Looking for a good 357 magnum factory ammo.

C

CCCLVII

New member
I am looking to start stockpiling some ammo. Since I have both handguns and rifles in 357 magnum I decided to stock up on that first. This is more for survival type situation. I would like it to work well for both self defence from a handgun and for hunting medium game from a carbine. I am also looking for pretty cheep $30.00 or less per 50 would be ideal.

ANy suggestions? I am leaning toward 140-158 grain hollow points. Any Ideas?
 
I am also looking for pretty cheep $30.00 or less per 50 would be ideal.
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So am I.

Unless there's some deals out there of which I am unaware, you're not going to find much in the way of high-end potent ammo for that kind of money. Loading your own is about the only way to get there.
 
the American eagle 158gr high-velocity soft-point can be had right at 29.99 a box. but why wouldn't you just start handloading, a 100$ investment in a press and 30$ for dies and you can have as much 357 as you want for 15-20c a round

I know you said hollow-point, but this stuff acts just as goos as any with a little added penetration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dMXKHUxjgQ
 
When you find Magtech at a good price, buy it. It is usually one of the "bargain brands" but it shoots very well.
 
Try this here:

https://alamoammo.com/pistol-ammo/3...r-jhp-50-rnds-m-id-3542-upc-076683035424?#xml

Blazer makes good ammo, this is a 158 grain .357 magnum JHP from them. $21.95 for a box of 50 is well under your price limit.

I would imagine this stuff would hit hard enough for deer out to 75-100 yards in a survival situation. 158 grain bullets are the sweet spot in .357 magnum... enough penetration for game but still good results on human attackers. The JHP cavity should expand at close range and be very effective for defense.

Good luck with your ammo search!
 
Fiocchi and S&B are both good, if you can find them. S&B brass can be kind of a headache to reload until you swage the primer pockets. I don't think the primers are crimped, but they might as well be.

Fiocchi uses Starline brass in at least some of their loads.
 
For factory "defensive" rounds I try and find Remington Golden Sabre 125 grain ammo. Less expensive than Hornady Critical Defense (that is good too) and is a good round. I just shot a 70 pound hog at 50 yards the other night (yes it was a good shot) with that ammo from a 4" S&W model 66 and it knocked it down for 15 seconds then it stumbled away about 20 yards and dropped dead. I hit it high in the flank below the spine. Messed it up good with shock damage to spine and hit major blood vessel. Sportsman's Guide often has it in stock. It also shoots well out of my SP101 2.25" revolver.
 
IMHO, the American Eagle 158 gr SPs are one of the better factory hunting type bullets for a reasonable cost. Remington 125 gr JHPs in the 100 round bulk pac, tend to be a very good SD round at a very reasonable cost.
 
I'll second the Fiocchi and S&B. Low cost good velocity and quality ammo.
I got some American Eagle and I wondered if they'd loaded it with black powder it smoked so much. Seriously. It was really bad.
 
458winshooter said:
+1 for the American eagle 158's they work well in all 3 of my 357's
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As will I. My LGS has this stuff all the time for $24.96 for a box of 50. It's good shooting ammunition I think. Even out of my snub I can hold petty good groups but man does it have some recoil AND muzzle blast.

It's very nice out of a K frame. Still a lot of muzzle blast though.

As for ballistics, the box says 1240 fps and 540 ft-lbs of muzzle energy.
 
While I cannot say you will find what your looking for withing the price range you specified, I can say that after 20+ years of loading my own for hunting use out of two 6" GP100s, I have settled on two or three bullets that will do anything I need getting done.

The Remington SJHP in either the 140 or 158gr, or the Speer Gold Dot in 158gr. Either of these has done the job very effectively on several feral hogs up into the 180 pound range. I haven't used them on deer, but would expect nothing less in performance. The few I have recovered are all in full mushroom and usually retain most of the original weight unless they smashed through a shoulder socket or similar bigger bone.

For a SD load I would offer up there are plenty of newer types and hypes, but for a long track record the Remington 125gr load is tough to beat. Those are some pretty impressive little pills.

I realize loading your own isn't for everyone, but for about what you will spend for a few hundred rounds you could pick up the components and begin your own loading and use what you want. As mentioned above even with a single stage press, you can load quality ammo and load it in the numbers you want. For a good while I was shooting upwards of 3-500 rounds a week from several revolvers and loading them back up within a couple of days on a single stage. If you DO decide to get into loading your own, look for bulk deals on bullets, and you will be ahead in the game. That was how I got to know how well the Remington's worked as a result they are the main bullets on my shelf, right along side my stash of Gold Dots.
 
I load my own, also. I have about 2k each of 357 and 38 brass and merely consider myself to be "well stocked", but I would not consider that to be a "stockpile".

If you plan on enjoying a lot of shooting, I'd take the leap into hand loading.
 
Model12Win said:
Try this here:

https://alamoammo.com/pistol-ammo/3...r-jhp-50-rnds-m-id-3542-upc-076683035424?#xml

Blazer makes good ammo, this is a 158 grain .357 magnum JHP from them. $21.95 for a box of 50 is well under your price limit.

I would imagine this stuff would hit hard enough for deer out to 75-100 yards in a survival situation. 158 grain bullets are the sweet spot in .357 magnum... enough penetration for game but still good results on human attackers. The JHP cavity should expand at close range and be very effective for defense.

Good luck with your ammo search!
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Blazer is OK for plinking ammo but only has 38 special +p velocities.
I chrono'd 100 rounds of these. Never broke 1000fps out of a 4" barrel.
I keep 158gr Hydra-Shoks & Golden Saber for SD duty. I reload 125gr JSP for plinking.
 
In my area, MagTech is about the least expensive ...in 158 gr. Its pretty good ammo ....( I reload my own )...and I think you'll find it once in a while for around $ 30 a box.
 
For my RSS6, I like the

Hornady 140gr XTP's, they are POA/POI with easy recoil.

The Flex-tip MIGHT be the same but haven't tried them.
 
Someone else observed on one of the boards that 357 ammo is kind of scarce at the moment. I was going to suggest Armscor as a good price for target ammo, but ammolist.com didn't have any, only 38 Special. Anyone who is going to seriously consume ammo should be reloading.
 
Can`t say , I`ve cast & reloaded since `83 & KRINGE at the prices of store bought ammo :eek::eek:

Keep ya guns citizens, we`ll make ammo so scarce & pricey you won`t want to shoot em anymore !!!

I`ve also found some "once fired brass" is higher priced than buying in bulk (1k) from Starline !!


I know ,I know NO help :o
 
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