would you pick a 357 pistol or a 45 colt for a gun fight

[JerryB]

[4t5]

.357, plenty of power, and no cases left behind. Plus it fits my hand better.

[JimT]

Yes I would.
IF there were no way to avoid it.
The best place to be in a gunfight is not there.

[Griff]

Neither, 45Auto.

[GunnyMack]

12 ga and 3" 4buck provided there was some distance betwixt. Then ill stick with my 40 short & weak.

[ollogger]

I carry a Ruger sp 101 most of the time, so if it happens it would be the 357
inside the house, what ever is most handy




ollogger

[Rockrat]

I would take a 45Colt pistol over a 357 mag.

[Twodot]

By the way the question is worded is sounds like I have a choice.
If I have a choice I'm not going into a gun fight, or any other kind for that matter.
..

[Scott Tschirhart]

Yes I would.
IF there were no way to avoid it.
The best place to be in a gunfight is not there.

This is the right answer

[AJMD429]

.
45 Colt beats 357 Mag in my opinion. Bigger hole less ear damage

45 ACP in between but my 1911 (ParaOrd P-14) holds 14 rounds and that would make me prefer it over either revolver.

Best choice avoid gunfight.

Next best choice is if the other guy(s) have pistols, show up with a rifle or shotgun. If they have rifles have a bigger rifle or a bazooka, and if they have shotguns have dynamite or grenades. Even better call in a Warthog and seek cover.

Sadly most of those aren't legal options.
Happily 'avoiding' usually works.

[jeepnik]

In the spirit of what the OP ask, .357 mag. However I would prefer in in my Desert Eagle over any of my wonderful S&W revolvers. The DE has a higher capacity and more rapid reloading.

[44shooter]

45 Colt if we are talking six guns like the SAA or Blackhawk. I would pick a 8 shot 357 N frame over a model 25 on the same frame. I would honestly feel well armed with either round but hate to fight with either if that makes sense

[1894cfan]

Neither, I'd be at home sipping on a beer! However, if it came to me I'd grab my thirty carbine loaded with speer 110 HPs!

[kaschi]

I'd call the cops and let them handle it. That's what they get paid to do.

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Ray, it’s funny how folks show their ignorance on the Internet. Even those cowboy action loads will go through most folks with no difficulty.

[Griff]

Ray, it’s funny how folks show their ignorance on the Internet. Even those cowboy action loads will go through most folks with no difficulty.

If you really need a laugh, look up specs on the standard 38 Spl load w/a 158 grain RN. Then look up the spec for that same manufacturer's "Cowboy Action" ammo.

[COSteve]

Even though I have both, plus a 45acp, my answer, absent being able to depart would be neither. I'd pick my custom 6" Glock 10mm with it's 17+1 capacity of my 200grn hardcast handloads. It's my bear stopper choice so a 2 legged critter would be in a world of hurt.

[wvfarrier]

I am a lover of all things 357 mag however starting out with a .452 diameter hole is always the right answer

[wvfarrier]

The 3 white marked shots were Freedom Munitions 255 FMJ-FP, very disappointing for $1/rd

The orange were handloaded Berry's 185 grain Hybrid Hollowpoints sized .452 with 12 grains of Accurate #5 (max standard load)
Recoil was very mild.

The red are Rimrock Bullets 255 grain LRN-FP sized .452 with 7.5 grains of Titegroup. Again, mild recoil.

The blue were my favorite. These are handloaded 300 grain XTPs, sized .452 with 19 grains of Lil Gun. The recoil was easily on par or slightly stouter than 30-30. This is a +P load.

[Pisgah]

Hmmm... .357 or .45 Colt?

My answer: Yes!

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I don’t think you can go wrong with the old .45 Colt

[jkbrea]

I dont have a .45 colt anymore but I really liked it. I carry a S&W model 686 7 shot .357 with a 3" barrel. It's a great carry gun with Buffalo Bore while packing ellk or hiking in big critter country.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I dont have a .45 colt anymore but I really liked it. I carry a S&W model 686 7 shot .357 with a 3" barrel. It's a great carry gun with Buffalo Bore while packing ellk or hiking in big critter country.

.357 can be extremely effective. No flies on that.

