[Maine-Marine]

I have gone back and forth on this idea of having one caliber for both

I have long thought that it is best to have different calibers for long gun and short gun since they serve different purposes and need different ranges.

(it is good to hit a person with a 5.56/223 at 300 yards..close-quarters when you need to knock them down to stay down a 45/357/44mag is a better choice)

BUT - if you were going to go that direction, what would be the best all around caliber?? 9mm, 357, 40, 45..

there has to be a compromise between power, distance, load weight, etc

 

[65mustang]

For me it's .45 Colt.

 

[Chipper]

44mag can't beat a Marlin 1894 or a Ruger 96/44 and a S&W 629 combo. Go ahead make my day..

 

[rice paddy daddy]

44 magnum.
2nd choice 357 magnum.

 

[1skrewsloose]

Might depend on what you already have.

I have a sec 6 and klcr so been looking for a lever 357.

Even starting from scratch think I'd go with 357.

 

[Slippy]

45-70
.44 Mag
.357 Mag
5.7x28
.22 Mag

What a wish list!

(While I'm wishing, I wish I had earned more money so I could buy all of them!!!)

 

[SOCOM42]

My choice is what I already have.

Rifle is a Marlin 1894 in .357 and a S&W Mod. 66 in the same.

Rifle was made in the 70's, has Microgroove rifling instead of Ballard, but can't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Have a ton of JSP & JHP for them.

I do have a 629, 44 Mag revolver, no rifle.

For hauling it around, the 357 would make better sense, weight wise.

 

[MisterMills357]

I would say a .44 Magnum.

 

[dwight55]

(it is good to hit a person with a 5.56/223 at 300 yards..close-quarters when you need to knock them down to stay down a 45/357/44mag is a better choice)

I did the same thought analysis as you some time back . . .

Came down to figuring that it is better to be able to hit them farther out than it is to bust their butt at bad breath distance.

With that in mind . . . if I ever (God forbid) have to book out of my cave with only one rifle and one pistol . . . it'll be my 18 inch AR with the best scope I have at the time. With a suppressor . . . I can be good and deadly out to 600 yds . . . no magnum pistol cartridge can come close to that.

Companioning that will by my Rock River AR pistol. With it . . . I'll have my thermal sight . . . giving me both long distance day and night protection.

I like .45 ACP . . . .44 mag . . . .357 . . . but when they are the sidearm . . . you just hampered your rear end to no end as far as being able to shoot and scoot from a long distance . . . if it is the same caliber as your long gun.

AND . . . your magnum pistol carries at the most 8 rounds . . . mine holds 30 . . . and BTHP rounds coming out of the pistol will do anything the aforementioned rounds will do to a human being . . . and just as quickly . . . and if I have to pump 5 rounds into him . . . I can do that 6 times . . . just like your 6 shooter . . . and I'll give you a written guarantee that my bad dude will be much worse off than yours. They may be equally dead . . . but mine will have stood before Jesus a bit quicker.

Additionally . . . mine are both mag fed . . . using the same mags . . .

Truthfully . . . if I really had my choice of what to have in the stuff hitting the fan scenario . . . an M14 and a 1911 did me well in 'Nam . . . but I'm 76 now . . . not sure I'd be able to tote it like I used to.

May God bless,
Dwight

 

[Wedrownik]

If I was going to go with an all around one caliber fits all I'd go with a 9mm. Why 9mm? Because I can then benefit of a sidearm that has about 17-19 rounds mags and same could be used in the rifle. I don't see much benefit going to a common caliber and having to load a cylinder and a tube mag and be limited in the round count.

This takes me to a different issue - for rifle I would want to carry ball ammo while the sidearm would get hollow points. At that point what good is common caliber?

The way I see it, each tool has a purpose and trying to use handgun caliber as a rifle caliber it's as though you're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

As mentioned above the limitation of a handgun caliber in a rifle is effective range. Even if you go with a super optimistic 200 yards for a rifle, that's the extremely far reach of it. If you compare that to any of the rifle rounds which in a decently setup rifle will give you 500 yards plus you can see the advantage of having a rifle chambered in a rifle caliber and a sidearm chambered in a handgun caliber.

