Looking for input, especially from our experienced female board members on good carry ammo for a .357 Mag. I recently picked one up for my better half as a CCW. She handled the Winchester 110gr JHP real well, so I figure a little more "oomph" would be o.k. . She is fairly small framed, 5-05 about 110lbs or so and fairly small hands, but she stuck with it like a champ and has gotten pretty good. I have limited experience with revolvers but especially with .357 Mag, it is a 2 inch snubnose. Not looking for "nuke em into orbit" ammo, but good, reliable, fairly hard hitting load. Any help appreciated.

Federal or Remington 125 JHP's.  When we carried these rounds as duty ammo they did a fine job at stopping felons.  After seeing what they did at autopsies I always feel well armed with a 357.   with 125's.

I've read several articles that suggest that .38 +p is as effective as .357 from a 2" gun.  Instead of mags, look at some good +p hollowpoints.  They are still effective stoppers, and easier to control from a snubbie.

Try the Remington Golden Sabre ammo in 357 caliber.  It is a medium velocity load, 125 gr. bullet at 1220 fps from a 4" barrel.  It is what I use when I carry a 357.  You may also want to look at the CCI Speer Gold Dot ammo for short barrel revolvers.  I think that it is a 135 gr bullet at about 990 fps from a 2" barrel.  You want to make sure that she can control the gun very comfortably.  If she needs to use it for self defense she probalby won't be wearing hearing protection.  The full power loads have alot of blast & noise.

We found some Federal 130gr reduced recoil. She shot some of it yesterday and said it was great. Her grouping got a whole better, as good as it can be with a snubbie and completely new shooter. It felt a little stouter than .38 +p but less than the 125gr Federal, which honestly made it pretty unmanageable for me. I picked up couple hundred rounds of it so she can practice with it. I was suprised she handled the 125 gr fairly well, but it was a bit much.

She found out about the deafening roar those little bastards unleash the hard way. She insisted shooting it with no hearing protection just to see what it was like, 6 hours later still ringing and fuzzy. But, like I explained. Better to be deaf or slightly worse hearing than dead.

I'll check into the +p also. My dad, like some of you, recommended the Speer Gold Dots, so I will also try to pick some of that up and she if she prefers it over any of the .357 loads. She actually wanted a .38, but I figured get the .357 and if she can handle it great, if not then she can just use .38 in it. Thanks ya'll, once again members here provide good info and quickly I might add.

Gold dot is the way to go.  I've been very impressed with both the 125gr magnum loads and the 135gr +P loads for short barrel guns.  It isn't cheap ammo, but its accurate, powerful and has reliable expansion.  

any good jhp she can shoot w/accuracy and comfort as 4 her size a buds g/friends about the same 5/6 115 loves blastin 44mag. and damn good 2