I own a .357 mag revolver with a 3" barrel. I've been wanting to see how fast a .357 round travels out of a 3" barrel, and I was impressed with these results. They didn't disappoint me at all.
It's hard to believe that even 357 is often neutered. I've seen Remington 125s only going about 1250 out of a 4" tube. Original 357 loads pushed a 125 to around 1650 and a 158 to 1450 out of 4" barrels. Anything less than 1450 with a 125 should be labeled as being a reduced load.
No, even within todays standards of sammi, you can get 1450 out of a 2.5 inch barrel on 125g , these are neiutered try underwood for full loads , the rest is just hot 38
Definitely. I was debating chronographing them out of my little 2" j-frame size gun just out of curiosity, but after touching them off in the bigger & heavier L-frame, decided I want no part of that.
@@Hutzjohn BBore loads em to .357 specs I do believe Because on GunSam he shows a BBore .38+P 158 gr Traveled as fast as Remington HTP .357 158 gr , Around 1230-1260 fps
I carry a S&W M&P 340ct and can't imagine what the Underwood or Buffalo Bore will feel like out of my snub-nose. But I would like to try both out and see if I'm man enough to carry that as my EDC. Thanks so much for all you have put into these videos, I do very much appreciate all you've done.
After doing a ton of reading and reviews, im going to buy some 180grain Underwood in .357 Flat nose black cherry gas check over Buffalo bore due to inconsistencies in grouping. Not planning on using it in my revolver as much as my 20" Lever Action. I still have 180 grain Black Talons as my personal Defense rounds in my revolver. Cant buy those anymore since the early 90s.
@@Lateralus1007 AGREED! I heard it from "Hicock45" and he was right... A 3 in 357 hits a "sweet spot" in Concealability, Velocity, and effectiveness... Have you seen the Lucky Gunner results?? A BIG difference in 2- 3 in Revolvers Performance but give up little to 3-4 in ... Still love to see more data!!!
Lucky Gunner hasn't tested the Buffalo Bore, Grizzly, DoubleTap, Underwood .357magnums, which in my personal opinion are staying true to the original way the .357mag was loaded in the 1930's and not the significantly lessened loads from common large manufacturers.
Sorry, I don’t. Long time ago I did some out of the 454 carbine along with the 357s, but never did do the 44. The 44 and 454 are both gone now; the 357s are the most powerful lever guns I own anymore.
I had to hold on for dear life shooting the Buffalo Bore out of a 3 inch Kimber K6s, Underwood was more manageable. Chiappa Rhino was able to handle the Buffalo Bore. Not a fan of Buffalo Bore for a revolver. Much prefer Underwood. As you say no fun.
I love that caliber in a carbine or rifle. Notice that every load I tried from both the 16" and 24" barrel either matched or exceeded the power of a 16"-20" AR in 5.56. That's stunning to a lot of folks who've never had the chance to actually chronograph some loads and see how much of a boost the extra barrel length gives this simple, old cartridge. If someone could make a box-mag-fed carbine in .357, it could literally do anything I need a centerfire rifle to do in my personal circumstances. Whether for defensive use or for hunting the kind of game & distances we have here in our part of Arkansas, it's more than capable.
@@MyHillbillyLife My Ruger M77/357 has a circular box magazine that holds four rounds. With an old k-3 weaver scope it is a great truck gun. Where I live in Colorado it will easily harvest any animal I come across. I can hardly wait to dust one of the wolves with it the state has decided to release upon us.
The 686+ with fluted cylinder is 35.8oz. It's not a featherweight, but it's not bulky either. I'd say the load would be tolerable for a cylinder full, especially if you were under fear of life. One thing to consider if you're running a very lightweight revolver with these beastly loads, is the recoil is so violent that it could start to lead to bullet-pull from the loaded cartridges in the other chambers. In other words, the revolver will recoil so quickly, the mass of the bullets may start pulling out of the brass cases in the other loaded chambers, leading to elongated cartridges and could jam up the cylinder from rotating. Buffalo Bore tends to put a pretty heavy crimp on the cartridges to prevent this, but they also advise to NOT use their cartridges (as safe as they are) in lightweight revolvers.
