357 magnum defensive ammo

[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.