SD ammo for GP100?
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ShadowsEye
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These guys seem to be making full power 357 loads with modern bullets at a reasonable price.
http://www.underwoodammo.com/357magnum.aspx
http://www.underwoodammo.com/357magnum.aspx
ShadowsEye
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I would take the ear ringing and the extra power.
the flash and blast of full house .357 in a HD situation inside a home (likely at night), will likely do more than make your ears ring.
with .38+p you get less flash, less bang, faster follow up shots, and plenty of power.
i stick to the fbi load of .38+p 158 lswchp. buffalo bore makes a few .38 loads that would be good.
with .38+p you get less flash, less bang, faster follow up shots, and plenty of power.
i stick to the fbi load of .38+p 158 lswchp. buffalo bore makes a few .38 loads that would be good.
Any of the .357 mag loadings with 125 gr JHP will be a good defense round. The Remington Golden Sabers are loaded to a "medium velocity" of around 1,250 fps from a 4" barrel while full power loads by Speer and Hornady run 1,450fps +.
Recoil, the shooters sensitivity to it and the ability to get the gun back on target for additional shots can be a factor in selection of ammo. Personally I keep my .357's loaded with .357 mag 125gr JHP's for defensive use.
If you fire any handgun regardless of caliber be it .22 lr or .500 S&W in doors without hearing protection you will experience ears ringing for a couple days but that's better than serious physical injury or death infliceted by an intruder.
Recoil, the shooters sensitivity to it and the ability to get the gun back on target for additional shots can be a factor in selection of ammo. Personally I keep my .357's loaded with .357 mag 125gr JHP's for defensive use.
If you fire any handgun regardless of caliber be it .22 lr or .500 S&W in doors without hearing protection you will experience ears ringing for a couple days but that's better than serious physical injury or death infliceted by an intruder.
No, you don't jus experience ear ringing from firing a hot .357 mag indoors. You are deaf for a while, and then you have very little hearing. Then, you get ear ringing.
The .38 FBI load is a very effective manstopper.
People with Magnumitis need to get that **** out of their heads. More velocity does not equal better stopping power. Load your gun with a round that is designed to expand at the velocity at which it's traveling. Or, load with a full wadcutter round that will do serious damage to the bad guy, without permanent hearing damage that magnum rounds cause.
I've fired both a .22 lr and a hot 125gr .357 indoors. The .22 is loud. The .357 is painful and causes a lot more hearing damage than the .22.
A .500 S&W would likely cause ruptured eardrums with a strong possibility of permanent deafness.
Don't believe me? Go shoot a .22lr and a hot .357 mag indoors, without PPE.
Then, come on here and post about how either one will cause a little ringing of the ears.
I am speaking from personal experience. You do NOT want to touch off a full power .357 indoors. You will regret it long after the bad guy is dead. And the bad guy will be just as dead, just as quick from the .38 FBI load.
If the .38 FBI load isn't enough to defend your home, you need to invest in a 20 or 12 gauge shotgun with buckshot.
I you MUST shoot full house magnum loads in your HD revolver, by all means follow Massad Ayoob's advice and purchase Wolf Ears, or some other brand of electronic hearing protection headphones. Keep them by the bed, so they are handy if you must shoot to protect home and family. Hearing damage is instant and permanent. You don't want it. I wish I didn't have it.
If you really want full house mag loads for your HD gun, the Remington "scalloped-jacket" 125 grain HPs are pretty damned good and are available in a 100 round box from your local China Mart.
The .38 FBI load is a very effective manstopper.
People with Magnumitis need to get that **** out of their heads. More velocity does not equal better stopping power. Load your gun with a round that is designed to expand at the velocity at which it's traveling. Or, load with a full wadcutter round that will do serious damage to the bad guy, without permanent hearing damage that magnum rounds cause.
I've fired both a .22 lr and a hot 125gr .357 indoors. The .22 is loud. The .357 is painful and causes a lot more hearing damage than the .22.
