What 158gr jhp do you load?

hossfly said:

How do you like the Zero bullets.

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I've shot maybe 700 of the JHP, mostly at paper and out to 50 yards. They're accurate. Shot a doe with them this past year, quartering away. Entered high, went thru the ribs, heart, and then out by the offside front leg and into the ground. I didn't see fragments of lead and the exit wasn't a ridiculous mess. She ran <40 yards. I like the bullet and the price.

Bfh_auto said:

Generally XTP's get ragged on by a lot of people. They are accused of not opening, over expanding and everything in between.

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Yes, I've heard those things, too. I don't have a lot of experience with handgun hunting so I'm not going to contradict anyone. In my very limited experience with a revolver and deer the JHP worked as well as I would hope any bullet would work and I will continue along that path regardless of opinions on the internet.

I have loaded a lot of 158gr and 125gr Remington and Winchester semi jacketed JHP and Soft Points over the years when they went on sale at Midway in 500 bullet lots. I have used Speer, Sierra and Hornady when I have found them at a good price point but really don't have a preferred brand as any of the JHP's or SP's will work for self defense or hunting with the right load in the .357 mag.

Armored farmer said:

My only beef with xtp's was lack of expansion.
I was getting such good accuracy from my mild loads that I probably wasn't pushing them fast enough to get a bloom.

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What was the load, and what others have you tried? What kind of accuracy did you get?

If you tell us what length barrel, we could probably come up with some suggestions that might work well for you.

I run 158gn Deep Curls when I can get them. They are my "premium handload". I have found that they are more accurate than the XTP's (which are no slouch either) over AA#9 which is my go-to powder.

I use xtps because they're readily available . primary plinking load I use the 158 grain laser cast swc. Just cause I'm not yet set up for casting, I can source them locally and they're very high quality, other bullets are cheaper but I've had such good success with the xtp & laser cast that they're just my go to that I know work great.

Armored farmer said:

My new interest in .357 is more sd than hunting. I recently bought a used s&w 66 with a 2½" barrel, and my old favorite 2¼" sp101. So we're looking at short barrel loads.

To be clear, I have experience loading. 357, but am interested in successful accurate loads.

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Go take a look at the Lucky Gunner testing with the 158gr XTP in a short barrel. It looks okay, but over penetrates at that velocity.

The Remington 158gr Semi Jacket Hollow Point seems to perform much better, even though the velocity is higher.

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/revolver-ballistics-test/

You'll have to look for yourself. But my point is that the Remington bullet looks far more appropriate for an SD load in a short barrel. I actually carry that load in my 2.25" SP101, but I have yet to reload with the bullet.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1601122672

Too bad those Remington bullets are not available in any counts. I may have ordered some of them. I use XTPs and Winchester 158gr HP points I have had for a long time. The only meat I have ever shot with those two was one Coyote with a 158 winchester bullet from a lever action. It almost cut that little dog in half. I think the XTPs need a lot of speed to open up. But they are great bullets and I have around 800 on hand.

Armored farmer said:

My new interest in .357 is more sd than hunting. I recently bought a used s&w 66 with a 2½" barrel, and my old favorite 2¼" sp101. So we're looking at short barrel loads.

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If I were loading SD loads for those two guns I would be looking at 140gr bullets. I have quite a few of those on hand including some of the scalloped jacket Remington HPs. Of course the good old 158gr lead hollow points are always a good choice for SD from a short barrel.

And thanks to who ever mentioned the Zero bullets. I had forgot about them. I looked them up. They do have good prices.

I just ordered 400 Winchester 110gr bullets that I intend to load for my air weight 38 442 snub to help mitigate recoil some from that little blaster.

.357 158 grain JHPs are generally not ideal for SD, unless your threat is wearing a black fur coat and eats from garbage dumpsters or does happen to be human and is otherwise hardened (vehicle glass, thin barrier, heavy winter clothing, etc). SD projectiles in this caliber run in the 125-140 grain weights to limit penetration and ensure expansion. The possible exceptions would be the Rem SJ posted above, the Federal Hydra shok now available as a component, and possibly some from specialty manufacturers. Compromised expansion and overpenetration will likely be the norm from short barreled loads with most 158 JHPs.

Never loaded for SD, but with a short barreled gun, I think I'd start with a 125 gold dot and BE86. Should get enough velocity to expand reliably as there's a 125 gr 38spl +P LE round commercially available rated @ 950 fps.

I agree with @WrongHanded. Study the luckygunner.com labs. Pretty informative stuff. I was surprised at some of the results especially in short barrel .38 and .357. Based on the test, I switched to the Remington Golden Saber +P for my SD Load. Normally I would prefer I heavier bullet but the results say it gives proper penetration and great expansion plus it is as accurate if not more accurate that most of the other loads I've tried in my short barrel revolvers. I see no sense in fighting with the recoil of a .357 when a 38+P will do the same job. I've tried the new Federal HST factory and handloaded some as well. I found these perform extremely well, but the flush seated bullet might be a lot harder to reload fast with a speed loader. We talk about bullet performance her all the time and what is the best round. I've said it before and will repeat again. The best load for SD is the one you can shoot the best especially with follow up shots. A hit in the right place with a bad bullet is much better than a miss with the perfect bullet.

Armored farmer said:

@Eddietruett
I'm holding your feet to the fire here....I just ordered 100 145gr hp from GT bullets!

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I think you will be impressed with the quality. The great thing about GT is the availability of trial packs. You can try different bullets without having boxes sitting around with bullets that don't work well. I've probably got several thousand odd bullets sitting around that didn't work well for one reason or another.