I went to my friends house after work today to sight in my Ruger GP 100. I Took a box of Barnes 140 gr all copper hp, Buffalo Bore 158 gr sjhc and Federal 158 gr sjsp.

I got my revolver on the paper using 38 specials and then shot some of the Barnes. You could tell you were shooting 357 mag instead of 38 spec but it was very manageable. At about 30 yards they did strike four or five inches above the 38 spec.

I then shot a few of the BB 158 gr sjhc. These were hotter than the Barnes because they were tighter in the cylinder after being shot It looks like these may group tighter in my gun.

I then shot some of the Federal 158 gr sjsp. They grouped very good in my gun with the first two holes touching at about 30 yards. They did hit about 2 - 3 inches lower than the other two brands.

I wanted to shoot more to really decide which brand to hunt with but it started raining about that time and I had to load everything up and leave.

If the Federals do group like it looks like they do, would you use them or one of the other loads? They all hit about the same right to left but the federals did hit 2-3 inches lower than both the Barnes and the BB.

The recoil on the Barnes and the BB seemed to be a little stronger than the Federals but non of them matched my 44 mag or the 454 I once had.