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Post by simpleman on Dec 14, 2019 22:34:51 GMT -5
There is a special place in my heart for the .357 Magnum. My first centerfire revolver was a GP100 that I bought in 1994. Over the years I have had many single and double action .357 Mags, even carried a few concealed. I have used 158 grain JSP to kill deer out to 50yds, and though they didn't go far, the blood trail was unimpressive. The elasticity of a whitetail hide made for small entrance and exit holes, even though the vitals were hammered! As much as I love the cartidge, I don't hunt deer with it any more. As for .357 Mag revolvers, I now own only one, a blued 50 Anniversary
NM Flattop Blackhawk with a 4-5/8" barrel. I fitted it with a Bisley hammer and carry it around the farm and as back up when I am bow hunting. It is handsome, well balanced, and adequate with 180 grain cast solids.
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Post by crazycarl on Dec 14, 2019 22:53:25 GMT -5
I have always owned at least one .357Mag & have a bit of a soft spot for it. I love my Max & my .41s, but the 2 1/2" Taurus model 66 in my truck & the 6.5" Blackhawk that makes me look like a hero at the range are going nowhere.
My own personal belief is that every man should own at least a .357 revolver & a .45ACP 1911.
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Post by rjm52 on Dec 15, 2019 5:50:34 GMT -5
I started off my shooting life with a Model 18 and 19 back in 1970... Had the 19 for 10 years and 20K rounds before it was sold off... Didn't have another .357 for over 20 years...almost all centerfire revolver shooting was .41 Magnum or .44 Special with a little .45 AR thrown in...
.357 makes a GREAT defensive round against people but I have no confidence in it for big game shooting. In 1972 I lost the biggest buck I ever had a chance to shoot at with that 19... Shot was a whole 10 yards from a tree stand. Punched a 358156 right through the lungs... My friend saw the deer sail over a fence about 400 yards from me with blood running down the side onto a ranch where we didn't have permission to be...
About four years ago a friend shot a nice Pa. doe at 30 yards with a Model 27-2 6.5" using a Hornday XTP HP...right through the lungs... Deer ran right towards his tree stand and as it passed under the stand my friend took another shot that missed the top of the deer but did break the front leg causing the deer to fall. As it got back up my friend was able to put another bullet right down between the shoulder blades....game over. The JHP had punched a clean hole in one side and out the other through the lungs. No telling how far she would have run if he had not broken the leg to be able to get the spine shot...
Over on the S&W Forums one of the discussions about hog hunting was discussing handgun calibers and one poster said he had gone from .357 to .41. When I inquired what was wrong with the .357 and hogs the responce was "Nothing, but with the .41 I only have to shoot them once"....hummmm.
Only SAs I have ever owned have been a couple of Ruger BHs but never fired them...just rolled them over. That said a friend bought a 5.5" FA 97 a couple of years ago that is impressive to shoot...so impressive I actually put a nice used one on lay-a-way a couple of days ago....
But like a couple of the other posters have said...much prefer my revolvers start with a "4"....
Bob
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tj3006
.375 Atomic
Posts: 2,089
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Post by tj3006 on Dec 15, 2019 11:15:00 GMT -5
Glad this post is getting all the great responses, !
Some times deer are just hard to kill ! I have never killed a deer with a handgun, (yet) But if you stuck a 158 grain JHP through the lungs and out the other side, And the deer kept running i am not sure a 240 grain, 44 would have done much better,
2018. hunting Mule deer in eastern oregon, I saw a small mule deer buck take a good hit from a 300 win mag 180 grain bullet , run 200 yards and take another,
it ran in a big circle in front of me , and i could see a huge chunk of something hanging out its side, it passed in front of me and i put a 150 grain speer hot core , through it from my old savage 99 , .308 and it still kept up with the does it was running with for another hundred yards.
I think the little forkie weighed about 140 lbs. You just never know. I also remember many years ago i shot my 1st mule deer with a 180 grain partition, from a 300 win. The buck turned when i fired , and the bullet broke all his ribs on one side and did not penetrate more than a couple inches.
We found about half of his innards in a pile beside a log the wounded buck stepped over, and found the rest of him had travelled about 80 yards, before he dropped. tj
Deer are tough critters sometimes ! ...tj3006
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Post by contender on Dec 15, 2019 11:26:03 GMT -5
I don't think I've ever been w/o a .357 in my stable since I got my first one back in the 1970's. A good all purpose handgun, easy to reload,, and when used with the right components AND correct shot placement,, it can take small varmints, to man, to deer etc. Many other bigger critters have been taken with the caliber as well.
