Armscor 357 Magnum 158 FMJ

44caliberkid · June 3, 2020, 04:31 PM

A couple days ago I was playing with a Ruger Blackhawk and Colt SAA both 357 Magnum. I had a box of Armscor 158 gr. FMJ. These have a weird looking bullet that is like a roundnose, but has a cylindrical projection coming out of the middle of the nose. I had just switched to new paper target and the Colt SAA, and my first five shots were randomly scattered in about a 12 inch circle. Five more, same result. I know this pistol shoots better than that. So I put in some Winchester 145 gr. Silvertip and promptly shot an under 1 inch group at 15 yards.
Guess I'll burn that stuff up for brass and trigger / sight picture practice. Or magazine dumps through the Coonan.

COSteve · June 3, 2020, 05:07 PM

So much for buying 'quality' ammo.

kenny53 · June 3, 2020, 05:50 PM

I have some Armscor 22 lr. and find it to be great ammo. I have never tried their center fire ammo. Maybe contact the company and explain that the ammo seems to be deformed.
See if they will work with you.

44caliberkid · June 3, 2020, 06:46 PM

I don't normally buy 357, just tried this because it was $14.99 at the farm store, and I was burning through my backlog of reloads since I got the Coonan. This is just my review of the ammo. I have also tried Armscor in 10mm and 38 Super +P, they weren't as accurate as Sig or Federal American Eagle, but cycled through fine and gave me some brass to reload. It was cheap ammo at the time, but Federal is down to $17.99 a box now, so no reason to consider Armscor again.

44caliberkid · June 8, 2020, 02:49 PM

Today I took the rest of the Armscor 357 158gr FMJ out to make empty brass out of it. I took my Coonan 357 and a S&W Model 19, 6 inch barrel. As a comparison, I also had a 40 year old box of Winchester Super X 158 gr. JSP.
Tried the Armscor first in the Coonan. very pleasant shooting, too pleasant. I had four failures to eject out of seven shots, the empty case getting caught between the slide and the barrel hood. Of the three that did eject, the empty fell right down my face into my lap. So this is a 38 Special load at best. I didn't want to install my 38 Special recoil spring so no more Armscor in the Coonan.
The Super X had quite a sharper report and ejected the cases so far away I could only find one. I repeated the test with the Model 19 and used up the rest of the Armscor in that gun.
Groups with the Armscor from either pistol were 5 - 5 1/2 inches at 25 yards. But out of the Coonan the group was low right on the bull, 4 or 5 O'clock and out of the Smith they were high left, 10 - 11 O'clock. Weird.
The Super X, out of the Coonan, shot a 3 inch group at 25 yards, and 2 inches out of the Smith & Wesson.
I love budget ammo if it shoots good, but in the case of Armscor 357, better pay up another $2 for American Eagle.

buck460XVR · June 8, 2020, 03:03 PM

The Armscor 158FMJ I Googled, claimed 1545 FPS.......not anything close to a .38 special loading. By the licture, the bullet shape was a standard roundnose without the projection you stated. Wonder iffin you got some oddball stuff?

TruthTellers · June 9, 2020, 01:16 PM

Different guns shoot different ammo differently.

44caliberkid · June 9, 2020, 01:38 PM

1545 FPS would be a really stout load for a 158 grain bullet and these were not close to that. I'd be surprised if they made 1000 FPS. Wouldn't be the first time a manufacturers velocity claims were pie in the sky. I don't have any left to chrono, but the Coonan with the 357 spring in, needs a fairly potent load to cycle the action. All my 357 reloads are near maximum, so I know what they feel/ sound like. This was some wimpy ammo.

wild cat mccane · June 12, 2020, 02:17 PM

Can we see one of those round? I'm puzzled on what it could be.

DaleA · June 14, 2020, 10:06 AM

Seeing one of the rounds...
Could be tough as the OP said he shot them all but maybe he could go to the Armscor site and find an advertising picture of the round or tell us that his ammo didn't look anything like the advertising picture.

https://armscor.com/ammo/pistol/

44caliberkid · June 14, 2020, 01:35 PM

Correct, I don't have any left. No, the bullet did not look like the photo in the factory literature. If the shelves weren't bare, I'd go to that store and photograph one. I can only describe it as a round nose, except with a blunt cylinder sticking out from the nose. Not a round nose flat point. Never have seen a bullet like this. And look at the claimed velocity, 1826 fps from a 158 grain bullet. Has to be out of a rifle barrel to get that kind of number, and still claiming over 1600 at 100 yards. Some voodoo. I've been shooting and loading full house magnums since 1976, I know what they feel, sound, recoil like.

buck460XVR · June 14, 2020, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 44caliberkid

Correct, I don't have any left. No, the bullet did not look like the photo in the factory literature. I can only describe it as a round nose, except with a blunt cylinder sticking out from the nose. Not a round nose flat point. Never have seen a bullet like this.

I've googled Armscor .357 magnum 158 gr FMJ till I'm blue in the face and I've yet to see an image of anything close to what you describe. Makes me wonder if it was not some type of specialty bullet, normally not available to the general public.

