Best penetrating ammo for a 9,357 and 44

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Best penetrating ammo for a 9,357 and 44

Posted: 9/24/2015 9:15:06 PM EDT

I'm looking for some ammo to buy for maximum penetration in these calibers. Most all of the hot rounds for these have been hollow point or lead. Has anyone ever used Xtreme penetrator ammo from Lehigh Defense? Is lead really the way to go? I was hoping Buffalo Bore would have a round nose jacketed round. Any thought would be greatly appreciated.

Posted: 9/24/2015 11:06:53 PM EDT

[#1]

I think fmj in any caliber will penetrate better than hp.

Posted: 9/25/2015 2:54:54 AM EDT

[#2]

The 140 gr Barnes all copper bullet in .357 has shown some impressive penetration while still expanding. Otherwise, just about any fmj with a full powered load behind it will out penetrate most any hollow point. heavy for caliber will often penetrate more than a lighter bullet of the same caliber.

Posted: 9/25/2015 12:32:27 PM EDT

[#3]

I guess it would be depending on what you're trying to penetrate. I'd go with solids, hardcast then FMJ. Again, depending on say a bears skull or a block of gelatin.

Posted: 9/25/2015 8:50:35 PM EDT

[#4]

If penetration is the goal, then something like a Keith SWC or a heavier WFN bullet at max velocities from the revolvers will probably be as good as it gets.

I handload, and opt for a Keith LSWC over 2400 for such things.

Posted: 9/25/2015 9:18:37 PM EDT

[#5]

in any caliber it'll be the heaviest grain/weight made in FMJ

for example in 357 220 grain fmj or hardcastlead

Posted: 9/27/2015 5:17:10 PM EDT

[#6]

I have Lehigh Defense Xtreme Penetrators in my Glock 23 (.40) and my Sig 229 in 9mm but they area little pricey to just be shooting for the hell of it. Shooting the Bull's Ammo Quest on YouTube did a really good review as does Lehigh's own videos can show you and help you decide.

Posted: 9/28/2015 5:54:42 AM EDT

[#7]

Check out the Buffalo Bore ammo.

Posted: 10/1/2015 9:05:04 PM EDT

[#8]

Sellier and Belliot make different versions of their 357 Mag.
Most are FMJ but one of the 158gr FMJ loads is super hot.

Only problem is, it's hard to tell which batch is which , good retailer will post the reference revolver fps.

Posted: 10/1/2015 9:25:20 PM EDT

[#9]

Fmj,fmj, and fmj

Posted: 10/1/2015 9:27:29 PM EDT

[#10]

Jacketed bullets are not for penetration. They are always just pure soft lead wire with a gilded jacket.

Hard cast lead with a wide flat nose has been proven to be the best for penetration for a handgun.
The alloy should not be hard enough to be brittle. The bullet should be heavy enough to limit velocity to 1100-1200fps.

For .44 Mag, try 320 grain bullets.
For .45 Colt, try 340-360 grain bullets.

If you are reloading for .44, take a look at the Penn bullets of SSK design.

Posted: 10/5/2015 11:20:33 PM EDT

[#11]

Heavy hard cast.

Posted: 10/8/2015 6:02:09 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:
Jacketed bullets are not for penetration. They are always just pure soft lead wire with a gilded jacket.

Hard cast lead with a wide flat nose has been proven to be the best for penetration for a handgun.
The alloy should not be hard enough to be brittle. The bullet should be heavy enough to limit velocity to 1100-1200fps.

For .44 Mag, try 320 grain bullets.
For .45 Colt, try 340-360 grain bullets.

If you are reloading for .44, take a look at the Penn bullets of SSK design.

View Quote

For a bullet that doesn't penetrate, FMJ's sure do fucking penetrate a lot

Posted: 10/10/2015 11:14:33 AM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:

For a bullet that doesn't penetrate, FMJ's sure do fucking penetrate a lot

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Jacketed bullets are not for penetration. They are always just pure soft lead wire with a gilded jacket.

