Category: Ammunition

Ammo Evolution: .38 Special Treasury Load

When I was a young man in the 70s, my brother and I spent a lot of time on police ranges, because our dad was an officer and rangemaster for the California Highway Patrol (CHP). As “range rats” of the highest order, we gladly took care of the chores that none of the officers wanted to do, such as posting targets, policing spent brass, issuing ammunition, and so forth.

In between relays, we got to shoot a bit ourselves. Mostly it was with our .22s, but sometimes we shot our dad’s duty gun (a 6” Python) with the hot .38 Special cartridge issued by the Patrol.  This cartridge, known as the “Treasury Load,” is frequently confused with the more popular “FBI Load,” and there’s a lot of misconceptions about it in the shooting world.  Therefore, I thought the RevolverGuy audience might enjoy it if we explored this interesting bit of revolver history and set the record straight on it. Continue reading “Ammo Evolution: .38 Special Treasury Load”

Perfecta Ammo Review – .357 Magnum

We’re all trying to get the best bang for our buck when buying ammo. Perfecta .357 ammo recently started showing up on all the online ammo shops and I couldn’t ignore the price point. I was skeptical, not being able to find a Perfecta ammo review for .357 Magnum, and the “in collaboration with Tulammo, USA” on the front of the box didn’t inspire my confidence any. But the price could not be ignored. Interest piqued, I went ahead and ordered a case, for better or worse. Continue reading “Perfecta Ammo Review – .357 Magnum”

Shooting Cars with a .357 Magnum

It’s not too often that I get to shoot up a car, but it has happened a few times in my career. What is really rare is getting to shoot up a nice, clean car, and being the only one shooting it. I had this opportunity about a year ago as part of a military exercise I was working on. I can’t get into too much detail, but there was a requirement for a shot-up car and I was lucky enough to be asked to fulfill the requirement. This isn’t one of those articles about shooting cars filled with gelatin blocks and there aren’t any  real insights to be gained here – just some fun pictures! Continue reading “Shooting Cars with a .357 Magnum”

Choosing Defensive Carry Ammunition

I know I’m not the first person to write about selecting duty or carry ammunition. In all honesty, this probably isn’t the first article this week on the topic. However, when I wrote about filing my front sight a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that this was an important step. Before I get too far down the road from that article, I want to address my criteria for choosing defensive carry ammunition, and how I settled on the .357 Short Barrel Gold Dot. Continue reading “Choosing Defensive Carry Ammunition”

Ammunition for Small .357 Magnum Revolvers

There are two sides of the debate over shooting and carrying .357 Magnum ammunition in a small revolver. Both sides seem to be a bit dogmatic in their position, and I’ve been confronted with this a couple of times recently. I carry a J-Frame revolver as my primary defensive arm, and I carry it loaded with ammunition headstamped “.357 MAG”. I am a man who can appreciate a little nuance and I generally shy away from generalizations, so here are my thoughts.

WARNING: I’m about to take a hard right into revolver-geek territory. Proceed with caution. Continue reading “Ammunition for Small .357 Magnum Revolvers”

Identifying & Clearing The Revolver Squib Load

Last weekend I had spent half my Saturday at a private range with a friend and his son. It was just the three of us on the range. In addition to some true plinking, we shot the 5×5 drill, did some plate-rack work, and ran an informal competition or two. Toward the end of the day I let the other two guys take a few shots my my 686. When the 14-year old dropped the hammer on his first round, the result was an unimpressive fizzle. It was the first revolver squib load I’ve ever witnessed and my range session came to an abrupt end. But, I definitely learned a couple of things. Continue reading “Identifying & Clearing The Revolver Squib Load”