sigbear

I was looking at some ballistic data comparing 9mm +P 124gr. Speer GD and Remington GS .357 mag. 125gr., the data was virtually the same.

9mm +p gold dot - 1220 fps--410 fpe

.357 Golden saber-1220 fps--413 fpe

I know the .357 mag. golden saber is a med. velocity round and this data is from a 4" barrel for both calibers, so, my questions is this:

Looking at the data for these 2 rounds wouldn't they perform equally as a self defense round?

Obviously a .357 mag. full house load would blow away both of these rounds in terms of ballistics.

Sigbear

forestranger

GD 124+p out of 3.1" barrel =1121fps
GS 125 .357 out of 2 1/8" barrel = 1140fps

These are avgs out of PF9 & Taurus 651. The GD runs 1200fps out of 4" FNP9 and GS avgs 1210fps out of 3" M13. Don't have 4" .357 to compare. They do seem mighty close?

crzy4guns

I have read about those very same ballistics. I used to keep a Ruger SP101 3" for home defense loaded with GS 125 .357 magnum hollow points. Now, I keep a Glock 19 (Ramrod really influenced me with his glowing reports on his G19) loaded with GS 124 9mm +P at about the same velocity.

I now have 15 + 1 rounds versus 5 rounds for the revolver. I also have night sights and a tactical light on the rail of the G19 for night time visitors.

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forestranger

Yep. I carried 5 shot 357 with the GS load due to recoil, muzzle blast and arthritis and looked down my nose at 9mms until I got some 9s and a chronograph. Now instead of 24 oz 651 w/5 shots, it's 24 oz FNP9M w/16 rds.

bluesteel

I carry a Kahr MK9 loaded with Speer 124gn Gold Dot +P . Lotsa power from a small package. Also it shoots 100% reliably

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kpw

A lot of ammo makers download the .357 when they load it with premium bullets. I know it helps with recoil on smaller revolvers but it takes away from what the .357 should be, at least to me. I carried a 3" Md. 66 in the past. Currently a G19 with 124 +P GDs. The 9mm gets darn close with hot loads in an easy to carry, easy to shoot package.

echobaby

My .357 is loaded with GD's rated at 1450fps - 584fpe at the muzzle. No 9mm can do that, that I know of.

Juggernaut

I, as an engineer, I always look at the numbers, but they don't tell the whole story. They're more like a guide. Golden Sabers have always had decent recoil and low muzzle flash compared with other SD loads.
A quick look at Speer's site shows their Gold Dot .357 Mag 125 gr. (what's in the 6" GP100 about a foot from my left hand as I type this) to have 1450 fps muzzle vel. and 584 ft.-lbf. muzzle energy out of a 4" test barrel. Quite a bit more than Remington's .357 1220 fps, 413 ft.-lbf. load, also tested from a 4" barrel. Maybe Remington uses a slower-burning powder, which would benefit more someone who keeps a 6" .357 Mag on the nightstand.

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kpw

That's what the .357 should be! Closest I could guess in 9mm would be Double Tap's 115 gr. Gold Dot load. It's rated at 1415 fps & 511 ft. lbs. from a G17.