Anybody want to tell me who makes a good fragmentation round for my .357?

Question

38's would do the job, too. I just don't know who makes a reliable round with good stopping power.

Answer 1

Your question has 2 answers.

To answer this you must understand that frag rounds hold no stopping power at all. Thus they are non shock killers. Basicly in a nutshell, with a frag round the bullets shatters within its target leaving multi patterns of small but very harmful trace wounds. This causes massive bleeding internally and will cause death in a while ! These bullets are not for stopping an attacker. They are originally designed for hunting, however they have been spread to handgun loads now.

True stopping power come from mass and FPS. Hollow points are big stoppers simply because the bullet spread quickly inside and retains most of its energy within the target. The heaver the bullet and the slower it can be fired while still penitrating, will give you the most stopping power. Know the there are some that are excluded from that concept, however they will not apply in the handgun loads.

Beware that hydrashocks are hollow point bullets, however they are not designed for stopping power either. They contain a penitration pin molded into the core of the lead. This pin is designed to push through tough material like car doors and bullet vest.


The best ammo for stopping power is the simple hollow point bullet. If your looking to stop someone, I suggest the cheapest hollow point you can find. If your job doesnt require you to make a living shooting people, the average bullet will work. If you want to go high dollar for peace of mind then thats fine, but its really not needed.

As far a s manufactures and their ratings :

1. Hornady
2. Federal Prem
3. Federal

Winchester is more of a target load than anything. A cheap way to throw lead down a range for fun and practice.

Answer 2

Try Magsafe or Glaser ammo. Hydra-shoks and Black Talons are not fragmentation rounds. They are conventional hollow-points. The links are provided below.

Answer 3

try hydra-shoks. Black Talons were better, but they're banned now.