Price check: .30-30 ammo cost vs. .357 Magnum?
If you're not going to be hunting anything, my suggestion would be to go with the .357....having experience with LAR's in both calibers. .357 Magnum ammo is cheaper than .30-30 per round. How much? Depends (other answerers have already posted some prices), because there is a lot available from new premium loads to remanufactured in .357 Mag. Then you have handloads you can make yourself for even less...and last but not least, the option of shooting .38SPL! I find that to be a major "plus". The .30-30 isn't much of a long range caliber anyway, so you're not really losing a whole lot going with the .357 if you're just plinking. They both drop a bit past 100 yards but both get to 200 with some energy left (enough to ring a steel plate). If you're any sensitive to recoil, the .357 will be better in that case as well...the .30-30 isn't bad, but does snap compared to the pistol cartridge.. The other upside to the .357 is (depending on your range) using it with hot .357's on the rifle range one day, to plinking on the "pistol" range with light .38's the next. If you intend to plink any distance (beyond 50-100 yards) I'd also suggest getting one with a long barrel as opposed to the carbine (unless your heart is really set on the short ones). I don't know whats on the market today, but Winchester made a .357 M94 with a 24" barrel...long, but heck of a fun rifle. Just my 2-cents...
Is .357 magnum ammo expensive or hard to get?
Ammo in general is getting more expensive, but .357 isn't particularly expensive. For plinking I would recommend using .38 spcl because they're cheaper and will fit in a .357 and using .357 for carrying. It's not hard to get at all. I can't recall seeing anywhere that sold ammo that did not carry .357.
454 Casull vs .45 Colt vs .44 Magnum vs .44-40 Winchester vs .38/357?
Depends on where you live, where you hunt, and what you plan to shoot. These are all pistol calibers. In many states you will need a pistol permit to buy ammunition - regardless of the rifle in your hand while you are at the store, they are pistol calibers and need a permit. Likewise - you can never bring the ammo for this rifle through Canada. If you plan on buying a companion pistol - again - depends on what you are doing. 454 is usually too powerful for most fully grown men to get a decent second shot off from a pistol. The ammunition is over priced and impossible to find in some areas of the USA. 44-40 is on the short list of calibers that now currently obsolete. I have not seen a box of this stuff on any Alaskan gun shop shelf for the past 10 years. I saw some 44-40 at last week's gun show - but that was it. Unless you reload - this is not a good choice. And even if you did reload - it is still not a good choice. 45 Long Colt can be impossible to find in some parts of the urban USA. Most rural areas - Montanna, Wyoming, Alaska - you still see it on the store shelves........... however selecton of ammo projectiles is not abundant. You have no choices - what they have on the shelf is what you get. Lead is common. Good high quality jacketed ammo can be hard to find. You need to reload to get the most out of a 45LC since factory store bought ammo has been dummied down to take into consideration all the old pistols out there. 44 Mag and 357 Mag both pack quite a whallop from a rifle length barrel. Realisitcally - theese are your two best choices. Which one is best - depends on your application. The 44 will be more powerful at close range, but, is going to bleed off velocity and fall like a brick at much beyond 200 yards. You will find the 357 flies a bit flatter and would make hitting something at 250-275 yards much easier. Hope this helps.
How do you compare a Glock with a .44 Magnum?
