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3,195 Posts
Here's the background story... Got my nice, new SP101 Wiley Clapp and it's a fantastic gun. Beautiful. Easy to shoot. Accurate. It's my new "kit gun" that will come along fishing, camping or mountain biking. As posted here earlier, the only "problem" is that it hits high for me with 125 grain loads and even more so with 158. Maybe it's OK for people who like a "six o'clock" sight picture but I learned to shoot with a "hunter's" sight pic.
Well, OK. Really no big deal because it's dead on with Hornady 110 grain +p .38 specials which is what I'll keep in it most of the time. I also bought a box of 110 grain Winchester .357 magnums and was planning on trying a few of those too. I do not reload.
Currently I live in an area where there are no big toothy wild animals. Maybe a coyote or badger. Supposedly there are now a few cougars but I guess you've got to try really hard to even see one. Again, no problem that's currently worth swapping out the dovetail front sight for a taller one (Novak's wants $100, shipped), but I can always do that some time in the future if / when I live in a different zip code with different critter considerations.
Like I said, that's all background. This is not a question about proper bullet selection, or proper sight picture, etc.
What I am curious about is: Since my gun is basically "sighted in" for 110 grain projectiles, exactly how worried I should be about "erosion" and flame cutting with a handful of 110 grain 357 magnums with today's factory loads? Keep in mind I probably will only shoot a box or two of magnums a year. Though it might see a lot of carry miles, this won't be a high volume gun. When I feel like shooting at the range I'm much more inclined to grab my 9mm. When I feel like plinking at tin cans outdoors I'm much more inclined to grab a .22.
I have searched through the forum and other sites online including some of Iowegan's posts, and think I understand the reasons why light .357 bullets erode and cut more. However, the most "recent" threads I've found actually date back several years, and I wonder if the factory loads are the same now as then. The two local stores that have 110 loads carry Winchester and Remington loads, and the factory velocity specs on them seem considerably slower (~1290 fps) than the specs on the 125 grain loads.
Thus I was kinda wondering if the larger ammo companies had dialed back their 110 grain loadings, and if the risk of 110 factory ammo is still the same as some of the advice and comments I see dating back five or ten years or more.
If I only shoot 500 to 1000 magnum rounds out of this thing over the next decade, will I even see any effect at all?
Well, OK. Really no big deal because it's dead on with Hornady 110 grain +p .38 specials which is what I'll keep in it most of the time. I also bought a box of 110 grain Winchester .357 magnums and was planning on trying a few of those too. I do not reload.
Currently I live in an area where there are no big toothy wild animals. Maybe a coyote or badger. Supposedly there are now a few cougars but I guess you've got to try really hard to even see one. Again, no problem that's currently worth swapping out the dovetail front sight for a taller one (Novak's wants $100, shipped), but I can always do that some time in the future if / when I live in a different zip code with different critter considerations.
Like I said, that's all background. This is not a question about proper bullet selection, or proper sight picture, etc.
What I am curious about is: Since my gun is basically "sighted in" for 110 grain projectiles, exactly how worried I should be about "erosion" and flame cutting with a handful of 110 grain 357 magnums with today's factory loads? Keep in mind I probably will only shoot a box or two of magnums a year. Though it might see a lot of carry miles, this won't be a high volume gun. When I feel like shooting at the range I'm much more inclined to grab my 9mm. When I feel like plinking at tin cans outdoors I'm much more inclined to grab a .22.
I have searched through the forum and other sites online including some of Iowegan's posts, and think I understand the reasons why light .357 bullets erode and cut more. However, the most "recent" threads I've found actually date back several years, and I wonder if the factory loads are the same now as then. The two local stores that have 110 loads carry Winchester and Remington loads, and the factory velocity specs on them seem considerably slower (~1290 fps) than the specs on the 125 grain loads.
Thus I was kinda wondering if the larger ammo companies had dialed back their 110 grain loadings, and if the risk of 110 factory ammo is still the same as some of the advice and comments I see dating back five or ten years or more.
If I only shoot 500 to 1000 magnum rounds out of this thing over the next decade, will I even see any effect at all?
