Recommendation on .357 ammo for whitetail

Hey guys, new guy here. New to Hand gun hunting. For those who didn't see my roll call post, my name is Aaron. I live in NH and have worked at Ruger Firearms for close to 25 years. I recently purchased a 6" GP100. I hunt a lot with my wife and daughter. When I am with them, I am mostly the "guide". So instead of carrying a long gun, I figure I can just carry my revolver. So, I have been practicing with .38 special ammo. It is 158 grain soft points. It is what I had already, so figured it would allow me to practice and get the gun sighted in. My question is, what are your recommendations for a hunting round? I saw some recommendations on Barnes Vor-tex 140 gr. all copper hollow points, but I would rather hear your suggestions. My shots will be 50 yards and under. Thank you for your time.

check out buffalo bore they have some very stout hunting rounds in 357, I assume you do not reload .

I reload rifle cartridges at the moment. Not and handgun rounds.

I shoot a lot of Federal 158 grain sjsp factory loads. Both my GP 100 and Blackhawk like them.

Thanks Redhawk. How much difference can I expect on target going from the .38 special 158 grain sp to the .357 158 gr. SP?

I picked up a 6" GP100 last year and have been shooting it a bit (first revolver, lean more toward Contenders and Encores). I put a red-dot on it and it grouped 3 of the Buffalo Barnes 140gn TAC-TX shots in 1.5" @ 25 yards (off a bench) last weekend. If I can get back to the range before deer season to zero the sights, I will carry it this season as primary or backup depending on where I am sitting. I have not had a chance to chrono the load, but BB suggests it should be north of 1500fps. The only problem is that they run ~ $1.50+ a shot. I would look carefully at the load specs as you can buy 140gn Barnes bullet factory loads with estimated velocities ranging from 1100 to 1500+ fps. Best of luck!

http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=9979&ppuser=8676

That is a six shot group at 25 yards shoiting my blackhawk off handed with a ultra dot ed dot sight. I have anothe photo on the bragging board that shows a three shot group at 50 yards using the same load. I am getting 1365 fps with this load.

For deer, Hornady 158 XTP hollow points or the flat point will work fine and not break the bank

Don't sweat the bullet issue too much. Though your NH whitetail are likely larger than what we see in much of Texas, my experience has taught me you don't need anything special to cleanly take deer at your distance of 50 yards or less. I've successfully used 125 XTPs on a number of them, but bigger deer would probably make me want more weight. If you stick to a decent 158 gr. slug in the vitals, the deer should expire pretty quickly. Shoulder shots would need a stronger bullet, but still wouldn't need anything magic. I think Ernie's advice is right on track. The main ingredient in handgun hunting is accuracy. It's a lot of fun and hard to go back to a rifle! Good luck!

Can't give you any hands on advice but I will be using the 140 grain Barnes 140 grain Vor-Tex this year with my 9" TC Encore.

I've taken 5 nice heavy WV deer with my Python and 158 gr. Sierra JHCs and a few does with 158 gr. XTPs. The Sierra caused more damage than the xtps on shots from 50-75 yds. Good soft, destructive bullet.

Although I've been a life long cast bullet shooter I made my longest ever revolver kill on a deer with a 140 gr Sierra JHC with an 8 3/8's S&W. There are many, many great jacketed bullets out there for the 357 & deer size game.

Dick

Thank you all! Now out to the range!

If you don't handload, Underwood Ammo has a 158 grain XTP HP loading that are right at 1500 fps out of my 6" GP100. Exited my whitetail, the recovered one weighed 141 grains after going through 14-16" of whitetail that was quartering away. There are pics of the recovered bullet in my photos on here.


Eric.

Thanks Eric, I will look for them. I'm not handloading.....YET!