Have you considered the various Taurus .357’s? There are a number of them in the $350 range.
I had a .357 short barrel for a while. My brother has it now. It was a decent, functional revolver with reasonable accuracy. It was ugly, heavy, and had a relatively heavy double action trigger pull, but it worked. It would be a good car gun, but not quite suitable for concealed carry, due to the heavy, bulkiness of it.
The .357 model had an all steel frame and cylinder, and the grip frame and barrel shroud were alloy. the color did not match well between the parts. I have heard the .38 models had an alloy frame. Might avoid that.
I agree with Mountaindrew. I have the Windicator .357 snub. It is heavy (28oz), bulky compared to J-frame S&W's, but reliable, built like a tank, and inexpensive. I paid about $200 for mine new. It also handles full-powered loads without the recoil pain of lighter snubs. It would make a great truck gun - you wouldn't mind beating up the finish. And because it is so inexpensive, it wouldn't be a great loss if not returned after being used for self-defense.
Used to be called the Vindicator. When political correctness began to dominate they changed it to Windicator. I've not been overly impressed with them. Some of the Spanish S&W clones seem like a better proposition for a cheap revolver. They vary from bad to pretty decent so you have to be choosy.
Gun Test magazine did a comparision on this and several other snub nosed revolvers a while back. The Windicator came out as a "Best Buy". It out preformed the Taurus straight up regardless of price.
If the deal is good (less than $200), I would do it.
Don’t. Oldest son bought one of these for his wife, and it turned out to just be a horrible, uncomfortable, inaccurate weapon no matter who was behind the trigger. I’ve never shot anything with poorer sights.
the weapon is reputed to be reasonably accurate, the main upside to it is that it uses a standard pistol cartage. this having the effect of needing to fewer types of ammunition on hand.
No to the windicator it is a cheapo.
I saw a S&W stainless 9mm at Gander Mtn Used for $299 or a Ruger p85 for same.
I bought it because it's the only double action revolver I could find that shoots both 22 rounds (it comes with a second cylinder). It's OK, but with so many choices in small 357s I would go with a Charter Arms, Rossi, Taurus, or if you want to shell out the bucks, you can't go wrong with Smith and Wesson.
http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/review/Model_60-15.htm
Don’t look any further...
I just checked Bud's Guns (.com) for their used handguns and they've got several in your range. A Taurus Target Bulldog for $299. A Ruger SP101 in .357 for $359.
You can do much better than the Windicator.
If you buy one used, examine the forcing cone carefully to make sure it isn’t cracked.
“I know nothing” about this piece but in that price range I would expect no problem find used Taurii, or better yet used Rugers around. You get what you pay for...
You can get a Rossie .357 in SS for $299 at Academy. A very functional self-defense gun patterned on 1980’s design by SW or Colt.
The windicator is a good gun for the money as are most of the EAA line.It is a bit large,heavy,and a bit “chunky”.I’ve sold hundreds of them over the years and never had one complaint about performance.I would trust my life to a windicator LONG before I’d trust it to a hi-point!
bought a windicator last week for $266.00.the barrel end came target crowned but unblued. no biggy some black paint on
a q-tip fixes that. the gun is total quality and is very strong.i,m a pistol shooter and was able to put 6 rds. in 3inches at 100 yds. something this gun should not be capable of with a 2” bbl.i.m impressed with every aspect of this gun and may buy another just to put away.for the money it.s a best buy,by far.i,m shooting speer gold dot hps.said to go 1450fps. 125 grs.next is grips for my big hands.