.357 magnum Silvertips

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Benzene

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Does anyone have experience in using the Winchester .357 magnum silvertips (X357SHP) in a 2" snubby revolver? Thanks for sharing.
 
The recoil of silvertips in a 3inch barreled Ruger GP100, which is about 34oz, is respectable. It isn't painful, it isn't excessive, but you know you've just shot a .357 magnum. In pistol one pound lighter? Its going to be kinda rough. Of course there are L-frame and K-frame snubs and the SP-100. Anything over 25oz in weight is going to manageable, but it might not be fun just depending on the person.
 
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Much appreciated here, BCCL and Malodorousroadkill. Some in the "know" say the Remington Golden Saber 125 grain brass jacketed HP suffers from the disintegration of the bullet. Experiences, please. And what about the Speer Gold Dot 125 gr. GDHP, 357 magnum (23920)? I want to buy quite some of the best before things change for any worse politically. Thanks again.
 
It is not "fun" to shoot too many in my SP-101. I don't mind shooting the Win USA 110gr JHPs. I don't know what kind of performance they have but they are nice to shoot.
 
Those Winchester rounds are the only ones I'll shoot in my S&W M640 because they are scary accurate when shot from that revolver. For some reason they are extremely accurate, more so than anything else I've ever shot in that M640.

I have a set of Badger grips on the 640. The felt recoil is minimal and a follow up shot is easy to shoot.
 
Those Winchester rounds are the only ones I'll shoot in my S&W M640 because they are scary accurate when shot from that revolver.
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ArchAngelCD - are you referring to the Silvertips or to the 110 grain JHPs? I'm guessing the 110s?
 
All I can tell you for sure is that you need some really good ear protection! Personally, I'd suggest good muffs over foam plugs. With muffs rated at 25 Db reduction alone, 145 gr. Silvertips or about any 110-125 gr. Magnum load outta my 640-1 will still leave my ears ringing.

Recoil is pretty subjective. I don't find it real unpleasant with 110 or 125 gr. stuff for the most part from my all-steel snubbie, but I'm usually more than willing to stop after 50 rds or less. The 145 gr. Silvertip is another matter. It feels to me like it's loaded a bit stouter than most 158 gr. JHPs I've used and can get to feel downright nasty when my arthritis is acting up.
 
No Gary A, I'm talking about the 145gr Silvertip .357 Magnum rounds. The Badger grips and the added weight of an all Stainless revolver helps with the felt recoil.
 
Ah, ArchAngelCD, thanks for the clarification. I like the Silvertip rounds also but find them stiffer than I would like in an SP101. Doable but stiff. The 110s, on the other hand, are easy to shoot.
 
When I want a milder carry load in any .357 revolver, the 145-grain STHP is a good one, with a track record against real bad guys. In my hands, which are of course not necessarily like anyone else's hands, I need the milder stuff more in my 4" Speed Six than in my SP101 snubbies, as the latter kick straight back into my palm, with little muzzle rise, compared to the upward kick of the Speed Six, into the web of the hand.

The STHP also has more of a dull orange flame at the muzzle, compared to the whiter flash of some other .357 loads. Winchester does a good job of suppressing flash in their Silvertip revolver ammo; the same was true of the .41 mag Silvertips I used in my M58 back in the day.

Just to be clear, the 145-grain STHP is NOT a truly mild load, like the 125-grain Golden Sabers, the "short barrel" Gold Dots, or most of the 110-grain loads. It is still a serious stomp-'em load, just not loaded to the firewall like most of the 125-grain stuff, like the "Classic" Federal loads.
 
Try a S&W 12.5 oz 360Sc with a hot 357 and you will not likely pull the trigger a second time. I usually carry a 158 gr LSW-HP loaded at about 1000 fps and have Pachmyr Decelerator grips on the gun to be able to shoot the gun successfully.

I must confess that the first time I fired the gun I was not expecting the amount of straight back kick into the palm of my hand that I got. I was glad I only wanted to fire 4 of the 5 to check how much the hand loaded rounds would back out of the case. They were good to go and I decided that retreat was the better part of the valor and tried some target loads I had and found I could handle those and they were even kind of rough on the hand.

Did I mention I am 6'5" and 290 lbs and fired my first 12 gage at the age of five and surprised my dad and uncle in hitting the target that my uncle threw and and asked him to throw some more. I emptied his shotgun and my uncle was surprised and my dad was just beaming. I had a mildly sore shoulder the next day, but it was worth it.
 
FWIW, I don't even like shooting .38 standard volocity (non +P) in Airlite J-frames, even though .357 125s to 180s are quite tolerable in an SP101, and +P is quite OK in an Airweight J. Some lines is crossed, for me, by going lighter than an Airweight.
 
I used to own a taurus 605, the 145gr silvertip in it when it was stock was ok to shoot for me in terms of recoil, except for the muzzle blast and the flash...
Tried shooting a Federal 125 JHP thru it, never wanted to do it again.
 
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