ESR

[dubltap]

Would a .357 cal. that makes or exceeds the major power factor floor acceptable for ESR?

Thank you,

[Ted Murphy]

Yes.

[hkguy]

yes, but hard to do unless your running stout .357 mags. a 610 or 625 make min PF much easier and the reloads are easier too.

[COF]

I thought .357 mags were stout, otherwise we called them .38 specials

[Racinready300ex]

I loaded up some .38 special +P+ or so, that made ESR power. They were not the most pleasant thing to shoot.

[SauconValley Shooter]

Good Morning,

Try some 180 grain bullets. I made up a 357 load for ESR with Remington 180 grain, semi-jacketed, hollow points that was not bad to shoot. The bullets are almost round nose as the hollow point is very small and the semi jacket makes for easier cleaning. That was just an experiment, mind you, I shoot 200 grain 40s or 230 grain 45s mostly, for ESR.

[Jim Watson]

I did some shooting with 200 gr .357 Major in the pre-IDPA era.

Not bad.

Careful powder choice and a lower power floor would make it a reasonable exercise, especially if you just wanted to punch your card for ESR without paying for a new revolver. You could probably do it with overloaded .38 Special in a magnum gun.

I don't know what's available in heavy .38 bullets these days, I used 195 and 200 gr bullets out of Lyman molds by the old Green Bay Bullet Co.

[hkguy]

I thought .357 mags were stout, otherwise we called them .38 specials

factory 158 gr .357 mag is very tame from my gp100, though not as nice as my powderpuff .38 loads. I was looking at this as an easier way into ESP but i soon realized that the loads would be hard on brass and my reloads would be slow because i would not be running moon clips. The OP can go the .357 route to test the waters, but IMO if your going to shoot ESR, do it with a S&W 610 or S&W 625 if you want to be competitive