Purpose of 125gr .357 ammo?

The 125 grain hollow point .357 magnum is a duty/self defence load. One of the very best available.

Back in the dark ages when LEOs carried revolvers, it was pretty much "standard issue" in many departments.

peacebutready said:

There is 158gr soft point and 125gr soft point ammo for the .357 mag. I know, or at least I think I know, the 158 grainers is for carbines to hunt with. Is the 125gr soft point for the same purpose (hunting)?

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Why can't one hunt with a 158gr JSP in a revolver? I do, regularly. Am I doing something wrong? No. 158 gr projectiles is what the .357 revolver was designed around.

Construction of a bullet will denote it's primary use, so a 125 gr JSP can be intended for SD/PD/HD every bit as much as a JHP. Kinda what the old Remington 125gr JSPs were for. That said, I would tend to use a 158gr JSP for deer size game and the 125gr JSP for smaller critters like 'yotes. Most bullet/ammo manufacturers have something on their box of loaded ammo or on their website about what their specific bullets have been designed for.

Generally speaking of course...

125gr SD
140gr light/medium game, SD
158gr medium game, SD
180gr medium/large game

I believe you can drive the 125 to a velocity sufficient to achieve hollow point expansion with less recoil than the 158, so it becomes the winner for reloading the smaller guns that fire 357 Magnum. Some .357 bullets are even lighter, but I reserve those for 38 Special.

Because, long ago, 154gr was seen as a "heavy" round, mostly suitable for carbines or pistol hunting.
The other ammo was 110gr, which was seen as "light" ammo. The 125gr was something of a compromise.

The 125 gr. JHP can be driven to very high velocities in the .357 Magnum and at moderate is a dandy varmint load. Great for crows, groundhog at closer ranges, etc.

Bob Wright

When I carried a revolver on duty, I carried Federal 125 JHP rounds. They made 1625 out of my 6 inch barrel Ruger.

I seem to remember something about a 125 gr 357 could penetrate an engine block back in the early days.

Catpop said:

I seem to remember something about a 125 gr 357 could penetrate an engine block back in the early days.

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Yeah, that was actually what many folks believed. My chief's BIL was 1/2 owner of a junkyard, so we put that notion to rest quickly.

Amazing what you can learn when you have access to a junkyard!

cheygriz said:

Yeah, that was actually what many folks believed. My chief's BIL was 1/2 owner of a junkyard, so we put that notion to rest quickly.

Amazing what you can learn when you have access to a junkyard!

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Did the same thing many years ago, except no junk yard, but a trash heap! This occurred shortly after I got my first .357 Magnum in the summer of 1958!

The cartoon strip Dick Tracy had shown stopping getaway cars with a .357 Magnum.

The bullets do leave an interesting splash of lead on the engine, though.

Bob Wright

BobWright said:

The cartoon strip Dick Tracy had shown stopping getaway cars with a .357 Magnum.

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It totally will though...
... as long as you hit the getaway driver!

Hey Bob!

I remember Dick Tracy well! I even remember that particular strip!

gotboostvr said:

Generally speaking of course...

125gr SD
140gr light/medium game, SD
158gr medium game, SD
180gr medium/large game

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This

Why 125gr .357 Magnum ammo? Because Americans are obsessed with bullet velocity whether they need it or not!

I like 158gr 38/357 ammo
I like 124/125gr 9mm ammo
I like 230gr 45 ACP ammo

As I remember, when I got into shooting 357 Magnum around 1980, 158 grain JHP was kind of the "standard" load for 357 Magnum. Folks in a variety of disciplines were exploring the 125 grain JHP ammunition.

Shortly after that, law enforcement started looking at semi-auto pistols.

Altho he hasn't returned, I believed the OP was asking about the use of 125gr JSP ammo usage. While it's common knowledge what folks use 125 JHP ammo for in .357, 125 JSPs, and their usage is a rare bird and a mystery to some.

125 grainer is great for destroying K frame S&Ws..

ArchAngelCD said:

Why 125gr .357 Magnum ammo? Because Americans are obsessed with bullet velocity whether they need it or not!

I like 158gr 38/357 ammo
I like 124/125gr 9mm ammo
I like 230gr 45 ACP ammo

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LE switched to 125 simply because it worked better on the street. 125 grainers had a great deal of "street cred" with patrol officers. 158 didn't.

Iggy said:

125 grainer is great for destroying K frame S&Ws..

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ANY full power .357 magnum loads are great for destroying K frame revolvers. When Bill Jordan was trying to convince S&W to produce the .357 in a K-frame, one of the arguments he used was ".38s for practice, .357s for duty."

Still so much misinformation about .357 Magnum K frames.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, who is more liable for thread drift: the OP for leaving "SP" out of the title, or the commenters who failed to read the thread? I will let you decide.

I consider a 125gr softpoint as a varmint load. Just my opinion.

I was under the impression that the S&W barrel's rifling was optimized for accuracy with the 125 gr bullets with it's 1/18.750 twist. The Colts has a 1/16 twist which was more optimized towards 158 gr bullet length.
I always assumed that reasoning was why the 125 gr bullets was so popular in the Smith and Wesson's, that and the lower recoil.
The lighter weight is better for self defense as far as collateral damage goes.

I know, or at least I think I know, the 158 grainers is for carbines to hunt with. Is the 125gr soft point for the same purpose (hunting)?

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I don't think the 158 gr bullet has anything to do with carbine usage.

peacebutready said:

There is 158gr soft point and 125gr soft point ammo for the .357 mag. I know, or at least I think I know, the 158 grainers is for carbines to hunt with. Is the 125gr soft point for the same purpose (hunting)?

Click to expand...

I reload my .357 to be used in a 4" Ruger GP-100 and a Marlin 1894 levergun. I use 158 gr. bullets in both JSPs and JHPs with the powder charge of Win. 296being 1/10th grain less than MAX. According to the manufacturer's booklet, the 296 produced the best velocity for that bullet weight which is why I chose that combination.