I just bought a 28-2 with a 6 in. barrel. I will mainly be keeping it in my truck just in case I ever need it. What is a good defense round and brand for the .357 magnum.

Federal brand 125 grain SJHP. Actual police shootings show it as still a 96% one shot stopper. 158 gr SJHP would be my second choice in any brand. A couple of bianchi speed strips or HKS speed loaders and you are in GOOD hands!. Joe in GA

Hi, and welcome. The .357 load with the best statistical stopping power is the 125 grain JHP by Remington. Others ammo makers produce similar rounds and are likely equally effective.

Be sure to practice shooting the gun, and also consider how secure the gun will be in your unattended vehicle. If the answer is "not very", how difficult would it be to carry/conceal it in your state legally? Hope this is helpful.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Thanks for the replies. I will be bringing the gun in with me everytime I get home. I have already had a 22. hornet stolen from my truck at my house. If I will be away from the truck for long periods of time It will not go out with me. I plan to get another .357 snubnose to carry

I love Speer Gold Dot 158 gr. JHP's! Work well on a 150 lb-200 lb deer. Should do it's intended job for self defense on a 2 legged animal. All of my 357's have em and I only shoot hand loaded 158 gr. LSWC's for practice.

I really doesn't matter which HP round you go with for SD. It's what you hit with it that counts!

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V/R
Roger / SG

I think it's hard to go wrong with anything in a .357, but I've always heard that the 125gr SJHP was the "gold standard".

Do a Google search on Buffalo bore ammo.
Potent stuff, I hear

Edit=here ya go.
http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php...t_detail&p=102

If that dont work...I carry 185 gr full house Fedrals out of of my 629

Just a thought, when temporarily away from your vehicle someplace you can't carry, you might take an inexpensive coated bicycle cable with loops on either end. Wrap it around a rear bracket of the front seat and pull one loop thru the other. Use a long shank padlock to then lock the trigger guard or topstrap of the unloaded handgun to the available loop and push the whole thing further under the front seat. Out of sight and secure against the typical opportunistic thief while being relatively quick and easy to unload/lock and later unlock/load. Been doing exactly that for many years in my Jeeps and P/U, works for me anyway ...

As far as ammo goes, the 125gr HP is a proven MAN stopper. For anything heavier, or a man, I would use a heavy Buffalo Bore load up to 180 gr. Can be used in a solid for larger animals, or SP/HP for less hard to stop. Since you have the barrel length, you may as well take advantage of it. If you can, weld or using one way bolts secure a lock box in your truck, a solid one.

Yes, the Remington Express 125 grain SJHP is a powerhouse load. Double Tap makes a very hot 125 grain JHP. Remington Golden Sabre 125 grain JHP is a reduced velocity load and is very comfortable to shoot out of my 4" model 28.

Don't quote me on this, but I believe Massad Ayoob said the 125 grain Gold Dot was a keeper.

I agree with the 125gr Fed.....very good track record.

I like the Federal Premium 158gr Hydra-Shok!

[QUOTE=Sportsterguy;1191650]I love Speer Gold Dot 158 gr. JHP's! Work well on a 150 lb-200 lb deer. Should do it's intended job for self defense on a 2 legged animal. All of my 357's have em and I only shoot hand loaded 158 gr. LSWC's for practice.

Does Sportsterguy mind sharing his recipe for the 158 gr Gold Dots?

[QUOTE=ncbengal;1193408]Bought them (1k rounds, "Canned Heat") from Georgia Arms 4 years ago at a gunshow in Va. They were dirt cheap!

If you want my recipe for the LSWC's I'll post it upon your request.

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V/R
Roger / SG

Federal Classic 125 grain JHP. Fairly easy to find and not at an outlandish price.

Has anyone used Magtech's Guardian Gold? It's a 125 grain JHP with a BIG hollow point, and seems pretty darn hot. But I'd hate to shoot one indoors - you'd go deaf for sure.

This may seem weird, but my favorite load out of a 6" Model 28 is a 180 grain gas checked LSWC with healthy load of H110 or 2400 for about 1250 FPS (by my Chrony). Super accurate, controllable, lower flash and less noise than lightweight bullets (I think).

