Jim March Senior Member

Join Date: February 14, 1999 Location: Pittsburg, CA, USA Posts: 7,413

Just for fun: my ranking and notes on the strongest 357s out there.



On this scale, the FA353 is at the very top, while a really crappy critter like the EAA Windicator in 357 is at the bottom.



Freedom Arms 353: This was a five-shot built on their large frame, same as the 454Casull. "Insanely strong" doesn't even begin. Loading data specific to this gun exists, and must NOT ever be used in any other 357Magnum gun, period, end of discussion...with the *possible* exception of our second place gun (see below). See also:



Blowup Resistance Strength: 10



Action Strength: 10



Ruger Redhawk in 357: Approximately 5,000 of these beasts ever shipped. As with the FA353, loading data to take advantage of the over-strength exists.



Warning: trying to handload a particular cartridge for use in an abnormally strong gun is dangerous and is for experienced handloaders only! What happens is, you get to a point where tiny increases in powder can cause significant "spikes" in pressure.



Blowup Resistance Strength: 9



Action Strength: 9.5, possibly 10.



Ruger Large-Frame Single Actions in 357 (Old Vaquero, post-1972 Blackhawk):



Still built on the 44Magnum-class frames, the cylinder is slightly shorter than the Redhawk357 and the cylinder is fractionally less beefy. These are still very stout guns and some people goose their 357 loads in these safely. As with the warning above in red, this is not very safe unless you really know what you're doing.



Blowup Resistance Strength: 8.5



Action Strength: 10



Vintage S&W N-Frame six-shot 357s (Registered Magnum, Models 27 and 28): Here we see a serious disparity between the two types of strength. Shooting these rapid-fire with low-powered 38Spl will batter the action parts flat as they try to start and stop that big cylinder quickly.



Blowup Resistance Strength: 8.5



Action Strength: 4



Ruger Mid-Frame 357s (Pre-1973 Blackhawks in 357, New Vaquero and Montado in 357, 50th Anniversary Blackhawk Flattop in 357 from 2005): Action parts are all basically the same as the large-frame types (including parts interchangeability) so here we see a gun with a strong action but a slightly smaller cylinder.



Blowup Resistance Strength: 7



Action Strength: 10



Ruger GP100, S&W 686, Colt Trooper Mk4/Cobra, Dan Wesson 715: These guns are about the same strength class. The GP100 may have a slight edge but to me, I'd rather have a GP100 of all of these because of the easy takedown, alteration and maintenance.



Blowup Resistance Strength: 6



Action Strength: 8 (S&W arguably 7 or so)



Ruger Service/Security/Speed Six series, Ruger SP101: I put these in roughly the same category, and they're the "weakest" guns here that I would feel comfortable shooting large diets of stout ammo in (assuming my wrists held out!).



Blowup Resistance Strength: 5



Action Strength: 7 or 8



Colt SAA, post-WW2, most of the better-quality clones such as Uberties and Piettas post-2001: Take a gun originally meant as a 45 and set it up as a 357, and you get a beefy cylinder same as the NewVaq357.



(USFA doesn't chamber their SAA-class guns in 357 due to issues with the firing pin and a desire to cater to the SASS crowd with 38Spl.)



Blowup Resistance Strength: 7 (slightly less for the Italians but it's not much less...pre-2001, drop it half a point...)



Action Strength: 5 (NOTE: this is due to weaker flat-springs, but they're easy to fix. The rest of the action is otherwise pretty robust, so this number is in some ways "unfairly low". Also, very high quality Wolff springs or the like can help, and there's some aftermarket partial coil-spring conversions available.)



Colt Python: Another case of "strong gun, somewhat delicate action".



Blowup Resistance Strength: 6



Action Strength: 4



S&W K-Frame 357s (Model 19, 66, etc.): Here's an odd case: they have a weakness at the base of the barrel, where they can crack at high round counts or after too many very hot 125gr or less loads. The numbers below assume no such abuse...and given the availability of quality 158gr loads, such abuse isn't necessary.



Blowup Resistance Strength: 5



Action Strength: 5



S&W steel J-Frame 357s (Model 60, etc.): Surprisingly tough little critters...



Blowup Resistance Strength: 4.5?



Action Strength: 5



Ruger LCR357: This is basically guesswork on my part, and here's why: first, they haven't been out long enough for solid reports at high round counts and because they're only 17oz, few people are going to shoot them enough to track such!



I suspect that with their steel primary frame and cylinder, they're tougher than an S&W Scandium snubby.



Blowup Resistance Strength: 3 to 4?



Action Strength: 5?



