Aguila 357 158gr sjsp

williamt

Senior Member
Anyone have any experience with these? I picked up a box to try in my 6.5 inch Blackhawk and if it likes them I am going to use it as my hunting ammo this season. Listed fps is over 1500 with no info on test barrel length.

thanks
 

Stroker

Senior Member
That's a pretty warm load for 158's. The Blackhawk can handle them but I wouldn't want to run them through my 686's or 19's on a regular basis. For deer I prefer the JSP's over the JHP's. My favorite whitetail load for my hunting 686 is a 1450 fps 140 grain JSP loading.
 

jmoser

Senior Member
That's a pretty warm load for 158's. The Blackhawk can handle them but I wouldn't want to run them through my 686's or 19's on a regular basis. For deer I prefer the JSP's over the JHP's.

Depends on the pressure of course - JSP bullet is shorter vs a JHP; same COL yields more case capacity. So it might be OK; I don't use K frames for my hot stuff either though.

Don't even want to admit what I load up for the Blackhawk . . .
 

williamt

Senior Member
I do want to get into reloading my own one of these days just not ready to take the plunge on setting up yet.
 

williamt

Senior Member
got a chance to shoot them last weekend and they were all over the place. going to try to get by the range on Friday to try some bench shooting even though i was using a shooting stick. i wonder if that load is just to hot for my blackhawk.
 

mudcreek

Senior Member
Ive shot the aguila stuff in a couple different guns and it was all over the place
 

williamt

Senior Member
thanks good to know. I did a little trigger work on my black hawk and tightened up some but I think I will be looking for a different load.
 

GunnSmokeer

Senior Member
The .357 magnum was designed, back in the 1930s, to push 158 grain bullets at 1500 f.p.s. from a 5" barreled police duty revolver.

However, I think today's ammo has been downloaded over the generations, due to both the age of the older pre-WWII revolvers chambered for it, AND the modern trend of small-frame snub-nosed revolvers in this caliber.

I suspect that, except for Buffalo Bore, any normal factory .357 load that brags about 1500+ ft./ sec velocity is probably doing their testing with a carbine length barrel, to simulate what a T/C contender or Encore would do, or one of those lever-action western style rifles in .38/ .357, with an 18" to 20" barrel.
 

GunnSmokeer

Senior Member
That being said, doesn't it only take about 1000 f.p.s. to get a jacketed hollow point or soft-point bullet to expand?

A .357 from a 6" revolver should get you over 1300 f.p.s. at the muzzle, and it should be deadly on deer out to 50 yards or so.
 
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