Hard cast lead with a wide flat nose has been proven to be the best for penetration for a handgun.
The alloy should not be hard enough to be brittle. The bullet should be heavy enough to limit velocity to 1100-1200fps.

For .44 Mag, try 320 grain bullets.
For .45 Colt, try 340-360 grain bullets.

If you are reloading for .44, take a look at the Penn bullets of SSK design.

For a bullet that doesn't penetrate, FMJ's sure do fucking penetrate a lot

Shooting through one or two soft humans, or a sheet metal door, is not considered good penetration.

Besides being soft lead, the FMJ shape is wrong. The meplat is too small, causing the bullet to tumble and not penetrate.
The bullet meplat should be around 80% to move the center of mass forward and prevent tumbling.
An added benefit of this shape is that the meplat acts like a paper punch and cuts a wound channel

Hardcast can crush shoulder bones of moose/bear and keep penetrating straight.
Heavy hardcast of correct design will shoot through several feet of large critter, e.g. raking shot on a moose with a handgun.

These concepts are used by African dangerous game hunters who use heavy monolithic solids at moderate velocity
when hunting elephant, cape buff, etc. These facts are well known and documented.

Posted: 10/10/2015 12:14:40 PM EDT

[#14]

Yes, listen to eightring. He speaks the facts.

Posted: 10/10/2015 12:17:34 PM EDT

[#15]

Jacketed bullets were to reduce lead fouling originally correct? The FMJ was just a result of the jacketing process?

Posted: 10/10/2015 2:42:15 PM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:
Yes, listen to eightring. He speaks the facts.

View Quote

Thanks but I think I'll still run with my above with solid then hard-cast then FMJ.

Posted: 10/12/2015 12:07:05 AM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:

Shooting through one or two soft humans, or a sheet metal door, is not considered good penetration.

Besides being soft lead, the FMJ shape is wrong. The meplat is too small, causing the bullet to tumble and not penetrate.
The bullet meplat should be around 80% to move the center of mass forward and prevent tumbling.
An added benefit of this shape is that the meplat acts like a paper punch and cuts a wound channel

Hardcast can crush shoulder bones of moose/bear and keep penetrating straight.
Heavy hardcast of correct design will shoot through several feet of large critter, e.g. raking shot on a moose with a handgun.

These concepts are used by African dangerous game hunters who use heavy monolithic solids at moderate velocity
when hunting elephant, cape buff, etc. These facts are well known and documented.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Jacketed bullets are not for penetration. They are always just pure soft lead wire with a gilded jacket.

Hard cast lead with a wide flat nose has been proven to be the best for penetration for a handgun.
The alloy should not be hard enough to be brittle. The bullet should be heavy enough to limit velocity to 1100-1200fps.

For .44 Mag, try 320 grain bullets.
For .45 Colt, try 340-360 grain bullets.

If you are reloading for .44, take a look at the Penn bullets of SSK design.

For a bullet that doesn't penetrate, FMJ's sure do fucking penetrate a lot

Shooting through one or two soft humans, or a sheet metal door, is not considered good penetration.

Besides being soft lead, the FMJ shape is wrong. The meplat is too small, causing the bullet to tumble and not penetrate.
The bullet meplat should be around 80% to move the center of mass forward and prevent tumbling.
An added benefit of this shape is that the meplat acts like a paper punch and cuts a wound channel

Hardcast can crush shoulder bones of moose/bear and keep penetrating straight.
Heavy hardcast of correct design will shoot through several feet of large critter, e.g. raking shot on a moose with a handgun.

These concepts are used by African dangerous game hunters who use heavy monolithic solids at moderate velocity
when hunting elephant, cape buff, etc. These facts are well known and documented.

This

Posted: 10/12/2015 4:26:55 PM EDT

[#18]

Solid brass bullet is the best I've seen.

Posted: 10/12/2015 6:06:42 PM EDT

[#19]

Buffalo Bore heavy hardcast lead.

