357 magnum carry loads for a longer barreled S&W j frame.
Lots of talk about short barrelled guns but what about loadings for a 5" revolver?
I recently purchased a 5" s&w m60-18 that's prooving to be a dream to shoot and pretty nice to carry. However it is still a fairly light j-frame and can raise quite a ruckus with my full throttle hunting loads.
So what I need is a 357 load that still takes advantage of not being a 38 but isn't quite as much of a firecracker as a hot handload or a Buffalo Bore/Doubletap factory loading.
I'm not a fan of the route you went simply because when it comes to magnums, I want a larger grip as well as a longer barrel, but I'll take a crack at this one.
I'm very biased towards either the original load of a 125 JHP at 1450, or a 158 JSP at 1250.
It should be mentioned I've got many bullet weights in my ammo box for the .357, but most of it is a 158 JSP. Never run across something in Florida that needed more oomph to get the job done. The .357 doesn't have too many options per the AR15.com ammo faq, but the 158 was a standard for LE and worked very well in OIS's. I'd love to see more Lab testing on it.
Never shot a 2 legged critter with one, but its notable kills are a pig and a deer. Both were one shot propositions.
357 mid range loads
I think Remington has a load as well as Speer GD
Federal sells a hunting load with a 180gr Barnes all-copper bullet. That would be my first choice.
Pardon me if I missed it but is this for personal protection against bad guys or four legged critters?
I too wanted to keep my magnum a magnum although after learning from people who know what they are talking about when it comes to ammunition selection I went with .38 special DPX instead. If you insist on keeping it magnum I recommend the .357 125 gr. DPX or Remingtons 125 gr. Golden Sabre. If you want extra penetration the 357 has you covered but other than that the only thing you are really getting is extra noise and blast.
Originally Posted By Zhukov:
Federal sells a hunting load with a 180gr Barnes all-copper bullet. That would be my first choice.
I take it back - it's a 140gr bullet:
http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/handgun.aspx?id=601
I like the gold dot short barrel 135gr load in my 4" mod 65. I've been told it makes about 1200fps out of a 4" but I have no chrono to verify. I can testify however that it's very pleasant to shoot, gives excellent accuracy and is not excessively loud.
Originally Posted By MaxTheRabbit:
I like the gold dot short barrel 135gr load in my 4" mod 65. I've been told it makes about 1200fps out of a 4" but I have no chrono to verify. I can testify however that it's very pleasant to shoot, gives excellent accuracy and is not excessively loud.
Velocity varies from gun to gun so I could be wrong but I highly doubt you will see anything close to 1200FPS out of a 4" or even a 6" for that matter.
Originally Posted By KCabbage:
Originally Posted By MaxTheRabbit:
I like the gold dot short barrel 135gr load in my 4" mod 65. I've been told it makes about 1200fps out of a 4" but I have no chrono to verify. I can testify however that it's very pleasant to shoot, gives excellent accuracy and is not excessively loud.
Velocity varies from gun to gun so I could be wrong but I highly doubt you will see anything close to 1200FPS out of a 4" or even a 6" for that matter.
Why do you say that? These are the 357 magnum short barrel loads mind you. Speer rates them at 990fps from a 2" barrel - it seems reasonable to expect 1200fps from a 4" to me.
Originally Posted By MaxTheRabbit:
Originally Posted By KCabbage:
Originally Posted By MaxTheRabbit:
I like the gold dot short barrel 135gr load in my 4" mod 65. I've been told it makes about 1200fps out of a 4" but I have no chrono to verify. I can testify however that it's very pleasant to shoot, gives excellent accuracy and is not excessively loud.
Velocity varies from gun to gun so I could be wrong but I highly doubt you will see anything close to 1200FPS out of a 4" or even a 6" for that matter.
Why do you say that? These are the 357 magnum short barrel loads mind you. Speer rates them at 990fps from a 2" barrel - it seems reasonable to expect 1200fps from a 4" to me.
You might want to rethink the short barrel load out of a 4" gun. There are some issues with the short barrel round when used in barrels 4" and longer.
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=26193
Interesting thread, I didn't know that it was the same bullet they used in the 38 load. That said, it only opens up the possibility that it may be driven past it's velocity window. Until someone tests it it's all speculation.
I know from observations of 10 mm that gold dots will usually do very well when driven faster than the factory loadings, until a point when they over-expand and fold back on themselves. It's ideal to put them at a speed above spec but before they over-expand; this is where you see awesome expansion and penetration.
Once you cross the line and it over-expands you do still get good penetration at least thanks to the fact it's bonded.
ETA: I only ended up carrying this load because I couldn't find the .357 158gr gold dot load at the time. I bought the 135gr SB and was so impressed by how well it shot in my mod. 65 that I decided to keep it.
2nd ETA:
http://ammo.ar15.com/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/DocGKRData/38spl_HorndayFTX_SpeerGDHP_CorbonDPX.htm
This test is making me reconsider using any loads that use this particular bullet... Has anyone ever looked into why the 135gr did such a piss-poor job in that test but did so well as to make Dr. Roberts speak so highly of it in the body of the FAQ?
Bullet design is an ever changing field. The first 357 Sig bullets were 9mm designs that were over driven and they underperformed. The first generation 147 9mm bullets sucked from the start. After a few redesigns the 147's are an excellent choice, especially out of shorter barrels.
On a slightly different but still related subject, I came across some info that shows Winchester 45 ACP hollow points start to have expansion problems under 900 FPS. I did some checking and all the Winchester loads clock out at 900+ FPS out of a P220 or larger pistol. Now why is this important? MY EDC is an HK45c, and it has a 3.9" barrel. I had been thinking that I could compensate for the shorter barrel with a hotter load, but I'll be sticking with the Gold Dot Shot Barrel load. I had thought that the 45 ACP was pretty velocity insensitive, but it turns out that both 9mm and .40 actually do better over a wider velocity range with regular hollow points.
Still, I'm very troubled by that specific test I linked. Did the doc just get a bad batch that day? Why are we still trumpeting the .38+p short barrel 135gr gold dot in the FAQ when, at least that one time, it failed utterly when fired through denim?
Originally Posted By MaxTheRabbit:
Originally Posted By KCabbage:
Originally Posted By MaxTheRabbit:
I like the gold dot short barrel 135gr load in my 4" mod 65. I've been told it makes about 1200fps out of a 4" but I have no chrono to verify. I can testify however that it's very pleasant to shoot, gives excellent accuracy and is not excessively loud.
Velocity varies from gun to gun so I could be wrong but I highly doubt you will see anything close to 1200FPS out of a 4" or even a 6" for that matter.
Why do you say that? These are the 357 magnum short barrel loads mind you. Speer rates them at 990fps from a 2" barrel - it seems reasonable to expect 1200fps from a 4" to me.
I thought you were talking about the .38 load.
