I'm pretty impressed with the new hst. I might have to get some.
I'm pretty impressed with the new hst. I might have to get some.
On the ragged edge of the world I'll roam,
And the home of the wolf shall be my home - Robert Service
I like HST ammunition, but will reserve my opinion on this particular load until I see calibrated 10% gelatin testing by someone who isn't using terms like "energy dump".
In stock
20 round box: https://www.sgammo.com/product/357-m...l-hst-ammo-p35
200 round case: https://www.sgammo.com/product/357-m...ral-hst-ammo-p
Ditto. I'd like to see the old-school .357 158s (R-P, Winchester) done this way as well. I'm not holding my breath, though, since there would be no ROI for those companies. I imagine that Speer has some testing somewhere for their 158-grain Gold Dot load; the Lucky Gunner test using it was extremely unimpressive - it just zipped through the clear gel blocks with no expansion.
I expect that the HST load would expand and penetrate within the FBI parameters, but at this point that's all that is, an expectation.
"Everything in life is really simple, provided you don’t know a f—–g thing about it." - Kevin D. Williamson
https://le.vistaoutdoor.com/ammuniti....aspx?id=53960
21.31" in bare gel, opens to .551"
21.65" in heavy clothing, opens to .453"
Seems like a case study on why clear gel sucks. I think the generality is it "understates" expansion and overstates penetration. For the 158gr Gold Dot load specifically it looks to have understated expansion by 100%.
.453" in heavy clothing isn't super impressive. 21" seems... excessive for defense in populated locations. The only published data I've seen for the 125gr Gold Dot was by ATK in their Kern County workshop back in 2007. The load gets .63-.66" expansion and 14.5" penetration through heavy clothing. 11" penetration and .76" expansion for bare gel. No velocity or barrel length reported, just "colt python". I assume 4". I don't know how much, if any, the bullet has changed since 2007. I would expect the results to still be similar-ish in 2024.
I tested the Speer 158 grain Gold Dot HP .357 Magnum load (load# 23960) in 2001 while in the IWBA (Wound Ballistics Review, Spring 2001, Volume 5, Issue 1). The testing was done using water. The firearm used was a S&W Model 686 revolver with a 4-inch barrel.
Expanded bullet diameters for 5 rounds were (in mm): 13.41, 14.22, 13.31, 13.07 and 12.48. Retained bullet weights were (in grains): 156.2, 156.4, 155.4, 157.3 and 151.2. Estimated gelatin penetration depths were (in inches): 17.8, 16.1, 17.9, 18.7 and 19.5.
A total of 11 .357 Magnum HP loads were tested. I hope this information is helpful.
-Ron.
After converting to Freedom Units, it looks like your 158gr expansion numbers are really close and the estimated penetration was only off by 3" compared to what Speer is advertising in actual gel 23 years later. That's reassuring. If they've made tweaks to the bullet it doesn't seem to have impacted performance.
I have a reasonable quantity of the 125gr Gold Dots laid in for the 4"+ L/N frame guns. Will probably just keep on keepin on with that. Would love to see what this new HST round does in gel but it's academic to me.
Here you go. Official. Organic.
You will have to decipher
.327 HST listed on top
.357 HST on bottom
Included some recent 9mm because figured this is all of interest to those on here.
HST Magnum Revolver
327 Federal
357 Magnum
Bullet
104gr HSP HP
154gr HST HP
Test Barrel Velocity
1525
1340
4" Barrel
Gun Avg Velocity
1450
1250
Bare Gel Penetration
11.7"
15.5"
Bare Gel Expansion
0.683"
.648"
Heavy Cloth Penetration
12.7"
16"
Heavy Cloth Expansion
0.609
0.587"
Snub nose
Gun Avg Velocity
1225
1080
Bare Gel Penetration
12.2"
14.8"
Bare Gel Expansion
0.681"
0.657"
Heavy Cloth Penetration
14.5"
16"
Heavy Cloth Expansion
0.546"
0.565"
124gr Punch 9mm (Shot from G43)
Heavy Clothing 13.4 pen, 0.614 exp
Bare Gel 13.1 pen, exp 0.634
Current 147gr HST 9mm (Shot from Glock 47)
Heavy Clothing 14.6 pen, 0.605 exp
Bare Gel 13.5 pen, 0.691 exp