Posted: 10/14/2015 8:19:04 PM EDT

[#20]

Quote History

Quoted:

Shooting through one or two soft humans, or a sheet metal door, is not considered good penetration.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Jacketed bullets are not for penetration. They are always just pure soft lead wire with a gilded jacket.

Hard cast lead with a wide flat nose has been proven to be the best for penetration for a handgun.
The alloy should not be hard enough to be brittle. The bullet should be heavy enough to limit velocity to 1100-1200fps.

For .44 Mag, try 320 grain bullets.
For .45 Colt, try 340-360 grain bullets.

If you are reloading for .44, take a look at the Penn bullets of SSK design.

For a bullet that doesn't penetrate, FMJ's sure do fucking penetrate a lot

Shooting through one or two soft humans, or a sheet metal door, is not considered good penetration.

I'm not looking to hunt with round nose FMJ and I understand how the hardcast bullets do their job on game, but I can't see a hardcast bullet penetrating more than a round nose of same weight and velocity in the same test medium. a round nose won't cut tissue like the hardcast will but now penetrate? I gotta see it tested.

Posted: 10/21/2015 7:46:49 PM EDT

[#21]

I like to cast the lyman 359093's and the 429303's out of pure lino-type when I want a bullet that penetrates. Some 358093's that weigh 122gr cast with pure lino-type.

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The 429303's weigh around 196gr when cast with pure lino-type. They are a fairly accurate bullet also, some 25yd plinking loads.

" />

Did a little experimenting with 9mm bullets awhile back, called this one the swept winged street fighter.

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It's a 124gr bullet that was made from 9mm cases (jackets) and lino-type cores. I anealed the cores and swaged the bullet/noser profile using home made dies for an old 9-ton swaging press the heat treated the bullets to bring the hardness of the lino-type back. The end result was the brass lip of the jacket cut like the shoulder of a hard cast swc, a second smaller shoulder that aided in cutting/helping the dimple/nose of the bullet and the dimple on the nose of the bullet that penetrated/slit/ruptured anything it hit allot better than the blunt nose of a hard cast swc or fn (huge meplat). Hence, a double shouldered bullet with a pointed nose/tip.

I know the op asked about ammo, but!!!!!!!!

Sometimes if you want something done right, you just have to do it yourself.

Posted: 10/21/2015 8:12:48 PM EDT

[#22]

Buffalo Bore .357 180 grain hardcast penetrator -

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=396

Compare this to 10mm loads.

Posted: 11/7/2015 6:58:20 PM EDT

[#23]

A heavy for caliber, wide flat meplat hard cast bullet has traditionally been the projectile of choice for deep penetration through thick hides and heavy bone.

I have run some 340 grain hard cast bullets, pushed by stout loads of H110 and they are not for the faint of heart.

Buffalo Bore makes some factory stuff, if you cannot reload, though they are prohibitively expensive.

Here is an interesting article.

http://www.lasc.us/fryxell44overweight.htm

Posted: 11/14/2015 12:51:10 PM EDT

[#24]

Quote History

Quoted:
A heavy for caliber, wide flat meplat hard cast bullet has traditionally been the projectile of choice for deep penetration through thick hides and heavy bone.

I have run some 340 grain hard cast bullets, pushed by stout loads of H110 and they are not for the faint of heart.

Buffalo Bore makes some factory stuff, if you cannot reload, though they are prohibitively expensive.

Here is an interesting article.

http://www.lasc.us/fryxell44overweight.htm

View Quote

This has been proven time and and again.

Stick with the advice of people who know, like eightring and Lost River.

Posted: 11/25/2015 12:27:47 AM EDT

[#25]

357 mag cartridge gets it's potency from shock power, more than penetration! High loading pressures combined with good weight bullets is a lethal combo. Get yourself 158gr JHP by Hornady, Rem, Federal. This is what you're looking for in 357mag!

Posted: 11/25/2015 9:12:38 AM EDT

[#26]

http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=270

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Best penetrating ammo for a 9,357 and 44

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