[Sixgun]

Although there are probably no people here who have experience in shooting people to any major degree, I’d have to go with people who have the experience in shooting lots of living beings………The WW2 vets, along with the British in WW1……. and they said slow moving big bore calibers always work.

The GI’s in ww 2 said the 45 auto always worked, even with weak ball bullets, as the gun writers say. Gun writers are no more knowledgeable than we are, but military vets are. The 45 auto is no different than the 45 Long Colt in factory loading and that cartridge would make a mess of the the Moro Muslims and more than a few Indians.

Jeff Cooper said the 45 auto would flip those skinny Nips head over tail. They just didn’t shoot enough of them.

That’s why I choose n frame Smiths and Colts in big calibers and 2” barrels.

The Lone Ranger also liked the 45 Long Colt. He saved Tonto more than once. I personally saw the Lone Ranger (on TV ) shoots the guns out of bad peoples hands from 50’ away and those guns went flying in the air. One time Tonto did it with an arrow and the gun fell straight down.

[JimT]

THE FINAL WORD OF AUTHORITY ... from the Lone Ranger himself!

Thank you Sixgun.

[.45colt]

When the Boogie Man comes around..... as Keith said "when You need a Gun, You need it badly" . If I have a choice the handguns will take the day off and My A5's with 00buck and slugs come out to play.

[JimT]

Thinking about this subject and remembering times when an emergency happened that required I grab a gun, I don't believe I ever made a conscious choice as to caliber. I needed a gun immediately and took what was at hand. Sometimes it was a shotgun. Sometimes it was a rifle. Sometimes it was a handgun. When I needed a gun RIGHT NOW I used what was available. Sometimes it was a .22 rimfire. Several times it was a 9mm. A few times it was a derringer in .38 Special.

Those occasions did not always involve humans, but animals that were into our livestock or were threatening my family.

[Sixgun]

Dang Jim…you’ve had many encounters. We get em around here too…last summer I hear four large bangs and didn’t pay it no mind until later in the day when I was taking Miss Apple for a walk and found a still moving (but not going far ) snapper about 16” in diameter with four bullet holes in him.(or her). So that was maybe 8-10 hours AFTER hearing the shots and it was still alive.

My BIL was cutting my in laws pasture……….

So…..I did a CSI investigation, roped everything off, and recovered partial evidence ….2 out of the four cases……9 MM!!!!!!!!

I finished off the turtle with a Ruger .22 OM SS with a CCI TARGET load…….one shot to the head.

Moral of the story……place your shots…

[Walt]

Beginning in 1970 I drove an ambulance in town for a couple of years, then worked in a busy emergency room for several years thereafter. Let me preface this by saying that what people do to one another and to themselves is inhumane and tragic. This discussion is about firearm performance. I have witnessed gunshot wounds of many different calibers, delivered in several ways. Wounding with .22 caliber cartridges is probably the most unpredictable and I have seen both death and also the totally erratic behavior of .22 lr in gunshot injuries. Performance using .38 spec is also very unreliable. Head shots may be lethal immediately or may cause serious injury which results in death days later. I have seen body shots to the lower abdomen in thin young males which did not come close to complete penetration. Gunshot wounds involving larger calibers become much more lethal from this point on. I have seen results of gunshot wounds from .45 ACPs to .44 mags and it's no surprise that these rounds do much more damage on their way through the human body though death may or may not be immediate. Suicide deaths by rifle or shotgun are explosive to say the least and most of those in my experience were head shots. A great deal of the response to gunshot injuries lies in the condition of the victim, whether that person is on drugs or whether adrenalin levels are maxed. Some gunshot victims came in "shot to pieces" and lived long enough to make it to the ER before they parted ways with life.
My feeling is to do your utmost to avoid situations that may lead to gunshots. Even if a ruling of self-defense is established and you are exonerated, civil suits will follow in all probability. The consequences of those may ruin you.

[Sixgun]

Thanks Walt….TRUE words of wisdom from someone who has seen it and not read about it.—-006

[Walt]

Sadly, a significant proportion of the suicides I encountered at the time were young men recently returned from Vietnam. Those young soldiers suffered from PTSD which was essentially unrecognized at the time or they had severe drug problems developed during their time in Vietnam. Others took their own lives when the wives and girlfriends they had left behind upon deployment had moved on in their absence. What a shame.

