Alright. First, I hope you aren't doing your own reloading. And second...
.357 has more penetration than the .44mag,,
Based on what information?
The .357 was given to police forces to have penetration and stopping power (enough to go through a car door or light armor and still kill). This was c.1900's in the era of bonny/clyde and prohibition days.
This might be true. But the .357 Magnum originally started out as a hunting cartridge, and bagged a lot of game. And the early .357 Magnum revolvers were quite expensive, so they didn't see widespread police use.
The .44 mag is a vastly underpowered round, it is just fat and big.
Elmer Keith designed both .357 and .44 Magnum rounds, and he created the .44 Magnum to surpass the .357 Magnum. Are you saying that he didn't know what he was doing, and created an inferior round of ammunition?
The .44 is a big slow moving bullet, comparable to the .45 (non-ACP, which is a larger and more powerful "law" round)
The .45 Colt and .45 ACP are of approximately equal power.
(What I mean by this is both rounds are large calibers for the small arms genre of gun. Both the .44 and the .45 are slow moving (800-1000fps without being hand loaded beyond loading specs or +P/Special)
For once a true statement. Both the .44 Special and .45 Colt are of similar qualities in their standard configurations.
The .44 is more powerful than the .45 just based on casing length and width (design)
Case length and width don't determine anything in terms of power. The original .45 Colt needed a large case in order to hold black powder, with the case being stuffed to capacity. The modern loading with smokeless powder only uses a tiny portion of the case volume, in order to keep pressures manageable.
The physics case the powder to burn slower, and most generally a revolver will have a longer barrel, causing the round to generate more velocity in the barrel.
Revolvers don't generally have longer barrels, except in specific configurations. Some have shorter barrels than semi-autos, some have longer barrels. Both have shorter barrels than single shot pistols.
Most .45 barrels are only two to three inches in length, most .44 barrels are at least 4 inches, giving the .44 more velocity.
Where the hell are you getting your information from? Modern-made .45 Colt revolvers like the S&W Model 25, and the Ruger Redhawk, both have four inch barrels.
I know that may not make much sense by saying it,, but compare a .22 caliber LR round leaving a ruger to a .22 caliber LR round leaving a deranger with a two inch barrel. Same concept. There will be muzzle flash and a loud bang, but the velocity will me substantially lower coming out of the deranger than the ruger. So without any argument, the .44 rimfire is SUBSTANCIALLY more powerful and has much more stopping power.
We aren't even talking about the .44 rimfire round. What're you doing, bringing the Henry 1860 cartridge into the equation? That's irrelevant to the discussion.
The .45 ACP is carried by many law enforcement personnel in north America in SIG226's; which is one of the most carried guns by law enforcement along with the Glock, the SIG P228 (calibers vary), The M9 or Beretta 92f or my favorite the Beretta 92R (9mm,22, or .40 cal), and the 1911.
Most of the guns you just mentioned are 9mm exclusively. Saying Glock tells us nothing about caliber, and only the 1911 is chambered in .45 ACP.
The Sig 226 is another law enforcement gun that is heavily carried. I should really say that the SIG 226 is a "service" gun and not just law enforcement. The SIG 226 was the first choice for the Navy Seals in the 70's and onwards or there abouts. (I know in 1989 the SIG P228 saw service in the Navy Seals as well) The gun has tritium night sights-H3 helium isotope that is radioactive. The SIG 226's are known to have frame failures after 5000+ rounds, this is due to being both ACP (which has a higher power) and also the fact that the slide and action is so damn heavy without much lower frame to contact. My personal favorite are the older navy seals 226 frames without the accessory rail on the bottom and tritium sights.
Early model 226s had this problem. However there's no evidence of this being the case anymore. There's no evidence that SIGs are suffering from cracking frames after such a piddly number of rounds being fired, otherwise it'd be all over the internet. It's not happening. You don't know what you're talking about.
I choose .357,,,, it is the best survival and SD gun with speedloaders or moonclips.
Reliablility is a definite strong point.
So long as the gun is well made.
Also, you run a very low chance of "limp handing the firearm", everyone from children to women can shoot these guns well with little to no instruction or training.
Limp wristing happens regardless of the gun. Some simply tolerate it better than others.
Cleaning is easy as well.
Cleaning a semi-auto isn't all that hard. Provided you don't get careless and start throwing parts because you're in a hurry.
Maintenance is relatively simple, EVEN the internals.
That depends on the maintenance you're talking about. Some of it is very labor intensive.
You could realistically purchase extra springs and parts and cnc or dremel compartments in the rubber or non rubber grips of a revolver; this would make the gun so reliable that you would not have to second guess it.
How the hell does making compartments in the grip make a revolver anymore reliable than it already is?
In my mind that is what really makes the GUN a survival gun.
There's no way the grip of a revolver has enough room to be hollowed out to carry the spare internals you're talking about.
Any kind of 1911 or Sig or Glock would not have a place for extra parts, and any broken springs or parts would render the firearm inoperable and useless. They are also much harder to service without specialty gun tools. You could (in a pinch) fashion your own gun spring if you really needed too with a 1911 or .357 or .44.
If the lock work on a Smith & Wesson should break, you're not going to be able to fix it on your own without the proper tools. Provided you know what you're even doing, and don't have the custom fit the parts to insure your cylinder timing remains accurate.
One more reason I hate .44 mag is that it is rare to find even in shooting sports stores, and it is expensive and underpowered.
Bull****. The .44 Magnum might be expensive, but it's neither rare nor under powered.
It has virtually no penetration through any sort of armor.
It's a pistol round. Pistol rounds don't have penetration through any sort of armor.
Definitely the .357 for my personal choice for a survival/SD/EDC/or other. Best option. If you want more power, go with a S&W 500 mag. You can also shoot less expensive .38 +P out of a .357, giving you yet another option when ammo becomes scarce.
Yeah, because just about every damn ganado is just dropping .500 Magnum ammo left and right.
Think about these facts and thoughts,,,
Might just save your butt.
All the best,,
Zemapeli.:thumbup:
Lots of thoughts, very little facts. Might just get your butt killed sideways.
