Obvious drawback to a pistol range is the distance. I was set up at 15 yards so this was by no means an accuracy test (I'll save that for the private range in October). I mostly wanted to cycle a few different types of ammunition that I bought and this distance was fine for that.
Here is what I tried out:
PMC Bronze 357 Magnum 158gr JSP - 357A $21.99
Fiocchi 357 Magnum 142gr FMJTC - 357F $16.99
Fiocchi 38 Special 138gr FMJ - 38A $18.79
Prices listed are what I paid from Palmetto State Armory (three boxes of 357) and Midway USA (the 38spl).
The first two on the list were very similar. The American Eagle and PMC Bronze were both 158 grain jacketed soft points. The AE is listed at 1240fps muzzle velocity and the PMC is listed at 1471. I didn't test the stated velocities since I don't own that type of technology. What I can tell you, however, is they both had very similar felt recoil and point of impact was very similar on the target. I also found that I had to work the lever a little more to get all of the rounds to chamber. Never had any issues with chambering or ejection, just a few rounds that needed a little coercion to get to close the lever. I can also assume this is because I am still a lever novice and may have been a little too gentle. More to come on this as I practice a little more....
The Fiocchi 357 is the load I was most interested in trying today. I was somewhat concerned that the jacketed truncated cone style bullet was a little too "pointy" to load end-to-end into a tube. No issues thankfully. In fact, these loads were terrific. The jacketed cone shaped bullets fed very easily into the chamber and ejected terrifically as well (obviously nothing to do with the bullet shape on the ejection). The rounds hit directly at point of aim and the recoil was a bit softer than the 158 grain loads above. I really enjoyed these and will certainly be buying more.
Lastly I loaded up a few 38 special rounds for sake of comparison. The recoil and point of impact were night and day compared to the 357s. Recoil felt like a pellet gun and the point of impact was significantly higher on the target. Does that sound right to you guys or was it just my poor shooting? I thought if anything the 38s would hit low. I'll have to take a look at bullet trajectories but seeing as this was a 15 yard test I don't want to read into it too much. The good news is these fed and ejected just fine. Very enjoyable to shoot these soft rounds but I think I'll stick with the big boys considering I can pretty much find them at the same price.
Thank you for letting me ramble about my day at the range here. I know this isn't very scientific but if I could help someone decide on a box of ammo then I suppose it is worthwhile. I know what I will be buying again!
It's a great rifle, smooth as silk, and very accurate.
1965-1969 - NRA Member - Henry H004, Henry H001