you can't target shoot with the short barrel...0 -
Jrob: HD and CC is what this is designed for for us "average" shooters, not a target gun. I have worked with many of these in .38 spec and .357. "IF" you purchase one be sure you fire with heavy defense ammo with several loadings fired in repetition. The heated metal sometimes will close the gap between the barrel and cylinder and then you no longer can rotate the cylinder. This can be corrected easily by returning the gun to the factory or having a gun smith open the gap a little. It doesn't normally happen with light load practice ammo, and you should always check the firearm with the ammo to be used for HD or CC anyway.
Best of luck0 -
quote:Originally posted by jrobgun
.357 taurus 2" barrel is this firearm good or bad for cc,home d,an target practice?
what barrel length is best for these uses above?
In terms of brand, I'd personally prefer a Smith and Wesson or Ruger revolver, but a Taurus could certainly do a good job too. The Taurus revolver gun action itself is effectively a clone of the Smith and Wesson.
Most people who carry revolvers concealed (myself included) prefer a 2" barrel as its the lightest and most concealable. Pretty much the whole point of small snubnose revolvers is that they're intended for self-defense concealed carry. If you're talking about the Taurus 5-shot small frame snubnose .357, that would be a great concealed carry choice.
Ultimately barrel size on a concealed carry gun is up to you. If your anatomy and dress-style is such that you can get away with concealing a bigger gun, and want to do it, there is nothing wrong with doing that. There are people who carry 3" barrel guns, and a few who carry 4" barrel guns. More than 4", I think, starts to push the envelope in terms of what's concealable, though its not impossible to go longer with a shoulder-holster under a jacket, etc.
Note that usually the FRAME size on guns with longer barrels is also bigger. The usual snubnose is built on a small frame. Once you go to the medium frame, you're taking about a much heavier and overall larger gun.
I have on occasion carried a 4" barrel revolver, but basically only in the Northeast winter covered by a heavy jacket. I simply couldn't get away with doing it during warm weather.
For home defense, a 2" bbl gun could work fine.
Personally speaking, I'll often use the same small .38 snubnose I have for concealed carry for home defense too. In my opinion, less is more. There are a few advantages to having only one gun, and one of the biggest is just increased skill with it.
Again, if you wanted to go to a longer barrel for home defense, you could. I'd say keep it at 4" or shorter, though. In my opinion, longer than 4" makes the gun harder to draw, handle and point quickly, and also makes it easier to grab away from you. You don't need a long barrel for indoor or close range shooting.
For target shooting, a longer barrel is generally better. Longer distances between the sights decreases the effect of small aiming imprecision on your part. In a target gun, you'd also probably want adjustable sights, though you don't necessarily need them in a defensive gun where they can snag and where pinpoint accuracy isn't necessary.
For PURE target shooting (or hunting) where accuracy is paramount (eg formal competition) usually the longer the better, though you do get to a point where the gun itself become unwieldy. I like a 6" barrel, though there is nothing wrong with a 7.5" or even the "Dirty Harry" 8-3/8" Smith magnum barrel.0 -
Blast and recoil from two inch barrels is severe and lessens as barrel length increases.
I wouldn't own a 2" 357 revolver.
Consider 3 1/2" minimum for this caliber or larger.
Magnaporting a 2" barrel to reduce recoil will both blind and deafen you at night.0 -
v35 brings out what I consider the most important point mentioned in this thread. If a person's shooting experience is limited to shooting in the light with hearing protection it is hard to realize the blinding muzzle flash and deafening noise from a short barreled .357 magnum at night when you have no ear protection. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by v35
Blast and recoil from two inch barrels is severe and lessens as barrel length increases.
I wouldn't own a 2" 357 revolver.
Consider 3 1/2" minimum for this caliber or larger.
Magnaporting a 2" barrel to reduce recoil will both blind and deafen you at night.
Speaking as someone who DOES own a 2" .357, I largely agree. . .BUT, there is no law that says that you HAVE to load the thing with full-tilt 158 grain .357s.
You can load it with ordinary .38s, .38+Ps, or even relatively weak 110 grain .357s. If you load it with .38s, the gun is functionally identical to a .38, and that's still probably THE standard in concealed carry firearms.
Also, pretty much ANY of the snubnoses will make a fairly big flash in the dark. Its far worse with a .357, but even a regular J-frame .38 makes a pretty impressive fireball if you fire it in the dark!
On recoil, with an all steel gun and a two-handed grip .357 magnum recoil is manageable from a snubnose with a little practice. If you're talking about some lightweight alloy frame gun. . .ouch. . .not good in .357.
I agree you don't want to magnaport any defensive gun, but now we're getting way off topic. .0
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