.357 Magnum Handloads vs. Factory Ammo: Which is Best?

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When I lived in the Denver area several years ago, I frequented a large, well-stocked gunshop run by my buddy, Bob. Many a time, a potential customer would saunter in, look around as if shopping, and then ask, “Hey, Bob, what’s the best 9mm semiauto for concealed carry?” Bob would pause, smile slyly, and say, “A good .38-caliber revolver.” Aghast, the potential customer, who thought he had it all figured out, would stammer, “What?” “A revolver,” Bob would repeat. Then Bob would detail the virtues of a wheelgun for the citizen, stating, “A revolver is darn near idiot-proof and is simple to operate—just squeeze the trigger. If it doesn’t go off, squeeze the trigger again. A .357 Magnum revolver is chambered for a powerful yet controllable cartridge, it is relatively inexpensive, and you can shoot lower-powered .38 Special loads in it.”

Often, the customer failed to assimilate the many valid points in Bob’s free educational lecture and went with a semiautomatic anyway. Occasionally, though, Bob would interest a shopper in a revolver. The revolver has been renowned as a premier, multi-purpose handgun for decades. Nowadays, paired with the powerful and versatile .357 Mag., the proper revolver can serve for hunting, self-defense, concealed carry, target shooting, and good old plinking fun—with the right loads. A prime example of the “good revolver” that Bob talked about is the Taurus Model 605. The original Model 605 dates to 1995, but a new 3.0-inch-barreled version called the Taurus Defender was introduced to the handgun scene last year, and that’s the version I used for this report. It is chambered to .357 Mag., has the 3.0-inch barrel (with a 1:16.5-inch twist rate), and weighs a mere 23.6 ounces.

Several configurations are offered, and the one I used is matte-finished stainless steel, comes with Hogue rubber grips, has an MSRP of $479.99, and is not too small, not too big, but just right. I am big fan of revolvers, and I found the new Defender 605 at a local store. It followed me home. The goal of this exercise (and it was an exercise, all right) was to see if I could approach or equal the velocities of factory-loaded ammunition with my handloads. Well, while I must report that I failed in that venture, the results were actually very good. My handloads shot well, and were plenty powerful, but the factory fodder bested them.

The Factory .357 Ammo

I tested six factory .357 Magnum loads in the Defender 605. Five were from Hornady, and one was from Remington. In addition, I tested 12 handloads built with as many different powders as seemed appropriate. The results are shown in the accompanying chart. I fired a five-shot group with each load from a benchrest at a distance of 10 yards. Note that since the overall goal was to obtain comparative velocities, the accuracy is just a relative index of the potential of each load. The bullet weights in the factory loads varied from 125 to 158 grains, and all shot really well. The average of all six loads was 1.72 inches. Hornady’s LEVERevolution load with the 140-grain FTX bullet grouped into a 1.14-inch cluster and averaged 1,227 fps for velocity (measured 10 feet from the gun’s muzzle). Hornady’s Custom loading with the 158-grain XTP bullet clustered into a 1.36-inch group and averaged 1,156 fps.

The muzzle energies of these two loads in the same order were 468 and 469 ft-lbs. Overall, the average muzzle energy of the six factory loads was 454 ft-lbs. By comparison the 12 handloads averaged 362 ft-lbs, or about 20 percent less than the factory loads. The power winner of the sextet was the Remington HTP load with the 125-grain HP bullet. Its velocity averaged 1,332 fps, for a muzzle energy of 493 ft-lbs. It was accurate, too, grouping five shots into 1.50 inches. In addition, it hit pretty close to point of aim, and that put it close to the top of my potential carry loads. I should mention that all the factory ammo seemed to be loaded pretty hot. Some of the fired cases had to be, shall I say, “assisted” from the chambers.