EAA Windicator in 357, "Comanche" from Argentina: two of the worst "357s" I know of. I've seen credible reports of the Windicators falling apart rapidly due to basic metallurgy problems, and I've handled "Comanches" that were just beyond ghastly at one of the NRA convention halls - you'd think they'd bring their best stuff there but if they did, dear God, I don't even want to think about what their version of a "bad monday gun" looks like!!!



Blowup Resistance Strength: 1



Action Strength: 1



---



This should generate some discussion . I basically stopped at the LCR357 as it's the "weakest" 357Magnum gun I could see myself ever owning. This is about which 357Mag revolvers are the "strongest". "Strength" is divided into two categories: "blowup resistance" and "action strength". The latter is about how well the gun resists going out of time, or suffering damage to the bolt stop, sear surfaces, springs, pawl/hand, cylinder ratchet or the like.On this scale, the FA353 is at the very top, while a really crappy critter like the EAA Windicator in 357 is at the bottom.This was a five-shot built on their large frame, same as the 454Casull. "Insanely strong" doesn't even begin. Loading data specific to this gun exists, and must NOT ever be used in any other 357Magnum gun, period, end of discussion...with the *possible* exception of our second place gun (see below). See also: http://www.sixguns.com/range/fa353.htm Blowup Resistance Strength: 10Action Strength: 10: Approximately 5,000 of these beasts ever shipped. As with the FA353, loading data to take advantage of the over-strength exists.Blowup Resistance Strength: 9Action Strength: 9.5, possibly 10.(Old Vaquero, post-1972 Blackhawk):Still built on the 44Magnum-class frames, the cylinder is slightly shorter than the Redhawk357 and the cylinder is fractionally less beefy. These are still very stout guns and some people goose their 357 loads in these safely. As with the warning above in red, this is not very safe unless you really know what you're doing.Blowup Resistance Strength: 8.5Action Strength: 10(Registered Magnum, Models 27 and 28): Here we see a serious disparity between the two types of strength. Shooting these rapid-fire with low-powered 38Spl will batter the action parts flat as they try to start and stop that big cylinder quickly.Blowup Resistance Strength: 8.5Action Strength: 4(Pre-1973 Blackhawks in 357, New Vaquero and Montado in 357, 50th Anniversary Blackhawk Flattop in 357 from 2005): Action parts are all basically the same as the large-frame types (including parts interchangeability) so here we see a gun with a strong action but a slightly smaller cylinder.Blowup Resistance Strength: 7Action Strength: 10: These guns are about the same strength class. The GP100 may have a slight edge but to me, I'd rather have a GP100 of all of these because of the easy takedown, alteration and maintenance.Blowup Resistance Strength: 6Action Strength: 8 (S&W arguably 7 or so): I put these in roughly the same category, and they're the "weakest" guns here that I would feel comfortable shooting large diets of stout ammo in (assuming my wrists held out!).Blowup Resistance Strength: 5Action Strength: 7 or 8: Take a gun originally meant as a 45 and set it up as a 357, and you get a beefy cylinder same as the NewVaq357.(USFA doesn't chamber their SAA-class guns in 357 due to issues with the firing pin and a desire to cater to the SASS crowd with 38Spl.)Blowup Resistance Strength: 7 (slightly less for the Italians but it's not much less...pre-2001, drop it half a point...)Action Strength: 5 (NOTE: this is due to weaker flat-springs, but they're easy to fix. The rest of the action is otherwise pretty robust, so this number is in some ways "unfairly low". Also, very high quality Wolff springs or the like can help, and there's some aftermarket partial coil-spring conversions available.): Another case of "strong gun, somewhat delicate action".Blowup Resistance Strength: 6Action Strength: 4: Here's an odd case: they have a weakness at the base of the barrel, where they can crack at high round counts or after too many very hot 125gr or less loads. The numbers below assume no such abuse...and given the availability of quality 158gr loads, such abuse isn't necessary.Blowup Resistance Strength: 5Action Strength: 5: Surprisingly tough little critters...Blowup Resistance Strength: 4.5?Action Strength: 5: This is basically guesswork on my part, and here's why: first, they haven't been out long enough for solid reports at high round counts and because they're only 17oz, few people are going to shoot them enough to track such!Blowup Resistance Strength: 3 to 4?Action Strength: 5?: two of the worst "357s" I know of. I've seen credible reports of the Windicators falling apart rapidly due to basic metallurgy problems, and I've handled "Comanches" that were just beyond ghastly at one of the NRA convention halls - you'd think they'd bring their best stuff there but if they did, dear God, I don't even want to think about what their version of a "bad monday gun" looks like!!!Blowup Resistance Strength: 1Action Strength: 1---This should generate some discussion. I basically stopped at the LCR357 as it's the "weakest" 357Magnum gun I could see myself ever owning. __________________

Jim March