How can I wring the most out of my 2.5 M19 as a carry gun? Never owned one before -- always went for N frames. I have Rem 158 gr .38 special LSWCHP, Rem 158 gr .357, and Federal 125 gr .357. What will deliver the most energy and penetration? I'm not so concerned with recoil in an OMG scenario, and I don't plan a steady diet of hot stuff on a medium frame. What, when the SHTF, would be best? Thanks.

Same weight and bullet in a .38 out of my Det Special...

I would go with the Rem 158gr 357s. The Fed 125gr looks good on paper as well, but 125gr loads aren't good for K-frames, and probably won't deliver as much penetration as a good 158gr bullet.

Is the Remington 357 ammo you have the hollow point or soft point load?

It's the nice JHP with the scalloped jacket. I like just looking at them. ; ) The .44 mag version is like ... art.

I keep hearing that 125s aren't good on any gun. Flame cutting seems to be the chief complaint. Don't know how true or scientific this is, but I think I read that because it's a short bullet. I can sort of get my mind around that. Anyway, the heavy bullet seems right to me too. What you lose in velocity from a short barrel you make up in weight and penetration. I'll shoot mostly .38 in this gun anyway. I bought it to plink, and because the lines are classic.

Hot 125gr loads are rough on top straps, especially the K frame 357s.

Some claim the flat on the bottom of the barrel in the area of the forcing cone is subject to cracking with hot loads....You didn't ask, but my 19 and 66 snubbies are extremely accurate and potent with Skeeter's old "everyday" load.

135 gr. Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel either 357 or 38 +p.

Powder is low(er) flash, accuracy is good, bullet performs better than the 158 in the shorter barrel.

jdh has hit the nail on the head. This is ammo that has been engineered for top performance out of short barrels. Because 95% of defense situations occur in low light the muzzle flash thing is more important than one might think.

In my mind, the most important aspect would be shot placement. I would chose a load that I could afford to practice with enough for a first shot hit to be a highly likely result. If that turned out to be a 158 JHP 38 special +P, then so be it.

I've got a 19-3 snub and I can tell you I ain't no stranger to magnum recoil from a more powerful gun than the 357, but the little magnum can be a bear with max. loads and I would rather hit the miscreant with a couple of 38 +p's than miss him with a magnum. My gun twists pretty good in my hand with the more powerful stuff.

I believe in stacking the deck in my favor if possible. Good question.

From your options I would load the 158Gr. .357 magnum ammo. Let me suggest the Federal 147Gr. 38 Special +P+ load, which is close to a .357 lite load. This Federal load should give enough stopping power without excessive recoil.

What are you planning to shoot?

I'm a chrono nerd. For people, the aforementioned +P+ 147-gr loading will do about 950 fps from your gun. If you like the heavy 9mm loadings, this will essentially duplicate them. To my way of thinking, this is fine, and it's a good, controllable loading. If you want a bit more zip, you might consider the Short Barrel 135-grain Speer Gold Dot .357 Magnum loading, which should attain 1050 fps from your gun with flash-suppressed powder and a super high-tech bullet (unlike the 147-gr .38 Spl bullet, which is older and a whole lot less likely to expand - tho it will penetrate). If you want more, the old 145-gr Magnum STHP should get you 1150 fps from your gun.

For critters, I'd go with a 158-grainer. Handloaded hardcasts can attain 1200 fps from your barrel length with max charges (according to my chrono) - I've never chrono'd the current batch of factory JHPs, tho (I'd expect significantly less velocity).

I carry Remington 158gr LSWCHP +P in my Model 65. That's the old FBI load, and it seems to group just fine. In my Model 66-1, I carry Speer 158gr JHP .357 Magnums.

Top strap flame cutting, forcing cone erosion, and development of end shake, are the results of shooting hot (i.e. 125gr JHP Magnum) loads in the K frames.

In my 2 1/2" 19 I carry the Remington 135 grain mid-range .357 Mag. Golden Saber loads. They have proved to be very accurate and easy to control. I haven't tried the Speer Gold Dot SB .357 mag loads, but might check into them also. Great gun you have there!

As Erich asked, what are you shooting??

For back up in the woods I'd go with 180 grain Buffalo Bore .357 Heavy loads.

For serious street (2 legged) animals the BB 158 grain .357 JHP is devastating if you can deal with the recoil.

For a general home defense load I like the BB 158 grain +P 38 Spl. LSWCHP-GC Heavy load.

For punching holes in paper or for steel plate monsters, any 158 grain standard RNL is perfect, be it Factory or a reload.

Chief38

A big +1 on the Speer Gold Dot. I recently attended a ballistic shoot and the .38 +p Gold Dot was one of the rounds tested. It passed all of the FBI protocal tests including shooting through auto glass out of a 2" J Frame. Being a bonded bullet it also retains most of its weight after expansion.

A+++......For the GoldDot!!!! The 135gr.+P/357mag.SB are Tops.
I use them in my J & K-Frame guns with 3" barrels or less. I also like the Winchester 145gr.STHP mag. for my 681 PC 3".

In my 3" Model 13 and my 4" Model 10 I carry the 135 gr. Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel .38 Spl +P load. It also works well out of my wife's 4" Model 681. (Yeah, I know that the 4 inchers don't need the "Short Barrel" load, but they sure do shoot well!) All my speedloaders and speed strips are loaded with the SGDSBs, too, except for my J-frame stuff. (I baby my 1982 Model 37 Airweight with standard pressure loads.)

ECS

__________________
CPT, Armor (Ret)
Luke 22:36

Good thread. I recently picked up a 19-2 w/2.5", and was wondering what to feed it.

My father is a retired FBI Agent and the M19/66 in 2.5 were very common handguns that agents would buy with their own money. He had a model 19 in snub fashion with Packy grips. Back then, I recall seeing several boxes of Winchester or Federal 158 grain, plus P, LHP ammo in his closet. I was already a gun nut back then and I never saw him, or hear him tell of shooting .357 magnums through it. He retired in 1993.

Speer Short Barrel for all my snubbies.

The benchmark for defensive rounds is the 125 grain JHP round. Seems once a .35 caliber JHP bullet gets over 1400 fps brand doesn't make much difference.

You will loose 50-100 fps going from the 4" to the 2.5" barrel. Depending on the brand MV from a 4" runs 1400-1475 fps. From a 2.5" barrel expect the same performance as a .357 SIG round which are generally running 1350+- fps depending on the barrel length.

Bob

This is good advice.Modern ammo that delivers good terminal ballistics. You're really just getting a lot of flash and blast with a full house magnum load in the 2 1/2 in.bbl and not gaining that much in true TERMINAL performance.
I use only the 135 gr.+P 38 Gold Dot in my 2 1/2 that I've had for 40 years.
My own testing demonstrated excellant penetration and expansion AND it is bonded(better thru barriers). Forget energy.That a farce,period, in any handgun.