.357 Magnum Clear Up

As of late I have observed the many post concerning to whether are not a .357 Magnum is enough gun to whitetail deer hunt With. Well I'm here to tell you and get the record straight that it most certainly answers the call to duty. I handload all of my ammunition which in turn adds a greater appreciation with this cartridge. With the right shot placement one can safely harvest a animal very much ethical. But let's not forget that hunter must be properly prepared which calls for a lot of practice during the off-season. PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!

I was confident using my GP100 this winter to take a whitetail buck in Idaho because I knew I would limit my shots to 25-30 yards. Not because of the capability of the cartridge itself but because of the capability of me to place bullets accurately on target beyond there with adrenaline flowing. I was pleasantly surprised at how short of a distance the buck went after the shot and how well the 158 gr XTP HP worked. The first bullet went between the ribs going in and coming out broadside and was a lethal shot, but since I was still close and could see the buck absorb the shot and stumble and try and go further into the dark timber I shot the second time to anchor him. The second shot was quartering away and the bullet penetrated 18" and came to rest up in the neck and still weighed 141 grains. My shots landed exactly where I intended them to go because of a great deal of practice leading up to the trip and although I could have easily shot further than my self imposed limit of 25-30 yards I wanted to ensure there was no chance for error.

I HAVE BEEN PLEASANTLY SURPRISED BY THE # OF POSTS THIS DEER SEASON OF DEER TAKES WITH 357 REVOLVERS. YOU CAN PRACTICE DARN NEAR ALL DAY LONG WITH A 357 WITHOUT WEARING YOU OR YOUR GUN OUT, AND WITHOUT EMPTYING YOUR WALLET. I HAVE SHOT THOUSANDS OF PRACTICE ROUNDS OUT OF MY FA 353 AND I AM GOING TO START LOADING IT UP FOR HUNTING, BUT NOW COMES THE FUN: WHAT BULLET TO USE? 158 OR HEAVIER? JACKETED OR CAST? BRAND?

If you are referring to posts on this website, I believe that you have mis-read or misunderstand them. None that I am aware of on this website question the ability of the .357 magnum to take a whitetail deer.

I don't think that you need to "set the record straight" here.

Rey, I've taken more than my share of whitetails with my 2 Pythons. All I've ever used is 158 gr. Sierra JHC, 125 gr. Sierra JHC (in 4" Python), and 160 gr. Keith SWCs. Most have dropped in their tracks. A few ran 15-20 yds.
My shots have been 50-75 yds. with open sights and one at 200 with a red dot.
Damage is usually 3/4" track. I've never recovered a Sierra bullet( all exits), but did the 160 Keith on the 200 yd. shot. I hit the deer in the rectum. It was under the skin of the chest.

On this site? I don't think I've seen many remarks here dissing the original magnum in almost 15 years of membership. If anything there have been many, many, posts of successes with it. Put that slug in the right place and it will certainly get the job done.

Wvhitman, where do you normally place the bullet from your 357 mag to get deer to fall within 20 yards?

DOC: IN A FA 353 WITH A 9 INCH BARREL I CAN PROBABLY GET OVER 1,600 fps WITH 158's AND AM CONCERNED ABOUT HOW CONVENTIONAL FACTORY 158gr JACLETED BULLETS MAY PERFORM.

Around 1935 the 357S&W Magnum came out..158gr swc@1500fps...

Shortly thereafter D B Wesson went WEST with his new TOY...

lf memory serves me correctly he killed just about every Big Game

animal in North America on that trip.. l ain't D B Wesson by a

long shot.. Tho l have only hunted/killed deer with a handgun in

44Magnum l would not hesitate to hunt with a 357. People have

gotten bigger since 1935.. l expect deer have stayed around the

same size

Rey, I imagine my 158 Sierras may fragment some and act like BTs.
XTPs will probably hold together, but the few I used did not expand much, especially in larger calibers. I've sworn off them. Nothing like a 160 or 180 SWC loaded hotter than what my Pythons will take. The speed should give you some extra tissue damage or do end to end shots, starting on either end. THat has always worked for me and I think is down right cool.

Redhawk, I do either a high shoulder about 4" below the back bone (which usually drops them) or a low shoulder trying to get the heart, bone, and lungs. These deer run a little but not far.
Not many people talk about the 158 Sierra JHC, but concentrate on XTPs. I've always had better performance out of the Sierras. I had one stretch where I hunted out a tree stand on my farm (which has been since taken by the state) and took 5 heavy bucks in 5 years with the 6" Python and Sierras. One ran around 20 yds. The others dropped. Even took a large 8 point on the ground at 78 yards offhand with the P-S Combo (that's what I call it) high shoulder and it dropped.

45man, i would give the ole 158 gr aframe a try. You push them far north of 1700 fps out of a freedom arms 83.

Rey, Here's some load work I did this past summer for my FA 353 with a 7 1/2 inch barrel.





