Take a look at this photo at top left and click on it. This is a full house 357 round in the dark. You won't be able to hear anymore nor will you see your adversary after the first shot.

Amazon.com: Stressfire, Vol. 1 (Gunfighting for Police: Advanced Tactics and Techniques) (9780936279039): Massad F. Ayoob, Ray Chapman: Books

This is insane!

That makes me want to see what 2" hot loaded .357 maximum with 110gr bullets looks like. You might not even see the shooter. Now if only I had a .357 max gun.

I keep all my .357 wheel guns loaded with 357 mag 125 gr FTX Critical Defense rounds by Hornady. Hornady also makes Critical Defense rounds chambered in .38spl. It is really up to you on what you want to shoot. I would suggest that you pick up a few boxes of different ammo and see what is most accurate in your firearm.

I keep golden saber or gold dots in my 686, in 38 Special +P.

That is another great round. I have considered this, how does it preform accuracy wise in your revolver?

Golden saber in 38+P are a pleasure to shoot out of my 4 inch 686. I am always spot on, managable recoil, very low muzzle flash. These are much more manageable than .357 golden saber.

I have been stocking up on this ammo, around $15 box of 25 online.

Wow, 58 replies to the OP and not one mentioned the original mid-range .357 load, the 110gr JHP.

This load has been around for as long as I can remember, and its a good one. The spec is a 110JHP at a nominal 1295 fps for 410 ft. lbs energy at the muzzle.

It was always intended to be the option for those who wanted less recoil in a factory load. At one time loaded by all of the Big Three, now only Remington and Winchester catalogue it, but those, particularly the Remington, are probably the best of them anyway. Why? Here goes:

The bullets are conventional JHP's with plenty of exposed lead at enough velocity to assure reliable expansion from any length barrel. Muzzle energy beats most any 9mm and 45 ACP loads, and the bullet is fragile enough to limit overpenetration through solid surfaces. Some will say that this velocity is too fast for this bullet weight and limits penetration, but the same people then say that a 115gr 9mm+P at the same speed is perfect. Go figure...

Flash and blast depends on the brand, but some Remington's I shot a while ago were not offensive.

The load seems to have been pushed aside in favor of newer ammo with great tactical critical sounding names, but much lower performance. The conventional scalloped jacket bullets always expand at these velocities, and I remember it being reasonably priced.

In your heavy 627 recoil should be no problem, and the price should allow you lots of practice. This load beats any .38+P from your gun. You should give it a serious look.

With that said, allow me to makes some observations on the overpenetration issue, which really comes down to two considerations.

First, an earlier poster said, correctly, that any ammunition with adequate gel penetration is going to penetrate walls and such. That's just part of the deal. But it's a good thing.

Too many people practice for the "bad guy coming up the stairs" shot. They envision an exposed target and a frontal shot. They practice for the best shot and worry about missing, and this is a mistake.

I always try to imagine the worst shot I may have to make in any particular environment. Think about how a bad guy would get into and out of your house. What's in the way that he could use for cover.

In my situation it would be a fiberglass front door, a metal door going to my garage and the island cabinets and table in my kitchen. I can easily see Mr. Bad Guy using these for cover and I want my bullets to be able to punch through and get to him in a useful condition.

Bullets must be able to defeat the toughest cover they may encounter in your environment, period. If they won't you may end up in real trouble.

The second part of solving the overpenetration problem is training those who are in your home. Are you alone? No problem. Wife, kids? Train them how to react if an intruder comes in. What do you do if you are separated in the house?

If your kids are old enough, teach them that on your signal or at the sound of trouble to get under the bed or furniture, flat on the floor. Show them what good, tough cover is in every room of the house and teach them to stay there until you say it's safe to come out. Concealment is not cover. Cover stops bullets, hiding behind the shower curtain doesn't.

I no longer have kids in the house, but when I did my wife knows her job was to secure the kids, if possible, and call 911. She was also ready to defend herself but her main role was to get to cover, get help on the way, and stay put until "all clear".

I know this was a long post, but you said you were a new gun owner and I felt those things needed to be said.

Bullets work by punching holes in things, and using effective ammo safely means thinking beyond just "what's the best load".

Tactics and training are the biggest part of surviving a bad encounter, even more important than the ammunition you select. Always equip yourself and train for the worst situation you might encounter.

It's possible no one mentioned a 110gr bullet for the .357 Magnum because it takes away from the reason we shoot a .357 Magnum. The .38 Special and .357 Magnum are capable of shooting heavier bullets and benefit from them. Why shoot such a light load in a .357? I would leave the lighter bullets to the smaller calibers and shoot a real bullet in the 38/357, even when light loads are wanted.

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Fair points but:

1) Several posters suggested 125 gr 38 Special +P , which are even weaker, and many people consider the very similar, but still weaker 115gr 9mm to be a good load. Someone even suggested the CorBon 110gr 38 +P as "an oustanding defensive round".

