357 magnum defensive ammo

[WillieStark1946]

My 686 Plus is loaded with Golden Saber 125gr BJHP for home defense too. At the time the choices were Remington or foreign brands. I picked American Remington.

My LGS now have Hornady and Underwood in stock. Those are great choices too.

Another write-in vote for the 125gr Golden Saber "357 Lite." Quick follow-up shots are not difficult in a STEEL-FRAME snubbie. Lucky Gunner ballistic gel tests recorded a Five-shot average of ~1100 fps out of a 2" barrel and ~1200 out of a 4". The GS expanded to .62" out of both barrels and penetrated 16-18". No, clear ballistic gel is not human flesh, but at least you can compare apples to apples (e.g., Golden Saber to Gold Dot Short Barrel or Winchester Defender, both of which are also loaded relatively light for 357).

 

[magnum0710]

My favorite and current carry ammo is the new 154 grain HST, talk about performance! The 357 didn't need that kind of technology but it's really the ultimate carry round. I won't lie, it's pretty stout but worth it for the performance.

The 145 grain Silvertip is good but it's hard to find these days so I don't even count that one. The others I like are the Remington 158s, the Corbon 140s, pretty much any XTP aside from the 110, and if I had to pick a 125 it would be the Federal. The Rem 125s don't get enough penetration for me to be comfortable with. I like the 158 grain Gold Dots too but those are more of a woods load to me. There are a few others I can't think of off the top but there are a lot of good choices in 357.

 

[M1A4ME]

I will throw another one out there - The Remington . 357 mag 125 grain SJHP. I don't know how it compares to more "modern" ammo in FBI protocol testing, but it was pretty much the gold standard for one shot stops during the police revolver era. It was standard issue when I was a trooper, and it did save my bacon one night in the early 1980's. It is loaded warm, big flash, and may not be the best choice for indoors, or in a snubby J frame, but is not priced like some "boutique" ammo, and can be found fairly easily. It always shot very well out of my L and N frame guns.

Larry

My Chief switched us to the new 686 4" and 125 grain hollow points in about 1982. We did a lot of reading. Had one report from the previous couple of years from the Kentucky State Police. They'd had 18 or 19 OIS. All but one were 1 shot stops and not a single bullet exited the body on a torso shot. They used 125 hollow points. We were told we could buy/shoot any brand we wanted (back then it was pretty much Remington, Federal or CCI. Didn't see much Winchester in the central part of the state. I still have a few boxes of that old ammo today.

 

[Narragansett]

158 gr SWC cast hard lead, loaded to cartridge specs. All you need

 

[BrBa]

I recently tested the 154 gr HST in three revolvers: a 3" 686+, a 5" 686+, and a 3" Colt King Cobra. As mentioned, it is a stout load. I was holding on for dear life with the Colt. The Smiths were manageable. Scary accurate load in my 5".

1245 fps from 3" Colt King Cobra
1215 fps from 3" S&W 686-6
1295 fps from 5" S&W 686-5

For me .357 Mag is a field load. All my home defense revolvers use .38 +P.

I probably won't buy the HST again, as I have a good supply of Barnes 125 gr & 140 gr XPB with good loads worked up for both.

 

[SWFan27]

I will throw another one out there - The Remington . 357 mag 125 grain SJHP. I don't know how it compares to more "modern" ammo in FBI protocol testing, but it was pretty much the gold standard for one shot stops during the police revolver era. It was standard issue when I was a trooper, and it did save my bacon one night in the early 1980's. It is loaded warm, big flash, and may not be the best choice for indoors, or in a snubby J frame, but is not priced like some "boutique" ammo, and can be found fairly easily. It always shot very well out of my L and N frame guns.

Larry

The Remington 125 grain SJHP is my self defense load. I own other more expensive stuff like Buffalo Bore loads, Underwood and Hornady, but the Remington historically has been reported to have a 96% one-shot stop rating. The officer only had to shoot once, and the encounter was ended.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkX5SVdTE9M&t=473s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkX5SVdTE9M&t=473s[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8WNQxIjutc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8WNQxIjutc[/ame]

 

[gym cat]

All work well. Shot placement is the answer.

