Which .357 Ammo for 1st range session w/new GP100 3"?

L

LH2

New member
I'll be taking my brand-spankin' new GP100 3" to the range in the next week.

I'm going to try to just shoot .357 and avoid .38's to skip the cylinder rings .38's give.

Is recoil much of an issue with any factory .357 out of a 3" GP?

Any recommendations on a good .357 ammo to get the feel for the gun?

Should I just start out with WWB 110gr FMJ's and go up from there? :cool:
 
38 caliber target wadcutters

All the ranges sell them to "PUNCH HOLES IN PAPER"Buy you a box of 357s also to feel the diference.
Be safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D :D
Forget the rings.They will clean out and dont mean anything anyway.
 
Out of a 3" mags. make little difference. Rolla 3'wide paper in front of the firing point, and see the unburnt powder. I would go with a quality .38+p , or +p+. The noise and recoil are not worth it.
 
Should I just start out with WWB 110gr FMJ's and go up from there?
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Sure - why not get your feet wet right off the bat.

Eventually you'll end up using mostly .38spl.

No real reason to not enjoy the flash/bang/recoil/flinch, right off the bat.

I listened to all the stories about using mild loads and working up to the magnum stuff bak when I started (mid -70's). I fired a few hundred rounds of .38spl before I tried out some (IIRC - 158 gr .357 Mag loads).
When I touched off the first round, I was like,, that's it?!?!?! That's all there is to the mighty .357 Magnum?!?!

Short time later I found a .44 Mag in my hands BTW ;) <-- Now we're talkin'...

Anyhow,,,got into handloading due to the cost of .357 ammo...
Made a lot of noise,,had a lot of fun,,,,never did hit much for a time,,,but damn,,felt good doing it...

Finally spent some time with a guy that showed me how to shoot proper - dropped down to .38Spl and haven't looked back since.

Sorry (not really) if it goes against the grain of starting out low and working up to it. That may be the proper way of it,,,but why deny yourself of the pleasure of running full out?
The gun itself is hell-for strong,,,and you may pick up a nasty flinch if you aren't used to it,,but what the hey...you can always work out the flinch.

OTOH - it just may be that it doesn't bother you in the least.



BTW - those WWB 110's are toned down quite a bit. <--read that as they are really more in the .38spl +P catagory than they are in true .357Mag territory.
110 gr @ 1295 fps is what Winnie lists them at.
Cor Bon has a .38Spl +P 110 gr @ 1250 fps and also my favorite .38spl load now that Nyclads are gone, the 125 gr .38spl +P @ 1125 fps.
 
Yeah..go shot a box of 50 .357 right off the bat and tell me how your hand feels tomorrow :p .

Seriously, shooting .357 is a blast, but it gets old out of my 6" GP100 with full lug after about 20 or 30 rounds...it just starts beating you up a little. I can only imagine what a 3" barrel would feel like.

I agree with the other posters to buy some .38sp. standard or +p whatever.

The .38's are much more enjoyable to shoot at the range and the rings are no biggie at all. Just take some cleaner and a bore brush with you to the range and clean your cylinder while they are still warm, comes right out.

Have fun!
 
Yeah..go shot a box of 50 .357 right off the bat and tell me how your hand feels tomorrow
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The GP is a stout piece, I didn't think recoil would be too bad. We're not talking about an SP101 here.

I've fired quite a few .357's out of a Dan Wesson M15 and Colt Trooper MkIII, albeit with longer than 3" barrels, but neither was horrible recoil.

I've read on the forums that guys tend to shoot alot of .38's end up with these terrible rings that are nearly impossible to remove, so I was thinking just shoot mild .357's to start out. But indeed, I may decide to go with .38's afterall.

Besides, it seems like with factory ammo, .38's aren't that much cheaper than .357.

Any milder .357's than WWB? Blazers?

Thanks for the input!
 
I'm guessing the recoil will be negligible with 110-grainers out of that gun, but they come out louder and brighter than .38s. They're pretty fun.

~Ichiro
 
I don't have a 3" GP100, but I've definitely shot 200+ rounds of full power 125gr JHP from a 4" GP in a single session. Recoil is not pleasant, but it's not going to injure you or make you feel beat up the day after, IMO.
 
I would say start with 38spl loads or go with the 110gr. loads that you mentioned. That is a watered down that only makes a little over 400ft/lbs of energy. I have found that the 125gr. WinClean loads are pretty good as they are also a watered-down a little, while being cleaner than most other ammo. When I got my first 357, I made the mistake of trying to practice with only full-house 158gr. loads. Well, to put it simply it scared the :eek: out of me and I had to work hard to get rid of the flinching problem that I had induced. Just pick lighter loads and over time work up to heavier and more powerful loads.
 
I am glad someone linked stuff showing that 357 mags make a difference even in short barrels. I have read a few good threads with chrono data and while there is lots of unburned powder in some rounds the chrono tells the truth.

