Naked Snake

Kyka said:

So actually the thing that stands out the most in that pic is the price tag on the box, coz it highlights something that must be really common to you and really rare to me..... well I'm sure this all sounds really dumb.

I suspect that is the price of the bullets/caps, not the gun :)

I <3 revolvers.

Kyka said:

Well, IMO (though I know next to nothing about guns) it is a great looking handgun.

I think Australia (where I am from) has such a different culture in regards to guns. I have never even held a handgun, much less a rifle or an assault rifle or anything like that. Tell the truth, I only know one person who even owns a gun, and it is one of those high level target shooting guns like they use in winter olympic sports. No one else I know has one in their house.

So actually the thing that stands out the most in that pic is the price tag on the box, coz it highlights something that must be really common to you and really rare to me..... well I'm sure this all sounds really dumb.

Anyway, it is a great looking gun. That is all that I am qualified to say about it.. :)

I've never held an assault rifle either. In the USA, to legally own an assault rifle (a fully-automatic firearm, AKA a machinegun) you have to pay a $200 tax to the ATF, fill out a form, get prior permission from the local police department's head and the cheapest transferable (civilian legal, in other words) full-autos are $3,000 Mac-10s.

But yes, the culture is quite different, though it wasn't always that way. Australia used to have a tradition of firearm ownership, but fears of Communists put an end to that.

I am sure that the .36 caliber cap and ball revolvers would be legal in Australia, in Australia, you can own a semi-automatic handgun as long as it's in a caliber no greater than .38 (.38 inches of an inch).

Kyka said:

lol. I sorta figured that. :P



That is probably right. You know more than I do and I live here. I think that the police in Victoria (SE Australia for those who aren't up on their Aussie Geography) use .38 revolvers as their sidearms.

Tho do you know if that means that you could own a .357 magnum or a Deagle or something like that here? They are apparently very powerful handguns.(I only know about those guns coz I have seen them on the movies.) On account of .357 < .38. Just outta interest.

Actually, .38 caliber pistols are all .35 caliber (an exception being the .38-40, which is actually .40 caliber). They were originally labeled .38 because they were loaded with heeled base lead bullets, which have the same diameter as the outside of the case (which is .38). In the last decade of the 19th/first decade of the 20th century most ammunition transferred over from heeled base bullets to either uniform diameter cast lead bullets or jacketed bullets. These have the inside diameter of the case, which in the case of .38s was .35. The same thing happened with the .44s, which now actually measure .43.

Anyway, the great majority of handguns are anemic compared to a shotgun or rifle. The Desert Eagle is possible the most overrated handgun in existance too. To quote a fellow gun enthusiast, "The Desert Eagle weighs almost as much as a Ruger Mini-14 rifle, yet the Mini-14 is more powerful, more accurate, and has a greater ammunition capacity." If you talk about the Desert Eagle to about any gun hobbyist they will laugh. Especially if you refer to it as a "Deagle," which brands someone as a computer gamer wannabe.

Anyway, back to the .357 Magnum. It is a pretty cool cartridge, but as someone who owns a S&W Model 28 .357, don't expect it to be an earthshaking experience. It is really just a hot .38; which is to be expected, as the .357 is based on a .38 case lengthened by an eighth of an inch and loaded to around 50-75% higher pressure. The nice thing about this is you can shoot .38s out of .357 guns, as they are cheaper and recoil less.

The magnum doesn't kick excessively (which is actually nice) and is pretty accurate. The most notable feature is the muzzle blast, which resembles a centerfire rifle. However, the actual effect on the target isn't close to a shotgun slug or centerfire rifle. Having bought my S&W intending to hunt deer with it, I personally wouldn't try to kill anything deer-sized with the gun outside 30-40 yards.

But anyways, to a new shooter I would not reccomend the .357 as a first gun. It is too expensive to shoot, and even though the recoil is not offensive to someone with a moderate amount of experience it would be distracting to a neophyte. Get a .22 instead to learn the basics (ammunition is about a tenth the cost per round compared to .38s, much less the .357s - plus there is negligible recoil), but if you have a bit of experience and are looking for a second pistol the .357 is a great choice, as it can be loaded with several different power levels of ammunition and is quite versatile.