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I am not sure whether to go with 125 or 158 both in JHP. What are the trade offs

The 158gr will generally penetrate deeper than the 125gr. Some worry about over-penetration with the 158gr and end up choosing the 125gr.

I switched from the 125gr to the 158 gr for 2 reasons...first the 158gr hit dead on to my fixed sight ruger, and second..after working in a prison treating inmates, some beefed up with prison muscle, I decided to go with the extra penetration. I want the best odds at hitting vital organs, even if I have to shoot through his (BG)butt to hit them.

I'm looking at this from 40+ years of hunting. You have to have penetration and the 158 gr. will expand and pentrate leaving an exit wound to bleed the 2 or 4 legged animal out much faster depending upon which organs or blood vessels are hit during its path. As I stated earlier you still have to hit the vitals, take out the spine or brain for rapidly taking an animal out

Like PPS stated there are some BIG BG's out there. In the winter with heavy clothing being worn I want a bullet that will penetrate through the clothing AND vitals.

JMO

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V/R
Roger / SG

so even though the bigger bullet is going slower than a lighter bullet it still penetrates better? The specs for Gold Dots are 125gr. going 1450fps and 158gr. going 1235 fps.

In terms of Kinetic Energy the 125 grain @ 1450fps is more energetic, but the 158 grain @ 1250 has more momentum, therefore gaining deeper penetration than the 125 grain counterpart...in spite of less velocity.


125grains 1450fps 582.9ft-lbs 0.804 slug-ft/sec
158grains 1250fps 547.6 ft-lbs 0.876 slug-ft/sec

125 is the way to go in your 28. 158 in a 19 due to forcing cone issues.

Really, either load is powerful and reliable as long as shooter does his/her job.

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Jim

I took your idea one step further. I bought a steel locking box, a little less than a gun safe but fairly secure (I think I got it at Midway USA or Cheaper than Dirt). It came with a stainless steel cable which, as you suggested, is wrapped around the seat chassis. If I have to leave my truck gun behind (as in not on me concealed), it goes in the box out of sight under the seat. If the truck gets broken in to it will take some serious effort and or tools to remove the box and get to the gun locked inside.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; A pox on M&S and their stopping power nonsense. The 125's are borderline on the penetration tests, as long as it gets there ought to be pretty effective. I'll join with those who prefer a heavier bullet.

I have tried 145 Winchester Silvertips through my 28-2 and found them to be very accurate and very explosive on a gallon jug full of water at 10 yards. A very distructive round to say the least and easy to shoot out of the Model 28. Try some if you can.

Winchester Silvertip 145gr jhp; the PA Game Commission used this load until @ 2005/2006 in their 4" barreled .357 magnum revolvers before transitioning to Glocks in .357 Sig; this load splits the difference between light-n-warp speed and heavier-n-slower

Ok people, can you answer me this?
I have Speer Gold Dot-125 gr. in all my .357s
Today I bought some 158 gr. and did not realize it.
Will the bad guy know the difference now?
Or will I?

I certainly won't be the guy to tell you either won't work. .........because they will. For defense there is probably little difference, especielly since the Gold Dot bullet doesn't behave like the SJHPs from the '70s that are designed to fragment. I like SJHPs more for CCW, but think that the Gold Dot should work better for law enforcement type work where gunfights are more likely to happen in and around cars, and non frontal shots are more common. We're talking top notch .357 loads, so the difference in performance shouldn't really be that great.

Thank you very much.
At 28 bucks a box of 20, I want good stuff

The 125 gr choice for law enforcement is twofold. First, it does not overpenetrate resulting in unwanted collateral damage. Second, the slug dumps all of its energy in the target. This causes the most blunt trauma possible to the assailant.

The 158 gr does have the tendency to pass through the assailant, carrying energy with it and not dumping all it's energy in the intended target.

That's a good synopsis. I still would be comfortable with the best loads in either weight. FWIW, I run 125s in my guns (except the 360 pd; 135 gr. SB).

C'mon now, do you really think there's a bad .357 Magnum round made by any of the "name brand" manufacturers?

