I have both (among a variety of other .357 defensive ammo) but wanted to get a few opinions here on personal preferences. The pow'rballs seem to be quite the latest rage but I'm unsure, and the silvertips have withstood the test of time. Up for all opinions and thanks in advance.

In a revolver, where feeding is not an issue, I've never seen the value of going with the Pow'rball. Since I've never used the silvertip, I can't comment first hand there, but on paper it looks like the round I'd try first between the two rounds you've given.

+1...

Neither. Speer 135gr. Short Barrel .357 would be my preference, or better yet, full-house Cor-Bon or Speer 125gr. JHP. I know there are lots of Silvertip proponents here, but I've never been impressed with Silvertips in .357, and know of a couple of dismal failures with them in self-defense shootings. In fairness, those were over 25 years ago, and the load may have been improved since then. I like Pow'rBall in .45 ACP, but the limited testing I've done with it in .380, 9mm, .38 and .357 causes me to question whether it would be an adequate penetrator in those loadings. Also, it will likely shoot below your sights in the 360.

I vote for Speer 135 +P .38 Special. When we think of a .357 magnum, we think of that 125 grain bullet at 1450fps, but when you put it in a 2” barrel, according to my chronograph, the average velocity is only 1140fps. That’s just too much of a loss in performance for the huge increase in recoil, muzzle blast/flash, and noise. The Speer .38 +P Short Barrel load gives me adequate performance with none of the offending magnum problems (ok, it still kicks a bit, but light years away from the magnum).

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin Gibson:
I vote for Speer 135 +P .38 Special. When we think of a .357 magnum, we think of that 125 grain bullet at 1450fps, but when you put it in a 2” barrel, according to my chronograph, the average velocity is only 1140fps. That’s just too much of a loss in performance for the huge increase in recoil, muzzle blast/flash, and noise. The Speer .38 +P Short Barrel load gives me adequate performance with none of the offending magnum problems (ok, it still kicks a bit, but light years away from the magnum).

Depends on which 125gr. load you're using. Several years ago, I chronoed both Federal 125gr. JHP .357 and Cor-Bon's 125gr. load through my 2 1/4" SP-101. The Federal load got 1225-1235 fps. The Cor-Bon, however, did just over 1400 fps., and did so with nearly zero flash. The Speer 135gr. .357 load, according to my limited chronograph testing, will beat the 135gr. .38 load by about 100-150 fps. from a 1 7/8" tube.

is yer 360 a 'kit' variant w/ 3" barrel? if so, you might want to opt for something that works as a medium velocity loadlike Remington 125gr Golden Sabre or Winchester WWB 110gr sjhp Personal Defense; I'm not knocking the newer stuff by Corbon or Speer, but there are other loads in the 'gray' zone that get ignored that do a great job at a good price

+1 for Speer SB .357. It's the most powerful thing I've tried in my 360 PD that works for me. The last time I tried Remington 125 gr. SJHPs (5 rounds) my hand was screwed up for a month and a half. YMMV. The Speer SB .357 is more like a .38 +P+, not a hotrod .357 (ouch!).

Pick the one that you and your gun shoot the best. You wouldn't want to use second best to defend your family, would you?

quote:

Originally posted by 38-44HD45:

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin Gibson:
I vote for Speer 135 +P .38 Special. When we think of a .357 magnum, we think of that 125 grain bullet at 1450fps, but when you put it in a 2” barrel, according to my chronograph, the average velocity is only 1140fps. That’s just too much of a loss in performance for the huge increase in recoil, muzzle blast/flash, and noise. The Speer .38 +P Short Barrel load gives me adequate performance with none of the offending magnum problems (ok, it still kicks a bit, but light years away from the magnum).

Depends on which 125gr. load you're using. Several years ago, I chronoed both Federal 125gr. JHP .357 and Cor-Bon's 125gr. load through my 2 1/4" SP-101. The Federal load got 1225-1235 fps. The Cor-Bon, however, did just over 1400 fps., and did so with nearly zero flash. The Speer 135gr. .357 load, according to my limited chronograph testing, will beat the 135gr. .38 load by about 100-150 fps. from a 1 7/8" tube.

And the Buffalo bore 158gr FBI load in 38+p shoots at 998fps out of my 1 7/8" snubbie... That's a bit more muzzle velocity, KE, and momentum than the 135gr .357mag gold dot (which I also really like)

Yep. Buffalo Bore is mighty hot stuff. However, if you want expansion, you may not get it from the BB. Some of it has gone out with very hard bullets. Sure wouldn't have any complaints about its penetration, though!

Triton Quik Shoks, anyone? Just a joke? Serious round? Got a box of those guys sitting around too and they have quite the fierce reputation. Recoil isn't terribly bad (having your hand gored by a rhino pales in comparison to the 125 Remingtons. Ran 5 of those things through there and called it a day.) Overall, the little fella is pretty easy to control with everything I've shot through it thus far, minus the above mentioned cylinderful.

I don't have the exact numbers here at work, but in a chrono session with my wife's 2 1/2" Model 66, the Fed 125 HiShok made something like 1225 fps with typical 357 recoil (ouch!) and the CorBon 110 gr jhp +p 38 Special hit 1110 fps or thereabouts. And it recoiled like a 38. So for the loss of 15 grains of bullet weight and 100 fps, managable recoil was gained. It increased her ability to hit the target tenfold.

Sorry that doesn't answer your question about pow'rball vs. silvertips. I've only tested pow'rball in 45 acp. I was impressed by the velocity and accuracy in my guns, but I prefer a heavier bullet. I've never been able to warm up to silvertips excepting the first ones that carried that name which were 308 and 30-06 hunting rounds.

Speer 135 +p is fine for up close work out of my 380 M&P . . . I've only squeezed one shot through it, at an armadillo and the result was spectacular - complete penetration through its armored shell. I need to do some range work with it, but I'm comfortable with that little revolver in my front pocket. The idiot lock is defeated, the front sight is tritium.

My only on-the-job shooting involved two of us with .357 Silvertips. It is an excellent anti-personnel round (it's intended purpose), but don't expect it to penetrate ANYTHING except the bad guy... just about anything between you and the bad guy will cause the round to splinter. So, if you're not planning to penetrate car windows, etc., and just want a time-tested "man-stopper," I'd go with the Silvertip. If you want to be able to penetrate any obstruction between you and your target, I'd go with a jacketed or semi-jacketed hollowpoint. (As another member already pointed out, feeding in a revolver isn't any issue, so you aren't restricted to a certain shape of bullet.)