cas calibers

[Deadeye Dick]

********44-40********

[Tensleep]

  .45 is cheaper than .38 if you buy .38 but reload .45 after your first box.

and if you reload, then .38 is cheaper... 

45 LC has the most options in pistol and rifle as well

DO WHAT? 
Where did that info come from?

[August]

I don't know the answer for all over the world, but around here (Southern Arizona) the answer is .38 special and 38/40.  New guys seem to show up with .45 Colt's stuff, but soon migrate to .38 special or .38 W.C.F.

[Sawed-Off]

Something I hadn't thought about before - in a given model, the .38 will be heavier than the .45 due to having a smaller hole in the barrel. This might not matter to some folks, and to others, it might.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Saw-Doff;  That issue was discussed at length a while back when advice was sought for calibers for the ladies.  It works out, if you use the .45 Cowboy Special, and the EPP UGG bullet.

[Shadow Catcher]

            I agree with Ten Sleep, about the shotgun being #1 in home protection, but I will add that if you choose a 38/357, only load 38 special ammo in it, the 357 will go through walls and could do damage to a loved one or neighbor, not to mention take there life.

                                         tEN wOLVES   

Not to pick a fight or anything - but if you're gonna shoot at a bad guy that may be a threat - would you want to shoot at  him with a round that couldn't penetrate sheet-rock.  Heck - I can do that with my fist!  I want to shoot him with the most effective round I can - and choosing to down load from .357 to .38 seems a might  . . .wrong.

Shadow Catcher

[Jrw8214]

Not to pick a fight or anything - but if you're gonna shoot at a bad guy that may be a threat - would you want to shoot at  him with a round that couldn't penetrate sheet-rock.  Heck - I can do that with my fist!  I want to shoot him with the most effective round I can - and choosing to down load from .357 to .38 seems a might  . . .wrong.

Shadow Catcher

I agree here. I keep a .357 for home defense. I dont care if it goes through the wall so long as it goes through the intruder first.

[Professor Honeyfuggler]

Think "collateral damage."

For home defense, most experts agree that higher power FMJ rounds (like .357 Magnum vs. .38 Special for example) are not the best choice. You don't want bullets going through walls with the risk of hitting your own family. or the folks in the apartment next door. A .357 can go through two layers of drywall and still do nasty damage on the other side.

If you do want the higher stopping power, a safer option is the special "home defense" bullets offered that either aggressively mushroom or fragment when they hit a hard surface. 

Taurus currently has had a sales phenomenon on its hands with The Judge, precisely because of this "shoot the intruder, not the baby in the next room" concern. Loaded with 6 rounds of .410 buckshot the Judge packs a lot of "GO AWAY!" in a small, portable package.

Personally my choice is my 12 ga. Coach Gun, not in the least because I get so much practice with it at SASS shoots. After all, a SASS shoot is a pretty decent combat shooting course, only in funny clothes. 

[Marshal Deadwood]

Do you know what a .38speical is ? It's a .45 set on 'stun.'

MD   * not the whimp posse

[Aggie Desperado]

My personal favorite is the 44-40, changing off occasionally to the 45 LC.  Both loaded with a case full of black powder and a soft cast bullet.

I have a new personal defense theory - use either of these rounds and by the time I torch off a couple of rounds of black powder, I'll fill the room with so much smoke a bad guy will never see me.  Then I can escape, if I haven't put him down.