View Poll Results: Which one for a home defense carbine?

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  • 158 grain Hydrashok Personal Protection

    2 11.76%
  • 135 grain Critical Duty

    3 17.65%
  • 135 grain Gold Dot Short Barrel

    0 0%
  • 125 grain Winchester SJHP

    1 5.88%
  • 158 grain American Eagle JHP

    9 52.94%
  • 158 grain Fiocchi XTP

    4 23.53%
Multiple Choice Poll.
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Thread: Load for .357 Winchester 94, 18" Barrel, home defense

  1. #11
    Member Baldanders's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WDR View Post
    I would be inclined to stick with magnum length ammo vs .38... for the sake of smooth feeding. It seems like some guns run .38 fine, but others not so much. Just something to keep in mind and test in your gun before using it for social purposes.

    I'd be interested to see the 135gr Gold Dot .357 load fired from a 16" carbine barrel in gel. The 158gr Federal JSP is well liked for carbine use, but doesn't expand much, if at all from a handgun (if ammo commonality is a requirement). I'd probably be inclined to stick with a more heavily constructed 158gr load, as I feel like they would probably hold up to carbine velocities better... something like the Fed JSP or a 158gr XTP.

    I don't own a .357 carbine yet, but an 1894 CSBL (or the new Dark, if they make them in .357) is on my short list.
    I would probably load the Critical Duty if I was using my 4" Trooper.

    I wish our M94 was the 16"ish carbine like one of my friends has, but I can't really complain about an inherited gun.
    REPETITION CREATES BELIEF
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  2. #12
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
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    Why isn't the LEVERolution an option?

    https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/h...erevolution#!/

    Just curious. My gut instinct is to look for something designed for the velocity it will leave the barrel at or you're either going to get fragmentation or a LOT of over penetration vs humans.

    I've noted that full house magnums from even 4" barrels seldom stay inside a human. The skull will sometimes catch it on the exit side, but soft tissue and rib strikes have an entrance and an exit. I've got some neat evidence photos of a bullet extracted from a passenger (non-fatal) after passing completely through the driver's side window and the driver (fatal), as well as a separate incident with Critical Defense that fully expanded and still passed through two layers of leather jacket and the robber in between them. I've also seen them pass through a guy's chest, through a security door, through a front door, through interior walls, and finally be stopped by a header or by a fireplace. I don't know how big a deal over penetration is where you live, but something to keep in mind.
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  3. #13
    Member Baldanders's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's View Post
    Why isn't the LEVERolution an option?

    https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/h...erevolution#!/

    Just curious. My gut instinct is to look for something designed for the velocity it will leave the barrel at or you're either going to get fragmentation or a LOT of over penetration vs humans.

    I've noted that full house magnums from even 4" barrels seldom stay inside a human. The skull will sometimes catch it on the exit side, but soft tissue and rib strikes have an entrance and an exit. I've got some neat evidence photos of a bullet extracted from a passenger (non-fatal) after passing completely through the driver's side window and the driver (fatal), as well as a separate incident with Critical Defense that fully expanded and still passed through two layers of leather jacket and the robber in between them. I've also seen them pass through a guy's chest, through a security door, through a front door, through interior walls, and finally be stopped by a header or by a fireplace. I don't know how big a deal over penetration is where you live, but something to keep in mind.
    This poll only included ammunition I actually have sitting around. 140-180 grain loads designed for carbines would be better than most of those options. I think the 158 JSP is fine for now. Load for my 4" is pretty theoretical for now as I don't keep it ready to go for dealing with problems. (At the moment, my 640 is my carry and home pistol; I always have my 12 gauge pump ready as the primary weapon) On second thought, I would probably stoke the Trooper with short barrel Gold Dots in .38 or .357 for nightstand duty, but I would tote the Critical Duty in the yard. I live on 12 acres of heavily wooded deer hunting land; overpenetration is not much of a concern outside my house. My next door neighbor shoots .300 Win Mag in his front yard regularly.