[J Miller]

S&W 25-5 .45 Colt. Hits hard and I might keep some of what hearing I have left.


Joe

[3leggedturtle]

Wouldnt matter, I shoot both equally well. Which one do you shoot better or more accurately? Which one us mire familiar to you?

[Marlin32]

I guess you could look at it this way...
what would you want your opponent to be shooting? a 357 or a 45 Colt?

I recently purchased a Charter Arms Bulldog XL in 45 Colt. 2.5" barrel, weighs about 23 ozs.
Been shooting Hornady 185gr and Underwood 135gr selfdefense loads throught it.
Both shoot very well (at 10 yards) and recoil quite manageable.

I dont think I will be running at full blown 45 colt loads through it though. LEave that for the Vaquero.

Pretty sure either caliber would ruin someone's day.

[Grizz]

I vote for the smallest diameter with the lowest round count for the attacker. it's the reason i switched to semi-auto >>> I don't want to run dry first . . .

that said, I literally pray earnestly that I won't have to . . . grizz

[piller]

My only experience with shooting at and being shot back at is in video games. Not realistic at all. The Army trained us for battle, but I never had to go during my time as a volunteer. If I had no choice other than a handgun, I would use either caliber to make my way to a rifle or a 12 gauge. Based on my experience with hunting, though it is not much when compared to many others on here, I would probably grab the .45 Colt first due to having shot it much more than my .357 and I know right where the bullet is going to hit when shooting at paper. That should help a little when under extreme conditions that demand shot placement. I do not choose to be in a gunfight if given the choice. By being alert, I have slipped out twice when I saw a robbery with gun shots about to happen. My wife did not notice anything either time and got upset that I pulled her outside and called 911. She was still talking when shots were fired inside the stores. I do not shop in Dallas anymore.

[Ray]

Deleted.

[marlinman93]

If my only choice was the .357 or .45 Colt, the .45 Colt will always win out. Of course I'd take the .45 ACP if I had anything to choose.

[Ysabel Kid]

Yes I would.
IF there were no way to avoid it.
The best place to be in a gunfight is not there.

This is the right answer

Yes it is. You win every gunfight you can avoid.

But, I would feel well-healed with either a .45 Colt or a .357 Magnum if push came to shove.

[Streetstar]

I shared the tale of the shooting in my office parking lot last week.

They gun I had closest at hand was my Sig 238 (small 1911 profile 380 loaded with +p defense loads). After that encounter It has been replaced in the glovebox by my Glock 19 but the 238 still rides in a pocket holster (First rule of a gun fight is to have a gun

But at home, the nightstand gun is my Colt Lawman 357. So I suppose for me it’s 357 for the win. I like D-A revolvers so I would love to try an S&w 25, I send a bit of 45 down range with my trapper so a companion revolver would be cool. I thought they had briefly an anaconda colt chambered in 45. What a cool bump in the night revolver that would be

That said, the Lawman as always kind of been considered the lowest tier ugly step child of the cool double action family. However I did not know that when I bought mine for 180 bucks in 1997. it is as comfortable to me as anything and I would do very well if I could shoot my new python as well as the familiar old lawman

[oldebear1950]

my brother and I like the rossi judge, 410 shotgun special loads and 45 colt, alternating,
I also like my 45 colt sixgun, that round been doing the job since 1873, and not looking back. if it was good enough then is still good enough

[oldebear1950]

best thing about revolvers point and shoot. and that is hard to beat. No slides, no safeties, no gizmos to worry about.
I also love my old Ruger security six, 357, point and shoot

[Eddie Southgate]

Either one would be fine.

[mickbr]

45 colt but with -230 grain gold dot JHP handloads . They open to 70cal at under 900fps. In fact this bullet still expands under 800fps. I like similar load of 900fps in 44 special with 200gn gold dots. I am an ex-357 junkie but prefer the bigger slower cals now as they are much easier on my earballs.

[piller]

.357 Magnum is kinda tough on the ears when coming out of a pistol.

[windy]

Lemat revolver. Win it or duck away in the smoke.
windy

[JimT]

.357 Magnum is kinda tough on the ears when coming out of a pistol.

I can say from personal experience that when you fire a full house .357 from a 4 5/8" barrel in an adrenaline-filled experience you don't even hear it, consciously. I've had the same experience with high velocity rifles.