Inside the lid it says what kind of ammo is recommened.
Dick

Wow, what time frame was this box made? That must be an old box if all they are recommending for a Highway Patrol (Model 28) are lead bullets. I got a kick out of the exploded shell info too!

Box from appr.1955
Dick

I have some of those Remington 158 grain lead hi-velocity 357 magnum loads from that time frame, mid 1950's. I tell you what, I would have no problems carrying that round for self defense. They are pretty potent and the lead bullets mushroom pretty well.

They also leaded bores pretty well and pretty fast.

In fairness, modern jacketed soft and HP ammo was yet to come.

I think that lead bullet warning was devised for.38 and .44 Special ammo and was then printed in all box lids, regardless of caliber.

Barrel steel was softer in old guns, too. Keith wore out some M-1917 barrels with GI jacketed .45 bullets. But he shot a LOT. He also wore out Colt .45 auto barrels, but they were easily replaced, unlike revolver barrels.

I like lead round nose ammunition for self defense, even lead wadcutters and semi-wadcutters, but I won't use lead "bullets" at the range. Too dirty!

Back in earlier times, S&W had a hangup about not using jacketed bullets due to accelerated bore wear. During WWII they changed the steel alloy used for making Victory barrels so that it would better withstand firing the military .38 FMJ bullets. I assume they continued use of that same wear-resistant steel alloy after the war for all barrels. If so, I wonder why they still recommended using lead bullets only for a postwar HP. Barrel leading should not be a problem so long as lead bullets have a MV below about 1100 ft/sec.

Virtually all civilian ammunition sold in revolver calibers used lead bullets only until Super Vel came along in the late 1960s and changed things forever.

I think the first JSP ammo in .357 that I was aware of was by Remington, ca. 1963. In a few years, they also offered that scalloped bullet design in JHP form.

Both were EXTREMELY accurate in my N-framed .357's.

Metal-piercing loads with jacketed tips, at least, probably go as far back as the 1930's. ?? Those tend tp have cone-head shaped bullets to enhance penetration in cars and other barriers.