Tactical Short Barrel Lower Recoil Low Flash 357 Magnum Ammo - 158 gr. Speer JHC (1,100fps/M.E. 424 ft. lbs.) - 20 Round Box
Typical full power 357 magnum loads offer several tactical problems for use in self defense and duty applications, especially when used in the shorter/lighter revolvers that are typical of concealed, defensive and duty carry. First, the muzzle flash can be blinding, especially from short barrels. Second, felt recoil can be a life-threatening drawback if fast follow-up shots are required. Third, the level of report can be deafening and cause permanent hearing loss, especially if fired indoors.
All three Buffalo Bore Tactical Short Barrel loads address the above problems and make the 357 magnum ideal for concealed, defensive and duty carry in smaller revolvers.
Muzzle flash: These exciting new 357 magnum loads utilize a flash suppressed powder that will not blind you, should you need to drop the hammer in a low light situation. It is estimated that over 90% of all defensive civilian shootings in the U.S. happen in low light-that is when the criminal element is at work. Wouldn't it be horrible if you fired at an assailant, in the dark, to protect your family, only to find that you missed the bad guy and you are now blind due to your own muzzle flash? This is a scenario that has happened many times in the real world with the 357 magnum. Through the use of our non-canister, flash suppressed powder, the tactical problem of blinding muzzle flash is now greatly reduced with Buffalo Bore's new Tactical Short Barrel loads!
Recoil: Felt recoil is exacerbated by the use of shorter barreled, smaller framed, lighter weight 357 revolvers, typically used for concealed and duty carry. The new Buffalo Bore Tactical Short Barrel 357 loads are not the normal full power "barn burner", 357 magnum loads we make and as such, felt recoil is substantially reduced, although they remain very powerful. Hence, deadly, and faster follow-up shots are more possible.
Your ears: Most folks don't think of the level of "report" as being a problem during a life threatening/defensive shooting and that may be correct for the actual moment of conflict. However, to lose some of your hearing for the rest of your life, following the shooting incident, is unnecessary and undesirable. Full power 357 magnum ammunition is deafening, even more so when fired from short barrels and even worse if you are required to shoot from an enclosed area such as a vehicle or indoors. Buffalo Bore's Tactical Short Barrel 357 magnum loads are not as hard on your hearing as full power ammunition. Although the use of hearing protection is still desirable, if possible, when using this ammo.
For those who wish to carry a 357 magnum revolver for potential "conflict resolution", these new Buffalo Bore loads put an end to the "tactical" draw backs associated with our regular 357 magnum ammo. These loads are great for use in longer barreled firearms too.
Special Information Note: The below velocities were obtained from my personal, real world, factory stock, over the counter, (NOT TEST BARRELS) 357 magnum, revolvers. Also, note that the 6 inch Python, is considerably slower than the 4 inch S&W. This has nothing to do with barrel length. It is most likely a combination of differences in chamber/throat dimensions, barrel -cylinder gap, barrel internals, and forcing cone dimensions in the Python, versus the S&W. If the Python and the S&W had the same dimensions in their chamber/throats, barrel cylinder gap and forcing cone, the longer barreled Python would give much faster speeds. We have found that all of our Python test revolvers are much slower than our late model S&W revolvers of equal or even shorter barrel length.
We could have reduced the recoil, flash and blast even more by "watering down" these loads further than we did, but then you wouldn't have a real 357 magnum in your hands. So we looked for and found a balance between very powerful, fight stopping ammo that recoils and flashes much less than ours and some other makers, full power 357 loads. If we were to "water down" this "Tactical Short Barrel" 357 ammo any more, we would simply not manufacture it and suggest that you use our 38 SPL+P ammunition.
None of these loads caused crimp/bullet jump (in five shots) in my 12 OZ. Scandium S&W Model 340, but they did generate considerable felt recoil.
