Quote from: Local Trouble on May 17, 2019, 05:24:52 PM
Are six rounds of .357 magnum enough?
For some people, it's not. That's just the way it is. Personally, I think they just see the number 6 and start to panic. They think, "How can I defend myself with only 6 shots?"
So instead of telling you why it's enough for you, let me tell you why it's enough for me, and why I trust my life to it.
A full size 357 was my first gun. I've shot them for as long as I can remember. I'm used to it. It's what I shoot best and it's what I'm most comfortable with. I own and use speedloaders and speedstrips. I've practiced loading with both, and have been forced to load with both under significant pressure. Twice I've been caught with an unloaded revolver. Once when I was cleaning it, and once when I was foolish enough to not load it before going to bed. In both those instances, I found myself under physical and mental duress that affected my fine motor skills. And in both instances, I successfully loaded the revolver in under 2.5 seconds.
Thusly, I'm not worried about having 6 shots because 6 can become 12 in mere seconds. And 12 becomes 18, and so on. Capacity is a non issue for me personally. I have the means to reload my weapon, and the experience to do it quickly and correctly.
My personal confidence in the 6 shots is also due to the round itself. A 357 magnum isn't just a hot .38. I've shot .38+p and there's still a big difference. Now, I'm no ballistics expert. I don't reload my own ammo, I just buy ammo and shoot the guns, and I've done a lot of that with this caliber. Here in the southeast, we have mean critters, and methheads, and all kinds of things that don't necessarily go down with one shot from a 9mil.
I'm not crazy enough to try for head shots while coming out of rem sleep, nor will I just unload in all directions if I'm shot at or hear something. Life is precious. I intend to be as accurate and aware as the situation allows, but I need a firearm that's easy to use under adverse conditions and that is going to put an amen to bad business as quick as possible. I've seen what this thing can do. This round is going to go through doors and walls or windshields and still hit hard. And it's going to inflict massive damage upon direct impact with soft targets.
So what does it all come to? Basically, I've got 6 rounds of very heavy medicine, with as much on backup as I personally want. Reloading is not an issue for me, and I've done it effectively under stress. When the psycho was on the loose, I was confident in my weapon. In the dark, in the woods, in bad parts of town, I'm confident in my weapon. Every night I go to sleep, I'm confident in my weapon and my ability to use it effectively. It's a machine, and I learned to run it like anything else. As long as I feed it, it will keep firing, period.
A 6 shot 357 magnum isn't a poodle, it's a bull moose. I've never felt outgunned with one, and likely never will.