340PD Speer GD SB alternative

Salutations,


I'm looking for an alternative to Speer's 357 Mag Short Barrel 135gr ammo for my 340PD. I don't think I've seen it in stock anywhere in the many moons I've had the gun. When I got the Noisy Cricket (340PD MIB reference ) I picked up whatever I could find and it just happened to be 140gr Hornady LEVERevolution ballistic tip which is obviously a terrible choice for the gun, although any ammo beats no ammo when duty calls.

Anyone have any good suggestions for good modern carry ammo for the 340PD?

.357 Magnum only please. I do not ever intend to fire .38s out of this highly exotic and rare no lock feather weight Magnum. I realize people love to shoot .38s out of it and +ps, but if I was going to go that route I would have bought (3) differing .38 Js for the price of this exotic hand grenade.

Thank you for your time and thoughts.

Underwood

Or I've actually become very fond of the Remington 125gr semi jacketed HP

I know you don't like the 38 +p's but I have been carrying the Liberty Civil Defense rounds they are lightweight as the gun is , controllable, and accurate as can be.

Just my .02

Pete

800-900fps.....yuck

I like 357 magnum. Does anyone make a fast burning powder version that would do better in a snub nose? I know there are 2-3 "short barrel" ones....if you can find them. But is the powder faster burning?

Outlaw2013 said:

Salutations,



.357 Magnum only please. I do not ever intend to fire .38s out of this highly exotic and rare no lock feather weight Magnum.

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When the hammer falls it certainly is a hand grenade, huh!

terry

I don't have any experience with it but Remington's Golden Saber medium-velocity .357 Magnum round usually gets good reviews.

I'd also suggest checking out Buffalo Bore's offerings. I don't have any experience with their .357 Magnum loads but I'm a fan of their .38 Special loads.

My only experience with .357 Magnum defensive loads have been the SB-GDHP you mentioned, which I liked, and WWB 110gr SJHP, which I also liked but the fireball it produced out of a 3" barrel made me a little hesitant to carry it. IIRC, it's ballistically similar to 9mm 115gr +P. I think CorBon offered a similar load; they may still offer it.

The one .357 Magnum load I always wanted to try was Winchester's 145gr Silvertip, but whenever I looked for it I couldn't find it. I think BB has something similar in their catalog. I'm not sure how shootable those loads are in a scandium snub.

Outlaw2013 said:

.357 Magnum only please. I do not ever intend to fire .38s out of this highly exotic and rare no lock feather weight Magnum. I realize people love to shoot .38s out of it and +ps, but if I was going to go that route I would have bought (3) differing .38 Js for the price of this exotic hand grenade.

Click to expand...

Very well stated.

For my noisy cricket (340PDs), I'm pretty happy with Federal 158gr Hydra Shok ammo. People like to talk about old tech and all that but it's a very proven, effective round.

Recoil isn't as terrible as you would think, either.

I'd second Buffalo Bore low flash 357 loads but the price is what keeps me away. For $60 I can have 100ct Remington soft jacket HP

I load up 140gr JHP SPEER bullets behind 2400 powder. It was very accurate in my Python and I ccw them in my security six. I ordered bolster and other brands of bullets in 38cal 140gr JHP 's. This is my favorite jacketed magnum load. Someday I'll try them in 38special.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Went to Sportsmans today and I was going to try out the 130gr Hydras but I found a box of Barnes Tac-XPD that caught my interest. 125gr and lists 1,200fps out of a 2'' barrel.

I'll keep my eye out for some of the others here too.

I have two 340PDs.

Neither one of them shoots as accurately and precisely with ANY .357 Magnum load (and I've tried 'em ALL) as with certain .38 Special loads.

In your preference for .357 Magnum loads, are you able to reproducibly and reliably hit a 1" target at 7 yards? That's a given for me with the Gold Dot Short Barrel .38 Special+P 135gr load in slow fire, but not with ANY .357 Magnum loads.

Like you, I thought to carry the lightest, most powerful pistol available, but after extensive personal testing (by which I mean every available commercial premium .357 Magnum JHP load, in bullet weights from 110gr to 158gr, plus most of the commercial .38 Special JHP loads), I found that the Gold Dot .38 Special 135gr +P JHP gave the best accuracy and precision, in those guns, in my hands.

I'm not at all "recoil sensitive", and have no trouble holding hard and steady with .357 Magnum loads in these lightweight guns (though admittedly they're not at all fun to shoot with these loads!), I just didn't find them to be as accurate or precise as with certain of the .38 Special loads.

Outlaw2013 said:

I found a box of Barnes Tac-XPD that caught my interest. 125gr and lists 1,200fps out of a 2'' barrel.

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Nice! I'd like to see some tests of it.

SAWBONES said:

I have two 340PDs.

Neither one of them shoots as accurately and precisely with ANY .357 Magnum load (and I've tried 'em ALL) as with certain .38 Special loads.

In your preference for .357 Magnum loads, are you able to reproducibly and reliably hit a 1" target at 7 yards?

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21ft is a long way out for a micro-J IMO. Considering your potential target in an aggressive scenario generally spans 32''-44'' in width, I'd say your're putting a pretty high benchmark on accuracy needs for this gun.

