Best Clean 357/38spl ammo for range/target/sd

[Sig]

What are your opinions on factory ammo for a GP100 4" for following purposes?
 
38 sp - Standard Pressure: Cheap, Practice, target, fun to shoot, SD?
          +P:                        Cheap, Practice, target, fun to shoot, SD?

357    Same as above?

Thanks.

[MikeBjerum]

Don't have a GP100, but my favorite plinking and general rounds are yellow box Remmington and MagTech.  Reasonably priced and easy to find.  

Yellow box is pretty much .38spl, and the MagTech fills in the rest.  I get a lot of MagTech .45acp and .40 S&W shipped to shoots for me by Midway USA.  Consistent, accurate and I have never failed a chrono with it.

Both of these also have reloadable brass.  If you go for Winchester White Box, it is good as well, but I stay away from the WinClean because it isn't reloadable.

Self defense I still have some Federal Hydro Shocks in .45 acp and 9 mm, but I am switching everything over to Critical Defense.  The Critical Defense runs through the LCP and J frame great.  I have not been able to find a reliable supplier for .45 acp or 9 mm yet, but once I do I will start the test firing.  

*** My favorite round for target and games is actually reloads using semi-wadcutters.

[twyacht]

Hey Sig, welcome to DRTV,  GP100 is such a versatile pistol, that for range ammo, Magtech, Georgia Arms, any decent priced range ammo will work for target ammo also.

I use the Remington 38spl MC, not the LRN, the LRN's seem a bit smoky, but not really an issue.

.357, is getting pricey, I try to keep target time with those to a minimum, just test drive different brands, to see if accuracy/groups change. At SD distances, it doesn't really factor as much of an issue.

As far as SD ammo, for 38+P, I carry Golden Saber in my snub. Or Winchester 158gr JHP's.

For my 357, I carry Remington or Federal, Winchester used to make a 110gr JHP, but they are hard to find. They even have some others up to 180 gr.

It's a 357 Magnum...Any decent top shelf ammo manufacturer will make an adequate SD ammo. Same as 38 or the +P's.

Practice with what shoots best in your GP100, and what your comfortable with. Full house magnum loads, are exactly that, the +P's are a close second, and 38 ammo has come a long way in technology and ballistic performance.

3-5 consistent shots with a good 38 rd. Is better than misses with full bore Magnum loads....Plus the deafness will go away faster.

   Good shooting.

[justbill]

What are your opinions on factory ammo for a GP100 4" for following purposes?
 
38 sp - Standard Pressure: Cheap, Practice, target, fun to shoot, SD?
          +P:                        Cheap, Practice, target, fun to shoot, SD?

My favorite .38 factory load for anything but personal defense is the Speer Lawman 158-grain TMJ, a +P offering. It's clean burning and often somewhat cheaper compared to similar rounds offered by other companies. Most important, I've found it to be accurate in every gun in which I've tried it. There's even a Clean Fire version that has no lead in the primers. That's a very good thing if you do a lot in shooting on indoor ranges.

I'm not fond of Remingtion UMC .38 Special, finding it rather dirty every time I've shot it. Winchester's 130-grain FMJ is in my opinion the worst .38 load you can buy. Weak, inconsistent and usually giving very poor accuracy. It's worse than most cheap import ammo or gunshow reloads.

When it comes to self defense ammo, I'm not especially picky. For a couple of decades I've used 158-grain lead SWCHP +P loads from Winchester, Federal and Remington. All are about the same in my experience. They penetrate well and reliably expand in real world shootings. More recently I've also grown to like the Speer 130-grain Gold Dot HP +P. It was developed for the NYPD to give the same penetration and expansion from 2" backup guns as officers had in their full size 9mm pistols. It has done very well in real world shootings.

357    Same as above?

For targets and plinking I use .38's. Either factory or handloads. I can't see burning expensive Magnum ammo just to punch holes in paper. For defensive duty I prefer JHP's in the 140 to 158-grain range. Double Tap offers a 158-grain Gold Dot HP loaded to give about 1400 fps from 4" barrels. Can you say Thor's hammer? That one will reliably expand in just about any situation but I wonder if penetration may not be a bit much for an urban user. It would be my hands down choice in a rural setting where there's less chance of hitting a bystander after perforating the bad guy. Winchester has a 145-grain Silvertip and it's my personal choice when carrying a .357. Muzzle flash and blast are quite a bit more manageable than the fire breathing 125-grain full-power loads. I've also gotten good accuracy with this load. Federal offers a 140-grain load using an all-copper Barnes bullet. Just like the Double Tap load, it will perform well. Maybe too well in penetration for a city dweller.

The full-power 125-grain JHP's work great in 4" barrels against bad guys but at a heavy price in muzzle blast and flash. Night vision will probably be ruined after a shot or two and you don't want to use these loads indoors without hearing protection. These negative traits steer me away from the full-power 125's.