My J-frame Journey

[45sRfun]

Hit the range today and tried out some .357 ammo in the M340PD.

4 rounds Remington Golden Saber Full Size Handgun 125 grain BJHP were not too bad.

Then I shot 5 rounds of Cavalry (now out of business) 158 Grain JHP Short Barrel Revolver rounds rated at 1050 FPS and they were not bad either.

I then loaded 5 rounds of Federal American Eagle 158 grain JSP and fired one shot. Whew! That was it. I did not fire the other 4 rounds of that stuff and it hurt my knuckle, no blood, but there is lingering pain.

I have some targets and will get them photographed and posted later.

Two observations on the M340PD:

1. The red insert on the front sight was very difficult to see. I was not hitting center of target, but that may be partly due to the sights. I ran a couple targets with the 442 for comparison.

2. Every time (except maybe not the 125 grain) I shot the .357s they would not eject properly, but two cases would hang up, not under the ejector star but against it as if the cases were expanded. Maybe some oil will help. Will be more trips to the range.

 

[EODFXSTI]

Hit the range today and tried out some .357 ammo in the M340PD.

4 rounds Remington Golden Saber Full Size Handgun 125 grain BJHP were not too bad.

Then I shot 5 rounds of Cavalry (now out of business) 158 Grain JHP Short Barrel Revolver rounds rated at 1050 FPS and they were not bad either.

I then loaded 5 rounds of Federal American Eagle 158 grain JSP and fired one shot. Whew! That was it. I did not fire the other 4 rounds of that stuff and it hurt my knuckle, no blood, but there is lingering pain.

I have some targets and will get them photographed and posted later.

Two observations on the M340PD:

1. The red insert on the front sight was very difficult to see. I was not hitting center of target, but that may be partly due to the sights. I ran a couple targets with the 442 for comparison.

2. Every time (except maybe not the 125 grain) I shot the .357s they would not eject properly, but two cases would hang up, not under the ejector star but against it as if the cases were expanded. Maybe some oil will help. Will be more trips to the range.

Glad you tried them. Would you say that the .357 will be your carry round? Also, silly question, do rounds eject normal without firing them? Once ejected, can you put the expended rounds back in and eject them? Any chance there is any crud built up under the ejector or on it?

 

[tscherry70]

I then loaded 5 rounds of Federal American Eagle 158 grain JSP and fired one shot. Whew! That was it. I did not fire the other 4 rounds of that stuff and it hurt my knuckle, no blood, but there is lingering pain.

I remember shooting a Ruger LCR .357 for the first time when they first came out with full power magnums. I couldn't get past 25 rounds. Just knowing it's going to hurt makes you flinch while pulling the trigger. I had to switch to .38's after that.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I remember shooting a Ruger LCR .357 for the first time when they first came out with full power magnums. I couldn't get past 25 rounds. Just knowing it's going to hurt makes you flinch while pulling the trigger. I had to switch to .38's after that.

Not a J-frame, but K-frame size, I have a Manurhin MR73.



"The factory proof-fires each cylinder chamber with .357 Magnum ammunition which generates 30% more pressure than the C.I.P. maximum allowable pressure for the Magnum cartridge. The factory guarantees that the cylinder will not burst or show any bulging or deformation with .357 Magnum ammunition developing double the C.I.P. 300.00 MPa (43,511 psi) Pmax piezo pressure, meaning the cylinder can withstand 600.00 MPa (87,023 psi), or 43.5 tons per square inch)."

Manurhin MR 73 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In a classic case of "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should", I loaded up some "hot" 357 rounds for it, near the top of the recommended pressures according to Hodgdon data. Ouch. Just... ouch.

 

[45sRfun]

Actually have another on hold at the other gun shop, a H&R topbreak .22 LR that some bozo sawed off the barrel to about 2-3 inches, so no sight, saw marks across the muzzle, but for $60 I figure it would be worth monkeying with.

For the record it is not an H&R but an Iver Johnson. For a $60 gun they gave me a pass for a month of free range time. That would pay for the gun.

 

[45sRfun]

Glad you tried them. Would you say that the .357 will be your carry round? Also, silly question, do rounds eject normal without firing them? Once ejected, can you put the expended rounds back in and eject them? Any chance there is any crud built up under the ejector or on it?

I would like to carry .357 but need more practice and a cartridge that is lower recoil. I like to do a lot of one-handed practice. If I cannot shoot the cartridge well with one hand (left or right) it is probably not a good carry option, so that may disqualify most .357s.

I only ejected unfired .38s but will have to try that later with some unfired .357s. They were jammed with the rim a little above the star. Could not push the star back in or pull the rounds out. I have a dowell in my range bag and used it to push the cases out. Need to inspect the cases, measure them. Yeah, I should clean the ejector well too.

 

[45sRfun]

So, I did not make targets for the .357s as my main goal was to see how they felt, kind of get used to them. Maybe next week. I did save some targets for the .38 specials. I shot two with the 442 first then a few with the 340 PD. Everything at 5 yards. All but the last one is Norma FMJ range ammo in .38 Special 158 grain and 968 fps rated.

442 right hand (note one shot is at the top edge (half circled):


442 left hand:

340PD right hand:


340PD right hand (apparently one round missed the target paper and one is in the upper left corner):


340PD two hands:


Then I shot some Choice Ammunition .38 Special 105 grain TCFP coated lead cowboy loads rated at 650 fps. These have the hard primers and one failed to fire. This target has 9 shots of two cylinders with one on the right edge. These, at 650 fps, were a joy to shoot. Practically no recoil. Right handed shots.

 

[Bassat]

For the sake of complete information, you are not getting 968 fps with a 158gr bullet out of a 1-7/8" or 2-1/8" barrel. Norma tests their ammo in 6" barrels.
Per their website: https://www.norma-ammunition.com/en...a-38-special-jhp-safeguard-158-gr---610740050