158gr or 125gr .357 for home defense with a 6" revolver?

D

DMK

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I have a model 28-2 with a nice long 6" barrel that I keep in a strategic location for home defense. Right now I have it loaded with Federal 158gr. HP for self defense against bipedal aggressors and have some 180gr. SPs in a speedloader in case I need to put down a large aggressive dog or something.

I read a lot about the 125gr. HP being the round to use for SD, but it appears to me that this is usually recomended for 2-4" barrel lengths. Should I stick with the heavier 158gr considering the added velocity of my 6" barrel?
 
If you have modern JHPs the heavier bullet should be fine in either case. In older generation JHPs the 158 grainers had expansion problems but the 125 grainers didn't (by and large). The current generation of ammo has mostly licked this issue to the best of my knowledge.
 
I use the same 125 grainer for both carry and home. Why complicate things?
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It doesn't complicate things for me either way. This big N-frame is the only .357 I own and the three guns I do carry are loaded with either 230gr. 45ACP or 135gr. 38 Special.
 
If overpenetration or risk of shooting through walls is a potential problem Winchester has recently come out with some REALLY cool JSP 125 grain in .38 special.

(yes it will shoot through walls, but not as MANY walls as .357.)
 
In 357, the Gold Dot 158 as loaded by Speer, Proload, Georgia Arms and Black Hills will pull...well, generally 1,250fps in a 4", so guesstimate another 50 to 100fps.

This is a really nice load. Good reliable expansion. BUT if you miss the guy, it has some "staying power". Maybe a bit much for apartment use. But NONE of the 357s are going to be much better at stopping in apartment walls any time soon...they're going to keep on truckin' quite some distance unless you actually hit the goblin and they expand.

In 38+P, the Winchester or Remington 158 lead hollowpoints will expand nicely too. Not as much "crash'n'boom" as the 357s, but good solid power. Figure about 950fps or a hair over, and the plain soft lead will expand at that point.

Now, you COULD go with "Glasers", esp. the "Silver Label" (larger pellet size). Right, they don't punch deep enough for some folks...but you're using a potent caliber AND a lot of barrel. They're gonna put a hurt on...and they'll break up on interior walls. The Magsafe Defender will do so even more, and with the larger steel shot mix in that caliber REALLY work well.

These "frangibles" are NOT a good choice in lesser calibers/guns. In 44Mag they ROCK. In your 6" 357, I would guesstimate they'll be somewhere between the effectiveness of a good 38+P and a good 357 conventional JHP (also shot in your gun), but they're very "neighbor friendly" where there's thin walls going on.

I would hesitate to advise frangibles on any gun LESS than a 357 6" barrel, and even then I'd avoid both the Magsafe "SWAT" superlight and the Glaser "Blue" (smaller shot pellet formula).

But you're in range of the Glaser Silver and Magsafe Defender.

OH: another option: Cor-Bon's 100grain Pow'R'Ball in 357. This WILL expand, and it'll have the least momentum past solid barriers of any of the non-frangible 357s.
 
Meekandmild: Winchester's best JHP in 38+P is their Supreme 130grainer. And it's a good load in it's own right, esp. in a 6" barrel :D.

Other really good 38+Ps: the 135grain Gold Dot is getting attention! It expands in a 2" barrel, although the hollowpoint has clearly not "bottomed out" yet...so it should hold together OK in a 6".

In that gun, either should expand while punching 12" deep.

Put in the right place, that will stop a fight.

357 JHPs will maybe go fatter and/or punch a bit deeper but...indoor noise levels may prove to be Godawful in a fight.
 
I have a 6 in barrel ruger 357 and I shoot 130 gr Hydra Shoks. I have shot deer with several different rounds and have found that this gives me the best combo of penetration/expansion. I tried the hornady xtp's in 140 gr but have since used my last remaining rounds to target practice with. They just would not open up enough. My advice would be to stick with something around a 125 semi jacketed hp.
 
At one time I would have gone with the 125 grain loads. These days I tend toward the heavier ones, and I would second Jim March's suggestion of the 158 grain Gold Dot. And I actually like Boats's suggestion 180 grain Partition which ought to be a reliable penetrator - as the partition designs are in rifle form.
 
I really like the 145 Silvertips also. That is the one load I can always count on to shoot well in every 357 I own.

Charles
 
One more important thing. Use a load that you are accurate with. Having just watched a training film where a State trooper put 5 rounds of 357 158 gr hp to center mass and did not seriously wound the guy I have started doing a lot of head shot drills at the range. You won't always have enough power or penetration to get the job done using a handgun so have a backup plan. Btw, the Trooper died when the suspect used a 22lr revolver to fire one shot that went in his arm and into his chest and severed an artery.
 
One more important thing. Use a load that you are accurate with. Having just watched a training film where a State trooper put 5 rounds of 357 158 gr hp to center mass and did not seriously wound the guy I have started doing a lot of head shot drills at the range. You won't always have enough power or penetration to get the job done using a handgun so have a backup plan. Btw, the Trooper died when the suspect used a 22lr revolver to fire one shot that went in his arm and into his chest and severed an artery.
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That's the nice thing about the big N frame. With it's long sight radius and heavy weaight to dampen recoil it's very easy to shoot accurately.

If that's the same story I remember, that trooper's number must have just been up. I mean think about the odds, he put 5 shots of 357 into the guy who still shoots him with a .22LR that gets by his vest and happens to clip a major artery. That's a lot of stuff that had to go wrong all at once.
 
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