    I can't really see using the Winchester inside the house right now, but .38s of some kind would probably be my choice if I was living in the city/suburbs. The "9mm equivalent" idea is compelling. Outside the house 4-legged problems are probably more likely for me than 2-legged inside the house problems. I like the idea of having a gun that I can reliably get fast hits quickly for dealing with critters that may be tangling with my dogs or a family member. I am shit at running a lever at the moment, but the M94 with it's shallow back sight is the only iron sighted centerfire gun I have any confidence at getting accurate hits beyond 15 yards or so, and sighting is fast. (My eyes are shit, probably looking at surgery to replace the vitreous humour in both my eyes some day-- I have crystallized protein clusters stuck dead-center in both eyes that can easily obliterate my ability to even see the front sight, or the target for that matter. I have to look rapidly up-and-down quite a few times each range session these days to knock the protein around and allow me to have central vision--or if I want to actually make eye contact in a conversation.)


    TLDR: If I'm stoking a gun with full power .357, I'm fine with plenty of penetration.

    I'm thinking about running another poll on "which of the .38 loads I have sitting around would you use in a M94," just for shits and giggles.

    Maybe one on .22 ammo and 10/22 and various pistols, too.

    Mostly, suggestions on this forum are based on the idea that everyone has a decent budget and easy access to a wide range of options to buy. Many folks have limited budgets and/or live in a restrictive locale and have to make do with what they have. I think "caliber" threads are probably more interesting and broadly useful keeping in mind this fact.
    REPETITION CREATES BELIEF
    REPETITION BUILDS THE SEPARATE WORLDS WE LIVE AND DIE IN
    NO EXCEPTIONS

  4. #14
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baldanders View Post
    Mostly, suggestions on this forum are based on the idea that everyone has a decent budget and easy access to a wide range of options to buy. Many folks have limited budgets and/or live in a restrictive locale and have to make do with what they have. I think "caliber" threads are probably more interesting and broadly useful keeping in mind this fact.
    The fact you post here means you have access to the Internet, which means you have easy access to a wide range of options to buy unless your state restricts ammo sales via mail somehow or you aren't 21. If you live in a state where ammunition purchases are restricted, then yes, sucks to be you. If you are in, say, NJ, then ask the specific question for your situation, don't expect general threads to cater to your niche at the expense of everyone not dealing with your issue.

    Budgets are matters of priority. If you have multiple pistols but can't find $20 for quality ammunition, then availability of resources isn't keeping you from buying ammo, resource allocation is.
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  5. #15
    Member Baldanders's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's View Post
    The fact you post here means you have access to the Internet, which means you have easy access to a wide range of options to buy unless your state restricts ammo sales via mail somehow or you aren't 21. If you live in a state where ammunition purchases are restricted, then yes, sucks to be you. If you are in, say, NJ, then ask the specific question for your situation, don't expect general threads to cater to your niche at the expense of everyone not dealing with your issue.

    Budgets are matters of priority. If you have multiple pistols but can't find $20 for quality ammunition, then availability of resources isn't keeping you from buying ammo, resource allocation is.
    Sorry, I should have made it clear that obviously my options are pretty wide open. But one never knows when that may not be the case--especially in the current climate of restrictions on ammunition purchases. I am sure plenty of lurkers on P-F have less freedom than I do in spending their cash.

    I get more return from the small amount of $$ I spend on supporting P-F than I do from any other investment in terms of solid advice. No complaints. (If I was putting together a list of top high-quality advice givers on this forum, good chance you would be #1, BBI.)

    The above comment was intended in the spirit of "art thrives on limitations." But it wasn't intended as a complaint, not even in the vaguest sense.

    (I feel like anything is better than "is x caliber really enough" merry-go-rounds.)
    Last edited by Baldanders; 11-27-2019 at 12:32 PM.
    REPETITION CREATES BELIEF
    REPETITION BUILDS THE SEPARATE WORLDS WE LIVE AND DIE IN
    NO EXCEPTIONS

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