125 Grain XTP in 357 Magnum for deer

[potatojudge]

How do y'all think a 125 grain XTP over H110 in a long barreled 357 would do for deer? I don't have doubts it would perform at shorter ranges, but I fear it would fall short further out there. 

The reason I ask is I'm in the middle of a move and not hand loading at the moment, I have a bunch of this load worked up for a FA 97 that's a favorite and has proven accurate out to 300 yards. Max revolver range for me is 150 yards with a scope, 100 with a reflex sight, and 75 with irons. This gun has a 2x Leupold.

I have other guns to hunt with, but this one handles and shoots so nicely I hate to keep it at home this season. 

[bigbrowndog]

I think I’d limit myself to 75 yards, and broadside shots with a 125gr. JHP. My personal lightest for a 357mag is a 140gr.

Trapr

[Fowler]

Not sure where you hunt and how big your deer are but I am pretty sure the 125gr XTP was designed as a self defense bullet that opens quickly and may or may not exit a human chest. Just something to think about but it certainly wouldn't be an optimal bullet for the task at hand.

[bradshaw]

Don’t know about the Hornady .357 125 XTP. The bullet that preceded it, the Hornady 125 JHP, was great loads over 18.3 Hercules 2400. I killed livestock with it in M-19 4-inch. The Federal 125 JHP performed well via lung-shot on small Texas Hill Country whitetails. reckon you could stick a deer in the shoulder joint with a .357 125 and never see it again, to suffer any amount of time until it dies at the hands of a coyote. Bullet like that have a smaller kill zone than a pumpkin ball, and a much smaller ANGLE of ENTRY.

Accuracy ain’t the problem with a good 125 JHP, nor probably the XTP. Exhaustion is the problem. Exhaustion=shallow penetration.
David Bradshaw

[short30]

Lots of variables but i opt for 180 gr cast so i get two holes. I think the 125 gr will prove to be a little light.

[taffin]

The 125 XTP is my hunting load but for turkeys not deer. Accurate enough in my FA for head shooting the birds.

[whitworth]

XTP...no - not at that weight.

[contender]

I have to concur,, the 125 grn bullet, in that design,, in my humble opinion,, not the best choice. I would find a better load or use a different gun/bullet combo. YOu owe it to the deer to give them a quick, clean kill.

[bradshaw]

“.... 125 grain XTP over H110 in a long barreled 357 would do for deer? I don't have doubts it would perform at shorter ranges, but I fear it would fall short further out... have a bunch of this load worked up for a FA 97.... that’s proven accurate out to 300 yards. Max revolver range for me is 150 yards with a scope, 100 with a reflex sight, and 75 with irons. This gun has a 2x Leupold.”
----potatojudge

*****

potatojudge.... I stand by my assessment, and on small deer standing broadside would hold my range inside 50 yards, with lung shots only. Limit shot to size, presentation, distance.

Hunting deer-dense land with smallish deer is not the same as taking on a big whitetail that may cross the same once every seven or ten days. Many small Texas deer have horns larger than a ridge running buck 3 and 4 times its weight will never grow. Horn size is no measure of athleticism or size. And, to displace a vein of hunting vanity, the female of the species is as tenacious of life as the male. An animal aware of its predator may be adrenalized at bullet impact And as you probably know, a wound itself may precipitate adrenal dump in the wild athlete.

Since you esteem ACCURACY, and appreciate surgical exactitude----which implicitly limits range----I reckon you’ll work within this knowledge. I would line up five or six 1-gallon plastic milk jugs and try your handled. My guess, the 125 XTP will explode the first, possibly the second, with fragments in the third. Jugs I shoot measure 5-1/2” to 6-inch square.
David Bradshaw

[sixshot]

I would only do it if that's all I had, there are lots of better loads/bullets out there. Any place but the lungs is probably going to be a wounded deer. Too much bullet always trumps light weight bullets. Probably no such thing as too much bullet on game.

Dick

[bradshaw]

Nov 8, 2020 12:33:34 GMT -5 sixshot said:

I would only do it if that's all I had, there are lots of better loads/bullets out there. Any place but the lungs is probably going to be a wounded deer. Too much bullet always trumps light weight bullets. Probably no such thing as too much bullet on game.

Dick

*****

To back up Dick’s caution, fired a Federal .357 Mag (#357B) 125 JHP into 1-gallon (6”x6”) plastic milk jugs. Revolver: Ruger .357 Maximum, 10-1/2” barrel.

Explode jug #1. Bullet stops in jug #2. Jacket/core intact, although core fragmented. Expansion .570”x.630”. Weight 49.5 grains.
Penetration 9-inches.

My attempt to answer question directly implies severe limitation, including Dick’s “... if that’s all I had.”

May repeat caper with a shorter Ruger or S&W .357 Mag.
David Bradshaw

[potatojudge]

Nov 8, 2020 10:07:12 GMT -5 bradshaw said:

potatojudge.... I stand by my assessment, and on small deer standing broadside would hold my range inside 50 yards, with lung shots only. Limit shot to size, presentation, distance.

Hunting deer-dense land with smallish deer is not the same as taking on a big whitetail that may cross the same once every seven or ten days. Many small Texas deer have horns larger than a ridge running buck 3 and 4 times its weight will never grow. Horn size is no measure of athleticism or size. And, to displace a vein of hunting vanity, the female of the species is as tenacious of life as the male. An animal aware of its predator may be adrenalized at bullet impact And as you probably know, a wound itself may precipitate adrenal dump in the wild athlete.

Since you esteem ACCURACY, and appreciate surgical exactitude----which implicitly limits range----I reckon you’ll work within this knowledge. I would line up five or six 1-gallon plastic milk jugs and try your handled. My guess, the 125 XTP will explode the first, possibly the second, with fragments in the third. Jugs I shoot measure 5-1/2” to 6-inch square.
David Bradshaw

You make a good point that small bodied deer in a relaxed state don't soak up the lead like one full of adrenaline and don't require the penetration of a heavier built deer, and that doe or buck the tenants of killing remain the same. 

For next season I'll work up some 158 or 180 grain loads and reconsider the 357 for longer range pursuits. I've always leaned toward heavy weight bullets, but I had 500 of these XTPs and they ended up shooting so good I stuck with them for target work.

I appreciate all the responses, which were in line with what I took to be true. I find it's easy to marginalize one round because you have something bigger and I didn't want to potentially sell this gun and load short, but as said select shots at relatively close range is likely the ethical limit of this load for those who would be willing to use it at all.

I ended up taking my FA 83 in 44 mag loaded with H110 and 240 XTPs out for some practice yesterday and I'll rely primarily on it. The wind was brisk so horizontal dispersion was 4 inches or so at 100 but vertical spread was under an inch, and I know this load will kill further than I'd be willing to shoot at game. I also practiced a bit with my H-S 2000P pistol in 284 to keep in my backpack in case longer shots are in order. 

[sixshot]

Your last sentence tells me you put away the putter & got out the driver!!! Good choices!

Dick

[bushog]

Get ‘em Tater!

[bula]

Was away in the hills for a few days. Home to see this thread went well and save those 125gr xTP loads for coyotes.