The .357 Handloads

I have tested many loads in .357 Mag. revolvers over the years and have found what I consider to be the “perfect” load. It uses the Hornady 158-grain XTP atop a charge of 6.3 grains of Hodgdon Universal powder. That’s Hodgdon’s maximum charge. The SAAMI maximum average pressure (MAP) of the .357 Magnum is 45,000 CUP, and Hodgdon lists this load of Universal at 39,300 CUP. Its velocity out of the 3.0-inch-barreled Model 605 was 929 fps, and it grouped into 1.57 inches. It is my “standard” .357 Mag. test load, and in my experience, if the gun being tested won’t shoot this load reasonably well, well, I have a real problem. I also loaded this bullet over charges of eight additional powders that pretty much covered the burning-rate spectrum. For load data, I consulted the Hodgdon Annual Manual and the Speer Handloading Manual Number 15. The versatility of the .357 Mag. is evidenced by the number of propellants that are suitable for handloads in the round. The 158-grain jacketed bullet is pretty much a standard weight and type for .357 loads. Hodgdon lists data for 18 powders with this bullet, so from that list, I arbitrarily selected a “fast-,” “medium-,” and “slow-burning” powder for this test. Plus, I added several other powders I have used over the years.

I picked Titegroup for the “fast” powder, W572 for the “medium” powder, and H4227 for the slow-burning powder. For starting charge weights, I calculated the midpoint between the minimum and maximum charges for each powder and worked up from there. All charges were weighed on an RCBS M-1500 electronic scale, and once-fired Winchester and Remington cases were used for all loads. I used Winchester Small Pistol, Small Pistol Magnum, and Federal No. 100 and 200 primers for the test loads, and all worked fine. All bullets were firmly roll crimped into the cases with a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die. Perhaps it was a quirk of this revolver, but as I approached maximum loads with the 158-grain XTP, some cases began to stick and some primers were really flattened. Especially “hot” in the Defender 605 were the charges of 15.2 grains of H4227 and 9.0 grains of True Blue. I cannot recommend either of these loads for this revolver.

More appropriate powders for this short-barreled revolver are W231 and Titegroup. I tried them with 110- and 125-grain bullets, and while the velocities were respectable, apparently, there is only so much one can wring out of a 3.0-inch barrel. Also, good accuracy was a “sometimes” thing. The only 110-grain jacketed .38-caliber bullets I could locate were some older Zero JHPs. The velocities were higher than with the 158-grain loads but still not as fast as factory ammo loaded with the lighter-weight bullets. A charge of 7.5 grains of W231 launched the Zero 110-grain at 1,263 fps but made “buckshot patterns.” Moving to the Hornady 125-grain XTP, again it was W231 to the rescue. The same dose of 7.5 grains of W231 produced a velocity of 1,290 fps. In a nutshell, the handloader can produce loads that come close to factory-load velocities with all three bullet weights tested, but at least in my test, handloads did not exceed the factory loads. I will say they are still useful loads for practice. They are reasonably accurate and ballistically uniform. Any of them would ruin a bad guy’s day.  And the great versatility of the .357 Magnum revolver can be brought to bear on many shooting chores.

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Points to Ponder

I must confess that I was not looking forward to shooting a bunch of hot factory loads in this lightweight handgun, but the shape of the grip frame and the Hogue grip really made it easy. The little Model 605 was actually very pleasant to shoot. I calculated the average recoil of my handloads, and it was a relatively modest 6.2 ft-lbs, with a recoil velocity of 16.5 fps. One of the great advantages of a .357 Magnum revolver is that one also can use .38 Special loads in it. Given the many +P loads available for the .38 Special, I thought it would be illustrative to chronograph some of them, to compare with the full-power .357 Mag. loads. I found four +P factory loads, two from Federal, and one each from Hornady and Winchester. All were loaded with fairly light bullets, ranging from 110 to 130 grains. The velocities were very close to 900 fps, the recoil was mild, and their accuracy was quite acceptable. These .38 Special +P factory loads approximate the power of some of the .357 Magnum hand-loads. My local dealer told me that he sells a lot of .38 Special +P ammo for lightweight carry revolvers, and I can see why. While the answer to my main question is “no,” my handloads didn’t beat the factory-loaded ammo, they came close. More importantly, I believe this test proves that Bob was right. A good “.38-caliber revolver” like the Taurus Defender 605 fills the bill for a lot of roles, including personal protection.