I understand there are several ammunition makers who currently offer 357 magnum midrange ammunition. I suspect such ammunition might be more useful to use in my S&W 640 snubnose than full power 357 ammunition. Please identify specific 357 magnum midrange by what ordering information I would need. So far, I cannot make heads or tails of things beyond "357 Magnum" and type-weight of bullet loaded.

Last week I ordered a few boxes of Black Hills "Cowboy Action" .357Mag from Midway to use for CHL qualifying with a S&W 640-1 snub (25 rounds ouch!).
The "Cowboy Action" load is advertsed as 800fps versus the usual 1200-1400fps of .357Mag.
Haven't received it yet but it's got to be less painful than the hot stuff I had been using.
Check it out at:
Black Hills Cowboy Action Ammo 357 Mag 158 Grain Lead Conical Nose Box

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60-10,640-1,G30,G41MOS,1911

There is no factory product advertised/labeled as "midrange" .357. Something that comes close is the Speer Short Barrel load, about 1000 fps with a 135 gr bullet if I recall. These were available recently but no idea if any is still around for sale. Hope this is helpful.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

The 110gr Winchester are light shooting.

I guess the if light recoil was needed from a .357, I'd load .38SP.

The Remington Golden Saber 125gr hp is supposed to be mid range defense ammo.

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

If you're asking about self-defense ammo, Buffalo Bore makes some short-barrel/low-flash/low(er) recoil JHP loads for .357 Magnum. I haven't tried them but it might be worth checking out.

Magtech has a 158 grain lead cowboy round that is advertised as around 1000 fps. Sounds not to bad to me.

I see where Speer 135-gr. Gold Dot "Short Barrel", Corbon 125-gr. DPX, and Remington 125-gr. Golden Saber are considered to be 'midrange'.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Again, my favorite: CCI Blazer .357 Magnum 158gr JHP. Absolutely love this round. Another poster reported 990fps in 3" bbl. Not a planet wrecker, yet nothing to stand in front of, either. A fine practice round for .357s in all frame sizes. I have carried this load on occasion without hesitation.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

The Buffalo Bore ammo is 125 grain, JHP at 1225 fpm. No barrel length stated. It sells at my LGS for $30/20. A bit pricey. Perhaps you could find it on line cheaper.

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Foster Positivity.

Specifically made for short barreled guns. Approx 1250 fps.

Remington Golden Saber Ammo 357 Mag 125 Grain Brass Jacketed Hollow

Keith

1250 fps with a 125 grain bullet from a shorter barrel is NOT what I would consider a "mid range" load. From a short barrel like that on the 640 it will feature a rather extreme level of muzzle flash and blast. In addition recoil will be a bit uncomfortable.

The Cowboy loads suggest are actually Minimum Magnum and would be gentle shooting. Unfortunately the bullet used isn't ideal for SD purposes.

The suggestion I find the most suitable is the Speer 135 grain 38 +P Gold Dot. Hard to find and likely a dollar per round but it's a combination that was specifically engineered to perform well out of compact revolvers such as the 640.

Personally I use this bullet in a sub Magnum hand load and it's very easy shooting out of my 2 1/2 inch model 19 with fantastic accuracy. BTW, consider this a hint to all revolver shooters, start hand loading. When you do you'll find that you can hand load 38 special for about 12 cents per round with plated bullets and 357 Magnum using premium bullets for under 30 cents per round.

I'm with the .38 spl guys. The .38 spl +P or +P+ essentially is a midrange .357 load. I use Federal +P+ in .38 Special. This is marketed to Law Enforcement so if you have a hard time finding it see if your local dealer can order you some. There's no law against you owning it but they don't seem to distribute this line through normal retail channels. You do see a similar version sometimes in +P and with different bullet weights.

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Everyone's recoil threshold is different. Full house .357 out of a J-Frame -- even all steel -- for me has an unpleasant snap, but I don't mind mid-range .357 defense loads out of a 640, to include in preferred order:

Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel
Remington Golden Saber
CorBon DPX
Hornady Critical Duty
Hornady Critical Defense

They're all manageable to me, post good numbers in ballistic tests, and are by design low flash so, pleasantly, no flame throwing, and the report is only slightly more than .38+P. This is a far cry from the hot loads of old.

I like the trade-off -- a little more recoil in return for greater odds of proper penetration and expansion from a snubby.