I have a M&P 340. I like the Hornady Critical Defense in .357. I carry with Pachmayr grips so it's much more comfortable with magnum loads. Another round I like is the Remington Golden Sabre in .357. Remington is no longer making this round but I think there is still plenty out there.

Greetings
I have a recently acquired 340PD that is a tack driver with Sig 125 train JHP VCrown. At 5 7 10 and 20 yds I can keep them pretty much center mass I'd say about a 3" spread at 20 yds. Very effective gun IMHO

Stopsign32v said:

I'd second Buffalo Bore low flash 357 loads but the price is what keeps me away...

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I have a M360PD and I believe I wrecked my first cylinder using that same load. It's a very hot load. S&W replaced the cylinder, but I am done firing any of the BB rounds from my 360PD.

Since your 340PD has the same titanium cylinder, I would exercise caution. As always, YMMV.

Currently, I am carrying Federal 'Punch' .38 Spl +P, but I also carry Hornady 125 gr .357 Critical Defense in speed loaders.

Stopsign32v said:

I'd second Buffalo Bore low flash 357 loads but the price is what keeps me away. For $60 I can have 100ct Remington soft jacket HP

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I keep Buffalo Bore 140Gr. JHP Lower Recoil in my 340PD. It is manageable. I just bought them a few weeks ago as they were in stock. They are pricey with the shipping costs

I like the Remington Golden Saber round at med velocity 357 speeds. Shoot it in my Kimber K6s

I have several boxes of the Gold dot short barrel and the Golden Sabers, both in .357. Both are good choices if you can find them.
They are not bad out of my 340 PD.

Outlaw2013 said:

Salutations,


I'm looking for an alternative to Speer's 357 Mag Short Barrel 135gr ammo for my 340PD. I don't think I've seen it in stock anywhere in the many moons I've had the gun. When I got the Noisy Cricket (340PD MIB reference ) I picked up whatever I could find and it just happened to be 140gr Hornady LEVERevolution ballistic tip which is obviously a terrible choice for the gun, although any ammo beats no ammo when duty calls.

Anyone have any good suggestions for good modern carry ammo for the 340PD?

.357 Magnum only please. I do not ever intend to fire .38s out of this highly exotic and rare no lock feather weight Magnum. I realize people love to shoot .38s out of it and +ps, but if I was going to go that route I would have bought (3) differing .38 Js for the price of this exotic hand grenade.

Thank you for your time and thoughts.

Click to expand...

Other than these rounds,


For Expansion\Penetration\Barriers
I would carry 158gr LSWCHP in magnum if barriers aren't a concern.


I wouldn't carry 357 at all in that thing. The recoil, flash, and noise aren't worth the added penetration. That's me. but if I had to the three above loads.


I did handload testing out of a j frame and an LCR here is what I got:


Handloads:
So I did a direct comparison:

Reloaded the highest book loads for the 135gr Gold dot for 357 and 38 +P.

I used the same powder, Power Pistol


Quote:
135gr Speer GDHP Short Barrel 6.0 gr Power Pistol 38 +P

Speer's Advertised factory velocities are 860 fps

The book has this load at 983 fps out of a 2.5"

1.875"

High - 908.7
Low - 830

Avg - 875 FPS - 230 ft lbs energy
now the high end:

Quote:
135gr Speer GDHP Short Barrel 6.4 gr Power Pistol 38 +P

Speer's Advertised factory velocities are 860 fps

The book has this load at 1065 fps out of a 2.5"

95 degrees

1.875" barrel

High - 1108
Low - 1031
Extreme Spread - 77.66
Standard Deviation - 38.88

Avg - 1066 FPS - 341 ft lbs energy


So that's a 191 fps 111 ft lbs energy difference between the high and low 38+P loads. Definitely a difference there.


Now for the 357:

Quote:
135gr Speer GDHP Short Barrel 9.6 gr Power Pistol 357

Speer's Advertised factory velocities are 990 fps

The book has this load at 1137 fps out of a 2.5"

95 degrees

1.875" barrel

High - 1395
Low - 1318
Extreme Spread: 76.73
Standard Deviation: 33.22

Avg - 1348 FPS - 545 ft lbs energy


The difference between the low 38+p:

473 fps 315 ft lbs energy

the high 38 +p:

282 fps 204 ft lbs of energy

Now the 38+p is much easier to shoot as the 357 is a handful. It borderline hurts. But it is controllable The 357 definitely packs more punch. There is a difference out of a snub nose. . I think my hand would fall off if I shot those loads out of a Smith lightweight like the 340 though. but I practice a lot with my training ammo. I have since went to 642/442 as I determined 38+P is more than enough to get the job done based upon actual NYPD and other sagency street shootings, gel tests and real life moving and shooting with recoil.


INMHO the bark is not worth the extra bite. If I want extra bite, I carry the charter bulldog 44 spl which has way better recoil than even +P 38






I gave temps because I live on the sun and things travel faster near sea level in high heat. these wer all shot about 1800 above sea level for reference.




Hope this helps.