FOR HUNTING

Coincidentally, the above-listed revolvers all have barrel length configurations longer than 4 inches, which means for hunting, you can’t go wrong with any of our Top 10 picks.

Some of these revolvers already have a vent rib or come out of the factory drilled and tapped for attaching a scope mount, others don’t. But I doubt mounting a scope would be a problem. The cheapest SR38, being a S&W 686 clone, should be able to use a S&W 686 scope mount without too many problems.

The .357 Magnum can easily take deer, even up to 133 yards as demonstrated by Fred Eichler, a renowned handgun hunter. What’s important when shopping for a hunting revolver is the barrel length. I’d want a barrel length minimum of at least five inches for accuracy but generally I’d just go with a six-inch barrel.

FOR CONCEALED CARRY

If you want a revolver for concealed carry, we can only recommend these models:

1. Chiappa Rhino with 2” barrel
2. Kimber K6s with 2” barrel
3. S&W 360
4. Ruger SP101 with 2.25” barrel
5. Taurus 617 7-shot
6. EAA Windicator with 2” barrel

I would say for a CCW piece, carrying a ultra-compact or a sub-compact semi-auto makes more sense because it is smaller, lighter and have more ammo capacity. By its design, .357 Magnum revolvers just aren’t as easy to carry concealed. If you’re carrying one concealed, you’ll want a revolver with a 2-inch barrel so you can easily conceal it.

That isn’t to say 4-inch barrel revolvers can’t be concealed. It can be done. It’s just not going to be easy.

Of the six CCW recommendations, the most affordable option is the EAA Windicator, the one with the highest ammo capacity is the Taurus 617 and the lightest is the S&W 360 (which allows you to carry it all day without getting sore, but it will have the worst recoil).

FOR ALL OTHER THINGS

If you’re looking for a general purpose beater gun that you can put in the car’s glove compartment, in a backpack while hiking or in a tackle box while fishing, we would recommend any of the revolvers we looked at that has a 3-inch or a 4-inch barrel.

I’m particularly biased toward these three because they’re the most affordable (I wouldn’t weep over any of these if they were stolen or something):

1. Taurus 692 with 3” barrel
2. Sarsilmaz SR38 with 4” barrel
3. EAA Windicator with 4” barrel

If you want a high-end revolver for range shooting and competitions that can double up as a night stand gun for home defense, just get the most expensive revolver you can buy. I would personally pick between the MR88 and the Dan Wesson 715 for those purposes but it really depends on your budget.

CONCLUSION

There are hundreds (maybe even more than a thousand) of good .357 Magnum revolvers out there. It’s just impossible to cover them all in a single write-up.

If there’s a particular revolver brand or model that you’re interested in but wasn’t covered in this article, feel free to comment down below. We’ll help you decide if it’s a good fit.

As for me, it took me a few weeks to gather all the info on this article and complete the whole write-up. It was exhausting. But with all the wonderful .357 Magnum revolver options on the market today, I knew that making recommendations was going to be really tough.

Then again, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Having more than a few options to choose from is always good for us consumers because we get to choose. And with choice, there is power.

This article by Mike Ramientas originally appeared at Gun News Daily.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.