 

[curtmini14]

im sticking with the rem 125gn hps also there aval most anywere and they work just fine.

 

[Chuck Edwards]

I recently tried a new load from High Desert Cartridge Company. It was developed in consultation with @nyeti and is a reduced-velocity load speced at 950 fps from a 4" barrel, using Hornady's 158-grain XTP bullet. It went 918 fps from my (known "slow") 4" 19-3 and 994 fps from my 4" 681-2, was scary accurate, and shoots exactly to the top of the front sight of the 681. It has replaced the Remington 158-grain SJHP as my .357 Mag carry load, though I'll keep the Remington load for use in my N frames.

Link to that load.

 

[CH4]

I picked the Buffalo Bore, but also like the Speer Gold Dot 135 SB and Silvertips, especially the original with nickel cases.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

After three years of testing 357 magnum ammo from pretty much every brand I can think of, I have narrowed it down to four.

1. Buffalo Bore 125 grain tactical low flash short barrel JHP
Pros:
+ Most consistent and accurate round I've tested
+ Lowest flash of any round I've tested

Cons
- Expensive (2$ per round)
- Shoots hot

2. Winchester Silvertip 145 grain JHP
Pros
+ Smoothest shooting
+ Great expansion

Cons
- Slower
- Cannot buy in bulk (at least I have not found bulk)

3. Hornady FTX 125 grain
Pros
+ FTX Tip reliable expansion
+ Very consistent velocity

Cons
- Least accurate of those I've shot (at least for me, might just be me)
- Cannot buy bulk

4. Black Hills 125 grain JHP
Pros
+ 50 round boxes
+ Can buy bulk

- Haven't tested
- Haven't tested

Of these I have tested the top 3 (ordered a box of Black Hills due to responses on another thread for testing which I will post test results early August after I put it through my tests)

I am not including Gold Dot even though it's amazing because it would be easier to mine actual gold out of my backyard than to find any.

I need my defensive ammo to be:

Reliable

Accurate

Available

Expand within FBI standard 12-18" (1-3 have met these requirements)

For target practice I can just reload FMJ into the brass with my single stage for supplemental practice.

How many people did you have to shoot to determine the order of this list ?

 

[rwsmith]

Well, go ahead and beat my butt, too...

The contrary opinion: For personal defensive use .357 magnum is greatly overpowered for the need, and use within populated areas is questionable at best.

I carried .357 magnum revolvers on and off-duty for many years and have been present for several actual shooting events. Those experiences left me convinced that good .38 Special +P was more than enough for the intended purposes and much easier to shoot well when necessary.

All the published ballistic tables, reviews, and jello tests are fine for marketing purposes and convincing some people that the biggest hammer is always the best tool.

I still load and use .357 magnum ammo for hunting and field uses, always in medium to heavy revolvers with 4" barrels or longer. I do not consider these necessary for personal defensive use. Huge increases in recoil, muzzle blast, muzzle flash in exchange for relatively small increases in terminal performance.

Go ahead and tear me apart, guys. Heresy, blasphemy, arguing against duly adopted holy scriptures. Mea culpa. With only 54 years of experience carrying nearly every day, two combat tours in Vietnam, and 24 years as a working cop I doubt that I know enough to debate these things with the nice folks trying to sell you the latest, greatest, whiz-bang, super-duper whatever.

I use stout .38 loads in my .357 for SD AND I don't believe that pinpoint accuracy is a vital factor at distances encountered in defensive sitations. If it can hit inside an 8" paper plate at 7-10 yards, it's plenty good enough. All of my guns/ammo can shoot better than I can, especially under duress. And I don't plan on pulling the trigger only once.

 

[Doug M.]

I'm with LoboGunleather and "rwsmith". I have done my LEOSA qual with the 145 grain Silvertip just to show I can (also did one with .41 magnum hunting loads). My performance with standard pressure SWC in both is a lot better in terms of placement and speed. The performance of the SWC will be just fine and placement is worth more than raw power. I too don't plan to shoot once.