Thank you. A big part of the reason for keeping the chronograph on the camera is because a lot of folks wouldn't believe what these calibers can get just by virtue of the longer barrel.
Thank you for your video. Its nice to see 3 barrel sizes and 3 different loads for the 357 magnum. Amazing how fast that Buffalo Bore 158 grain is moving. It would not be a fun load to shoot in a lightweight 2 inch barrel S&W scandium .357 mag revolver. However it would be an effective load to carry fishing, hiking, and camping.
I carry a 2.5 inch model 19-3 with Buffalo Bore 180 grain hard cast when out in the woods. No fun at all to shoot. but on a charging black or nutjob pit bull, I will welcome the power, recoil and all.
Thanks for performing these tests. I was under the impression that with pistol rounds that the max velocity achieved is from a barrel approximately 15". Though the .357 Magnum is apparently in a different league than most handgun calibers.
Thanks, I enjoy them probably more than I should. I think the 15" rule of thumb may be a carry-over from people talking about .22LR's; I've heard that about that caliber more than once. But the .357 flat out turns into a beast out of a carbine or rifle barrel.
Ballistics by the Inch uses factory ammo that is not representative of any given cartridge's performance. Unless you handload or use boutique ammo like in this video, you would get the incorrect impression that there is no benefit to longer barrels.
I think if that Underwood comparison was done with a 4 or 5" barrel you'd see that 1700fps number over the factory Hornady 1500fps. You can see it averaged 124fps more on the 16" barrel than the Hornady. Underwood is know to load them up spicy and not skimp on powder, and I believe thise numbers would ring true on a 4-5" barrel
I have loaded .357 mag. for many years. I now prefer a 140 grain bullet in my rifle and 158 grain in my pistols. I have many different loads with many different velocities. Over the years I've come to realize the wound channel of the bullet is dependent on both velocity and mass. I don't see the use of a light bullet in the .357 even though many people do. I have hunted and harvested many deer and three elk with a .357 mag. so I have a very good idea of how the bullets react in real flesh and bone.
The 125gr 357 mag was proven to be the modt effective 1 shot stopper round ever for a loooooong time. As far as hunting goes that may be different though. I keep 158gr HTP for my Python, but I may venture into some Underwood 125gr as well. Especially after seeing this.
Original 1930's load of .357 mag was known to be 158gr at 1525 fps, from a 8-3/8" revolver. I'd say Buffalo Bore stays wholly true to the original and then some. Their 125gr load is even more impressive if you ever get your hands on some. Buffalo Bore, Underwood, Grizzly, DoubleTap are all significant players. Hornady is a great "mainstream" load. Corbon, Steinel following. The usual Federal or Winchester or Remington are going to be less so. Remington has been significantly improving their ammunition across the board lately. .357 from a carbine 16 to 20 inch barrel is absolutely formidable. It's a monster. I would love to see the penetration from a WFN hard cast style from Buffalo Bore or similar, in 180 to 200 gr from a carbine into something tough.
Buffalo bore loads revolver rounds hotter than underwood but underwood loads semi auto hotter than BB underwood 125 go 1500 from my 4 inch and BB go 1700 from 4 inch Taurus
These tests are mostly of loads I already had on hand. The only one I bought specifically for the .357 chrono testing was the Underwood; the Hornady and the Buffalo Bore were ones I already had sitting around.
Thanks. I was surprised that the 24" gun made much difference over the 16" one. I've clocked a lot of loads from the 16" gun over the years, but never from the 24". I didn't expect it to make the 110-160 fps difference that it did.
@@MyHillbillyLife Yes me too. Buffalo bore ammunition shows the 357 Magnum is about maxed out with 19" to 20". I like both the carbine is very handy and the 24" rifle should have better long range accuracy with longer sight radius. I would ad a receiver aperture sight to rifle. Thank you 👍