 

[stevekozak]

When talking Pistol/PCC combos, .357 is my choice. A quality revolver and a lever gun in .357 is a hard combo to beat. Yes, .44 mag is more powerful, but in the long run, I think it is also less common in most households. Winchester 92/ SW 66 fits the bill for me. Semi-auto, 9 mm most common. A Glock 19/Ruger PC Carbine combo fits that bill for me. If they ever come out with a .45 acp version of that carbine, I will have a stiffy that even a naked photo of Nancy Pelosi can't kill!

All that said, given a choice, I am going to have a proper rifle-caliber rifle backed up by a pistol of my choice.

 

[Notold63]

I am going a different route, M1903A3 in 30-06 and a browning buckmart in 22lr. The rifle for large game and defense at a distance and the pistol for small game and defense in a pinch.

 

[The Tourist]

I keep a Ruger SR22 by the bed. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, what's a .22LR going to do to an intruder whacked out on some bizarre drug? Well, any hole I leave in a wall is easy to patch. Secondly, you pump five or twelve tiny rounds into a prowler and he's concentrating on an ER hospital unit to stop his hemorrhaging. Besides, the clown will get his day in court, I'll testify, and there are lots of bikers in prison...

 

[SOCOM42]

When talking Pistol/PCC combos, .357 is my choice. A quality revolver and a lever gun in .357 is a hard combo to beat. Yes, .44 mag is more powerful, but in the long run, I think it is also less common in most households. Winchester 92/ SW 66 fits the bill for me. Semi-auto, 9 mm most common. A Glock 19/Ruger PC Carbine combo fits that bill for me. If they ever come out with a .45 acp version of that carbine, I will have a stiffy that even a naked photo of Nancy Pelosi can't kill!

All that said, given a choice, I am going to have a proper rifle-caliber rifle backed up by a pistol of my choice.

There is about a 10-1 ratio around here relating to 357Mag vs 44Mag.

I base that on how much of each round I use to sell out of here.

The availability of the .357 puts it out front with the 9MM Para.

You mentioned the 45 ACP, I did not think of it until now, I guess my Thompson and one of my 1911's would fit the bill.

I need a cart to carry 12 mags for the Thompson, sometimes for the gun also.

Back in 1963 I had a Ruger 44 Mag. carbine that would have gone with the 629 I have today.

I got that carbine right after I was discharged from the army and carried it in my car most of the time.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Go big or go home.
A BFR single action revolver in 30-30, and a Winchester 94 to go with.

 

[SOCOM42]

Go big or go home.
A BFR single action revolver in 30-30, and a Winchester 94 to go with.

Does it come with a new wrist???

 

[bigwheel]

I've had several pals over the years who loved their .357 mag rifles to match their pistols. They used to ruin some nice old .38-40 cowboy lever guns making them then along came the cute little Rossi. .357 mag has pretty good ballistics in a rifle and .38 specials for cheap plinking.
https://gunandshooter.com/best-357-magnum-ammo/

 

[1skrewsloose]

So which is it? Fiocchi ammo

The premium brass is reloadable like the other cartridges on this list

It has a Single use-case - range and target ammunition

https://gunandshooter.com/best-357-magnum-ammo/

 

[bigwheel]

I was leaning toward the Lever evolution for use in the tubular magazines in most old lever guns. So to keep from popping one off in the tube. Those spitzer bullets can reach out a ways. I bought some for my old winni 30 30 but it wouldnt feed the last one...needed a different magazine follower somebody said..so I just went back to the round nose 150 grain deer and hog loads which arent far behind ballistically and cost a bunch less. Also dont hurt to keep the gun loaded up. The plastic tips on the evolution ammo isnt made to stay in the magazine leas it distort the tips.

 

[AquaHull]

For now it's a PSA AR-9 for Glock Mags, and a G19.5,

A .357 or .44 Mag rifle would compliment the revolvers