Quote:
Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc
Forgive my ignorance but will a rifle chambered for .357 magnum also fire .38 ? How is the trajectory/range down range with pistol ammo being fired through a rifle ? It certainly makes sense to combine calibers just from a ammo management perspective. So would a 180 gr. .357 shot through a rifle be similar in performance to a 30-30 ? Or 30-06 or ?
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Yes, any rifle chambered in .357 will also shoot .38 Specials. Any rifle chambered in a handgun caliber will be on the low velocity end of the centerfire rifle spectrum, with a pretty high trajectory. They work great out to 100, maybe 150 yards, though.
No commercially loaded ammunition in .357 caliber will even begin to approach .30-30 performance in a rifle. They will provide about half, maybe a bit more, of the muzzle energy of the .30-30. Hand loaders can extract a good deal more performance from the .357 in a stout rifle, but this is well into "graduate level" hand loading.
Oh, and as far as the FN/FAL - one of my all-time favorite rifles. When I was looking to stick a toe back into the "black rifle" game (and was really looking for a wood stocked "black rifle"), the FN/FAL narrowly lost out to my new M1A. I had one in the past, back when they were pretty available and reasonably priced. Foolishly let it go when I got hopelessly mired in the single shot, levergun, and muzzle loader genres. One of the all-time "classics" for sure. And ya know, I'm having so much fun with the M1A and its little brother the Mini 14, that I just might have to start looking for a good FN/FAL.