Favorite .357 hunting loads:UPDATE!

[hunter01]

Jan 17, 2024 2:28:05 GMT -5 sixshot said:

If you are happy with your accuracy of your cast bullet load, both HP & solid then test them for expansion using milk jugs filled with fine sawdust & water, over night. Antifreeze jugs work better but are harder to come by. Remember, deer are a little deeper than they are wide, so you don't need a lot. If you're unsure then take the high shoulder shot, it’s final. You're going to get some expansion with that HP alloy on a deer, probably even with your powder coated solid.

Dick

Thanks for sharing the wisdom here sir. The cast HP is a brand new animal to me. I don’t have access to enough saw dust to put in jugs. Any other medium besides sawdust to add to the water? I could possibly come up with some newspapers. Been thinking about a paper shredder. Bullet testing may be why I finally buy one!

[bigbore5]

I prefer to just shoot animals and see what size the hole is on the other side. If you get soft enough where you don't get an exit, harden it up some until you do.

[ideal]

Jan 16, 2024 14:28:50 GMT -5 bigbore5 said:

Jan 16, 2024 13:35:12 GMT -5 sixshot said:

Depends, some range scrap can be mostly rimfire reclaim & then it's really high in antimony making it a little on the hard side. I would experiment with both to see what kind of expansion you are getting. If you can get some of the old Ray Thompson GC style HP's you might have a better long range bullet for your 357 magnum. It's a very accurate bullet & will shoot flatter at distance. You will be able to lean on it pretty hard with good results. Miha probably has a clone but I haven't looked. My longest ever revolver kill was with an 8 3/8's S&W 357, it's a very good caliber that gets overlooked.

Dick

The Thompson design bullets are pretty good in the magnum, but leave much to be desired in the Maximum/ 353 velocity range. The longer bullets perform well on ground hogs to extreme ranges. The Thompson looses accuracy for me past 150. But I limit myself to 125yds max on deer.

I wonder how badly we'd screw up the Thompson 358156 if we managed to increase the nose weight about 10 grains. I wish Mountain Molds site were still up so I could play with it.

[bigbore5]

Instead of increasing the nose on the Thompson, just shoot the Keith or Accurate 36-170j. Both are awesome.

[sixshot]

Wayne nailed it, I'm sure you can locate some Keith #358429 solids & HP's to test drive, and filling your water jugs with ground paper should work fine if you pack in down a bit. What you're looking for obviously is to pack the paper down fairly tight & then wet it with water so it will expand overnight. You will need several with either shredded paper or sawdust, which isn't hard to find at any sawmill. I'm lucky, one of my son's has a Wood Miser sawmill & he has wheel barrow's full of it. Let it get a good soak over night then set up at least 6 for the HP & probably 8 for the solid & back it with a piece of plywood to stop the bullet on the back side.

Again, don't under estimate what you can do with a 357 with good loads, it's still a dandy caliber. The 357 maximum takes it into a whole "nother" category. The late Bob Hagel took many mountain lions with a 357 shorty, never had a problem.

Dick

[rleprechaun]

Swift 158gr bullet, Power Pro 300-MP 18.0gr., Starline case, CCI spm primer. 1400 fps from 6.5" revolver.

[rleprechaun]

cast bullet load Lyman 358429 powder coated. Same load as above.

[bigbore5]

Jan 29, 2024 13:08:18 GMT -5 rleprechaun said:

cast bullet load Lyman 358429 powder coated. Same load as above.

What kind of accuracy and velocity are you getting from this load? I currently use H110 or 11fs for my velocity loads.

[rleprechaun]

good accuracy with both. Same velocity,

[freeze]

I know I'm late to the party, but I have had good results with a bullet not mentioned by others.

NOE-360-182-WFN-PB-U2

After powder coating my bullets have a finished weight of 186 grains using my alloy.

I load these in a FA 353 and drive them to 1420 fps. Accuracy is very good.



The shot was 82 yards and the deer is quartering toward me slightly.

The bullet entered just behind the point of the left shoulder and exited the far side rib cage. The effect of impact was apparent, but not equal to my experience with 44 or larger bullets.

Terminal performance was completely satisfactory. Doing significant damage to both lungs and tearing through the top of the heart. Blood was significant and easy to find, even in the heavily browsed, nearly barren, muddy field.

Once she made it to the woods the blood trail was easy to walk by flashlight. The doe made it approximately 75-100 yards.

[earl54]

Accurate 36-180F - 1300 FPS at 15 feet. 19 pigs 60 to 200lbs, 25 feet to 75 yards. Longest movement from hit, 15 yards.(hit in rear 1/3 of lungs). 6.5 inch Ruger Blackhawk 2x scope. Tree stand over feeder, population control in hunting club.60 more with Remington 760 carbine, 200 grain cast fullwadcutter no lost pigs yet.

[sixshot]

Did Ruger make a 7.5" Blackhawk, can't remember, but I'm getting old.

Dick

[brant]

Technically…the bisleys were made with 7 1/2”. Not sure about others.