June 3, 2020, 04:31 PM	#1
44caliberkid Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2017 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,104	Armscor 357 Magnum 158 FMJ A couple days ago I was playing with a Ruger Blackhawk and Colt SAA both 357 Magnum. I had a box of Armscor 158 gr. FMJ. These have a weird looking bullet that is like a roundnose, but has a cylindrical projection coming out of the middle of the nose. I had just switched to new paper target and the Colt SAA, and my first five shots were randomly scattered in about a 12 inch circle. Five more, same result. I know this pistol shoots better than that. So I put in some Winchester 145 gr. Silvertip and promptly shot an under 1 inch group at 15 yards. Guess I'll burn that stuff up for brass and trigger / sight picture practice. Or magazine dumps through the Coonan.

June 9, 2020, 01:16 PM	#7
TruthTellers Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2016 Posts: 3,888	Different guns shoot different ammo differently. __________________ "We always think there's gonna be more time... then it runs out."

June 3, 2020, 05:07 PM	#2
COSteve Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2009 Posts: 1,344	So much for buying 'quality' ammo.

June 3, 2020, 05:50 PM	#3
kenny53 Senior Member Join Date: December 30, 2015 Location: My back yard Posts: 971	I have some Armscor 22 lr. and find it to be great ammo. I have never tried their center fire ammo. Maybe contact the company and explain that the ammo seems to be deformed. See if they will work with you.

June 3, 2020, 06:46 PM	#4
44caliberkid Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2017 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,104	I don't normally buy 357, just tried this because it was $14.99 at the farm store, and I was burning through my backlog of reloads since I got the Coonan. This is just my review of the ammo. I have also tried Armscor in 10mm and 38 Super +P, they weren't as accurate as Sig or Federal American Eagle, but cycled through fine and gave me some brass to reload. It was cheap ammo at the time, but Federal is down to $17.99 a box now, so no reason to consider Armscor again.

June 8, 2020, 02:49 PM	#5
44caliberkid Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2017 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,104	Today I took the rest of the Armscor 357 158gr FMJ out to make empty brass out of it. I took my Coonan 357 and a S&W Model 19, 6 inch barrel. As a comparison, I also had a 40 year old box of Winchester Super X 158 gr. JSP. Tried the Armscor first in the Coonan. very pleasant shooting, too pleasant. I had four failures to eject out of seven shots, the empty case getting caught between the slide and the barrel hood. Of the three that did eject, the empty fell right down my face into my lap. So this is a 38 Special load at best. I didn't want to install my 38 Special recoil spring so no more Armscor in the Coonan. The Super X had quite a sharper report and ejected the cases so far away I could only find one. I repeated the test with the Model 19 and used up the rest of the Armscor in that gun. Groups with the Armscor from either pistol were 5 - 5 1/2 inches at 25 yards. But out of the Coonan the group was low right on the bull, 4 or 5 O'clock and out of the Smith they were high left, 10 - 11 O'clock. Weird. The Super X, out of the Coonan, shot a 3 inch group at 25 yards, and 2 inches out of the Smith & Wesson. I love budget ammo if it shoots good, but in the case of Armscor 357, better pay up another $2 for American Eagle.

June 8, 2020, 03:03 PM	#6
buck460XVR Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2006 Posts: 4,342	The Armscor 158FMJ I Googled, claimed 1545 FPS.......not anything close to a .38 special loading. By the licture, the bullet shape was a standard roundnose without the projection you stated. Wonder iffin you got some oddball stuff?

June 9, 2020, 01:38 PM	#8
44caliberkid Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2017 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,104	1545 FPS would be a really stout load for a 158 grain bullet and these were not close to that. I'd be surprised if they made 1000 FPS. Wouldn't be the first time a manufacturers velocity claims were pie in the sky. I don't have any left to chrono, but the Coonan with the 357 spring in, needs a fairly potent load to cycle the action. All my 357 reloads are near maximum, so I know what they feel/ sound like. This was some wimpy ammo.

June 12, 2020, 02:17 PM	#9
wild cat mccane Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2011 Posts: 3,626	Can we see one of those round? I'm puzzled on what it could be.

June 14, 2020, 10:06 AM	#10
DaleA Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2002 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 5,313	Seeing one of the rounds... Could be tough as the OP said he shot them all but maybe he could go to the Armscor site and find an advertising picture of the round or tell us that his ammo didn't look anything like the advertising picture. https://armscor.com/ammo/pistol/

June 14, 2020, 01:35 PM	#11
44caliberkid Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2017 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,104	Correct, I don't have any left. No, the bullet did not look like the photo in the factory literature. If the shelves weren't bare, I'd go to that store and photograph one. I can only describe it as a round nose, except with a blunt cylinder sticking out from the nose. Not a round nose flat point. Never have seen a bullet like this. And look at the claimed velocity, 1826 fps from a 158 grain bullet. Has to be out of a rifle barrel to get that kind of number, and still claiming over 1600 at 100 yards. Some voodoo. I've been shooting and loading full house magnums since 1976, I know what they feel, sound, recoil like.