Brand New Gun! Ammo Recommendation/General Opinions

I'm taking it to the range tomorrow. I'll get some pictures. Once I wade through the threads on how to post pictures correctly I'll get a few up.
 
25 Yards off the hood of my pickup. I made it through the 2 boxes of 357 I had with me but it was pouring rain so I didn't go through any of the 38s. This was the end of the day. It was a mix of single action and double action with the last 10 rounds I had with me. These were the 158 Grain American Eagles I mentioned earlier.

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Kwik,
Congratulations on getting the strongest (arguably) 357 revolver on the market today. Back in 71 I bought my first Ruger Security-Six which is the precursor of the GP100. I have always loaded the 140 HP loads with the hottest accurate load I found. It is a Ruger/Contender load only and my gun has well over 50,000 rounds through it and it still shoots to 1" groups at 25 yards after 45 years. I've never needed to tune it up or even visit a gunsmith.
I settled on the 140 grain HP because it is a good compromise between velocity and terminal ballistics. I have hunted deer with it and even the big muley went down easily. I would not hesitate to defend myself against a cougar or a black bear. The load I use is 19.1 grains of H110 and I get 1464 fps from my 4" and 1509 fps from my 6". Both guns have a lifetime of the same load through them without any problems. The 6" is my carry gun, it was used in competition for three years in Hunter's Pistol Silhouette and had 30,000 rounds put through it in those three years, and I have shot informal targets, falling plates and ground squirrels with it. It has been my best friend over the last 45 years.
I hope that you have as much fun with yours as I have with mine.
 
Shootist,

I hope I do too. I have 2 categories of firearms. Ones that get traded from day to day and those that never leave my collection. This one is definitely in the latter. I'll take a look at that load and see how it shoots. I appreciate it. I will say, however, that I think I may need to ipgrade the front sight. That black blade against a black target on a cloudy, rainy day made it difficult. I'm looking at a few different ones and I like the brass bead style. A former coworker has one on his 6" and I've shot it before. But for the price they are I'm gonna hold off a while. I have a family member that's quite the machinist and I'm gonna see if I can just buy another factory front sight and have him set a brass bead in it for hopefully a smaller price. And if it doesn't work I can't imagine I would be out very much. I'm hoping that the price is similar to the one with the red insert in it. Then I'd only be out 16 bucks ish.
 
I'll probably start a tad lower on the powder charge. Seems high according to Hodgdon's website. I'm not quite comfortable enough with my reloading skills to go above published load data. But I'll definitely take a look at the 140s. Thanks again.
 
Kwik,
I made a front blade for my front sight a long time ago and a new blade for the rear sight. I tried the red insert but it disappeared under normal shooting conditions so I went back to black. I use a 6 o'clock hold on black bulls and I use a on inch black dot for a target at 25 yards. I started using a 6" black bull and the 4" but I found the smaller the aim point the better my groups got. You can find a PDF of my target at the 5th post HERE.

I use the same target out to 100 yards with my rifles.

Hodgdon doesn't list the "Ruger/Contender" only loads but you can find them in a number of printed reloading manuals. Sierra lists the load without any warnings with a maximum charge of 19.6 grains. You can also find the loads in the Speer manual under the Contender section.
 
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That looks like it would work great compared to an all black target. I'll print a few off and get to shooting. Thank you.
 
I'll never down a the .45 as a defensive caliber and I will continue to own the one I shoot but why have 3 if 2 don't get use?
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One good reason to have two is that if you ever do use the gun in a defensive shooting, the cops will take it (its evidence). You will get it back, once everything is settled, but it could be weeks or even months. Having a second one means you don't have to be without, while the wheels of justice grind slowly.

Having a 3rd one is just...fun. :D

If I were concerned about medium to small black bears, I'd look at a 180gr hard cast bullet over a stout load of 2400 or, even better, H110 or W296
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Seems like everyone today thinks they need 180gr bullets in the .357 for anything serious, other than self defense. I don't. I'm fine with the 158/160gr bullets, which have worked just fine in the .357 since 1935.

180s got popular in silhouette shooting, having enough greater momentum over the 158 to do a better job knocking down the ram target at 200 yds. No game animal can tell the difference.

In my 45 years experience loading and shooting the .357 Mag, H-110 and W296 are not "better" than 2400. None of them will give their full potential out of a 4" barrel. 2400 is my go to powder for .357 magnum loads.

Get a good 158gr, start with 14gr 2400 (magnum primers), and if that's not enough, slowly work up. You have a fine, stout gun, and should be able to take loads close to, or matching the original .357 loading (which is more than most "regular" factory ammo today), but your short barrel won't let you match the original velocity. (158gr @ ~1550fps from an 8 & 3/4" barrel)

Most .357s shoot .38 Special well, but some just don't. One thing you can try, once you get loading, is to try .38 Spl level loads in .357 brass, and see if they shoot any better than regular .38 Spl.

Do not use 2400 for .38Spl loads. You CAN, and it will work, but its a waste of good 2400. ;)

Use a medium burn rate powder (like Unique) or a fast one (like Bullseye) for .38 Spl level loads. BE CAREFUL when using fast powders, check carefully to make sure you don't double charge a case. A double charge of Bullseye will blow up even a Ruger!! Also use standard, not magnum primers for light loads and for medium & fast burning powders.

Use 180s if they appeal to you, but don't think for a minute you need them.

Enjoy!
 
Thanks for the advice. I found a bunch of 158 XTP's for sale so I'm gonna try and get a few samples loaded up this week and maybe shoot em next weekend. I never thought about using 38 loads in magnum brass. I'll give that a shot as well. My girlfriend is particularly recoil sensitive so I'm hoping that works. Granted this is not a firearm she gets excited about shooting due to her particularly small hands but I'd like the option. And 38s are just fun in general on the range anyway. And as far as the double charge goes I witnessed that happen to a buddy once and it put the fear of god in me. I'll be extra careful for sure. I didn't realize that about the 180s. I figured a 158 would do most of what I'd need it to but I've never witnessed a game animal taken with one from a handgun so I was thinking about a little extra insurance. But if a 158 grain will mostly do it all it would be nice to only have one load for both hollow points and soft points if I can get them to both shoot the same point of aim.
 
Sgt

Unfortunately neither me nor my other half can afford a life of luxury. Between downsizing my collection a little and focusing on reloading I'll be able to enjoy shooting more rather than enjoying a "collection" that just collects dust. But yes, given the funds and opportunity, I'd gladly have several of each caliber haha.
 
For .38 loads in Magnum brass, I would suggest starting above minimum starting load.
Try mid range .38 load as a start. Only my opinion.
Hornady XTP is a good choice , penetration with expansion.
 
I was at Walmart today checking out their .38 special selection and they had Winchester white box .38 special +P 125 grain hollow points on sale, box of 50 for 22.44.
half the box to check out POI and then half a box for SD.

That's pretty affordable.
 
IMO, you got a pretty good deal on the gun, paid closer to 600 for mine,
last year.

As to the ammo, there's a few worse, but not many better.

FWIW, I also do what Ibmikey said, plink with the 38 special.
 
Here's you a sleeper in the 357M factory loads:

Hornady's 140 FTX LEVERevolution

Its a 357M load rated for deer in a rifle,
My friend has a Ruger 77/357. We chronoed over 1800 FPS MV.
I tried it in my GP-100: 1540 FPS w/ recoil to match!
That is one nasty load from a revolver!
 
I'll have to give that leverrevolution a try. That seems impressive. I might have to invest in a chronograph as well.
 
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