On 2001-07-06 21:46, Ludwig wrote:
DD: Great post. Are the NyClad and Silvertip for reliable expansion from the short barrel, and least chance of over penetration? And the XTP for more penetration out where you can afford it, and may need it for use on large animals? As for the 125gr high-velocity rounds, I have the same picture of them sailing on forever, every time I think about using them. L
Yes, only a soft lead bullet will expand reliably and provide 10" of penetration in a 9mm/.38Spcl/.357 magnum at the velocities provided by the 2" barrel, the extra weight of the .158gr loads allow for reliable penetration. The NyClad coating reduces lead fouling and makes it easier to clean.
These rounds may over penetrate an arm or a neck shot but will very rarely over penetrate an adult torso, quite simply they do not have enough energy.
The XTP/Gold Dot/Ranger and to a lesser degree the Silvertip do not fail/fragment as rapidly as the thin skinned bullets.
One point to note is that again, the .357 is very ammo specific in it's ballistic/wound characteristics and the Ranger is not a good load for the short revolvers as it is designed for an optimum "window of velocity" as are a great deal of the .357 loadings.
The manufacturers of the lightweight 1,400 fps loadings must use these thin pre-stressed jacketed bullets as the .357 in light loadings will often clog, collapse inward, and completely over penetrate the torso.
The loads I have recommended are very limited but can be relied upon to provide enough penetration through obstructions and heavy clothing to reliably penetrate 12-15" in gelatin and average 7-9" in living tissue while reducing the risk of failure and or over penetration.
As you climb through the list you enter an increasing area of possible over penetration from bullet failure to expand.
Any narrow cross section high energy loading carries this warning.
The 125gr .357 magnum loadings are essentially high energy 9mm NATO ball when they do not completely fragment and will in fact provide the relatively poor wound ballistics and over penetration that is often present with the 124gr 9mm NATO ball to a much larger degree. Remington attempted to solve this by cutting/scalloping their bullets and Corbon solved it specifying a very, very thin and soft bullet that often fragments in just 3.5" of gelatin.
Velocity is not the cure to poor bullet cross section diameter and design flaws.
Please remember that all of these sub .40 caliber bullets must be carefully designed and selected by the end user or you run the very real risk of sending a highly penetrating, very dangerous round downrange for the next 400 yards.
As an example another very dangerous loading in the magnum class is the Federal/Remington 180gr .44 magnum loading @ 1,800fps.
This load fails to expand every time I test it and it will penetrate 36" of gelatin and 4" of timber behind the block before coming to rest.
Winchester very wisely designed a very, very soft bullet for the 9x23 and used the silvertip construction to keep it from failing/coming completely apart in tissue.
Remington designers were shocked when they realized during pre release testing that the Golden Saber .125gr and .357 Sig when loaded to ultra high velocity loadings penetrated so effectively that they would defeat even level 3a body armor and wisely decided to scale the loads back and refused to offer a .357 Sig Golden Saber bullet.
This was a very wise decision and is also information that they refuse to discuss outside of LEO sales.