Best home defense round for .357 or .38sp

[gorenut]

I know I might be opening a huge can of worms here, but I'm looking for possibly specific grains/types/brands for a home defense round in my revolver. I've always just had .357 mags stored because thats usually what I shoot when I go to the range.. but I realize for home defense, that is over-penetration. I'm looking for some JHPs in either caliber. Any suggestions? II own a Ruger Gp100. Thanks.

[Sig556swat]

http://ammo.ar15.com/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/index.htm

[axhoaxho]

My personal favorite is the Gold Dot 135g .38 Special +P, to me it is a nice balance of both worlds.

Regards,

[gorenut]

http://ammo.ar15.com/project/Self_De..._FAQ/index.htm

Thanks for the link. The link also helped clarify my main 2 decisions. It was between Gold Dot and Hydra-Shok.

My personal favorite is the Gold Dot 135g .38 Special +P, to me it is a nice balance of both worlds.

Regards,

Seconded one of my choices in the Gold Dot. I feel .357 is too much for someone that'll only be a few feet away from me.

[andalusi]

I know I might be opening a huge can of worms here, but I'm looking for possibly specific grains/types/brands for a home defense round in my revolver. I've always just had .357 mags stored because thats usually what I shoot when I go to the range.. but I realize for home defense, that is over-penetration. I'm looking for some JHPs in either caliber. Any suggestions? II own a Ruger Gp100. Thanks.

The authors of these two sites put a lot of thought into different ammo options, including for ammo in.357 and .38:

http://www.internetarmory.com/ammunition.htm

http://www.chuckhawks.com/ammo_by_anonymous.htm

Myself, I keep .38 +P hollowpoints as my revolver's personal protection ammo. Right now it's WWB as (1) it's cheap and (2) it's what I could actually get my hands on (and still trust), but at some point I'm probably going to upgrade to Speer Gold Dots or Cor-Bon .38 +P 125 grain hollowpoints.

[gorenut]

Interesting reads. Definitely invited a new brand into the mix of what I was looking at.. the Cor-Bon. I noticed both those links make no mention of the Speer Gold Dots. Any reason for that?

The authors of these two sites put a lot of thought into different ammo options, including for ammo in.357 and .38:

http://www.internetarmory.com/ammunition.htm

http://www.chuckhawks.com/ammo_by_anonymous.htm

Myself, I keep .38 +P hollowpoints as my revolver's personal protection ammo. Right now it's WWB as (1) it's cheap and (2) it's what I could actually get my hands on (and still trust), but at some point I'm probably going to upgrade to Speer Gold Dots or Cor-Bon .38 +P 125 grain hollowpoints.

[andalusi]

Interesting reads. Definitely invited a new brand into the mix of what I was looking at.. the Cor-Bon. I noticed both those links make no mention of the Speer Gold Dots. Any reason for that?

Honestly, that made me scratch my head, too. The Gold Dots always seem to have good reviews at the online places where I normally buy my ammo.

[Old4eyes]

Note that Speer Gold Dot has 2 different types for self defense in the 38 spcl +p ranks.

The short barrel round is 135 grain
On Speer's site it is rated at 860 FPS - 222 ft lbs Energy on a two inch barrel

The 125 grain for longer barrel:
945 FPS - 248 ft lbs on a 4 inch barrel.

So just by the numbers if you've got a longer barrel, you might go for the 125 grain.

I don't know what the performance will do with the Short Barrel round fired through a longer barrel. One assumes with the longer time in the barrel that more energy will be built up giving higher muzzle velocity.

Speer also makes a Short barrel 357 magnum round, who's energy values are considerably less than the "standard" gold dot 357 round.

What length barrel do you have on the Ruger?
We've got the 38+p short barrel rounds in our S&W 686 2 1/2 barrel.

[SJgunguy24]

To be honest, the best round for home defense is the one that stops the bad guy. It could be a 22lr or a 50 BMG, hits in the pump center and the nerve center are the ones that really matter. Use whatever ammo you shoot the best.

[dunndeal]

My Python is loaded with Cor-Bon 125 gr JHP, 1400 fps and 544 ft/lbs of energy. I've yet to fire one in HD so I can't tell you how effective they are but I'll bet they'll do the job if I can hit the target.

[SJgunguy24]

My Python is loaded with Cor-Bon 125 gr JHP, 1400 fps and 544 ft/lbs of energy. I've yet to fire one in HD so I can't tell you how effective they are but I'll bet they'll do the job if I can hit the target.

Thats kind of my point. Why would you go with some monster hyper velocity whiz bang round that misses the target?
Go with something a little heavier and slower that you know for a fact you can control and your gonna center punch that bad guy.

[gorenut]

I have a 6" on my GP100. I'll prob go with the .38sp JHP w/ lower velocity.

[RedFord150]

Remington .38 +P 125 grain SJHP in my Ruger Speed Six and GP100.
CCI .357 mag 158 grain JHP is my SHTF load for my 4" GP100.

[Katana]

I wouldn't fire any .357 hotter than Remington Golden Saber 125gr (1220 fps) in the house.

I think .38 Spl.+P 158gr SWHP is preferable though, I would like to continue to enjoy music in my old age.

[dunndeal]

Thats kind of my point. Why would you go with some monster hyper velocity whiz bang round that misses the target?
Go with something a little heavier and slower that you know for a fact you can control and your gonna center punch that bad guy.

Your logic only applies if I miss with the FIRST round.
In my personal case my wrists are extremely strong so the recoil hardly affects my aim for the second round.