New Federal 357 Magnum 154 grain HST load

[revchuck38]

Full-power .357 Mag 158-grain ammo factory specs are typically 1235 fps from a 4" barrel. 1250 fps wouldn't be a reduced load.

Federal has a habit of announcing a load, doing a small production run of it, and waiting a couple of years or more to do another run of it. I really want to try HydraShok Deep in .38 Special. They haven't produced it since before Covid.

It appears the .357 mag HST load is still vaporware at this point. I'll buy some and probably switch to it as soon as it's available, but I ain't holding my breath.

ETA: It doesn't show up on either Federal's LE or commercial websites or on Ammoseek.

[BehindBlueI's]

What's the intended market for this round? It seems like it is as a duty round for LE. Are there any LE agencies still carrying .357 revolvers? I carry and shoot revolvers, but if you need a duty round for doing LE-type stuff, that argument has been long-settled that autopistols do it better.

It's in their personal defense line-up, same as Punch and I would assume the market is the same as who's currently buying Hydra-shoks or Gold Dots or what-have-you for revolver carry. Me, for example.

[Velo Dog]

I'm not finding anything on it's velocity etc.

All of Federal's 158 grain loads have an advertised muzzle velocity of 1240 fps from a 4" revolver.
All of Federal's "Personal Defense" loadings in 357 Mag have over 500 foot pounds of energy including their "Low Recoil" Hydra-Shok option.
BTW, 500 foot pounds at the muzzle is also a requirement for handgun hunting deer in Illinois.

I think the 154 gr. bullet is at least partly a marketing gimmick, so expect the listed velocity to be 1210-1255 feet per second from a vented 4-inch test barrel.

[WDR]

.357 isn't primarily a carry gun for me, but I do have one that carry occasionally, usually when I'm hunting or otherwise woods/desert bumming. If this load penetrates on the deeper end of the scale, I'd consider it. That said, unless they sell it in 50 round boxes for less than $2/rd, I probably won't be interested. 20rd boxes infuriate me to no end, especially in auto pistol calibers. I understand they want to make money, not make me happy, sooo... sigh.

Not to mention the plastic 20rd boxes Federal uses suck to open.

[03RN]

I wonder how much technology is needed to get a 158gr .357 to 18” through all the barriers.

I haven't seen standard sjhp or XTPs tested against all of them but I bet they'd do well.

[BehindBlueI's]

I wonder how much technology is needed to get a 158gr .357 to 18” through all the barriers.

I haven't seen standard sjhp or XTPs tested against all of them but I bet they'd do well.

Not much at all, unless you mean no more than 18". I've seen a lot of through-and-through shots with .357 Magnum, and while it's a small sample size never saw a Critical Duty stay in a person.

[abu fitna]

And we don't need to score a case or half case to make sure it cycles!!!!

Function check for things like cylinder lockup due to bullet pull under recoil does require a few boxes at least... But then again, I think few folks are interested in the pain that comes from running these in an airweight.

[Archer1440]

Federal has a habit of announcing a load, doing a small production run of it, and waiting a couple of years or more to do another run of it. I really want to try HydraShok Deep in .38 Special. They haven't produced it since before Covid.

It might seem that way, but I bought a bunch of it in mid-November, with no drama. There were two different lot numbers among 10 boxes.

(I don’t know the mysteries of Federal’s lot numbers for this caliber, it’s different from the format on the one (.45 ACP) that I do understand- so I have no idea exactly what year(s) these were produced.

[revchuck38]

It might seem that way, but I bought a bunch of it in mid-November, with no drama. There were two different lot numbers among 10 boxes.

Cool! Where did you find it? I haven't seen it on Federal's website or ammoseek, but I could have looked at the wrong time.

[Archer1440]

Cool! Where did you find it? I haven't seen it on Federal's website or ammoseek, but I could have looked at the wrong time.

1. Midway. Ordered Nov. 8 and delivered Nov. 11, 2021 (looked it up in my order history). Was limited to 3 boxes. (I think that’s the first, darker lot number).
2. LGS in the 3rd week of November. The set aside a few boxes for me when it came in. They haven’t had any since.

Miwall shows it in stock as of this post, but I have never purchased from them and have no idea how they are to deal with.