357 Mag ammo???

[SabbathWolf]

So I bought a 6.50" Ruger 357 Blackhawk on-line.
It should be here by mid-week.
But then it dawned on me....DUH!
It would probably be more fun to shoot if I actually had some ammo for it...:banghead:

So I picked up one box of 4 different kinds.
They are all 125gr HPs.

*Remington UMC JHP
*Hornady JHP/XTP
*Federal Personal Defense
*Remington Golden Saber

My plan is to test these for accuracy as well as any malfunctions.

The Remington UMC is by FAR the best deal price-wise.
I was wondering if anybody has fired "any" of these particular rounds...and if so...what was your overall impression?

 

[beatledog7]

I have used UMC and Hornady XTPs. They shoot fine. All of these will go bang. I found UMCs to be quite snappy in recoil terms, perhaps due to the powder they use (something Remington formulates). But I fired them from a lighter gun (Security Six, 2 1/4" barrel).

It's you and your particular firearm that will determine which is "best." Unless you're shooting from some sort of rest, it is unlikely you will be able to discern any difference in accuracy among them.

I suggest you also try some heavier bullets for comparison, say 158gr and 180gr. Many .357 shooters like the heavier slugs, especially in a long-barrelled gun.

 

[788Ham]

I've shot the Fed. and the Horn. rounds, quite impressive, but then again, I was shooting an SP 101 3" revolver. They were really smacking my middle finger in recoil, trigger guard, so I've changed the grips and got a set of Pachmyers on it now, same recoil, but finger not getting beat to hell doing it. You'll need to maybe try some heavier bullets, as mentioned earlier, these will probably be more accurate then the lighter ones, YMMV.

 

[SabbathWolf]

I don't really want to try heavier bullets if I don't have to.
The 125gr has the very best record for stopping power in every reference I've ever read or seen.

 

[Salmoneye]

.38spcl/.357mag is 'registered' for 158 grain bullets...

That is to say that with fixed sight models (yes, I know a BH has adjustable sights), they are built to fire 158 grain bullets to POA... 125gr is light and fast, but has little practical application in a Single Action for me...The touted 'Stopping Power' of 125gr pills is on man-sized targets...I would never use a light expanding bullet on anything other than small animals up to Coyote size...Never on a deer, etc...

Hard Cast 158 grain SWC or TCBB sized at least .358" are where it's at for plinking, to full on loads...

Not sure what 'malfunctions' you are expecting with a Single Action and factory ammo...

All IMNSHO, of course...

 

[ErictheRed]

I've fired all 4 of them out of a 4" GP and a 6" 686, bigger guns that will take anything. I keep the Hornady's at home for self defense but I shoot mostly UMC's when we go out because of the price, as you mentioned. Never had a FTF in .357 mag or .38 in any factory ammo out of these guns.

 

[SabbathWolf]

.38spcl/.357mag is 'registered' for 158 grain bullets...

That is to say that with fixed sight models (yes, I know a BH has adjustable sights), they are built to fire 158 grain bullets to POA... 125gr is light and fast, but has little practical application in a Single Action for me...The touted 'Stopping Power' of 125gr pills is on man-sized targets...I would never use a light expanding bullet on anything other than small animals up to Coyote size...Never on a deer, etc...

Hard Cast 158 grain SWC or TCBB sized at least .358" are where it's at for plinking, to full on loads...

Not sure what 'malfunctions' you are expecting with a Single Action and factory ammo...

All IMNSHO, of course...

Yes, I agree 100% with what you are saying.
Same with the other guys here too.
I do see the value of the heavier grain bullets.

To me, light -vs- heavy = self defense -vs- hunting.
That may be an oversimplified statement, but I think it's "fairly" accurate in general terms with the 357.

Right now, I'm focusing on self-defense rounds first.
Once I find one that I am happy with in the lighter grain weights, then I can stock up on them.
Phase two, would be to run the same testing again for the heavier hunting loads and then pick one, and stock up on it too.
Does that make sense?

As for malfunctions...and what I mean by that...

