Buffalo Bore 357 Mag 140gr XPB Low Flash – Clever Tactical Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 357 Mag 140gr XPB Low Flash is the heavier of the two loads in Buffalo Bore’s lead free tactical 357 line. It runs 1150 fps for roughly 411 ft-lbs, burns a low flash powder, and uses a solid copper Barnes XPB hollow point. Safe in any 357 Magnum firearm, including lightweight alloy framed revolvers. Twenty rounds per box, item 19I/20.

• Buffalo Bore 357 Mag 140gr XPB Low Flash Overview
• 357 Magnum Short Barrel Ammo Ballistics
• Why Choose The 140 Grain Barnes XPB Load
• Specifications
• Range Notes On Lead Free 357 Tactical Ammunition

Buffalo Bore 357 Mag 140gr XPB Low Flash Overview

The design brief here is the same as its 125 grain stablemate. Ordinary magnum ammunition is loaded with slow powder that expects a long barrel, so a two or three inch revolver throws a large fireball and loses velocity. Buffalo Bore builds this line around a fast burning low flash powder that does its work inside a short tube.

The bullet is a Barnes XPB, turned from solid copper with a deep hollow cavity. It opens into petals and keeps essentially all of its weight rather than shedding a jacket or a core, which is why a copper bullet penetrates deeper than a lead core bullet of the same weight.

Choosing 140 grains over 125 shifts the balance slightly towards penetration and away from speed. It is a small change on paper and a meaningful one in practice, and whether the Buffalo Bore 357 Mag 140gr XPB Low Flash or its lighter stablemate suits you depends mostly on what you expect to be shooting at.

357 Magnum Short Barrel Ammo Ballistics

1150 fps with a 140 grain bullet works out to roughly 411 ft-lbs at the muzzle. The 125 grain load in the same line makes about 416 at 1225 fps, so the two are effectively identical on the energy chart and differ in how they deliver it.

Published figures for this line come from short barrelled revolvers rather than laboratory test barrels, which is why they look modest next to the numbers printed on a box of conventional magnum ammunition. Those conventional numbers usually come from a long test barrel and collapse in a snub. This 357 Magnum short barrel ammo is honest about where it was measured.

A longer barrel will still gain you speed. If you shoot the same load in a four or six inch revolver, or in a lever gun, expect several hundred feet per second more than the published figure, with correspondingly deeper penetration and a bit more expansion.

Why Choose The 140 Grain Barnes XPB Load

The heavier bullet is the better choice when penetration matters more than speed. Against a large attacker in heavy winter clothing, or an animal, a 140 grain copper bullet carries its momentum further and is less likely to run out of depth before it reaches anything important.

It is also the gentler of the two to shoot, marginally. At 1150 fps the 140 grain Barnes XPB load produces a slower push rather than a sharp snap, and in a lightweight revolver that difference is easier to feel than the ten or so foot pounds that separates them on paper.

Flash suppression is the reason to pick either of these over a conventional magnum. A defensive shooting happens in poor light far more often than not, and a fireball from a short barrelled 357 will cost you your dark adaptation at the worst possible moment. A low flash 357 revolver load keeps you able to see what you are doing.

Copper also expands more reliably than a conventional hollow point at the speeds a snub actually produces. A jacketed bullet engineered for 1450 fps may not open at 1100. The XPB is designed to work across a wider window, which makes lead free 357 tactical ammunition more predictable out of a short gun.

Specifications

Range Notes On Lead Free 357 Tactical Ammunition

Test it in low light. The entire argument for this load is what it does when it is dark, and you learn nothing about that on a bright indoor range in the middle of the afternoon.

Check your point of impact. A 140 grain bullet is closer to the 158 grain weight most fixed sight 357 revolvers were regulated around than a 125 grain bullet is, so it often prints nearer the sights. Confirm it rather than assume it.

Do not mix this up with the heavy 357 loads in the same catalogue. Buffalo Bore also builds a 125 grain XPB at 1650 fps that is restricted to all steel revolvers. This one carries no such restriction and is safe in any 357 Magnum firearm.

Practise with 38 Special and confirm with this. A 140 grain Barnes XPB load is not range fodder, so the sensible pattern is cheap ammunition for volume and a box or two of the real thing to verify function, recoil and zero.

Low Flash 357 Revolver Load Availability

This low flash 357 revolver load is in stock and ready to ship from MAG5 Firearms, a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Ammunition orders ship to most states, and local customers are welcome to pick up in the shop. If you need case quantities or another 357 Magnum short barrel ammo option from the Buffalo Bore catalog, call us and we will check what our distributors have on hand.

Manufacturer details are on the Buffalo Bore site. For the lighter, faster version of this load see the 357 Mag 125gr XPB low flash, and for full power performance in an all steel revolver see the heavy 357 Mag 125gr XPB. You can also browse our full ammunition selection.