Looks Like I'm Done with .357 Magnum as a Carry Round

[FrankB]

I used to shoot Federal AE 158 jsp magnums, but they’re pretty brutal. Golden Sabers work well for me: lower recoil and blast. Hornady American Gunner .357 magnums are among the worst in terms of noise, along with Underwood’s super blasty nasty magnums.

[Dusty Stone]

How about a 147gr HST at 1275? I get 1180fps from my 2.75" m66

Ryan I carry the same revolver, I liked your test media here for this and results... thank you.

[revchuck38]

Seems prudent.

Out of curiosity,did you try that drill with .38s?

Yup. Same score but within the time limits. Part of the issue is that my other revolvers have a front sight that's painted bright orange/red while the 19's is still black and harder to pick up. I'll remedy that when I get home from work today.

Im going to hold out with magnums a while longer. So long as I can shoot them reasonably well, the split times are of less interest than the effect of hits.

I have a small supply of the rem 158 sjhp loads, probably enough to last me until I dont want to shoot them any more.


So far I havent shot anything with 357s that got up and ran off, I have shot various things with other loads that have gotten up and run off. Not a vast number of examples, but the difference is very pronounced. As with 44s and 45s with large flat point bullets, the 357 works pretty well on live stuff.

I have the same Remington load, which is a little hotter than the AE JSP load. I don't doubt its efficacy. I'm just concerned with delivering a follow-up shot in a decent amount of time. I didn't check my split times on that string, I probably need to shoot it some more. I need to go to the range again. Damn it.

Folks:

What the revolver world needs is a decent option for a load in 357 magnum brass. Something like the 147 grain Speer Gold Dot G2 at an honest 1050 feet per second out of a four inch barrel. I love my full power magnums, but they tend to beat up "K" frame guns and require a fair amount of practice to master and maintain decent control with. I think the Speer Short barrel 135 grain Gold Dot load is great, but it is harder to find than the 38 Special version of that load. I am not sure it typically hits to the sights on fixed sight guns either. A 145/147 grain load would work with factory fixed sights that were regulated for 158 grain bullets. This would be a significant step up from 38 Special Plus P but not full power magnum ammo. If I am allowed to add to that wish list the load would be made available through fairly common ammo brands such as American Eagle etc.

We've already bandied that idea about here. I'd go with the HST bullet solely because it already has either one or two cannelures so all Federal/Vista would have to do is bump the diameter to .357 and load it to the same velocity as the 9mm +P version. Heck, in Lucky Gunner's test the R-P 158 SJHP from a 2" barrel went 1115 fps, expanded to .62" and penetrated over 14" while not shedding any weight, so they could throttle that load back to <1100 fps from 4" gun and it'd be in the ballpark we're looking for.

How about a 147gr HST at 1275? I get 1180fps from my 2.75" m66

We're looking for less velocity than full-power .357 Mag stuff, not just using the HST bullet.

[JonInWA]

I'm using Federal's current iteration of their 158 gr .357 magnum HydraShoks in my Ruger GP100; other critical components to the equation are Millett Orange Bar front sight and white outline rear, and Hogue Tamer grips.

In my K-frame analog Ruger Security Six, I stick with .38 +P Special Remington Golden Saber 125 gr, also with Millett Orange Bar front sight and a Ruger white outline rear, and Trausch grips.

Best, Jon

[revchuck38]

@JonInWA - Have you chronographed the HydraShok load? Going from memory, it's a full-power load.

Shooting the Remington 158s from my 681 and 28 isn't as bad as from the 19, but I rarely carry them due to the weight.

[03RN]

Yup. Same score but within the time limits. Part of the issue is that my other revolvers have a front sight that's painted bright orange/red while the 19's is still black and harder to pick up. I'll remedy that when I get home from work today.

I have the same Remington load, which is a little hotter than the AE JSP load. I don't doubt its efficacy. I'm just concerned with delivering a follow-up shot in a decent amount of time. I didn't check my split times on that string, I probably need to shoot it some more. I need to go to the range again. Damn it.

We've already bandied that idea about here. I'd go with the HST bullet solely because it already has either one or two cannelures so all Federal/Vista would have to do is bump the diameter to .357 and load it to the same velocity as the 9mm +P version. Heck, in Lucky Gunner's test the R-P 158 SJHP from a 2" barrel went 1115 fps, expanded to .62" and penetrated over 14" while not shedding any weight, so they could throttle that load back to <1100 fps from 4" gun and it'd be in the ballpark we're looking for.

We're looking for less velocity than full-power .357 Mag stuff, not just using the HST bullet.

You can just drop the velocity a little. My first loads were right around 1100fps.

I wanted to get my .38 load up to 1k but I was limited to powders at the time.

Next time I get some be-86 maybe I'll try again. I still have some gold dot G2.

[JonInWA]

@JonInWA - Have you chronographed the HydraShok load? Going from memory, it's a full-power load.

Shooting the Remington 158s from my 681 and 28 isn't as bad as from the 19, but I rarely carry them due to the weight.

I haven't chrono'ed, but it's definitely a full-power load; factory specs are muzzle velocity @ 1,240 FPS. Higue Tamers nicely, well, tame the recoil, especially for repeated shots.

Best, Jon

[gato naranja]

The issue was recovering from recoil.

I could probably get back to where I could handle the additional recoil, but at 71, I'm not sure the juice would be worth that squeeze.

I am a few years behind you, but all the .357 Magnum factory ammo I have on hand is now for "special purposes" in a 4" Ruger GP-100 or everyday use in a Marlin 1894CS. If I somehow break down and get a Blackhawk in .357, I could probably also use the stuff in that, but unless a revolver is friggin' heavy and has grips that actually work for me, my days of just going out and shooting .357 Mag simply because I used to are over.

And one parthian shot: a pox on Federal for discontinuing the Nyclad .38 Special line.

[Chuck Whitlock]

I could probably get back to where I could handle the additional recoil, but at 71, I'm not sure the juice would be worth that squeeze. I could go to either Golden Sabre or Hornady Critical Duty with their reduced recoil, but their availability is usually spotty though they're both available now, and then I'd have to create a practice load just for the M19. I'm definitely not going to use the full-power 125s that prematurely wore out guns of my 19's vintage. Looks like I'll stick with the same R-P version of the FBI load that I'm using in my other K frames, along with the practice handloads for them.

What the revolver world needs is a decent option for a load in 357 magnum brass. Something like the 147 grain Speer Gold Dot G2 at an honest 1050 feet per second out of a four inch barrel. I love my full power magnums, but they tend to beat up "K" frame guns and require a fair amount of practice to master and maintain decent control with. I think the Speer Short barrel 135 grain Gold Dot load is great, but it is harder to find than the 38 Special version of that load. I am not sure it typically hits to the sights on fixed sight guns either. A 145/147 grain load would work with factory fixed sights that were regulated for 158 grain bullets. This would be a significant step up from 38 Special Plus P but not full power magnum ammo. If I am allowed to add to that wish list the load would be made available through fairly common ammo brands such as American Eagle etc.

I am going to have to consult with Lost River on this. He has some pretty effective 357 loads from what I have seen.

https://highdesertcartridge.com/

The .357 Magnum loads at the above link were produced with input from DB, which IIRC are chugging along at about 800 fps or so. This was specifically done to be able to shoot older .357's without beating up both the gun(s) and shooter(s), or dealing with carbon rings from shooting .38's.

Just something to throw out there.

[revchuck38]

I have to come up with something now. I have a Hogue laminated rosewood grip without finger grooves coming for the M19. It'll be too nice not to carry.