A .500 S&W would likely cause ruptured eardrums with a strong possibility of permanent deafness.
Don't believe me? Go shoot a .22lr and a hot .357 mag indoors, without PPE.
Then, come on here and post about how either one will cause a little ringing of the ears.
I am speaking from personal experience. You do NOT want to touch off a full power .357 indoors. You will regret it long after the bad guy is dead. And the bad guy will be just as dead, just as quick from the .38 FBI load.
If the .38 FBI load isn't enough to defend your home, you need to invest in a 20 or 12 gauge shotgun with buckshot.
I you MUST shoot full house magnum loads in your HD revolver, by all means follow Massad Ayoob's advice and purchase Wolf Ears, or some other brand of electronic hearing protection headphones. Keep them by the bed, so they are handy if you must shoot to protect home and family. Hearing damage is instant and permanent. You don't want it. I wish I didn't have it.
If you really want full house mag loads for your HD gun, the Remington "scalloped-jacket" 125 grain HPs are pretty damned good and are available in a 100 round box from your local China Mart.
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Simple short answer: full-pressure 125-grain JHP. I used Federal back in the day, including an actual application of deadly force, but when it became scarce, or non-existent, started buying Gold Dots.
In actuality, I will select a long gun or 1911 if I expect trouble, depending upon whether a long gun is available or seems like a good idea at the time. Another possibility is the Speed Six that serves as a his-and-hers house gun, that is loaded with the slightly lower-pressure .357 Winchester Silvertips. If I had to grab a gun at this instant, with no time to move to one of the preferred choices, it would be the SP101 in my pocket, loaded with the Gold Dot Short Barrel .357 load.
That being said, if one of my GP100 sixguns, loaded with full-pressure 125, was most handy at the time, I would use it. Back when this load was common among my LE colleagues, none of us ruptured our eardrums or went deaf from the occasional indoors shot.
In actuality, I will select a long gun or 1911 if I expect trouble, depending upon whether a long gun is available or seems like a good idea at the time. Another possibility is the Speed Six that serves as a his-and-hers house gun, that is loaded with the slightly lower-pressure .357 Winchester Silvertips. If I had to grab a gun at this instant, with no time to move to one of the preferred choices, it would be the SP101 in my pocket, loaded with the Gold Dot Short Barrel .357 load.
That being said, if one of my GP100 sixguns, loaded with full-pressure 125, was most handy at the time, I would use it. Back when this load was common among my LE colleagues, none of us ruptured our eardrums or went deaf from the occasional indoors shot.
I have 125gr Remington factory loads ready to go beside mine now. But those will probably be replaced with another 125gr hollowpoint and 20gr of H110 in remington brass from another lot.
Any 125gr hollowpoint bullet from an established manufacturer loaded as hot as you can stand is the best answer I have heard.
Any 125gr hollowpoint bullet from an established manufacturer loaded as hot as you can stand is the best answer I have heard.
beag_nut
Member
What I have is a load which uses Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel bullets in front of 2400 at a "hot" 9mm velocity. More powerfull than .38 spl, but won't blow the ears off like a full house .357 mag.
Dr_B
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I always go with Speer gold dots.
Tony_the_tiger
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There are excellent arguments on both sides of the noise vs. power debate. I have shot off a .38 + P off indoors, and I did experience temporary hearing loss for about a year. I have no doubt that .357 magnum rounds, and for that matter almost any other caliber, has the capacity to do permanent damage to your eardrums.
However, if you are forced to use a handgun in a home defense situation, which is by almost any measure not the ideal tool for the job (a shotgun would be preferable), then the consequences of failure to stop an assailant far outweigh the consequences of firing rounds off without hearing protection.
Its a tough call, and one that must be made by each individual. Depending on multiple factors, the range of sound for each caliber will vary as well.
Relevant to this debate are issues concerning penetration as well. Whats behind your target? If its sleeping children or you live in a crowded apartment building, .357 magnum is also a questionable choice.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about sound too much. If you can, get a 12 gauge shotgun for HD. If you have to use the .357, you have many options. I err on the side of power. But be careful where you are shooting and what you are shooting at and don't let the panic of a flash-bang freeze your nerves.
