I bought some perfecta 38 special at Walmart a while back. 158grn fmj. Got out to shoot it tonight. DANG! Kicked like 357 Magnum! I was shooting two S&W airweights. Recoil was so bad I was scared I was going to damage the guns, one was brand new. I went and got my 357 6 shot steel frame snubby and a box of 357 and a box of 38 Remington. Just to compare. The perfecta wasn't quite as much recoil and blast as 357 but still very snappy even in the steel gun. Tried Remington 158 cast load in the air weights, very mild like I'm used to. The perfecta was painful in the air weights! I only shot about 2 cylinders through each airweight. This felt much heavier than any +p ive shot before.
Not sure if I should contact the importer (tula) or am I just being a pussy?
Anyone else had issues with perfecta?
I shot some in a Davis p380 right before I noticed a cracked frame a while back.

I shoot a lot of Perfecta, mostly in 9mm and .45 so no revolver ammo here personally. I do think they are on the hotter end of loadings, but they function great in everything I own.

I shot some in a Rossi 92 lever gun, didn't notice it being any hotter than the other loads I was shooting.( Geco, S&B, Magtech ) Did you get a box of 357 in a 38 spec. marked box ?

I had the same experience with Perfecta 158gr in a S&W 638 airweight, could really feel it in the strong-side palm after shooting, so I stopped at 20rds. I shot some Gold-Dot 135gr +P in the same session, and a few more rounds right after the Perfecta for comparison, and the Perfecta felt like twice the recoil (subjectively) as that carry load. It's been some years since I fired a .357mag LW revolver, but I remember it being about the same.

I won't do that again.

I picked up about 400 rnds of perfecta .357 and .38. To be honest, I wasn't overly impressed. I do like the perfecta .223 and so far the few 9mm I've shot seem fine too.

With the .357 and .38 I couldn't tell much difference. If the .38 were hot or the .357 weak I'm not sure, but I even tried alternating in my Blackhawk and then spinning the cylinder so I wouldn't know what was first. After a few rounds I couldn't be sure which was which. Usually one of the 6 would seem more like a magnum so I've kind of assumed there is some inconsistency and the magnums not overly hot. I also pulled two apart to weigh the powder. I found .3 gr difference in just the two random samples. Not huge but could be part of the issue.

I don't expect to buy either any more but have been reloading the brass.