Can someone suggest some ammo for my new pickup?
10-10-2003, 07:52 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Bemidji MN USA
Posts: 79
Can someone suggest some ammo for my new pickup?
I just picked up a canadien serive revolver, a ruger gp 100 for a descent price and was wondering if someone could suggest some ammo. Its a .357 magnum.
10-11-2003, 06:47 AM
#3
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location:
Posts: 1,491
RE: Can someone suggest some ammo for my new pickup?
Forestore,
You didn' t explain what purpose you intended to use the ammo for? If it is just to go out and plink/familiarize yourself with the gun.....then Vapodog' s suggestion to use the .38 Special Wadcutters.....is hard to beat. (Just don' t spend for the " full blown target grade...way to expensive.)
On the other hand if you have a particular purpose in mind for the use of the gun...you might want to consider other alternatives. The .38 Special Wadcutters will likely be both accurate and extremely mild recoiling. You can step up in power slightly by going to nearly any .38 Special service load...and match bullet weight/type to your need. Or once again step up some with .38 Special +P' s. And of course you can increase the power level even more by going to any of the .357 Magnum loads.
If cost is a consideration...there are several methods of holding it down, (assuming you don' t reload)! A number of manufacturers (3D for instance) sale quality remanufactured ammo. (It is loaded in once fired cases.) It is both safe to shoot and usually considerably cheaper than newly manufactured ammo. Additionally most manufacturers sell both their regular/premium line of ammo and a " sister company" less expensive brand. Federal sells American Eagle brand...for less than Federal' s. Winchester of course has it' s " white box" ammo...but it is still called Winchester. Remington sells UMC.
You are probably beginning to see why the .357 Magnum is probably the most common/generally useful caliber for meeting a variety of uses!
One thing to remember though.....if you shoot a considerable number of .38 Specials through your gun...you should thoroughly clean your chambers prior to loading and firing .357 Magnums. The powder residue at the case mouth of the shorter case, ie. the .38 Special, will frequently " build up" . Then when you chamber the slightly longer .357 Magnum case it can sometimes be difficult to chamber...or more likely....difficult to extract after firing. Firing the .38 Specials does absolutely NO HARM to the gun...just clean the chambers regularly. You can usually shoot " quite a number" of .38' s before you have this occur. Also if you " mix" cylinder loads of both .38' s and .357' s....be absolutely positive that the recoil of the .357' s don' t " pull the bullets" of the lightly crimped .38' s....which could jam the cylinder. It doesn' t happen frequently...but it has been known to occur. Anytime I mix loads...I always fire the .38' s first and the .357' s last!
Good luck...have lots of fun!
You didn' t explain what purpose you intended to use the ammo for? If it is just to go out and plink/familiarize yourself with the gun.....then Vapodog' s suggestion to use the .38 Special Wadcutters.....is hard to beat. (Just don' t spend for the " full blown target grade...way to expensive.)
On the other hand if you have a particular purpose in mind for the use of the gun...you might want to consider other alternatives. The .38 Special Wadcutters will likely be both accurate and extremely mild recoiling. You can step up in power slightly by going to nearly any .38 Special service load...and match bullet weight/type to your need. Or once again step up some with .38 Special +P' s. And of course you can increase the power level even more by going to any of the .357 Magnum loads.
If cost is a consideration...there are several methods of holding it down, (assuming you don' t reload)! A number of manufacturers (3D for instance) sale quality remanufactured ammo. (It is loaded in once fired cases.) It is both safe to shoot and usually considerably cheaper than newly manufactured ammo. Additionally most manufacturers sell both their regular/premium line of ammo and a " sister company" less expensive brand. Federal sells American Eagle brand...for less than Federal' s. Winchester of course has it' s " white box" ammo...but it is still called Winchester. Remington sells UMC.
You are probably beginning to see why the .357 Magnum is probably the most common/generally useful caliber for meeting a variety of uses!
One thing to remember though.....if you shoot a considerable number of .38 Specials through your gun...you should thoroughly clean your chambers prior to loading and firing .357 Magnums. The powder residue at the case mouth of the shorter case, ie. the .38 Special, will frequently " build up" . Then when you chamber the slightly longer .357 Magnum case it can sometimes be difficult to chamber...or more likely....difficult to extract after firing. Firing the .38 Specials does absolutely NO HARM to the gun...just clean the chambers regularly. You can usually shoot " quite a number" of .38' s before you have this occur. Also if you " mix" cylinder loads of both .38' s and .357' s....be absolutely positive that the recoil of the .357' s don' t " pull the bullets" of the lightly crimped .38' s....which could jam the cylinder. It doesn' t happen frequently...but it has been known to occur. Anytime I mix loads...I always fire the .38' s first and the .357' s last!
Good luck...have lots of fun!
10-12-2003, 02:42 PM
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wall SD USA & Jamestown ND
Posts: 11,474
RE: Can someone suggest some ammo for my new pickup?
One more thing to add to the good advice above. I would stay away from ANY FACTORY LOADED 357 MAGNUM unjacketed loads. Lead bullets which are often loaded to 357 velocities can lead the HELL OUT OF YOUR BARREL. For lead bullets stay with the 38 special unless you load them yourself and keep the velocity level down to 38 special levels. One of the best defense loads is the +P 38 special lead hollow point semi wad cutter know as the FBI load.
10-12-2003, 03:16 PM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Salem VA Salem, VA
Posts: 753
RE: Can someone suggest some ammo for my new pickup?
For defensive use I would suggest a 125 grain JHP .357mag. For animals I would suggest a 180 grain bonded soft point like the Corbon ( http://www.corbon.com ) load. For plinking, I agree with above, .38spcl. I like the Federal Classic loads. Enjoy the new gun 
