I've been a very big fan of the Hornady XTP bullets(both FP, and HP) in the 357, and 44 magnum for a long time. Performance has always been extremely consistent, and 100% controllable in revolvers as well as rifles.
I bought a few boxes of the 85g, and 100g XTP-HP's for my 32 magnum Single Six fully expecting the same levels of performance from them in this caliber as well. Boy did I get fooled! The 85g XTP-HP's actually opened up pretty good at velocities from around 1000-1200 fps(muzzle) in wet paper, green melons, other assorted mediums, and even decently on groundhogs. The problem was, expansion was fairly erratic, and I hate not knowing "precisely" what to expect from a shot on game. The 100g XTP-HP's were utterly disappointing. Even at muzzle velocities of 1200+ fps they acted like they were hard cast! Very little expansion in wet paper, and absolutely zero in softer mediums, and game. I shot several possums, coons, and groundhogs with them(the 100's) at velocities ranging from 1000-1250 fps(muzzle), and all at ranges under 50 yards. I've been thoroughly disgusted with their performance to the point of abandoning them which is agravating because I was really counting on the 100g XTP-HP as my primary predator/varmint bullet in this sweet little revolver.
The other day I picked up a couple boxes of the Sierra 90g JHC bullets to try out. I've not been a huge fan of these bullets in the 357 magnum, but this design has been plenty accurate in the past. As expected, they're tack drivers in this revolver at any velocity from very low to 1200+ fps. The surprise came when I shot a fairly green water melon to see what kind of channel it would produce. I cut off the ends of the melon leaving about a 1 foot length to shoot through. This way you avoid the rind, and have little or no chance of blowing up the melon. At the shot, that melon literally exploded! It didn't vaporize like a full house 357, or 44 would have done, but it blew into several pieces that I had to collect, and re-assemble for observation. From what I could gather, it looked like that bullet blew a channel that peaked at around 6"+ through it before the pressure took it apart! Unless this was a fluke, that's some serious performance from such a small bullet. Further testing will reveal if this was a fluke, or not.
I know better than to use such a load on foxes, but it may just be perfect for bigger tougher critters like coyotes, bobcats, and such.