Any decent hollow point traveling that the speeds associated with a .357 Magnum will do the job it's supposed to do and do it well IMO. I happen to like the bullet Remington uses in their "cheap" line of ammo. Their "rose peddle" bullet expands reliable and well. If you go with the more expansive stuff I also like the 145gr Winchester Silvertip ammo like some said above. Nothing wrong with Remington Golder Saber .357 Magnum ammo either. (like Ford and Chevy)

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SWCA #3437

"C'mon now, do you really think there's a bad .357 Magnum round made by any of the "name brand" manufacturers?"

'zactly....
cause you don't have 6 in the cylinder of the latest 125grn laser-bonded-fangface-be-all-end-all-according to some magazine writer doesn't really mean that the BG will walk away shaking off the hits...
put them where they count, and they will work. Misses and loud noises won't...

I didn't say some were bad or good. Just some are better. I'm retired from the U.S. Marshals. Firearms inst. for 23 yrs. I've done my homework, and not from magazine articles.

I have been using the LSWCHP load in my 2" model 64 with good results. I would hate to touch that load off in a J frame, tho.

I just bought a box 50 round of Black Hills 125gr hollow points. I plan to shoot them in my model 28, 686 and my Ruger GP100. These are the heavy built 357s that can handle the lighter high power 357s. But if your talking about a home defense round that will stop a attacker indoors, I still have two speedloaders full of the Buffalo Bore LSWCHP "FBI". I have my model 10 4 inch revolver ready for them in my bedroom. I believe indoors and low light that that the "FBI" will get the job done. They are dead accurate with a S&W model 10 4 inch barrel.

Good luck,
roaddog28

Federal's 125 JHP chronographs at 1290 fps from my 4" 686. That's down from the listed specs of 1440 fps, but still no slouch.

I don't know what, but my hunch is that there is more going on here than meets the eye.

It is what it is.

I'm not at all suggesting that you're being disingenuous, only that something is seriously odd; wacky chrono, defective ammo, change in recipe, some combination of them all, ect. There are slow guns, but that would probably be some kind of record.

The referenced load is 357B, which has been replaced by C357B on the website, so there is some possibility of component change; otherwise, all is well.

+1 on what hogblue said. Agree wholeheatedly.

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S&W Armorer
Lost in the 50s

Now I'm really curious. If Federal downloaded their 125 gr. .357 JHP, then they're idiots. That load has a huge cult following just like Remington's version.

The C in the Federal code means Classic. That code has been around several years and also is on things like their 115gr 9mm jhp. I chronod their 125gr from a 3in GP 100 and it averaged 1376 from the shorter barrel and the Remington version averaged 1398 in the same 3in. Doesnt seem like they downloaded to me. It is possible that Federal might change the code again as they moved the 125gr 357 into their Personal Defense series and some of those loads are coded PD

Thanks for the info, xcop.

It beats me. For handloads, I have been using 296 and H110 for the last two or three years with 125 + 158 JSP's, along with cast 160 grain HP's. Velocities with these powders have not been up where I would have expected.

Getting a little OT, the other day I tried 15.0/2400 with a 154 grain cast and got 1342 fps average for 10 shots; most of the cases would fall out of the cylinder without use of the extractor, so no problems with pressure. 14.0 grains was 1216, 14.5 was 1275; the 14 grain load is sufficient for my purposes. Maybe the burning characteristics of 296, H110 and Federal's non-canister powder don't jive with my revolver (?).

I see that Cor-Bon's DPX 125 JHP is listed as 1300 fps on their website with a 4" test barrel, which seems slow compared to others. Surely SAAMI has standards for test barrels, so there must be something else in play.

Live and learn, I guess. Thanks for the comments; a good thinking through is useful now and then.jw

You're most welcome, cjw.

DPX is a very different animal than traditional loads. While the bullet is the same weight as other 125 grainers, being all copper it is no doubt longer and thus gives up case capacity. Copper being harder than lead, I'll bet that affects pressure too. Just a hunch.

It may very well be that you have the granddaddy of slow guns.

.....and oldy but goody:

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