I've been monitoring ebay looking for a good .357 magnum barrel. I had a bull profile in mind, but haven't seen any particularly good deals on them so far. Octagon profile barrels, on the other hand appear regularly and sell for quite a bit less. The only barrel that I've owned up to this point is a 7mm TCU regular profile, mounted on my G2. Other than having to buy another forend, what are the disadvantages of having an octagon barrel. I figure that the weight of the bull barrel helps with recoil, but with a .357 magnum, I'm not sure if it would be an issue. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Most of the older octagon barrels won't have the split locking lugs......not a big problem as you can get the parts from TC (they were free....don't know now). If you don't change these out your frame won't unlock those older barrels.....but they only take a few minutes to change.
My preference is the heavier bull barrels but there is no inherent problem that I am aware of with the octagon barrels.