I have my Gp100 loaded with 2 Speer Gold Dot .357 125 grain magnum rounds, then two Underwood Gold Dot .357 158 grain magnum rounds, then two more Speer Gold Dot 125 grain magnum rounds.
For my 640 I use the Buffalo Bore & Barnes 125 grain copper round, and for the last two shots use the Underwood 158 grain.
For .38 special in my 442 I use the Corbon DPX 110 grain Barnes copper round and the Speer Gold Dot 135 grain short barrel load.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7w4M-LNXuQ
However, if you are forced to use a handgun in a home defense situation, which is by almost any measure not the ideal tool for the job (a shotgun would be preferable), then the consequences of failure to stop an assailant far outweigh the consequences of firing rounds off without hearing protection.
Its a tough call, and one that must be made by each individual. Depending on multiple factors, the range of sound for each caliber will vary as well.
Relevant to this debate are issues concerning penetration as well. Whats behind your target? If its sleeping children or you live in a crowded apartment building, .357 magnum is also a questionable choice.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about sound too much. If you can, get a 12 gauge shotgun for HD. If you have to use the .357, you have many options. I err on the side of power. But be careful where you are shooting and what you are shooting at and don't let the panic of a flash-bang freeze your nerves.
I have my Gp100 loaded with 2 Speer Gold Dot .357 125 grain magnum rounds, then two Underwood Gold Dot .357 158 grain magnum rounds, then two more Speer Gold Dot 125 grain magnum rounds.
For my 640 I use the Buffalo Bore & Barnes 125 grain copper round, and for the last two shots use the Underwood 158 grain.
For .38 special in my 442 I use the Corbon DPX 110 grain Barnes copper round and the Speer Gold Dot 135 grain short barrel load.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7w4M-LNXuQ
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ShadowsEye
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I guess, for me, the noise level considerations would come with the weapon choice, not the ammo choice.
For what it's worth, the 357 Magnum is about 3 decibels louder than a home defense length shot gun.
Dr_B
member
I always go with Speer gold dots.
The 158 grain bonded JHP load at 1475fps looks frightening on paper. To put it in perspective that load at 75 yards has same velocity as most have at the muzzle. I know he has GP100 but I would be afraid my hand would fly away with the revolver!
ArchAngelCD
Member.
In the house, I would and do use the FBI Load. (158gr LSWC/HP .38 Special +P)
zxcvbob
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Remington 158 grain .38 Special SWCHP's. (Or buy some soft lead HP bullets and load your own equivalents.) .357 Magnums are 4x louder, and not anywhere near 4x as effective. And with the .38 you are much more likely to get a 2nd shot on target.
3 dB is a lot.
Tony_the_tiger
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I have yet to shoot a load that gives the gp100 significant recoil, including underwood and buffalo bore
Texan Scott
Member
I use .38+p in everything that doesn't take game. I'm not picky about brand, as long as it's JHP. (I don't honestly believe it makes as much difference as the ammo makers want me to believe it does... especially if I'm likely to empty the gun at an attacker anyway.)
You can load lower velocity/pressure/recoil/noise shotgun rounds.
The great thing about a shotgun with buckshot, is that you're less likely to need a 2nd or 3rd shot to do the job, thereby lessening the cumulative trauma to your eardrums.
A 3 decibel increase is not insignificant, especially at those levels.
The great thing about a shotgun with buckshot, is that you're less likely to need a 2nd or 3rd shot to do the job, thereby lessening the cumulative trauma to your eardrums.
A 3 decibel increase is not insignificant, especially at those levels.
I don't use my full size 357s for HD often, I use 145gr Silvertips in my full size 357s. the blast and flash aren't that much worse than 38+Ps from a snub. I wouldn't have a problem using the old FBI load or the 135gr SBGDs either.
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