Wondering what are the favorites for hard hitting 357 sig.

-- If you found yourself alone in Alaska and all you had was a 357sig what ammo would you want to have ?

As far as I know, Underwood offers the hottest factory loaded 357 SIG ammunition. Despite preferring the cartridge for self-defense against humans, though, I would not want to have to rely on it for protection against bears of any kind, and especially not Alaskan bears. And if it were absolutely necessary, I’d want a full metal jacket load, not an over-driven hollow point of any type.

Looking for hard hitting and not penetration.
Are there any rounds for 357sig specifically made for impact and not penetration ?

In general hollow point bullets deliver their energy to a target like an animal faster than FMJ bullets that don’t expand. The “harder” part, however, depends on the kinetic energy of the projectile, and that’s a function of bullet weight and velocity. For the same weight, higher velocity = more energy.

Bullet energy affects terminal ballistic effects, but the differences among various 357 SIG loads are very unlikely to matter when shooting something like a large bear except as they affect the ability of the bullet to penetrate far enough to damage/destroy vital structures. To reiterate, if I had no choice in the matter, I would choose a FMJ load for defense against something like a bear, but wouldn’t place much reliance on its being effective.

quote:

Originally posted by Ms0072:


-- If you found yourself alone in Alaska and all you had was a 357sig what ammo would you want to have ?

Damned good cellular signal, and God on speed dial...

quote:

Originally posted by Ms0072:
Looking for hard hitting and not penetration.
Are there any rounds for 357sig specifically made for impact and not penetration ?

"Hard-hitting"/"knockdown"/"stopping power" are myths when it comes to handgun ammunition. It ain't like the movies, where the bad guy (or bear) gets bowled over by the impact of the bullet. (If it was, the shooter would also get bowled over by the recoil... Equal and opposite reaction, and all that.)

Instead, handguns rely on proper shot placement, combined with sufficient penetration to reach and disrupt vital organs and/or the central nervous system.

I think we would be able to provide more useful input if you were to divulge your intended use for the pistol.

I understand the specifics about 357sig rounds and its shortcomings with respect to a bear or other large animal.

I am just trying to get some ideas of different types and weights that people here have observed as seeming to "hit" the hardest.
Does not necessarily need to be baked up by scientific data.

I already have some good 357 rounds for penetration and would like to pick up some that are more to the other end of the spectrum without having to by a box of 15 different rounds.

Look up this guys posts over at Glocktalk. He tries lots of loads and tells the good bad and ugly of each. He just writes his own experiences with a variety of ammo and 357sig pistols!

http://www.glocktalk.com/threa...ip-a-record.1614199/

Underwood rolls a hot hollow point, but for general self defense against two legged creatures Gold Dots are ultra reliable.

The Double Tap 180 grain hardcast are a formittable deep penetration round. I have had good cycling experience in my P226, but the P239 is undersprung.

Use Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot, or Winchester Ranger and be assured that you have the best round avalible to stop the threat of whatever is trying to cause you harm. The Underwoods are what I deem an exotic unproven round. The Federal, Speer , Winchester will give you the best of reliability and stopping power that the 357 Sig round can produce.
If you need to stop a grizzly shoot for the head and pray or carry a lot more gun in a rifle caliber.

High power factor plus rapid expansion would deliver the quickest energy dissipation. If you're looking for "impact and not penetration", that seems to be what your asking for. However, that's not what I would use in your hypothetical Alaska scenario. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite.

The formula for power factor is PF = MV*Wt/1000 where MV is muzzle velocity in fps and Wt is bullet weight in grains. It's easy enough to put together a spreadsheet to calculate PF for different loads based on manufacturer data. Pick a load with a high PF and a bullet known for underpenetration, and you'll probably get a high "impact".

Well, since we're just talking... the original was designed around the 125 grain bullet, so the mass is constant. To increase momentum, you need to increase velocity (in one direction, to be technically correct). To replicate the 357 Magnum load, they ran this 125 bullet at 1450 feet per second to get close to its task. (Modern defensive rounds have relaxed this somewhat of late, also, some are using 147 grain, but I digress.)

Seek the original velocity and you will find the best results, or at least the best the round offers. Double Tap, Grizzly, and Underwood look to be a great place to start in a full 125-grain bullet offering.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockyriver:
The Underwoods are what I deem an exotic unproven round. The Federal, Speer , Winchester will give you the best of reliability and stopping power that the 357 Sig round can produce.

You apparently have no idea what you are talking about. Underwood uses speer bonded bullets in their ammo at 1500fps out of my Glock 32. True 357 sig rounds.

So since they use speer bullets, how are they unproven?????

I just ordered some Underwood 125gr to test against our duty round.
I'm sure it'll outdo our Winchester Ranger which is loaded a little slower.

quote:

Originally posted by walker77:

quote:

Originally posted by Rockyriver:
The Underwoods are what I deem an exotic unproven round. The Federal, Speer , Winchester will give you the best of reliability and stopping power that the 357 Sig round can produce.

You apparently have no idea what you are talking about. Underwood uses speer bonded bullets in their ammo at 1500fps out of my Glock 32. True 357 sig rounds.

So since they use speer bullets, how are they unproven?????

One could argue that Speer developed their bonded hollow point to optimally perform at the velocity ranges exhibited by their Gold Dot loads. More velocity may actually degrade the bullet performance (i.e. jacket separation, fragmenting, etc...). There are several ballistic gel videos available that show excellent laboratory results, but little or no real life experience from law enforcement simply because no agency (at least not that I am aware of) uses Underwood Ammo. Thus, one can argue the ammo is unproven.

That said, I believe the Underwood Ammo offering with Speer 125 grain hollowpoints, is a good quality ammo. I personally have 200 rounds in my stores.

Remember that Speer has different loadings. I think the "hottest" is 54324 which drives a 125gr GDHP at 1375fps for 525ftlbs.

quote:

Originally posted by burnetma:
More velocity may actually degrade the bullet performance (i.e. jacket separation, fragmenting, etc...).

No jacket separation. That's the point of a bonded bullet.

I just function tested Underwoods 125gr JHP load, I think it's their stock number 149. Good Lord is it HOT. Crazy muzzle flash despite the fact that it's got a retardant in it to calm that down. Velocity is claimed to be at 1475 and I believe it. It wasn't "uncontrollable", but jesh...I'd be hard pressed to control much more.

With my life on the line, Winchester Ranger T or Ranger Bonded.