I think the load you listed is fine for getting to know the gun. For starting off I like a light load so I can learn the trigger and recoil before going to serious loads.

As far as the rings from 38 special rounds shot in a 357 mag chamber go, just clean them up after each shooting session. The problem I have found comes when someone shoots hundreds of rounds over several shooting sessions and never cleans the gun. This will let the stuff build up. If you take it to thousands it can be a serious pain and I saw one of these not that long ago.

If you research cleaning the gun you will see some folks who clean out the rings right after shooting because the cylinder is still warm.

If you are buying ammo the prices will vary by where you buy and what is on sale. For the win white box I doubt you will save much money by going to 38 special so it makes some sense to buy the 357 mag stuff and start saving the brass. And if it is a +p 38 special sort of load then it will be a good start for shooting the 3 inch gp100.

I would also buy some 124 grain stuff and some 158 hunting stuff as well just because you may as well see how the gun behaves with the different weights.

Any load is fine for shooting paper. Any load is good for you to start seeing how the gun recoils and what not.

At some point you need to decide what your primary use will be and find a load that does it.
 
I took it out yesterday and shot 1 box of WWB 130gr .38's and a box of WWB 110gr .357's. The .357's were fun. Gun balance is beautiful and trigger is also terrific compared to other new Rugers I've tried out. I think I got a good one. :)

Gun shoots a bit low at 15 yards with either load, shouldn't it be shooting high? I don't see much point in practicing at longer range with a 3" fixed sight revolver. Offhand group is about 3" CTC shooting DA.

So if my GP is shooting low (from a rest to verify) what next? Install a shorter front ramp? Or just aim a bit high to compensate? How do fixed-sight guys deal with their gun's tendencies?
 
Try some 158-grain .357s next time and see if those are better.

My GP-100, shot DA, feels like a single action gun compared to my SP-101 DAO.

~Ichiro
 
Try some 158-grain .357s next time and see if those are better.

My GP-100, shot DA, feels like a single action gun compared to my SP-101 DAO.
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Yeah my .22 caliber SP has a reeeaaaaalllllllly heavy DA trigger, the GP is cake in comparison. I may actually get my SP worked on eventually.

I guess 158gr .357's will recoil quite a bit harder than the WWB 110gr. Can somebody recommend a 158gr load that isn't the hottest, or are they all full power loads? How about CCI Blazers?
 
I bought a case of Magtech 158s from Midway. They're stouter than the 110s, no doubt, but absolutely no problem from my GP, which is only an inch longer than yours. You should have no trouble with these and, in fact, should have a lot of fun.

~Ichiro

p.s., no more .38s in my GP. It's just seems pointless. After one or two more range sessions, I'll be saying the same thing about my SP. Those 110-grain magnums have almost completely taken over the training role from the .38s.
 
Unless you are a really small person or particularly not good at absorbing the energy, the RECOIL with magnum rounds should not be a problem with a GP-100. The noise and blast may take some getting used to, but I don't think you'll feel any actual pain from the recoil. As you've stated, the GP-100 is a stout gun, and it absorbs recoil beautifully.

On another note, in my SP, the Remington 125-grain loads cause me some discomfort, but it's manageable. I shoot them once in awhile. The 158-grain loads are absolutely no problem (shot a box of them through my SP today), and the 110-grainers I consider training rounds. I shot a box of these as well this afternoon, all of them one-handed, and 3 cylinders with my weak hand. No problem at all. Next time, I'll be doing one-handed shots with the 158-grainers.

These two Rugers were meant to shoot magnums, and they do it very well. I bought an old S&W model 10 this week from an auction site, and I believe I'll do all of my .38 special shooting with this gun from this point forward.

~Ichiro
 
The 158 grain CCI Blazer round is a hairy chested, fire breathing round. I've set thme off in an inddor range and had the firng in other stalls stop as folks tried to figure out what the heck just happened. I als managed to cut myself on my 686 using them trying to get a quick follow up shot on a target. I still have a box of them, but I usally creep by them and get a box of .38s out of the locker on range day. Shoot them in small amounts or start getting ready to court bursitis, arthritis or any other itis you can think of.
 
DeltaWhiskey wrote, "The 158 grain CCI Blazer round is a hairy chested, fire breathing round. I've set thme off in an inddor range and had the firng in other stalls stop as folks tried to figure out what the heck just happened." That's an interesting example of how we all perceive things somewhat differently. I have not shot the Blazers in a while so don't really remember their recall or blast but I know that CCI lists them as, I think, 1150 ft/sec from a 4 inch barrel compared to most 158 grain .357s having a nominal 4 inch barrel velocity of 1235 ft/sec. Based on that, I would think they should be milder but, as I said, I don't remember how they actually felt. I once considered them a possible good practice and defense round (at that velocity) until CCI changed the bullet and virtually got rid of the hollow point. All this stuff is so subjective...ya just gotta try something to know fer sure.
 
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