Is there better options for serious handgun hunting bigger critters???,, of course.
But it has been & will always remain a good caliber & option for many different uses.
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Post by rjm52 on Dec 15, 2019 11:32:31 GMT -5
My observation has been that with .35 caliber handgun bullets one needs an impact velocity over 1400 fps to have more immediate results.
It's not that they don't otherwise kill, it's just that they don't seem to lay down where you would like them to...
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Post by junebug on Dec 15, 2019 12:34:30 GMT -5
For me big game hunting bullets in straight wall cases start at .41 . Not that I don't like and shoot my .357's just not on big game, I JUST HAVE BETTER THINGS FOR THAT. I would not feel un guned with a 357 but severely under guned. I can legally hunt deer here with a .25 auto but I sure as hell won't. I have common sense and lots better guns for that, and a .357 just doesn't cut it for me on big game. Just my .02 cents worth.
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Post by sixshot on Dec 15, 2019 14:10:06 GMT -5
When I said I had killed a few deer with the 357 I should have stated, 2 deer. I think that's all, just never really felt comfortable with it. It can be ok but not over powering & with any big game animal you want more than you need, not just enough. I've taken many with the 357 Maximum but that's like comparing a Volkswagen to a Corvette.
If you must use the 357 then bullet selection is very critical as is bullet placement because fatty tissue can seal off the bullet wound quite easily & most times you'll only get one shot on target before the deer is out of sight. I would choose a soft 158 jacketed & push it hard, hoping for as much expansion as possible & I would try to be a double lung shooter if possible. I use cast but that's just me.
Sometimes getting a good double lung shot can be tough from an elevated stand because of the angle, pick your shot carefully. Just my opinion.
Dick
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Joe S.
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 2,517
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Post by Joe S. on Dec 15, 2019 14:21:38 GMT -5
I love 357 magnum. I grew up shooting Dad’s 4” S&W Model 66. To this day I shoot that particular gun better than any I have. My dad has killed dozens of whitetail deer and coyotes with it. When he would go out checking on the cows on his 3 wheeler he would carry that gun. Most of the time he would bring a deer back. He carried it under his jacket in a shoulder holster or in a Bianchi belt holster. I have used a 357 to take a few deer, mostly in rifles, but one or two with a handgun. This year I killed one at 85 yards. It dropped where it stood. I killed one a few days before at 125 yards. That one did run but didn’t make it far. Both were killed with a Marlin 1894CST, which also killed two last season. I used Dad’s Winchester 94 Trapper to kill one, and my Rossi 92 has killed one. You cannot convince me that a 357 magnum isnt effective on whitetail deer. Granted, we don’t have 300+ pounders here but for what we do have, the 357 has always been more than sufficient.
I have lost deer hit with the 357 Max. Never (yet) with the 357 mag.
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Post by simpleman on Dec 15, 2019 14:45:45 GMT -5
I love 357 magnum. I grew up shooting Dad’s 4” S&W Model 66. To this day I shoot that particular gun better than any I have. My dad has killed dozens of whitetail deer and coyotes with it. When he would go out checking on the cows on his 3 wheeler he would carry that gun. Most of the time he would bring a deer back. He carried it under his jacket in a shoulder holster or in a Bianchi belt holster. I have used a 357 to take a few deer, mostly in rifles, but one or two with a handgun. This year I killed one at 85 yards. It dropped where it stood. I killed one a few days before at 125 yards. That one did run but didn’t make it far. Both were killed with a Marlin 1894CST, which also killed two last season. I used Dad’s Winchester 94 Trapper to kill one, and my Rossi 92 has killed one. You cannot convince me that a 357 magnum isnt effective on whitetail deer. Granted, we don’t have 300+ pounders here but for what we do have, the 357 has always been more than sufficient. I have lost deer hit with the 357 Max. Never (yet) with the 357 mag. .357 Magnum ballistics out of a 18" barrel are dramatically different from a 6" barrel revolver. About 500 fps faster and close to 1100 ftlb of energy. A rifle chambered in .357 Magnum is pushing 30-30 Winchester performance. |
