It's turning a little cooler here in Paradise which means the 5904 has been replaced by the Andy Horvath Custom 28-2 Snub for CCW duty for the old, retired Detective.

I've been loading it with Remington's # R357M7, 110 Gr. JHP. (not the Silvertips shown in the pic). The gun prints excellent from 3 to 15 yards with this round, ever in rapid fire drills.

Been thinking of changing to the 125 Gr. JHP round. Not worried about the wear & tear on the gun. As you can image, it's got plenty of extra metal in the right places.

I'm in the city, so kinda of concerned about the heavier grain rounds (158 Gr, etc.) being over penetrative.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

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S&WCA # 2045

Speer GDHP 135gr. Made for short barrels. This is very similiar to their excellent .38 spl. load, but it's still under 1,000 fps.

Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel Ammo 357 Mag 135 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 20

Technical Information:
•Muzzle Velocity: 990 fps
•Muzzle Energy: 294 ft. lbs.


If you want to step-up velocity, I also have some of this:

Vital-Shok Ammo 357 Mag 140 Grain Barnes XPB Hollow Point Lead-Free Box of 20

Ballistics Information:
•Muzzle Velocity: 1400 fps
•Muzzle Energy: 609 ft. lbs.

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Watch & Pray

If you want full-blown 357 ammo I'd look at the 140-grain offerings, they tend to penetrate better than the 125's and don't seem as abusive to the guns. The Hornady 140-XTP at 1350 fps is an excellent round, but if you want something a bit lighter there's the Critical Defense ammo, and it's very good stuff. I have recently started testing the major defensive loads in pistol calibers, and while I haven't found any 357 loads, I've tested the .380, 38+P, 40S&W and 45ACP, and the Critical Defense stuff is VERY good. I'm trying to decide between carrying Gold Dots and the Critical Defense stuff at work, and it's a tossup!

You can still source Winchester 145-gr Silvertips in .357 Magnum. I find that they're really smooth shooters. If I'm not carrying those, I'll load up with 158-gr Speer Gold Dots.

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Calmer than you are.

+1 on the Hornady Critical Defense ammo. They might seem a little light, a little pointy looking but with that rubber plug they wont clog in denim, leather clothing and the things expand like a sunflower twice their diameter for what seems like 100% of the time. Watch the countless pro and amatuer ballistic tests, but for my tests they hit on the target and not low like some light rounds. Exactly where I point shoot. They can be expensive but I found them on the dirt cheap ammo site for a surprising price. This might be exactly what you're looking for. They claim to be optimized for performance in small barrels. After I saw some of the denim tests with the other brands of "premium" rounds I switched. Half of them clogged or just punched through the entire gel leaving a trail of blue fibers.

On the other hand one round that doesn't have a rubber plug but performs amazingly well, seems to be the Speer Gold Dot. Rounds like the winchester supreme elite and remingtons did not perform well in these same tests. I say worth a look at the critical defense...

.357 mag Federal or Remington 125gr JHP full power ammo runs at 1,450 fps from a 4". You may loose a 100 fps with a shorter barrel but at 1,350 fps they're better than any .38spl. Lots of bark and bite but still the best you can get for any .357 mag regardless of barrel length.

If you want something a bit milder get some Remington Golden Sabers, they are medium velocity rounds at 1,220 fps from a 4" barrel.

Thanks guys for all the input!

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S&WCA # 2045

I also like Winchester Silvertips 145gr. HP.