Anybody have an opinion on the Federal P357XB1 .357 Magnum loading with the 140 grain Barnes Expander all copper bullet out of a K frame .357?

I picked up a few boxes of them during this panic when they were all that was on the shelf. They would be for use out of a 4" Model 19, 3" 65, or 3" 13.

My preferred load is the Speer 135 grain Gold Dot .357 for these guns, but it seems to be still unobtanium.....

I know all about the K frame forcing cone issues. The 140 grain all copper bullets are long for caliber and should mitigate this. I don't know how hot the cartridges are loaded though......

Cannot see myself shooting lots of them.

That's a round that packs a wallop, over 600 lbs of M.E. That's too much to be controllable out of a 3" gun, especially follow-up shots. It's also marketed as a hunting round, not self defense.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it would make a pretty good SD round out of a N frame, but it's too much for a K frame in my opinion.

You will notice a huge difference in recoil going from the Speer 135gr bullet @990 fps to a 140gr bullet @1400 fps in a short barrel revolver.

The Speer short barrel .357 Magnum ammo is a magnum round in name only. Like said above, that ammo would be better suited for hunting than SD IMO.

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