I came across a small stack of this locally, not cheap but reasonable enough. Do any of you use/carry ammunition this in either the 125 or 158 gr. factory loadings?

Impressions?

How does it compare to the Gold Dots or Golden Sabers, etc.?

I came across a small stack of this locally, not cheap but reasonable enough. Do any of you use/carry ammunition this in either the 125 or 158 gr. factory loadings?

Impressions?

How does it compare to the Gold Dots or Golden Sabers, etc.?

Hornady ammo is top quality, but keep in mind that the XTP is designed for deep penetration. If you prefer a little more than 12"-14" penetration then the XTP is for you. While I haven't tested the XTP .357 round I found the .44 mag offering to be the deep penetrator I expected. In .357 magnum it's hard to beat R357M1 (Remington 125 gr. SJHP).

From everything I've read Hornady XTP bullets do not expand reliable enough to be carried in a handgun for Self Defense.

If you want a good ammo that doesn't cost over $1 a round check out stuff made by DoubleTap. They use a speer Gold Dot bullet and are loaded just as hot as Buffalo bore ammo but unlike Buffalo bore they don't cost over $1 a round. Their .357 Magnum Ammo is $34.95/50 rounds for both 125gr and 158gr Gold Dot bullet rounds. I sometimes carry their .38 Special +P ammo in my J frame.

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I'm with flop on the sjhp recommendation, though I like the 158gr flavor.

I will say that the little bit of xtp I've shot has been some of the most accurate stuff I've shot.

I don't see the XTP bullet failing to expand at .357 velocities. The bullet will be moving so far in excess of it's expansion threshold that I'm figuring it can't not expand. I would even expect expansion through heavy cloth from a snubby. However I haven't tested Hornady .357 so I could be wrong. I did test the .44 magnum from my 5" gun and I promise that bullet will expand and penetrate relatively deep. Once again, results may vary from a shorter barrel, but I would expect consistent expansion. Where I've seen Hornady XTP and FTX bullets fail is into four layers of denim/Perma-Gel from a P3AT (.380 cal.).

Just an FYI. The XTP bullet is what Hornady loads in their TAP ammo.

My experience with XTPs and expansion testing has been limited, but educational. The only .357 load I've tested was the 140gr. load, and it did not expand in water when fired from my 3" Model 65, but expanded a little from a 6" Security Six. Quite unimpressive, when compared to Gold Dot loads, or even the moderate velocity Golden Saber 125s. In .45 ACP, I've never gotten consistent expansion with XTPs, and usually, none at all. However, when I load XTPs in my .460 Rowland, they expand and fragment. It appears that the expansion threshold velocity is substantially higher than advertised for these bullets. (Keep in mind, water ain't flesh and bone, so your results may vary.) FWIW, I have always gotten great accuracy results with XTP bullets, in every loading I've tried.

The ONLY bullets I found to expand in the "Water Only" testing was the Federal HydraShok bullets. They also provided expansion in the "Shooting through Heavy Clothing" and "Shooting through Car Doors/Windows" testing.

What little "meat" testing we did showed the same things. We were using 2" "J" Frames, 2-1/2", 4" & 6" "K" Frames and Colt Full Sized MK-IV, Series 70(.45ACP) and a Colt Combat Commander(9mm).

Mike, I've shot lots of bullets into lots of water, both "clothed" and "unclothed," using gallon milk jugs as containers. Gold Dots, in every loading I've shot, always expand if driven to their threshold, and sometimes even when moving slower. Golden Saber loads have given me the same results. First generaton Hydra-Shoks rarely expanded in water; later ones almost always do, as you noted. My friends at Federal Cartridge always have told me that water is a tough test medium; i.e., a bullet that expands in water will nearly always expand in flesh, but not necessarily vice versa. XTPs have been the only "modern" bullet design I've tested in water that fails to expand unless driven to velocities well above the manufacturer's stated expansion threshold velocity. While my testing has not been very scientific, it has been instructive to me. Your results may vary, as they say!

There are better 357 choices for self defense--e.g., Federal 125gr JHP (which is what is in my PC 586 L-Comp). An XTP bullet sounds better suited for hunting.

My testing was done with both the earlier design and with the later. The later didn't require that they be driven near as hard and worked very well with "normal Factory" loadings. My testing was done for an 'Agency' and Factory loadings were required. We did do a bit of "personal handload testing" while we were at it and most of the others bullets including the XTP needed to be driven into the +P levels before they would expand consistently.

We also found that the Federal HydraShoks stayed together much better when we were trying to see how much they would penetrate.

Yep.