Buffalo Bore 357 Sig 125gr FMJ-FN – Rugged Straight Line Penetrator

Description

The Buffalo Bore 357 Sig 125gr FMJ-FN is the same load as the hollow point version with the opposite terminal behaviour. 125 grains at 1425 fps for roughly 564 ft-lbs, but with a flat nose full metal jacket that does not expand and is built to keep going. Flash suppressed powder. Twenty rounds per box, item 25B/20.

• Buffalo Bore 357 Sig 125gr FMJ-FN Overview
• 357 Sig Flat Nose FMJ Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 125 Grain Full Metal Jacket Bottleneck Bullet Goes Through
• Specifications
• Where This Barrier Penetration 357 Sig Load Belongs

Buffalo Bore 357 Sig 125gr FMJ-FN Overview

The bullet is a full metal jacket with a flat nose rather than the usual rounded profile. The jacket fully encloses the core and there is no cavity, so nothing opens and nothing separates. What leaves the muzzle arrives essentially intact.

That flat meplat is the design, not a detail. Ordinary round nose ball tends to slide tissue aside and can deflect or tumble once it meets bone or a hard barrier, which squanders the penetration its construction ought to deliver. A flat face stays point forward and cuts a full calibre channel.

The 357 Sig is a 40 S&W case necked down to a 0.355 bullet, created in 1994 to give an autoloader something close to 125 grain 357 Magnum performance. The bottleneck shape also feeds very positively, which matters when the bullet profile is unusual, as it is with the Buffalo Bore 357 Sig 125gr FMJ-FN.

357 Sig Flat Nose FMJ Ammo Ballistics

564 ft-lbs at 1425 fps is identical to the hollow point version in this line, which makes the point neatly: the powder charge and the bullet weight are the same, and everything that differs is what happens on impact.

Energy is the least useful number for a non expanding bullet in any case. A 357 Sig flat nose FMJ ammo load spends its energy on depth rather than on opening up, so the comparison that matters is against other things that drive straight through.

Against a car door, an interior wall, a windscreen or heavy bone, a flat nose full metal jacket at 1425 fps will typically hold its course where an expanding bullet deforms on the barrier and veers or stops short. That is the entire argument for this style of load.

Why The 125 Grain Full Metal Jacket Bottleneck Bullet Goes Through

Every defensive bullet sits somewhere between rapid expansion and deep penetration, and nearly all of them are built near the expansion end because that serves the common case. This one is built at the far opposite end on purpose.

The flat nose is what separates it from ordinary ball ammunition. A round nose full metal jacket will often tumble or deflect once it meets resistance, wasting the depth its construction should give it. A 125 grain full metal jacket bottleneck bullet with a flat meplat stays nose forward and cuts the whole way.

For woods carry that behaviour is the point. If you carry a 357 Sig where there are hogs or black bear, an expanding bullet is unlikely to reach anything vital on a large animal. Non expanding pistol ammunition at least gives the bullet a chance to get through heavy muscle and bone.

Be clear eyed about it though. A 357 Sig is a service pistol cartridge, and this is the best 357 Sig answer for penetration rather than a good answer in absolute terms. If large animals are the real concern, a 10mm or a big bore revolver is a meaningful step up.

Specifications

Where This Barrier Penetration 357 Sig Load Belongs

This is not a house load. Non expanding pistol ammunition at 1425 fps will pass through a person and keep going, and then through interior walls. In a home or an apartment with neighbours, the hollow point version is the responsible choice and there is no real argument about it.

Where it earns its place is outdoors, in the woods, or in a vehicle context where you may have to shoot through something. Those are the situations this bullet was designed for and the ones where the trade makes sense.

Confirm feeding with a box. Flat nose profiles differ from both round nose ball and hollow points, and although the bottleneck case makes 357 Sig unusually reliable, a barrier penetration 357 Sig load is still worth verifying in your own pistol.

Expect accelerated wear with volume shooting. The 357 Sig is already hard on recoil springs, and a heavy loading more so, so carry this and practise with ordinary ammunition.

Non Expanding Pistol Ammunition Availability

This non expanding pistol ammunition 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 a hollow point for house use instead, call us and we will check what our distributors have on hand.

Manufacturer details are on the Buffalo Bore site. For an expanding bullet in the same calibre, see the 357 Sig 125gr JHP. For the same idea in 9mm, compare the 9mm +P+ 124gr Penetrator, or browse our full ammunition selection.