Strange .357 ammo

4

41special

New member
Ok, I picked up a mixed bag of .357 mag ammo from a relative.

In the bag was some S&W head stamped ammo that had wad-cutter bullets with some type of heavy plastic ? paint ? coating on them. Some were black some were a geen-blue.

I ask what they were and they did'nt know.

Any ideas ?
 
It prevents barrel fouling from the lead bullets. This was a very popular bullet with law enforcement for .38 and .357. Federal dropped the line. Tests were so/so on expansion though denim/gel. (+18" penetration)
 
I've got a box in my "treasure chest"...

My father-in-law gave us a BUNCH of ammo last summer (thousands & thousands of rounds...no kidding...he had a killer stash). We've shot up a lot of that ammo but I saved....

a box of .38 Special S&W Nyclad. I didn't shoot it up, I loaded up my wife's 15-4 with it and it's on permanent guard duty.

Looked to be good ammo for that purpose...what do you think?

Bob
 
WiLL TERY was right I still have some

the ones that I have are 38 sp, Semi wad cutter with hollopoint. We got some in the shop in the MID 80's
They were manufactured for Smith and wesson and were very clean to shoot but the expence was high.
Diddnt know they made them in 357
 
S&W's NYCLAD ammo was the original answer to airborne lead pollution for indoor ranges. The nylon coating also had the advantage of keeping down the leading in revolver barrels and made cleaning easier.

I think Federal was contracted to manufacture the rounds for S&W with the Smith logo on the case heads. Quality brass and quality loads.

For those of you with the NYCLAD SWC-HP loads, these don't expand well in expansion tests however the SWC design itself is a very effective one. The sharp shoulder provides hydrostatic effects when driven over 1000fps. Even at lower speeds, the SWC "cuts" tissue rather than pushing it aside as happens with rounds with rounder noses.

If you have a complete box of .357 NYCLADs, keep them and don't shoot them until you find out what they're worth to an ammo collector. A complete box might give you enough to buy 50 rounds of Federal Hydrashoks.
 
VonFatman - I would agree with BillCA with his point that there is better ammunition out there. I would also point out that I rotate my self defense ammo about every six months. Nyclad ammunition has not been manufactured in some years as far as I know. I inhereted a few dust covered boxes of 38 Nyclads we had in the shop, they all fired fine. I just prefer to have fresh ammuntion in my self defense gun so that I am not worried about a misfire.

I would also point out as a interesting point of fact, Nylon was most recently used by the Army in creating their "not so green" tungsten bullets. Nylon was used as a coating to protect the rifling from the hard tungsten core of the bullet. It did not work as planned in that application, as the rifling in the test guns was wearing out in less than 20,000 rounds.
 
Nyclad at home...

BillCA & 44mag@ucnsb.net,
Thanks for the imput regarding using Nylcads around the home. I will set them aside and use some other ammo. A question...I have some Winchester SilverTips 125gr. Silver HP +P...would these be an acceptable load for home protection out of a Model 15-4?

Thanks.

Bob
 
I carry silver tips in everthing

There are rounds that expand better but the differencd is marginal.
Silver tips are very reliable including going through heavy clothing.
My answer is yes,
 
I'd also give a thumbs-up for the 125gr Silvertips. Are they +P rated or the standard velocity? The Model 15 will fire them just fine either way, though I'd not feed it a steady diet of +P ammo.

The only alternative defense load in .38 I like are the 129gr Federal HydraShoks. These also have a good reputation. You might try each in a darkened range or at sunset at an outdoor range to judge the muzzle flash.
 
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