Hope it's readable. I successfully used a Rem 180gr SJHP pushed to about 1200 fps in the past to take a doe at about 40 yards. The Rem's got scarce and I decided to use just one bullet for my 357 Mag and Max endeavors, so I loaded up on 180gr XTPs. The gun can take more I know, but these are quite pleasant especially in the heavy FA. Didn't expansion test this load, and I'm not certain why, other than I had other loads to test in other firearms. The note on the bottom right hand corner stating 17.5gr load was too hot, refers to the fact the Rem 7 1/2 primers I was using began to flow around the firing pin, tying up the gun. I would suggest CCI 450's to push the loads higher. Taffin has an excellent article on his site on the FA353 with some really high velocity loads, and perhaps one day I'll try a few out. But until then I'll stick with what I got.

X2

TRADMARK & MECH 8: THANKS FOR THE INFO.

In the 357 Magnum good bullet selection is the key. Took my longest ever revolver kill using an 8 3/8's S&W & a 140 Sierra JHC on a muley buck several years back. Missed with the first shot, the gun was new in the box the day before so we had just got acquainted!
Loaded some 160 gr. Ray Thompson GC cast for one of the local cops last fall who had never hunted with a sixgun. He had a doe walk out along a river bottom (land owner tag) at about 45 yds face on & shot her through the base of the throat, she flipped over backwards & never moved. 14 grs of 2400 & the 160 gr cast.

Dick

In the contender with cautious loading practices it will really launch some lead... Before i re chambered to 357 max I could push a 158 xtp at 2000 fps and a 180 at 1800 that's about the same amount of whomp as a 30-30

My first whitetail was taken with factory .357 Winchester 158gr JHP ammo from my Python....At the time my Python was the only deer killer (with factory ammo) that I owned...it worked... . PS I was wearing the digital camo of the day....

Great pic James and I still wear that type of digital camo at times!

Gotta say though...that look on your face...mercy. Creeperfromjersey. Hehe.

That digital camo looks heavily pixelated. Must be the early "low res" version.

I took my first whitetail with a 357 Magnum in 2016. I used the 158 grain Hornady XTP Flat Point traveling at 1330 fps. The deer was slightly quartered at 60 yards.



Like wvHitman said, the bullet expansion was a little less than desired, but dead is dead.

I'm getting just a hair over 1500 fps in a 6" GP100. I'd think you could get 1600 fps in a 9" barrel.

Nice Buck!!

That`s my "you owe me money look"....when you have lived where I lived and seem the things I`ve seen, it comes easy....
PS- you should see my "I love you to" face......

James set the bar so I had to dig up a couple pics with some early .357 Magnum "trophies"

Like wvHitman said, the bullet expansion was a little less than desired, but dead is dead.



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BULLET AND THE BUCK BOTH LOOK GOOD TO ME. I BET YOU WERE EXCITED WITH THIS KILL!

JDK: WAS NOT SEEING A LOT OF POSTS OF MODEL 27/28 DEER KILLS. S&W HAS MADE A LOT OF "UPGRADES" TO THEIR N FRAME 357's (IF MORE HOLES IN THE CYLINDER IS WHAT YOU WANT IN A SPORTING REVOLVER), BUT THE THEY HAVE YET TO MAKE THEIR SHORT CYLINDER LONGER!

Rey, that was a classic beauty of a revolver, with its deep blueing, counter sunk chambers, pinned barrel, checkered topstrap, etc. It's long gone and missed. They can't compete with many modern guns, performance wise though. At the time, the big N frame worked pretty well!

I will say, though, that I was pushing the envelope with loads. I was young and inexperienced, and was given an old copy of a Speer reloading manual from the '60s. In those way-before-the-internet-was-a-twinkle-in Al-Gore's:-)-eye days, that's all I had to go by. Nobody told me 2400 had changed! Needless to say, I might have been pushing my loads into the vicinity of the old Herters .357 Atomic. It did a number on whitetail though!

After having a model 19, two 27s, two 28s (one of which spent time in a duty holster) , a Security Six, a Speed Six, and a Blackhawk, I have a real soft spot for the mighty and versatile original magnum. All that remains in my collection is a model 28 which wears a pair of Bearhug grips and it won't go anywhere until one of my boys inherits it. How I got that gun and those grips is a good story I'll share someday!

great photos JDK...........the "red dot" special on the javelina is beautiful..............

Guess I need to get my 6" L frame out

I love the original magnum. I handload. But I also love the .44 Special and magnum. It?s great to have options.

I know this is the subject of more than a few discussions on this forum alone, but if I was told I could only have one pistol for the rest of my life to cover all my needs, I'd have a hard time not picking a 357 Magnum revolver. It's not the best combat handgun and not the best hunter, but it's not too shabby for those things either! All things considered, including all future uses and ammo availability (every gun store on the planet likely has a box of .38 Special), it's hard to beat.

I've only taken one deer with my 357 mag and it worked great.
I shot an armadillo with a 158 grain XTP once that cut into two pieces.

I once saw someone claim the 357 was a deer gun "for 20 to 25 yard shots" and a 44's effective range was "35 to 40 yards." Needless to say, it wasn't on this site.

For the casual handgun shooter and not handgun hunter, I'd say that those ranges are probably correct but as the limit of the shooter to accurately place rounds, certainly not the cartridge capability, as we are all pretty aware of on this sight. I've watched friends miss 18" targets at 25 feet more times than they hit it. Certainly all things are possible with the right hands behind the gun, both for accuracy and inaccuracy