.357 self defense ammunition

[gregr]

You want speed if you're running 357 mag. Stick with stuff in the 125gr range. Gold dot, ranger, hst, and golden sabers will all do fine. If you want a little more penetration, find someone who loads a 125gr monolithic hp like Buffalo Bore or Corbon. Here's a link to the corbon load being tested. Looks like penetration is a non-issue.



158 gr is generally a hunting load designed to drive deep into vitals. 2 legged preditors are not as thick skined as most game animals. If you really want to run. A heavier projectile, drop down to 38 spl ammo and save yourself quite a bit of recoil, muzzle flash, and noise.

I found some 125 grain and som 130 grain .357 ammo I had stashed since I also have a Ruger SP101 snubbie. As I buy new, I`m going to go with the 125, but even once I get the sights adjusted on the Coly Python, at close range there shouldn`t be any noticeable POI between the 125 grain and the 130 grain, until I get the 130 grain used up.

 

[Nunya]

The .357 is an outstanding round, and packs a helluva lot of punch no matter exactly what size you have--125 vs. 158 really isn't going to matter much to the bad guy you hit with it. The power of the .357 is highly likely to penetrate the first bad buy and hit whomever is standing behind him/her, regardless and will likely travel to the neighbor's house. I would recommend Gold Dot or other high quality hollow points to minimize any secondary (collateral) damage, but the truth is the .357 is a very powerful sidearm for home defense and most important is how comfortable you are with it and how confident you are with it, no matter what ammo you're using. I love my .357, but choose the much slower and fatter .45 for home defense, when I'm not with my .410 pistol.... ;-)

 

[Brad69]

I use Hornady critical duty 135 woods carry.

 

[randyb]

Here is 2 and 4 inch comparisons https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/revolver-ballistics-test/. For deer I'd look at the hornaday leverloution line of bullets. I have had great results in my .44 mag.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Recoilgunworks has Gold Dot .38+P in stock for $48/50 rounds for those who may be interested.

 

[Amishman44]

I haven't read every post on this thread, but I like Hornady's 140 grain FTX round...
Plenty of velocity with a nice 'split' between 125 grain and 158 grain...
It's a FTX round, which can be a bit more stoudt in felt recoil, but is manageable.
I also like CorBon's in the lighter S&W .357 magnum revolvers.
Here's a link to Ballistics101 to help you view and compare different manufacturer's products:

357 Magnum Ballistics Chart | Ballistics 101

 

[92FSTech]

I carry J-Frames a lot and my personal favorite load is the Speed Gold Dot Short Barrel 135gr. They aren't screamers...it makes right at 1050fps out of a 2" barrel (1150 out of my 4" guns), and recoil and flash are very manageable, especially out of my all-steel 640. I don't find them any worse to shoot than the Winchester PDX-1 .38+p 130gr that I have for my model 360J airweight, but those only chronograph at 800fps out of the same barrel length. It's pretty amazing what they can do these days with fast-burning, low-flash powders. I could push them faster than the factory load if I used some H110 or 296, but it would look like the USS Iowa was firing a broadside from my hand lol.

I'd carry the .38+p version of the Speer load in the 360 as well, but I've never been able to find it. On the upside, Speer does sell the 130gr gold dots as components, so you can make your own for practice, or even carry if you're comfortable with that sort of thing.

These days you've kinda gotta take what you can get. My stash of factory Gold Dots is getting low so I grabbed some Hornady 135gr Critical Duty the last time I saw some at the LGS...but I'll be going back to the Gold Dots when I can find them again.

 

[thelefthand]

If you want to minimize over penetration but still maximize damage, I can vouch for Mag Safe defenders in the .357. Not a good option for full size 4 legged critters, but for 2 legged threats, it's devastating. I did a lot of research/testing on the ammo back in the 90s, specifically in a 357 mag J frame. We spoke to the developer/owner repeatedly and he shared all the load data and info on the bullets construction and manufacturing process with us. It's not going to reach the FBI recommended 12" minimum penetration, but it will absolutely obliterated everything in the first 8" to 10". We were getting close to 2k fps from a 2" j frame. We affectionately named the gun The Left Hand of God because of the 5 fingers of death it carried in its cylinder.

 

[Dean C.]

Dug up some of my older "redneck ballistics " results not that it's worth all that much TBH. But rember folks , its not science if you don't write it down.