For me the whole point of handgun hunting is getting in close to the animals and i dont want to meet the man who doesnt get chills when you are so close you can smell the animal you're hunting. With that said takeing a deer with a .357 has always been something i wanted to do and since this sport is all about getting close and picking your shots I look at it as a new challenge. Now all i need is a good load and thats where you guys come in so whats your favorites?

I use the Sierra 140 hollowcavity for deer.This older bullet is alittle harder than the new ones,but using the new bullets I would go with at least 158 grs. and up.My kills with the .357 were as good as my bigger guns.Use a well constructed bullet and good shot placement and you'll be filling the freezer in no time.

I have been woking of a load for mine-- I like the Nolser 158 SHB and I have had very good sucess with the Berry 152 Hard cast flat base.
Using 2400 on both

The nolser is doing sub 1.5" at 50 and the Cast is just under 2" at 50

I have enjoyed working with the 357 this year
hope to shoot someting with it soon

Your lucky we cant use a 357 in colorado unless its a maxi! I always wanted to hunt with a 357 revolver!

The smallest I would use would be a 158gr bullet. if you can handle the recoil, I really like the 180 Hornady XTP loaded as hot as you can load it SAFELY with Win 296 or H110 for medium game. It will depend on what gun you are using. If you don't reload or just want to try some big bullet loads you might check out Double Tap ammo. http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_27 I like the 180 and 200 grain lead gas checks for hunting. They are about a buck each but they work and you might try a few just to see if you want something that "bad". They load some real rhino rollers in all the popular rounds. A lot of people say the 357 is too small for deer. I have shot a bunch of critters with it (heavy bullets loaded to the hilt) and it will do just fine for anything up to 500 pounds, under 50 yards. It is hard for me to hit anything past that with open sights anyway. Anything bigger and I use the ole 44 mag. The 357 is a fine cartridge and a lot of fun to load and shoot. I feel like it is the biggest or hottest handgun cartridge the average person can shoot "well" day in and day out. I have bigger and I have smaller guns but if I had only one handgun it would be a 4" 357 mag loaded with hot 180's...Jim

I had a 357MAX in an Encore and it was awful! I think I still have some new brass around here somewhere. I had high hopes for it and was really disapointed with it. it is long gone now. I will stick with my 460 Rowland and 44 mag for now on the big critters.

I've never used a .357 on game, but I did some ballistic testing with my 10" Desert Eagle in .357 Mag. With a 180gr XTP bullet, in front of a max dose of VV N110, the penetration was about 20 inches (more than 50cm) and the "wound channel" was absolutely comparable to a .44 mag XTP in the 240gr weight. The test was done at 50m (about 55 yards) and the media was soaked news print. I doubt that a medium-sized deer would not fall quite easily to this load. However, though, I prefer hunting with my .44 mag anyway, since I want to have the margins on my side. But hunting medium-sized game with a good .357 load is certainly doable.

A 158gr XTP over 14.5grs 2400
A 180gr XTP over 15.0grs Lil Gun
These are max loads that shot decent from my S&W m27 and Python

I've shot several deer with the 158gr JHP XTP and have had great luck with them. I've only shot two deer with the 180gr. XTP,great penetration but the wound was not large. Just my opinion, but i think the 180's would expand better if you could push them harder.

I forgot all about Lilgun. It shot real good in my 44 mag. I never used it in a 357 mag but if a 44 mag will shoot it a 357 will too in my experence...Jim

Thanks for the advice I'll have to get started working up a load for next year. As far as Lil gun goes it looks great according to hogdons website its velocitys are comparible to 296 and H110 but the pressures are way lower however ive been hearing bad thinks about accelerated wear using Lil gun. Whats yalls experience been like?

I don't have any experience with Lil Gun on small calibers like the .357 but on my .500 and .460 S&W revolvers it started eating up my forcing cones.

Recoil

Is Lil Gun safe to use in single shots?

In my way of thinking...yes. I personally think that it is a cylinder gap issue.

Recoil

Lil Gun is just a tad faster out of the case than 4227, 110 or 296 and that may lead to more wear in the forcing cone with some bullets. It might be possible the the same forces may affect the leade in a single shot chamber but not to the same extent, if at all, IMO. A lot of guys I know won't use it, they are wheelgunners. I don't use it.

TC man,
I have a tc with a 10" .357 barrel and use lil' gun with hornady 158 (18 grain) and 180's (15 .0 grains ) and get as good if not slightly higher velocity than 296. In real hot weather I got some sticky extraction (92 degrees plus) with above loads. Will look up my chrony data I had with it.

I have killed a few deer with my 6" S&W 586...158 gr XTP has blown through twice on lung shots, both kills deer only ran 20-30 yards after shot. I have also killed TONS of hogs with my 6" & 2" .357...same results, dead hogs.

Shoot a bullet that will go where you aim it and you will find dead critters after you squeeze the shot.

Roger308,thats the experience I have had with the .357 mag. it kills deer right now when put through the lungs ,just as well as my bigger guns.My SRH.454 Casull is my favorite deer gun but after that is my BH in .357 mag.

Finally someone that understands its the challenge not the caliber that were after shot placement is more important. There is a true story of a man that loved to hunt elafints with a 30-30 winchester he would sneak up an shoot them in the temple and it would put them down. My favorite loads for 357 are hornady 140 gr ftx or fiocchi 158 gr jhp bothe are very accurate at hand gun ranges.

Midwesthunter11, have you actually used the Hornady 140 FTX on game? Anyone reading this thread ever use it?

I've played with the round and found that it has absolutely no proper expansion, but that might just be me.

Check out this video of the rounds performance, and see what you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CYyRpWZNww

yes but i missed lol so I guess I will have to get one next year to see and get back to ya. Its just what my gun happens to like butt ya preferably I use the fiocchi more because it is more accurate and is a real hollow point lol!