.357 Magnum Ammo hard to find??

[Research Nerd]

I've been doing research into what it will cost to shoot my 686 when I get it. Seems .357 magnum ammo is expensive and hard to find. So where do y'all buy your ammo?

Also, I'm looking at Speer Gold Dot for personal/home defense. For target shooting, I'm wide open for suggestions.

I know it will be cheaper to shoot .38 special out of my .357, but I'd like to practice with both.

Your input is appreciated,

 

[stevieboy]

.357 is more expensive than .38 special. That said, I usually can find the stuff for between $20 and $24 per fifty round box. I'm not talking about premium rounds, but JSPs and JHPs for target practice. Try the Midway site or Cabella's. Also, check out your local Walmart, they usually carry something in .357.

Personally, I prefer 158 gr. rounds for target shooting. Sometimes suppliers will run out of that stuff and I wind up with the much hotter 125 gr. rounds. Although not my personal preference (too much bang for the buck!), they work just fine.

 

[brucev]

I've been shooting .357 Magnum revolvers for 30 years. I don't know of anyone whose routine round of choice for the range is the .357 Magnum. Most everyone uses .38 Specials for the range and even for home defense. If your just starting to learn to use a revolver, you may find the .357 Magnum to be a bit much for starting out. I'd suggest you start out with some basic .38 Special loads... maybe the 158 gr. lead round nose loads offered by Federal, Winchester or Remington. Winchester has some 130 gr. FMJ loads that you might want to consider. The Speer GDHP is outstanding for any purpose. And just from my perspective, i like the Winchester Silver Tip load in .357 Magnum. I've found the .357 to be a fine cartridge... very effective and accurate... well suited to the range or field. JMHO. Sincerely. brucev.

 

[crawlewe]

Ammo on Line

Try ammoman.com has PMC, 357 Mag. 158 grain JSP for $199 for 500 rounds (10 boxes) delivered price.

Also, SGAmmo.com, has some good prices on UMC, 38 spl.

 

[kennyb]

consider reloading...i can load what i want,when i want it...357 range ammo costs me about $5.00 per fifty rounds...the hot self defense loads just a tad more...easy decision for me if you plan on doing much shooting

 

[thndrchiken]

38 sp for the range, I load mine to +p levels, 125 gr magnum loads for PD.

 

[indiandave]

What Kennyb said. I reload nice powder puff loads or I can Load screamers. Also when you have lots of componets you're not out of luck is the store doesn't have the ammunition that you want.

 

[David LaPell]

Hard to find? Not for me, if I need more I just go outside and cast up some bullets, lube them, size them and then I am ready to go. I have enough .357 brass to last me years along with some good +P .38 brass if I want to make up some .38-44 loads which will work just as well. Between the powder, the amount of lead I have lying around, the primers and the brass I won't need to buy ammo for a very long time.

Reloading is the way to go.

 

[hawgleg]

Hard to find,no. Expensive, yes. Why in the world would you go and buy a 686 and want to shoot 38 spl's in it? That gun is made for fullhouse 357 use it for what it is. If you want to shoot 38's buy a 38 spl.

 

[model17]

.357 ammo

Aguila .357 Magnum SJHP Ammo Box of 50 Rounds | Pistol Ammo | Weapons World

good ammo and great customer service

 

[Packard]

My Walmart always seems to have practice ammo in Winchester white box or Remington. They usually have the Remington in .357 and the .38s in WWB. Good prices too.

 

[kennyb]

My Walmart always seems to have practice ammo in Winchester white box or Remington. They usually have the Remington in .357 and the .38s in WWB. Good prices too.

yepper....agreed...the walmart here certainly has the practice ammo in most cases...i certainly cannot agree however that it's "good prices"

 

[blujax01]

consider reloading...i can load what i want,when i want it...357 range ammo costs me about $5.00 per fifty rounds...the hot self defense loads just a tad more...easy decision for me if you plan on doing much shooting

What he said. Example:

Brass = Use over and over. Call it free.
CCI 550 Primers = $30/1K
Alliant 2400 powder = $19/pound metered to 15 grains/round.
Hornady XTP 158 Grain Bullets = $20/100.

Cost per round to make XTP Clone = $.27 or $13.50 /50
Cost per round to buy Hornady XTP Ammunition = $.85. or $42.50 /50

 

[ralph7]

I recently came into a quantity of the good Remington green and yellow box .357 magnum ammo.
I also live close to you and am willing to sell some at a good price if you are interested.
PM me.

 

[derek45auto]

save your once fired brass now.


Look into handloading.

I use only .357 brass, I have giant bags of it saved from the 1980's-1990's when it was cheap and easy to find ( thank God)

I can load everything from bunny-farts that feel like 22LR, to super hot magnum loads and everyting in-between.

My DILLON can produce high quality ammo in little time

 

[Smith357]

I reload, it's very hard for me to find .357 ammunition I want. My local Wally World has very limited choices and they all seem to use featherweight bullets. I prefer 158 grains of bullet or more in my .357s.

 

[blujax01]

I recently came into a quantity of the good Remington green and yellow box .357 magnum ammo.
I also live close to you and am willing to sell some at a good price if you are interested.
PM me.

One more reason I love this place.

 

[GTbob]

I shot my handloaded .357 magnums today. What a great feeling. They were super accurate, they were about 25 cents a round with Hornady XTP 158gr bullets! I will never shoot anything but my handloads from now on!!!

 

[dirty gary]

Its not hard to find - just walked out to my shop and ran into 9500 rounds, all types. Not expensive either. The 38/357 is arguably the easiest caliber to reload, the initial investment in equipment would be recouped very soon. Nothing is more satisfying than producing ammo that outperforms factory rounds AND saving money (for more S&W's, of course)

 

[Hearsedriver]

I get mine here: 357 MAGNUM : Ammunition To Go

By the way, they are close to you and , when you order, you will usually have them the next day : ) Good folks to deal with.