Like my uncle used to say when I'd ask questions like this, “How long is a piece of string?”Glocks are made in a number of calibers, including .22LR, 9mm, .45ACP and 10mm, I believe. And each caliber has a number of loads.To answer your question, Glocks are automatics and most .44 Mags are revolvers.The majority of .44 Mag loads are superior to the other calibers when used against bears and other large animals. The loads sport larger bullets and may not be as effective against humans because of overpenetration and the time it takes to recoil. A 10mm is most likely the most effective of the calibers you mentioned. Jacketed hollowpoints (JHPs) are the favored bullet configuration in all non-22 calibers.For sheer stopping power, the 125-grain JHP is arguably the best for humans. It can also be used for black bears with 158+-grain jacketed bullets (shoot for the nose or mouth, not for the head). The .357 is my favorite gun for hiking, hunting, camping and fishing. It's also my favorite DUAL gun (meaning if I were Dennis Weaver in the movie DUAL, I'd most like to have a .357 and a box of ammo with me). It is great defense against people and has enough penetration to penetrate a truck!The 10mm in autos is the most effective against humans when used with 135-grain JHPs.Glocks are very dangerous autos to own because they lack a decent safety. They're very easy to accidentally discharge because if your finger or holster hits the trigger, the gun's going to go bang! Carrying it with a round up the chamber leaves you with zero take-up in the trigger, so I don't recommend it. I also don't recommend not carrying it that way because it takes up too much time to jack a round into the chamber. You're much better off with an auto that is double-action and has a safety.Recommended:Taurus PT-92 9mm auto (115gr JHP)Sig Saur auto (any caliber)Smith & Wesson 5906 (9mm),, 4506 (.45ACP), etc. (Discontinued)Ruger Stainless Security-Six, Speed-Six .357 Mag (also takes .38 Special) (Discontinued)S&W 686 .357 Mag/.38 SpecialS&W 629 .44 Mag/.44 SpecialYou can't go wrong with any of the above. There are new autos with safeties, and if so, also check out those. You can find discontinued guns online. Beware Taurus revolvers. The autos are fine, but not the revolvers in my view.
Difference between .44 magnum and .500 magnum?
44 - 230 to 350 grain bullet 500 - 325 to 500 grain bullet 44- takes a bear down in 5-6 shots 500 - takes a bear down in 1-2 shots 44 - shoot it all day and your hand won't get sore 500 - you hand hurts so much after 20 round you wonder how will you drive home. 44 - Walmart has a box of 50 for 32 bucks 500 - after searching 8 gun stores, only one store has it and its $68 for 12 rounds 44 magnum revolvers are affordable and the snubby is practical. more practical than the M500 snubby anyways. 500 magnum revolvers burn a hole in your wallet, they're huge and very heavy (that's a good thing in this caliber), the snubby is a literal hand cannon and you'd be lucky to finish the cylinder (5 shots) without a hand injury. its a good idea to reload 500. if you don't you'd be out a week's pay in 1 range trip. factory new ammo often costs more than .50 BMG reloads.
Is a 45 1911 better than a 44 magnum?
Bound's hubby here: Better is a "relative" term! Not only are you trying to compare two different action styles, you are comparing two different "classes" of cartridges. To answer which is better, you must identify the purpose/mission of the pistol. If you are talking in terms of a self defense pistol, the M1911A1 has it all over your .44 Magnum. First, the M1911A1 was designed from day one as a defense pistol. The M1911A1 allows for rapidity of reloading ... the .45ACP holds 7 rounds to your .44s presumed 6. Since the .45 ejects automatically, and the .44 doesn't ... plus to the .45. Reload time for the M1911A1 is half the time of the .44. The M1911A1's .45ACP has less perceived recoil than the .44, recovery time for follow-up shots falls to the M1911A1 ... another plus. Engage more than 1 aggressor with the .44, you may not be able to recover after the first shot for a well-placed follow-up shot. Now, if you are talking hunting, the .44 has it all over the M1911A1. The .45 just does not have the power (energy) of the .44 to stop medium sized game. The .45 Hardball is not a good choice for game, and most game-appropriate bullets will not feed reliably in the M1911A1. In addition, the .44's revolver has a greater potential for accuracy at typical handgun hunting distance ... energy and field accuracy lead to two points for the .44. However, if you are talking target shooting, you have a draw, because you will not shoot magnum rounds for target! In NRA bulls-eye competition, the .44 could be fired (using .44 Specials) in the Centerfire matches only. The match-tuned .45 can be fired in both the Centerfire and .45 events, and if your .45 is match-tuned for hardball, you are also set for "Leg" matches ... hence the M1911A1 is up for 2 or 3 events to the .44's single event ... making the .45 better. On pure statistics, the .44 is a hunting round, the .45ACP (depending on bullet choice) is a defensive round, a target round, or in some instances, a small-game round. As Clint Eastwood's charachter "Dirty Harry" was fond of saying ... "A man has got to know his limitations" ... so is true for handguns and cartridges ... you must know their limitations! Good luck!
