[Tater]

Good point about the Train v.s. Motorcycle. Another reason I thought the .357 might have more punch was because of stories of why the .357 came about. Back in the early 1900's cops used to carry .38's which had trouble penetrating heavy steel and stopping cars, the .357 mag was great at not only going through car bodies to hit passengers, but they were also capable of piercing the engine blocks. The .357 was issued all the way up until modern semi autos came about, some departments still used them and very few still do, but some. Now that has no bearing on the .45 LC, but does show that the .357 mag was capable of great penetration. Going back to the train vs motorcycle, knockdown power is great, but if you can't make it to any vitals then I dont know if it will do much good, so I was thinking penetration would be important in this scenario. If you are shooting at the face as in the nose, mouth, eyes (most likely in a full charge) then I doubt caliber will matter much although the .45 LC would probably do more soft tissue damage.

From what all but a few of you are saying, it's a crap shoot unless I go with a grizzly gun, so I may as well just pick one and hope for the best, at least it's not my 9mm right. I sincerely appreciate all of your time and concern with this delimma!

So let's say for argument that I decided to go with .357 mag or even the .45 LC, how do I know which loads are to hot from the factory to be shot out of the New Vaquero? Is it listed in the manual as well on a new box of ammo? last thing I want to do is blow a cylinder or worse! Please advise.

If a factory load generates higher than standard ("Ruger only") pressures, it will say so and it will say so very clearly. If you go to Buffalo Bore's site and look around you will find some heavy loads and their recommendations for what firearms will work.

I believe but am not 100% sure that the 357 Magnum going through an engine block is an urban legend. The 357 was indeed developed to increase penetration, but it was through things like car doors which were a pretty heavy gauge steel at the time.

Handguns for Protection in the Field

 

[Tater]

He's buying the gun for fun and as a last resort maybe protection from a soft and cuddly Arkansas black bear. Under that criteria any handgun will do the job, even a 22. Not well, but it's better than throwing rocks. If you want to hunt bear there are better choices but for your stated purposes I'd get a 357 Vaquero.

I have Vaqueros in both 357 and 45 Colt and I enjoy shooting the 45 Colt the most. However, I reload and you do not. The price, variety and availability of 357 ammo is much better than 45 Colt. Plus, you can shoot cheap target 38 spl ammo from a 357. There's no such alternative for the 45 Colt. Around here you can buy a 100 round box of 38spl FMJ or wadcutters for about $35. Any box of 45 Colt is gonna be about $40 for 50.

Six rounds of hot 357 self defense ammo is adequate protection from a 200-250lb bear. Maybe not ideal, but more than adequate. Besides, every black bear I've ever seen in the lower 48 outside of a national park will go running as soon as they become aware of you, especially when you're trying to hunt the darn things. I know mama bear will protect her cubs, etc, etc but in general there's not a whole lot of aggressive bears running around the central part of the U.S.

Buy a gun for it's intended purpose, not for how it might, some day, given the right circumstances be used. If you buy too much gun for plinking and horsing around on the off chance you might run into an aggressive bear someday you won't enjoy using the gun for the other 99.9% of the time. Get the 357.

What he said.