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Old 02-04-2016, 10:39 AM
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I just bought a model 66-8 and was wondering what your favorite ammo choices are for this revolver. I have read where the lighter loads in 357 mag are not good choices for this revolver. Please let me know what your favorite 38 & 357 loads are for plinking and for taking into the woods to hunt swine. Thanks.
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Old 02-04-2016, 11:07 AM
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If you plan to participate in feral swine eradication with your 66 you will need to get pretty darn close, and use the heaviest bullet your revolver can handle. Take a broadside shot at the head, aim for a spot between the ear and the eye.
I have killed wild hogs with a .357 / 158 gr. bullet but that was with a revolver carried as a backup to a long gun. Since then I have moved up to a .44 mag. because I wanted more power due to chance encounters with larger sized hogs.
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Old 02-04-2016, 12:43 PM
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I use a model 66 for IDPA with .38 158gr plated over HP38.

Hunting pigs with it are sorta like hunting with a bow. It will kill the pig, but only a perfect shot will take it down.
A fellow shooter went on his first pig hunt, having gotten his version of the perfect heavy .357 load, and came back with the story of the big boar that took 6 of his shots and kept on trying to kill the dogs.
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Old 02-04-2016, 12:44 PM
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You can use light load 357 just fine. Just not a metric ton of it. Otherwise it works fine

I use whatever ammo my gun is designed for. If I find one the performs better than others I try to buy more of it
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Old 02-04-2016, 01:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Toddmann View Post
I just bought a model 66-8 and was wondering what your favorite ammo choices are for this revolver. I have read where the lighter loads in 357 mag are not good choices for this revolver. Please let me know what your favorite 38 & 357 loads are for plinking and for taking into the woods to hunt swine. Thanks.
Welcome to the Forum

My FAVORITE load to shoot in my 19 or 66s is a 125 grain Winchester JHP over 21.6 grains of H110, but all of mine are short barrels. I have sent many, many thousands of the full magnum 125s downrange.






For Hogs, I would probably go to a 158JSP or one of the heavier WFN hard cast lead SWCs

There is no need to worry about those old stories of light projectiles being a problem for the 19/66 revolvers. The stories are decades old and have zero bearing on your model 66. Metallurgy has changed since the Combat Magnum was introduced in 1955, so has the design of the revolver. The -7 engineering revision of the model 66 eliminated that weak spot on the bottom of the forcing cone where part of the barrel used to be cut flat so the crane could close under it.

Last edited by colt_saa; 02-04-2016 at 01:07 PM.
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Old 02-04-2016, 02:04 PM
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l just like shooting targets with my Model 15 snubby and Highway Patrolman.
l shoot ''Dad's Ammo''. The price is great and l get home delivery .
Heck, lf l cook he'll clean my guns TOO!
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Old 02-04-2016, 06:21 PM
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It's not just the bullet weight, but the velocity, too. Full-power, light-bullet-weight loads (think 125gr SJHP at 1,450fps out of a 4" barrel) are the rounds one should be concerned with. A steady diet of them may cause issues, but occasional use most likely won't. Just about anything else shouldn't cause any issues, assuming the gun is mechanically sound.

My favorite load to shoot in a K-frame .357 Magnum was the WWB 110gr SJHP. It's a light-recoiling load (IIRC, energy-wise it's equivalent to 9mm 115gr +P), yet makes a really cool fireball from the muzzle. I only used it for target shooting, but if I couldn't find anything better I'd be ok with using it as a self-defense load.
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Old 02-04-2016, 06:52 PM
Mike, SC Hunter Mike, SC Hunter is offline
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Favorite ammo is the ammo I make in the little bullet factory out back.
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Old 02-04-2016, 07:29 PM
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A few of my friends and I have used this Buffalo Bore 180gn Hard Cast .357 Round successfully, hunting Boar. My one friend has also taken, two black bear, with this round.

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...uct_list&c=162
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Old 02-04-2016, 07:33 PM
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For plinking at the range, I buy Freedom Munitions, great ammo at a very fair price, first time customer gets free shipping, sign up for their email alerts, they have a special everyday on a different ammo. Home defense I stick with Hornady Critical Defense.
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Old 02-05-2016, 10:00 AM
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Originally Posted by johnnyflake View Post
A few of my friends and I have used this Buffalo Bore 180gn Hard Cast .357 Round successfully, hunting Boar. My one friend has also taken, two black bear, with this round.

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...uct_list&c=162
Have you been shooting these out of a Model 66 like the OP's?
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Old 02-05-2016, 10:21 AM
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For killing stuff with a handgun, is there ANY bad .357 load?

There might be some things that need killed, that you wouldn't want to use a handgun. But anything that warrants a handgun is gonna be in big trouble if the shooter has a .357.

ANY .357.

If you can hit a wild pig with any handgun, you should be giving US advice.
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Old 02-05-2016, 10:54 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moxie View Post
Have you been shooting these out of a Model 66 like the OP's?
I have not shot them out of a Model 66, although it probably could handle the load, but in a smaller size gun like that it will probably hurt ya!

I have fired that round, many times, from a S&W Model 29, a Ruger GP100 and a Ruger Blackhawk. If your not holding on, it can sting the hell out of you hand. However, when your in the mix of it, you don't seem to feel a thing!
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Old 02-05-2016, 01:56 PM
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My 66-8 is not gonna be my primary weapon just a back up side arm to carry while hunting pigs. The gun came lots of ammo just seeing if any of it is good for that application. I have 100 rounds of 180gr Underwood ammo.
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Old 02-05-2016, 04:13 PM
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The 180 Underwood will do what you need.
I load 158 JHP's almost exclusively and have taken deer and hogs with them.
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Old 02-05-2016, 07:32 PM
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The 180 Underwood will do what you need.
I load 158 JHP's almost exclusively and have taken deer and hogs with them.
Great, thanks for the response.
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Old 02-05-2016, 11:15 PM
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Shooting that 180 gr. Underwood @1400 fps out of a K-frame Model 66 is not a good idea.
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