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Post by boolitdesigner on Dec 15, 2019 15:40:13 GMT -5
I love 357 magnum. I grew up shooting Dad’s 4” S&W Model 66. To this day I shoot that particular gun better than any I have. My dad has killed dozens of whitetail deer and coyotes with it. When he would go out checking on the cows on his 3 wheeler he would carry that gun. Most of the time he would bring a deer back. He carried it under his jacket in a shoulder holster or in a Bianchi belt holster. I have used a 357 to take a few deer, mostly in rifles, but one or two with a handgun. This year I killed one at 85 yards. It dropped where it stood. I killed one a few days before at 125 yards. That one did run but didn’t make it far. Both were killed with a Marlin 1894CST, which also killed two last season. I used Dad’s Winchester 94 Trapper to kill one, and my Rossi 92 has killed one. You cannot convince me that a 357 magnum isnt effective on whitetail deer. Granted, we don’t have 300+ pounders here but for what we do have, the 357 has always been more than sufficient. I have lost deer hit with the 357 Max. Never (yet) with the 357 mag. .357 Magnum ballistics out of a 18" barrel are dramatically different from a 6" barrel revolver. About 500 fps faster and close to 1100 ftlb of energy. A rifle chambered in .357 Magnum is pushing 30-30 Winchester performance. And with what these two gentlemen have said, there is a division line in terms of game getting ability. There is another division also, one where the pistol equals what the rifle will do and the rifle (fed the proper thing) will usurp what has been said of it....... that thing is a proper hollow point, either jacketed or cast lead alloy, suitable for the animal, degree of it's toughness and impact velocity. Load and barrel length effect this cartridge greatly in terms of just what you get out of it. |
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Post by harold89 on Dec 15, 2019 20:03:30 GMT -5
Some day I’ll own another .357 and do dearly wish I still had my Freedom Arms 83 .357. I was just reading Taffin’s article on it about the time it sold on Gunbroker. In two years I killed one doe but lost two others. The one I recovered was hit perfectly but ran a very long ways before piling up. Performance was unimpressive. The load was book max H110 and the 180 Nosler. Since then I’ve been shooting larger calibers and the difference is night and day. If I had my old gun back I’d shoot the 180 XTP, the charge would flatten the primers and I’d aim directly at the shoulders. That would be fun to see.
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450ak
.30 Stingray
Posts: 458
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Post by 450ak on Dec 15, 2019 22:48:27 GMT -5
My favorite antelope hunting is done with an 8 3/8s model 27. I use the 358156 hollow point. My hunting is pretty close to where Col. Wesson killed an antelope on the Pitchfork ranch with the brand new 357 magnum. Works well and have not lost an antelope. The hollow points usually exit after making a mess of the chest cavity. And yes I run them fast, like almost 1500
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Post by wildcatter on Dec 16, 2019 1:14:16 GMT -5
I think any serious hand gun owner, hunter needs at least one 357 in his collection. It is quite versatile, and in a Blackhawk more so than most platforms it can be had in! Like Dick I know it will take deer cleanly and effectively when shots are true, and the right load is used. I also prefer my own cast bullets for hunting, but not just 1/3" hole thru the lungs from a solid, ya it will die but when. I would trust my load more when using cast, and my gun, but I know I have much better options, plus the fact I love the old 45 Colt to drop em where they stand most shots, I just don't use the 357 for deer, just a confidence thing. But to be honest, I couldn't dream of a better choice for the job, gun or load if I was to use a 357!  |
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Post by 45MAN on Dec 16, 2019 7:26:58 GMT -5
MY GO TO 357 IS A 5 INCH S# S&W MODEL 27, VERY ACCURRATE WITH SOME OTBC 158gr BULLETS, BUT NOT A GOOD CHOICE FOR DEER WITH SOLID CAST BULLETS. ALTHOUGH I KEEP IT HANDY, AND HAVE REAL NICE LEATHER TO CARRY IT AROUND WITH, IT HARDLY EVER GETS CALLED ON FOR FIELD CARRY, I JUST HAVE BIGGER AND BETTER CALIBER OPTIONS. I USE MY 353 FA REVOLVER A LOT FOR PRACTICE, WAS EVEN THINKING OF USING SOME 1,600fps LOADS WITH SWIFT 158gr AFRAMES BUT I CAN PUSH 45 CALIBER 300gr BULLETS AS FAST, OR FASTER, IN A FA 454 SO THE 353 PROJECT IS STILL ONLY A THOUGHT.
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