jody johnson

FYI, if anyone's interested...

Got to thinkin' about velocity differences between rifle and pistol the other day and, actually havin' a little time ( plus bein' in a place to do somethin' about it! ). decided to do a very limited and informal check. Having a 6-1/2" 357 Blackhawk handy...and a 24" Marlin Cowboy in 357 handy as well, I grabbed a box of S&B 158 GR SP and fired a coupla' five shot strings.

Accordin' to the Chrony, th' Blackhawk ran about 1230-1240 fps, and the Marlin about 1530 or so....not very scientific but, hey, works for me!

sheepdog

...great...I've always heard about 200fps...but you're the first time I've seen it verified...I know you hated to do all that shootin' but....for science, right?!!!

jimbo1096

That's a little over 16fps difference per inch of barrel. I'd guess there is a varible rate of gain as you increase the barrel length, but never seen anyone try that. And a optimal barrel length for each caliber & powder combo used. Plus between a rifle and a revolver you have additional loss from the barrel / cylinder gap that a closed breech won't have. In a hand gun I have read that 30fps per inch is expected, say from a 4" to a 7 " barrel.
Still, it's a good reference to see the approx 300fps difference in your experiment.

44s Rock

Thanks Jody!

Bountyhunter

Interesting. I wonder though what the difference is at, 50 yards, and 100 yards?

sheepdog

...OK, Jimbo...it's appx 300 not 200...try counting with hair between your toes...it's hard....

Machinist

That is about what I would expect from other comparisons I've seen. I would not be surprised if the velocity would be a bit higher from a shorter carbine barrel as these were loaded for handguns.

jody johnson

You're welcome! And, yeah, Sheepdog, it WAS a burden but..you know, anything for th' guys!

Actually, when time, location, ammo n' th' right guns are available, I'll try some more. Wish I'd had a std Marlin 357 carbine available then but, hey, maybe next time. I do want to try some different .357 loads and if things go right, check th' .44 mag, carbine vs. revolver...

sheepdog

...maybe Danny will send you one for a test gun...

44s Rock

Hey Jody, come on up ta my house, got a couple of 45s to play with, just no chrony. Got a Marlin 1894 Cowboy 20", and a 3.50 & 4 5/8 Vaqueros I'd like to check out, may have to invest in one.

XLCH

That’s funny, don’t have a 357 carbine, but I should.

sheepdog

...for science...yes, you should...