.357 ammo for home defense?

[IAhunter]

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

 

[Kanewpadle]

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!

 

[Pigirondan]

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.

 

[Red Tex]

Any recommendations would be helpful. Thanks!

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.

 

[Groo01]

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...