5” vs 6” barrel on .357 Mag?

Doesn't matter. Whichever one you think looks cooler.

Take this fwiw, I'm older, I've had a lot of pistols over the years .... a number of revolvers.

I still have most of them.

I get it, I had a Python back in the 70s. The newer ones are actually way better. All the snake pistols are fine but .... you're not going to beat a S&W 686-6 for value or quality or accuracy or ergonomics or anything else I can think of. Get it in nickle, pachmeyr grips, hiviz front post, tritium green notched rear .... you'll own and cherish that pistol the reat of your life and you'll pass it down to your grandkids.

I've never heard a bad thing about any of them. S&W has them down to a science. Either the 4" or 6" barrels .... you can't go wrong.

I personally prefer the 6".

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Smith 66 with 4” barrel is my favorite

If you plan to shoot .357 then 6". If you will be mainly shooting .38 special etc then 5" or even 4".

My opinion is there is never anything wrong with giving yourself multiple options:



That being said, performance wise there is not going to be a lot of difference between those two barrels and whatever difference there is can be made up with ammo selection for a particular use. Either setup will probably be more accurate than you and I'm pretty sure nothing is reasonably going to shrug off .357 mag from a 5" barrel and drop dead with a 6". That GP100 MC has a 4.25" barrel I think and it's great shooting .38 SPL to full power Buffalo Bore, I never feel recoil is an issue at all.

Well, 5” python inbound.

Will be looking for a blued 6” next.