2) The original question was posted by a guy who is a) a new gun owner and b) concerned about too much power for home defense, both of which justify suggesting this lighter but still powerful load.

I, too believe that if you need to shoot someone there is no such thing as too much power. I prefer heavy bullets that will enter and exit my intended target and cause lots of damage while doing so. Heavy for caliber expanding bullets at high velocity do just that.

My primary HD gun is a Mossberg 930 with 8 rounds of 00 Buck, backed up with a 1911 charged with Winchester Ranger 230 gr +P Hollowpoints, a Model 686 with 160gr cast lead hollowpoints running about 1350fps, and various other pieces stashed discreetly around the house. Oh, and a couple of AR-15's where I can get to them quickly as well.

That's what works...for me.

But that is not what he was asking for. He had two main concerns, as I saw it, and I suggested a very reasonable option. There is a reason that load has been in nearly every manufacturers catalog for over 40 years. It works for the intended purpose.

The OP has one gun. It's a .357. Why handicap himself with weaker .38's when a powerful and controllable .357 load is available?

It may work for this guy, or not, but at least he was presented with the option.

Oh, and nothing personal, but anytime someone criticizes a particular load as weak and ineffective, I always ask them if they want to be shot with it.

For some reason the answer is always "No"

The last few posts interested me, and I thought I would chime in with my 2 cents. I see a lot written about the excessive muzzle blast, flash, and lack of controlability regarding the .357 mag, and I don't agree when the ammo is fired out of a medium or larger framed revolver. I've been shooting .357's for 20 plus years, trained at the academy with that caliber, carried it on duty for 6+ years (40 S&W now) still carry one regularly off-duty. I use full house 125 JHP's in a Security Six, 145 Silvertips in K-Frames, and fairly warm handloaded 158 XTP's in K & L frames, dependant upon gun and carry situation/location. I primarily use the Silvertips for CCW at night, as the flash from them is not impressive and they pack quite a punch. Flash during the daylight is irrevelant, and I am not particularly impressed with the recoil or any lack of controlability of any of those loads. The first solid torso hit from the holster wins the gunfight, and I'd prefer that it be a powerful hit. If you accomplish that, does flash, blast, or recoil matter? When I need 38 special performance, I'll carry my model 10.

I don't care for the .357 110 JHP loads. Carried them on duty for a while and fired thousands of them. The flash of the Remingtons is like a flash cube at night and they flame cut as much as the full house 125's, which have a much better track record. Just my .02

I'm no expert but I have been told by LEO and non LEO involved in self defense shootings that say they never noticed muzzle flash or blast.

ANY firearm that you fire indoors will be loud enough to damage your hearing. So quite honestly, that's the last thing I worry about.

All my guns are loaded with the most powerful caliber designed for that gun. Handguns are known to be poor man stoppers. So why screw around?

There WILL be consequenses in any self defense shooting. We can speculate all we want. In the end the most important consideration is protecting ourselves and family.

OP, personally I would use a good 357 load. But you must work things out for yourself. Corbon is a excellent choice. Practice often!

Pretend you're using a Model 10/64 instead. Your best choice then would be a +P 158 grain LSWC-HP. The Buffalo Bore is a good round.

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I have a S&W Model 13 357 as my HD weapon. I keep it ready with FBI loads (38+P 158gr hp) and feel very confident that this would serve well if the need ever arose.

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Groo here
As much as I respect the people here I find I must speak..
From most of the post, it sounds like few of you have shot a 357 mag
at night , inside , or with lighter bullets.
Let alone trained with them...
As a Deputy for over 30 years and used the 357 with the orginal
remington 125 gr " flame thrower " loads [ I still have some]
I must take exception..
1# the flash will blind you ... Incorrect = we would train to use the
flash to look for targets because holding the old K-lights and shoot was
not as easy as it looks in the books..
2# The noise will cause you to be disorentated = Incorrect= although
it is verry noisy you will here it less [ autory exclusion] than you think
[ like a shotgun will kick to just shoot it but not felt when hunting]
also you know that the gun is going off where the target does not
and down range the noise is much worse..
3# the 357 goes through housed and endangers neighbors.
True to a point , the orginal stuff did [ I once shot through a house
,old with rocklath and plaster not plaster board, with the 125gr Rems
and it went all the way..
Newer loads are quicker to expend and reduce this somewhat..
#4 357 kickes too hard for follow up shots, again not true.
Control is in training,, you can't shoot as fast as a 9mm mouse gun
but controlled shots are within the ability of most shooters
with the correct training, Just remember your are not shooting a mouse
gun- but a real stopping round, and as long as you do your part
[at or a about the middle] in a vast number of cases one shot is
all that is required...
We shoot to stop- that means the ending of the action that required
us to shoot to start with,, not till they hit the ground.
[If you shoot and the target ,. stops, drops the gun/knife/etc.
turns and runs away ,,, then the stop has happened and you are
not to shoot any more...
Sorry for the long post...