(I love Buffalo Bore products, but their .38 thumps like .357; can't imagine what their .357 thumps like. )

Fyi, 920 fps from a 4" GP100 for me.

Is your opinion based upon conjecture or first hand experience like mine? I use the Remington Golden Saber 125 grain load in all of my carry revolvers: 2.5", 3" and 4". In even the shortest barrel gun, my 2.5" 686+, the flash and blast are minimal, even indoors; the recoil is extremely manageable, and the accuracy is exceptional (all the way out to 50 yards and beyond). This round is specifically made for short barrel carry guns and for that use it is near ideal. If you have tried it and find the recoil/blast/flash etc. excessive then of course don't use it, but for me it is near ideal.

As to your point about reloading, I couldn't agree with you more. The only way to go especially for making practice ammo. My load is the Hornady 125 XTP over 14 grains of Vit N110 in a 357 Mag case. Very close match in both accuracy and trajectory to the Remington Golden Saber.

Keith

Thanks for the skinny! Since I am unable to clean .38 fouling adequately from .357 chambers (and many posters have offered help), this load is heaven-sent.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and to all members.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

I think this is what you want, but it is very hard to find these days of tactical and critical defense marketing. They are the original recepies for entry level revolver practice. The 357 version travels 1110 fps and the 38 755fps. I have the 38, but can't find the 357.
Handgun Ammunition - Target Ammunition

Remington advertises 1250 fps from a 4" barrel; I would comfortably wager that's a non-vented test barrel getting those numbers. Having shot a lot of the stuff in Ks and Js, and knowing what an honest 1250 fps from a 125 grain bullet feels like exiting those same revolvers, the Golden Saber is definitely moving at less velocity in the real world; its flash and bang are also notably muted. It's a mid-range magnum load.

I love Speer's Short Barrel in .38+P. I'm going to kick myself for this, but here goes: Target Sports USA has had an ample supply for months, in the 50 round LE pack, at .50 cents a round. It's such a good deal and they've had so much for so long I'm almost worried something's wrong with the supply. Nonetheless, I've been storing up. Everyone else should, too.

Also, their prices on Golden Saber are ridiculously low -- half of what's listed most other places, and right now Remington's offering a $100 rebate on 10 boxes purchased.

It's good advice, but if I started hand loading, I'd never stop.

Darn, made me place a order with Target Sports. Been holding off buying until after tomorrows sales but figured I better place now.. lol

From the sounds of your post, you are looking for a .38 Spl +P load. My experiences shooting full house loads of .357 out of a short bbl have not been anything I would want to wish upon most people....

If you are looking for practice ammo you could look at Georgia arms, they have a 158gr LSWC at 800 fps.
They have the same load in 38spl. brass.

Just start reloading. You will love it. Components are back on the shelves and available online.

I obviously can't speak for the OP, but to me it sounded like he wanted something warmer than .38 +P, but not a full-power load. I'd think of the bottom end of .357 to be .38 +P. Of course they could be loaded to where the bullets are just falling out of the barrel, but if it isn't matching or exceeding a .38, there's no need for the magnum. So to me, the bottom would be in the 250-300 ft-lbs range from a 4" revolver. Full-bore is in the 600 ft-lbs range. So midrange, to me, would be something in the 300-400 ft-lbs range.

I haven't tested a lot of factory .357, but one that was in this range was the PMC 158gr "357A" load. 945 fps from a 2.25" SP101 (315 ft-lbs), and 1090 fps from a 4" GP100 (415 ft-lbs). It's certainly stouter than the Blazer Aluminum, but a lot milder than some full-tilt stuff like American Eagle (610 ft-lbs from the 4").

I am nearly certain that the midrange ammunition I will use in my 640 will be Speer's 135-grain Gold Dot for short barrels. It is expensive to shoot, though. I have identified Hornady Critical Duty 135-grain FlexLock that may - MAY - be satisfactory practice ammunition. What I do not know and cannot determine from published specifications is whether its muzzle velocity from my 2.125-inch barrel will closely match Speer's Gold Dot. Specifications for one are taken from 4-inch test barrel, the other from 8-inch test barrel. So neither the barrels nor published velocities are comparable. People who have chronographed these rounds in the same short barrel have the information I seek.

Are the cartridges' muzzle velocities from 2-to-2.5-inch barrels nearly identical?

They use a 2" vented barrel

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