Many many moons ago, I owned a 4" Ruger GP-100 357.
It was a rock solid lil gun, but I fell on hard times and had to sell it along with a few other things....long story...anyways....

I bought some factory ammo for it one time (not reloads) and had nothing but problems. Some of the bullets came loose from the casings and got pushed in a little. Other bullets looked like they wanted to fall out, and other rounds had primers sticking up almost to the point where they almost scraped against the back of the frame! It was amazingly horrible!
But for the life of me, it was so long ago now, that I cannot remember what brand they were now. And some of them failed to fire at all as well.
That's what I mean by malfunctions. The ammo itself, not the revolver per se.

I mention this because the Remington UMC JHPs are so much more "less" expensive than the others, that I can't help but possibly wonder "why?"

 

[SabbathWolf]

I've fired all 4 of them out of a 4" GP and a 6" 686, bigger guns that will take anything. I keep the Hornady's at home for self defense but I shoot mostly UMC's when we go out because of the price, as you mentioned. Never had a FTF in .357 mag or .38 in any factory ammo out of these guns.

Good to know!
So no problems with the UMC then?
That's great!
The pricing sure is better, I agree.
And I really like the 100-round boxes.
Does it shoot all over the map, or is it fairly accurate?
I guess I'll find out myself here soon enough out of my own gun when it gets here, but would still be interested in how it performs for you too.

 

[Gtimothy]

I use Speer gold dot 125 grain JHPs in .357 MAG for home defense because thats what my GP-100 likes best. I've shot the Remington UMCs and the Federals before and had no failures. Your gun is going to tell you which bullets it likes best so have fun experimenting!

 

[kludge]

The Rem 125gr SJHP clocks 1425fps in my 4" M19. I roll my own so I haven't tried the others you have.

 

[FMF Doc]

This sounds more like a hunting pistol than home of personal defense. If that is the case, I second what SALMONEYE said about hard casts. If for whatever reason this is going to be a personal protection pistol, then I reccomend the Remington Golden Sabres. Every time I have had to trust my life to a pistol cartrige, it has been a Golden Sabre. And I find the Remington Golden Sabers shoot poa/poi better in my 3" SP101 than anything else except handloads.

 

[rikman]

The UMC's work fine. Good plinking magnum ammo. for defense I'd go with the other 3....better bullets...I lie the Hornady XTP's.

 

[SabbathWolf]

This sounds more like a hunting pistol than home of personal defense. If that is the case, I second what SALMONEYE said about hard casts. If for whatever reason this is going to be a personal protection pistol, then I reccomend the Remington Golden Sabres. Every time I have had to trust my life to a pistol cartrige, it has been a Golden Sabre. And I find the Remington Golden Sabers shoot poa/poi better in my 3" SP101 than anything else except handloads.

Well....
I always get self-defense loads first for every single one of my weapons, whether that is their primary function or not.
Better to have it and not need it.
Honestly, if I got hit in the chest by a 357, I probably wouldn't be too concerned if it came from a single or double action gun....lol

I remember hearing the Golden Sabers are a little lower in pressure and kick a little less. Yet, the bullet expansion is designed to function at that speed or something like that?

 

[Frank V]

Years ago our Dept. issued Remington .357 125gr Short Jacket Hollow Points. They are street proven, they are also very accurate. I still use them for defense in a .357 some 20 years later.
Probably any name brand 125gr .357 would do a good job, I've experience with shooting the Remigntons so will stick with them.
The 125gr bullet is what the .357 built it's reputation on the street with (it's a substantial reputation) & I'm going to stick with what's proven.
Frank

 

[SabbathWolf]

Years ago our Dept. issued Remington .357 125gr Short Jacket Hollow Points. They are street proven, they are also very accurate. I still use them for defense in a .357 some 20 years later.
Probably any name brand 125gr .357 would do a good job, I've experience with shooting the Remigntons so will stick with them.
The 125gr bullet is what the .357 built it's reputation on the street with (it's a substantial reputation) & I'm going to stick with what's proven.
Frank

That's mostly what I'm thinking too.
That's why all my test rounds are 125gr at the moment as well.