Thoughts on carry ammo- J frame

[Peakbagger46]

I have been carrying a S&W 340 (airlight .357) as a BUG for work and for a lot of daily carry for the last four years. After going between hot 357 loads (180g black talon), wimp 357 loads (135g gold dot) and .38's, here are some thoughts.

Full loads can be shot in this pistol. It won't bite your hand off, and accuracy can be obtained if you are disciplined enough and don't flinch. For a while I carried this gun with full loads and felt better knowing I had a bit of extra power strapped to my vest if things got bad.

Then I got to thinking about one handed shooting. This scenario is likely in the event of having to go to a backup gun. While I can hit with full loads, I cannot hit fast and accurately with one hand due to the recoil.

Enter +P .38 or the speer wimp .357 loads. Recoil is managable, even with one hand, and follow-up shots are much easier. But what about the 20% of the ammo (last shot) in the gun? Why not put a full load in the number 5 position?

Enter the perfect carry solution for a 13oz 357. Load four rounds of what you can control (for me it's Buffalo Bore 158g LSWC +P), and make the last round a full power blaster.

Hopefully this line of thinking may be helpfull to some of you carrying a pocket rocket. Yes, you may only have one "full power" round in your gun, but even one round in a J-frame (or LCR) counts for 20% of your fire power.

 

[Elkins45]

Why isn't the full power round the first one? Seems like the first shot is the most important one.

 

[beatledog7]

All your chambers should carry the same load. It should be a load with which you can consistently shoot the entire cylinder to POA with either hand alone without the need to adjust your grip as fast as you can pull the trigger.

Can you put all five rounds into a pie plate at 7 yards with your off hand in about 2 seconds? If you can't, the load may be too heavy for you.

 

[rhinoh]

I sort of agree with peakbagger...might as well have the max in the last round. Recoil won't matter as far as a followup shot since there won't be one.
But then I've been known to load alternating rounds too, if Gold Dot doesn't work the next will be something else, then back to Gold Dot etc...

 

[Remllez]

I've learned the most efficient easily controlled and least expensive round for the J's is regular pressure LSWC HP or LSWC. It ain't rocket science choosing SD ammo for these little blasters.

These rounds are cheap to practice with and I can shoot 2-3 boxes outa a J frame, almost as easy as shooting a .22....I leave the expensive fancy schmancy jacketed wonder rounds on the shelf for those that don't mind paying a buck a shot for ammo.....

One must really scrutinize the fine print on these expensive rounds and break the performance down to its simplest terms, stripping away the BS. Marketing has always driven ammo prices but if you been around a while you learn....ya can't always believe what you read!

 

[beatledog7]

A bad guy confronted with your muzzle will not scrutinize your carry ammo before deciding whether to break off his threatening behavior. If he immediately breaks off, you get to avoid shooting him, and your ammo choice won't have mattered a bit. If he persists, your hits will matter a lot more than the specific ballistic performance of your bullets.

I carry normal pressure 125gr Nyclads. Once I shoot all the ones I have, I'll switch to something else because nowadays they're stupid expensive or OOS globally. I can consistently shoot all five of them into 7" at SD distance with either hand in 2 seconds. I can do that with 158gr SWCs or LRNs as well, so when the time comes those will likely be my new carry ammo.