Jim Watson
New member
If you want Magnum Power, a friend got amazing accuracy from WWB 110 gr .357s. Random Rested 1.5" at 50 yards.
Best .357 magnum ammo for range
- Thread starter KLCane
- Start date
bamaranger
New member
.38 spl
Another vote for .38's at the range, especially if you are indoors, and more so if you are a beginner as you advise. You need to be familiar with magnum ammo if that is what you carry. But all up .357, indoors, even with modern ranges and ear protection,is just too loud for me to be enjoyable.
A 158 LRN is easy to load. Likely 148 WC is the mildest shooting. Get used to h ot mag ammo later on and certainly outdoors.
Another vote for .38's at the range, especially if you are indoors, and more so if you are a beginner as you advise. You need to be familiar with magnum ammo if that is what you carry. But all up .357, indoors, even with modern ranges and ear protection,is just too loud for me to be enjoyable.
A 158 LRN is easy to load. Likely 148 WC is the mildest shooting. Get used to h ot mag ammo later on and certainly outdoors.
I actually have a 9 mm Springfield XD. Great little gun. I wanted to get a high quality revolver as well (Ruger gp100). I think I am going to move to .38 specials for a while to get used to them before shooting any more .357 mags...."firearms beginner"... Just a thought but why not start out with a nice .22 ?
.02. David.
When I want to practice with 357 Magnum, I buy CCI Blazer 158gr JHP ammo.
The Aluminum case 357 version is quite mild as far as 357 Magnum is concerned.
The Brass case version is hotter -- about mid range for a 357 load.
No particular research went into this choice. A LGS had them really cheap at one point and I stocked up.
I use them mostly in my LCR 357 and a 3" Model 60 S&W.
The Aluminum case 357 version is quite mild as far as 357 Magnum is concerned.
The Brass case version is hotter -- about mid range for a 357 load.
No particular research went into this choice. A LGS had them really cheap at one point and I stocked up.
I use them mostly in my LCR 357 and a 3" Model 60 S&W.
I assume they still make this stuff- Sellier and Bellot 158 gr. FMJ flat point, and Fiocchi 142 gr. FMJ cone shaped tip. Both seemed accurate and were cheaper than the typical HP or defense ammo for the range testing purpose. But would be a bit more effective than FMJ round nose if you ended up having to shoot a varmint with it or something. You could go with a lighter bullet like 110, but then your sights would be screwed up higher for elevation and shoot more standard weight stuff high, or shoot low if your gun is regulated for standard of about 158 gr. I also have heard that the light bullets loads can cause more flame cutting of the frame, but I never shot enough to notice any. The Blazer aluminum used to be cheap too. Been awhile since I bought much factory ammo, with a press and dies available.
I agree on the Fiocchi 142gr FMJ. This is my favorite factory 357 practice load because it's accurate, cheap and burns clean. It is loaded fairly mildly for a 357, to the point where the recoil is almost down to the level of my hot 38 +P handloads. So it's not a hot rod by any means.
My favorite 38 special load was the Winchester-Western milsurp wadcutter but sadly I haven't seen that in years. Honestly, out of the modern factory 38s it's hard for me to tell a difference in performance; just buy whatever's cheapest.