.357 Magnum ammo cost

[HPGunner]

Will be picking up my first .357 mag revolver from jail next weekend and wanted know what's a good price for .357 Mag ammo?

In FMJ for practice?
A hollow point for HD?
What type of HP is most effective (Jacketed or Semi-Jacketed)?
Also if anyone has any recommended brands for factory ammo.

Is $18/box of 50 reasonable for Fiocchi 142gr FMJ?

Thanks everyone.

[RedFord150]

For practice in a revolver, anything will work. Range reloads, cheap factory, name brand, etc. Revolvers are not picky about ammo, they will shoot anything. Some brands could be more accurate than others. You will probably need some trigger time before you can tell the difference. $18 a box sounds average.
I use cheap .38 special for 90% of my practice. It is cheaper and easier too shoot than .357 mag.
For HD, I think 125 grain SJHP in a major brand is probably the best. I have heard that 158 grain is less desirable.
I personally use .38 Special +P SJHP as my HD load. I think .357 mag is too loud, too bright, and penetrates too much in my suburban setting.
Enjoy!

[c good]

You might want to consider .38 special for practice (and pocketbook). .357 Mag is over powered for everyday shooting IMHO. A "Plus P" .38 special, JSP, is sufficient for most defensive situations without over penetrating and injuring a neighbor. What kind of revolver did you get? HTH c good

[bandook]

For .357Mag, get your Fiocchi from Grafs - its on sale @15.99/box.
While you're at it, get your Hornady Critical Defense 110gr .38 special +P @ 18.99 for a box of 25 as Grafs has a flat handling fee per order.
As you can see you only get half the 'fancy' ammo for the price of FMJ ammo.
Federal Eagle .38 is also on sale at Grafs. Its at $15.79/box but I think you can get it slightly cheaper elsewhere if you buy by the case.
(But DO get some 38 special as it has less kick than a 357Mag)

[scarville]

For practice ammo I usually use:

• 357-- American Eagle 158 gr JSP. Cost about $450/1K
• 38 spl -- Speer "Cleanfire" 158 gr TMJ +P. Cost about $300/1K

For self defense I like the Buffalo Bore 158 gr SWCHP +P. It's not cheap.

If he's is still in business, the Calguns user hill billy sells reloads in several calibers

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=312841

[Budd]

For practice ammo I usually use:

• 357-- American Eagle 158 gr JSP. Cost about $450/1K
• 38 spl -- Speer "Cleanfire" 158 gr TMJ +P. Cost about $300/1K

For self defense I like the Buffalo Bore 158 gr SWCHP +P. It's not cheap.

If he's is still in business, the Calguns user hill billy sells reloads in several calibers

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=312841

I personally know Hill Billy - good guy to deal with. While I load my own - his loads are excellent.

[HPGunner]

Thanks guys - I just picked up a GP100 from another fellow Calgunner and looking for some ammo to shoot it. From what I've seen so far online - 38 special isn't much cheeper then 357 magnum. I'd like to practice with the same load as I would use in self defense, so I'm going to stick with .357. Maybe try out a few boxes of .38 special to see if it works for me and like Redford said less chance of overpenatration.

Thanks for the Graf and son's site. I never shopped there before.

[Rekrab]

When I had my revolver I always shot both, but I shot a lot more .38spc than I did .357. I would go with .38 just because I don't want to guarantee permanent, complete hearing loss if I have to fire at an intruder in an enclosed area.

Please take this as hyperbole, I don't know if firing .357 in a house really would guarantee complete hearing loss. >.>

[WWDHD?]

I shoot mostly .38 out of my GP100 (blue, 6" barrel) because it is easier to find and less expensive. A few years ago .38 was close to the same price as 9mm but for some reason thats no longer the case. Maybe because its not as big a seller as 9mm anymore? .357 mag is fun to shoot once in a while because of the big BANG and muzzle flash.
The GP100 is a great gun. Bought mine because I couldn't afford to buy a S&W 29 or to feed it.
Gun show reloads are good just for plinking. As stated before I've also read that .357mag fired indoors in a SD situation will hurt your hearing, likely go throught several walls(or bad guy + several walls) and temporarily blind you in low light conditions from the flash. Lots of good .38+P ammo out there that might avoid these problems.
good luck with your cool new gun.

[Twystd1]

38spc is the only way to go for target or recreational shooting.
For defense practice. Ya have to shoot your defense loads. A lot.

It's that simple.

Twystd1

[Falstaff]

I like the remington .357 JSP at Walmart 26.97/100 And they occasionally have The remmy .38spl for a little cheaper. .38's and .357's are still alittle spotty (inventory wise) at WalMart, but if they're in stock, you'd be hard pressed to find a better price even mail order...

[Ascout]

For .357Mag, get your Fiocchi from Grafs - its on sale @15.99/box.

Not to pick on anyone's choice of ammo, but recently had two out of twenty-six Fiocchi .357 rounds fail to fire in a very-low mileage S&W Model 66-2. One of them did fire on a second attempt, but in both cases, the firing pin indentation was VERY shallow. The other twenty-four rounds did not show this phenomenon. On the same day, I fired some fifty of my reloads, twelve of which are shown in bottom pic. IMO, the Fiocchi ammo in this box had some poorly seated primers that "gave" under the firing pin impact and seated deeper, lessening the "crush" effect on the primer. This is an unmodified gun and the spring is not set light.
I won't be acquiring any more of their ammo for this reason. Alternatively, these might just have been defective primer regarding construction. All shots were fired in SA mode.
It is also why I always seat primers deep (partial crush), below the plane of the cartridge base, as can be seen in the second picture.
I was disappointed that this should happen, as Fiocchi, to the best of my knowledge, doesn't have this sort of reputation (though one acquaintance reported that none of his Fiocchi rounds would fire through his broomhandls Mauser pistol).

I still have a half box of this stuff and will try the remaining rounds out of a Model 28 next trip to the range.

[Cowboy T]

HPGunner, get into reloading. You'll need to anyway when AB 962 takes effect in February. No, I don't count on the courts to do the right thing and throw it out.

The .38/357 pair of cartridges are probably the easiest to reload in the world. .38 Spl brass is plentiful and inexpensive. .357 Mag brass is more expensive and tougher to find, but it's available. And save all brass from your rounds! During the Great Ammo Rush of 2009, I had no trouble getting ammo...because I made my own. :-) It didn't matter to me if Wal-Mart or whomever had any in stock.

What do I shoot the most of? .38 Spl and .45 Colt, with a bit of .357 Mag just for fun. I now also reload for .44 Spl and .44 Mag. I have no trouble being able to afford feeding any of my guns as a result.

If you're going to shoot, then get into reloading. Seriously.

[choprzrul]

A quick check on ammoseek.com:

http://palmettostatearmory.com/383.php

http://www.ammoman.com/webstore_38-Special.htm w/free shipping

Hope this helps.

.

[HPGunner]

I definitely need to get into reloading. I just need to make some room in my garage and to set up a work bench and then figure out how to get started.

For now I don't have the time and when I do find the time I want to go spend it shooting.