Imagine the typical scenario in which you will need to use this weapon. You will be outside, you won't probably see the assailant coming which means he will have the drop on you when it happens. That means you will not be able to draw your semi-auto out of your holster without risking getting shot first. You just aren't that fast. Very few people are.
So, imagine this: you're walking to your car in a dark parking lot after seeing a late movie. You casually have both of your hands in your jacket pockets. You look vulnerable because your hands are confined. The perpetrator pops out and points a weapon at you and your wife and demands that you hand over your wallet and cars keys. He has the drop on you but what he doesn't realize is that your right hand isn't empty inside that jacket pocket, it's wrapped around a hammerless, snub nosed, .357 magnum.
The hammerless feature means you can fire the gun's five rounds from your pocket without fear of jamming and without fear of him shooting you before you clear a holster. You have the element of surprise now as well as justification. That's a big effin deal.
And I totally disagree about the .38 +P versus the .357 magnum. I have ran the numbers many times, there's a big difference in energy. at 10-15 feet, that .357 is much more potent than any .38 (roughly twice as potent)and you can always load .38s in it for practice if the recoil bothers you. That gives you increased option flexibility and increased option flexibility is ALWAYS an advantage. When the SHTF, you won't notice the recoil anyways btw, but the person on the receiving end of those 125 grain hollow points surely will.
And let's be real here, this isn't the kind of gun you take t othe range to shoot all day long and, what's more, at the ranges that most gunfights take place, you shouldn't have to worry about missing; however, if you remain concerned, crimson trace makes a lovely little laser site that will have you hitting center mass out to 15 yards while under duress with little to no difficulty.
To put a finer point on that, if you shoot the perp beyond more than a few yards away, you're probably committing murder technically. I can hit a man at 50 yards with my Glock 21 .45 ACP but that means nothing in any firefight I am likely to find myself in.
I was in a situation that required my S&W .357 snubby a couple of years ago actually. There were two of them. Neither of them was more than 5 yards away. It was at a very secluded gas station out in the New Mexico desert. I had one hand wrapped around a loaded .357 magnum and the other wrapped around a gas pump nozzle. I saw them coming and had time to think and prepare. I held my .357 behind my back and continued pumping gas as they approached. I told my GF to lock her door. She knew what was going on too and didn't need the warning. One went on her side, the other came on my side. I eyeballed the dirtbag on my side of the truck as he approached and inspected the gas station for witnesses. there were none. It was just us. There was third subject, a female, standing in the road about 40 yards away to our 12 o'clock posted as a lookout. The second they made their move, I was going to hit the dude with a facefull of gasoline and then light him up with the .357's muzzle blast. he saw the gun in my hand, the resolve in my eyes, and, I suspect, the plan in my head. He looked at his partner, shook his no, and they all quickly departed. My GF and I still talk about it. just a little experience that I like to share occasionally fwiw.