Which is better, the .44 Magnum or the .45 ACP?
For what? The .45 was designed as a personal defense round after extensive testing that included shooting pendulums, cadavers, and live animals (in 1903). It remains one of the best rounds for that purpose.The .44 Magnum was developed ( from the .44 Special) for long-range handgun hunting by (among others) Elmer Keith and Remington Arms Co. While it can be used for personal defense, the recoil and muzzle blast make it less than optimal for that purpose. Even Dirty Harry (in Magnum Force) admitted he used a light .44 Special load at the range.
What's the difference between a .357 Magnum and a .357 SIG?
All of the answers here are correct. Just wanted to add some info. The .357 Sig was designed to replicate the ballistics of a .357 magnum, but in a form suitable for use in a semi-automatic. The original .357 magnum was an offshoot of the .38 special, which for a while was standard caliber for the police. The police wanted a more powerful round, and that was done by stretching the cartridge for the .38 special, which became the .357 magnum. The cartridge of the .357 magnum (which holds the gunpowder) is longer than the .38 to give it more “oomph”. More gunpowder=bullet moves faster. For a .357 REVOLVER, it can shoot BOTH .38 special and .357 magnum. What works for a revolver, does not necessarily translate well into a semi-auto since it uses a magazine through the pistol grip. A longer cartridge in semi-auto would make getting your hands around the pistol grip kind of difficult. To replicate the ballistics of the .357 magnum in a semi-auto, instead of making the cartridge longer (as in the .357 magnum), the cartridge was made WIDER (instead of longer). The .357 Sig uses essentially a 9mm bullet (which translates to .355 caliber) with a .40 caliber cartridge case (which holds the gunpowder). So instead of it being LONGER like the .357 magnum,, the .357 Sig is FATTER. So in short it boils down to a .357 Sig uses the same bullet as a 9mm (which is also equivalent to a .38 special), but uses a .40 caliber casing for the gunpowder.EDIT: wanted to add another point of why the .357 Sig exists that had not been brought up by other people. The .357 Sig’s advantage is that people who already have .40 cal guns is that all you have to do to shoot .357 Sig is to change the barrel. Everyhing else is the same. So basically with one gun you have the ability to shoot 2 different calibers. With a barrel swap any gun chambered in .357 Sig or .40 can shoot the other caliber. Also, there ARE semi-autos chambered in .357 magnum (most notably Desert Eagle). But here’s a photo of one next to a standard 1911 and you’ll see why semi-auto .357 magnums aren’t real “popular”.
How much does a typical outing at a shooting range cost (rental of lane and gun, ammunition, targets, protective eye and ear gear)?
How much does a typical outing at a shooting range cost (rental of lane and gun, ammunition, targets, protective eye and ear gear)?UK answer.If I shoot at a lane in our local gun club, I will need to book out what is in the armoury. The cost of gun rental is usually £1.00. This is to cover cleaning and wear and tear. If the gun is blackpowder, then I am expected to turn the gun back in at the armoury cleaned and lubricated. The hot water, brushes, cloth and spray lube is on the club, but it’s my labour.Ammunition is another cost, about £5.00 for 50 22LR and £10.00 for 50 .357 magnum. Blackpowder is usually charged by the vial as they don’t allow direct pouring from the flask. You can of course take your own ammo, but you need to observe the rules.Targets. You can buy them at the range, bring them along or print them out. We tend to use racetrack targets and buy them for about £2.00 for 5.So with the hire of a 22LR semi, New Model Army 44 and a 357 lever gun, with ammo and targets, we are looking at about forty quid plus some elbow grease on getting the residue off the revolver.