Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .357 Magnum Stopping Power

http://www.gunnuts.net/2014/01/10/357-magnum-stopping-power/

I grew up during the golden age of the wondernine. Every big PD in America was switching from wheelguns to Berettas and 3rd Gen S&W pistols. The gun rags of the era were filled with �9mm vs. 38" and �9mm vs. .357" articles. As is to be expected, most of the articles decried the downgrade in �stopping power� that the 9mm offered vs. the legendary .357 Magnum. The more sordid gun rags were filled with stories of bad guys going down after one hit from a .357 Magnum, reduced to a shower of gore by the powerful �man-stopper.�

Probably the most legendary of the .357 Magnum rounds was the famous Remington 125 grain jacketed hollowpoint. Pushing an old school bullet at 1400+ FPS, the 125 grain JHP would frequently expand violently, but would have limited penetration. Testing of that old school load in ballistic gel generally produces about 10 inches of penetration and considerable expansion.

As bullet technology has advanced, the .357 has come along with it. Winchester offers a .357 Magnum load with their bonded PDX/Ranger bullet, and Hornady offers multiple .357 loadings with their FTX and XTP bullets. But the question is whether or not the .357 Magnum is really worth it any more? Back in the 70s and 80s, the Magnum made sense. The extra velocity when coupled with older bullet technology really did provide a bullet with better terminal ballistics than the .38 Specials riding in most police department holsters. But now? Not so much. I love my magnums, and I�ll never get rid of them, but if I�m being honest with myself? There�s not much of a place for .357 Magnums in the self-defense world. Now, if you want to talk hunting handguns and lightweight carbines, that�s another story entirely. But the .357 Magnum is sort of like the .40 S&W now: it doesn�t really offer enough of a performance upgrade out of a service sized handgun to be worth the extra muzzle blast and recoil you get for it.

If I�m going to carry a wheelgun, it�s going to have .38 Special +P loaded in it. Modern .38 Special loads have come a long way since the 1980s. For new shooters, despite my deep and abiding love for the wheelgun, you should probably just get a Glock 19 or something like that. So for the .357 Magnum, its era of legendary stopping power is over. Unless you�re going hunting, in which case by all means continue. I�ll probably bring a magnum with me on a coyote hunt I have coming up later this year, but that�s because rolling up coyotes with Hornady�s lever gun .357 Magnum round is hilarious.

357 magnum Smith 686 loaded with the Speer Gold Dot HP's would beat anything in a semi-auto offered today for stopping power in a handgun as far as I'm concerned .

10mm...

The .357 has the terminal performance, no one could doubt that. But it comes with serious baggage. Horrendous muzzle flash is the worst of them, but recoil and noise are there too. Set one off indoors at night and everyone in the room is deaf and blind.

I consider the "vice" to be a virtue. If I unlimber my 2.5" Python woth full loads I KNOW WHAT IS COMING while my adversary likely doesn't. That brutal blast,noise and flash in THEIR face discombubulates them to the nth degree setting them up for a second shot IF NECESSARY. Probly not but the psywar is on MY side.

And if that aint bad enough go up to the .357 maximum
talk about going blind

I would prefer the 357 over the 10mm if i wanted one shot stopping power

..you can have all the fancy bullets you want....when it come to .35s speed kills....better.

.38 Special ain't so Special....Bob

I like this portion (among many) of your post on police combat effectiveness in the Hunter's Campfire section.


"Bullet Efficiency

During the period 1970 through 1979, the police inflicted 10 casualties for every one suffered at the hands of their assailants.

In all of the cases investigated, one factor stood out as a proper measure of bullet efficiency. It was not the size, shape, configuration, composition, caliber, or velocity of the bullet.

Bullet placement was the cause of death or an injury that was serious enough to end the confrontation."



A pissed off Florida razorback around 1979 taught me the single most abiding thing I've carried with me about a defensive pistol - get something that hits where your wide open eyes are looking. Hits good and bad on game animals since then have reinforced that impression. Within reason, where you hit'em is more important than what you hit'em with.

.357's also aren't loaded as hot as they were 40-50 years ago.

A good modern bonded bullet, launched out of an N frame Smith, at 1500+ fps could be really interesting. Maybe too interesting for a J frame .357, though...

I have some Cast Performance WFN's...need to try them in the 5" pre-27...

I don't think there would be a dramatic difference in stopping power between .38 and .357, on human beings at least.

Oh contraire, I certainly believe there is a legitimate difference. At least that is what my experience in the game fields has shown.

I have been reading all these different topics about which this or that bullet, does this or that. I agree that bullet technology has come a long way in the last 10-20 years, however.

These "do all" bullets and loadings can be hard to acquire a lot of the time, not to mention expensive. The last wonder 9 ammo I bought was like 22+ dollars for a box of 20, they were some Remington bonded loads.

All I am trying to say is I don't think I am going to be able to rely on super bullets. But be prepared with calibers and loads that are plentiful. If that means the old 45 with ball ammo, so be it. Or a souped up 44 special type load with cast bullets.

Right now I carry a Glock 17 with the Remington load for my job, so I am not a 9mm hater.

Really? I guess you have your reasons.

It's pretty assinine to say a 38 Sp will do anything a .357 will.
A 38 will deliver less than 300 ft lbs of energy. Drag that down with a snubby revolver's barrel length and it is less. Not saying I would like to be shot with one, but a 38 is not a .357 by any stretch of the imagination. Certainly bullet placement is paramount. I have more handguns chambered in.357 than all of the rest of them combined.

If you've heard hand guns just don,t put deer down and a 357 mag is just not up to the task, I can tell you from DECADES OF experience that yes theres a difference, and the 44 MAG is a bit more effective, but the 357 MAG LOADED WITH A GOOD 158 GRAIN SOFT POINT OR THE BULLET I'VE USED FROM NEI (link below)FOR decades is 100% lethal in the hands of a decent shot and you can get complete pass thru shots with decent hard cast bullets in most hand gun calibers suitable for hunting, yes you make a good point that the 357 mag doesn,t always seem to put a deer down with near the authority that as an example a 44 mag does but its been my experience that results are a good deal more about exact shot placement, than any change in caliber, within certain limits.
Ive used both caliber hand guns for 40 plus years.
Id also point out that a 6" or longer barrel allows the cartridge to obtain its full potential from the powder charge.
http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/index.html

a stiff load of blue dot, 2400, OR h110 and this gas check bullet has done the job for decades, but remember shot placements critical with a hand gun, a 357 mag easily provides the power to shoot thru a deers chest and its quickly lethal if the shots placed correctly

http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/default.asp?Caliber=357%20Magnum&Weight=All&type=Handgun

Now that is funny right there!

158 38spl. on the left.

Anybody that has an questions about 357 magnum and its stopping power, needs to check out brass fetcher.com.

I've shot enough game with a 357 to have a fair understanding of its capabilities. The 357 penetrates reasonably well with proper loads and is good on deer, but lacks diameter and bullet mass for heavy lifting.

The problem with that stat is that the 1400 fps is quite possible from a 6" barrel. From a 3-4" barrel that most folks actually carry expect 1200-1300 fps or less.

My 4" G-19 gets 1250 fps with 124 gr +P ammo with a lot less recoil and a lot more ammo on board. Not saying the 357 doesn't deserve the reputation, but if a 125 gr bullet at 1250fps is a man stopper from a 357, why is the same bullet at the same speed not a man stopper when fired from a 9mm.