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Post by bushog on Oct 19, 2024 18:07:20 GMT -5
Cats are the biggest problem I worry about here in N NM…. Bears too but in reality both usually run when they see me….
Any more I carry my .41sp L frame or a Smith M15-3. Neither is a magnum but make me feel better and make noise which in reality is probably all you need.
Anybody here actually been attacked by a bear?
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tj3006
.375 Atomic
Posts: 2,084
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Post by tj3006 on Oct 19, 2024 18:12:41 GMT -5
If you remove the ports from the Grizzlies you pretty much have a Python.
...tj
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Post by bradshaw on Oct 19, 2024 18:46:14 GMT -5
I dislike the 357 as general purpose field cartridge. In order to be effective it has to be pushed fairly hard with the attendant high pressures and muzzleblast. I shoot enough critters that it takes a toll on my hearing. My ears are much happier with a 220-280 gr bullet loafing along around 1000fps and that covers everything in Maine. 41 Special and slightly warm 45 colt loads in other words. Eric ***** I really dig this. While putting the crimp on a pair of Black Angus steer the other day, the first was down, brain panned with the Ruger 03 .45 Colt and Tank Hoover’s 330-335 grain SWC deep seated over 10.9/HS-6, a bit of a thumper, yet well under magnum shock wave. Immediately holstered the Ruger 03 to drew the Ruger .357 Maximum 10-1/2” with the Bradshaw-Martin cast, powder coat 194 SWC GC over 18.5/H4227 for the second steer, which had decided I was bad news and would neither stand still or allow me to get close. “Hey!” one of the boys yelped as I dropped the hammer. He was closer than I realized, yet he should have been on alert prior to the first shot. Some years ago I stopped by while a bit of pig slaughter was in play, and this same country boy invited me to do the honors on the last pig. Likewise, the last pig standing was in retreat. Walking to the pasture, I drew my nickel 8-3/8” M-29 and centered the red ramp/white outline on the line of the front leg to squeeze off a Federal 44A 240 JHP. The pig ran a small radius circle and fell over. In this case the boys were ready. The fact that I hadn’t tried to get close didn’t surprise any of em. The Bradshaw-Martin194 over 18.5/4227 is about as quite as the .357 Maximum gets. Even so, there's only so much auditory exclusion to go around. Same applies to killing game with a muzzle brake on the rifle----it hurts and I don’t subscribe. Powders with flash suppressant lower muzzle blast. The .454 Casull is monster league, and unless I were hunting from a static position, hearing protection is out. David Bradshaw |
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Post by bushog on Oct 19, 2024 19:48:39 GMT -5
I dislike the 357 as general purpose field cartridge. In order to be effective it has to be pushed fairly hard with the attendant high pressures and muzzleblast. I shoot enough critters that it takes a toll on my hearing. My ears are much happier with a 220-280 gr bullet loafing along around 1000fps and that covers everything in Maine. 41 Special and slightly warm 45 colt loads in other words. Eric ***** I really dig this. While putting the crimp on a pair of Black Angus steer the other day, the first was down, brain panned with the Ruger 03 .45 Colt and Tank Hoover’s 330-335 grain SWC deep seated over 10.9/HS-6, a bit of a thumper, yet well under magnum shock wave. Immediate holstered the Ruger 03 to drew the Ruger .357 Maximum 10-1/2” with the Bradshaw-Martin cast, powder coat 194 SWC GC over 18.5/H4227 for the second steer, which had decided I was bad news and would neither stand still or allow me to get close. “Hey!” one of the boys yelped as I dropped the hammer. He was closer than I realized, yet he should have been on alert prior to the first shot. Some years ago I stopped by while a bit of pig slaughter was in play, and this same country boy invited me to do the honors on the last pig. Likewise, the last pig standing was in retreat. Walking to the pasture, I drew my nickel 8-3/8” M-29 and centered the red ramp/white outline on the line of the front leg to squeeze off a Federal 44A 240 JHP. The pig ran a small radius circle and fell over. In this case the boys were ready. The fact that I hadn’t tried to get close didn’t surprise any of em. The Bradshaw-Martin194 over 18.5/4227 is about as quite as the .357 Maximum gets. Even so, there's only so much auditory exclusion to go around. Same applies to killing game with a muzzle brake on the rifle----it hurts and I don’t subscribe. Powders with flash suppressant lower muzzle blast. The .454 Casull is monster league, and unless I were hunting from a static position, hearing protection is out. David Bradshaw What is this Tank Hoover’s 330-335 grain SWC you speak of? Mold info please? |
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gsokk
.30 Stingray
Posts: 118
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Post by gsokk on Oct 19, 2024 21:08:49 GMT -5
Grizzly and Kodiak are both ported and un-fluted cylinder. I like the new Colt offerings, Can’t wait to shoot the Kodiak...
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Post by bradshaw on Oct 19, 2024 21:37:32 GMT -5
busboy.... don’t know the mold. It’s a rather short ogive SWC, plain base, relatively long bearing surface. I deep seat it to take up air space, burn a grain less powder, hold peak slightly rearward, which I think reduces blast a hair. Sawed the skull in half on the angus shot through the brain the other day. Don’t understand why, the shot fractured a lower hemisphere of the angus cranium. Guess velocity around 1,000 fps. The anneal of powder coating allows plastic deformation more uniform at moderate velocity than most jacketed bullets possess, and over a wider velocity span.
Of course a hard cast penetrates deeper than the same bullet softer, but personal utility doesn't require a surplus. And, often enough, I don’t want it.
I’ve loaded the powder coat Bradshaw-Martin .357 194 SWC GC in .357 Mag brass----12/H110----and so far like it in an old model Blackhawk 4-5/8”. Especially like its modest dum-dum effect. I’d carry it in the woods, hammer down on an entry chamber in the old model. Intend to try the Bradshaw-Martin 194 in a beautiful old S&W Model 19 and a fine J frame M-640.
Neither Lee nor I, nor to the best of my knowledge Dick Thompson, have tried the Bradshaw-Martin cast hard & lubricated. Certainly it should out-penetrate Powder Coat version, albeit communicating less shock.
David Bradshaw
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Post by dobegrant on Oct 19, 2024 22:28:33 GMT -5
I frequently carry the .357 here in Arizona,
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Post by bigbore5 on Oct 19, 2024 22:31:32 GMT -5
That's going to be a handful in a 640
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Post by sixshot on Oct 20, 2024 2:16:40 GMT -5
Frankly I think a good 357 is highly underrated & I've never been without one or a few for over 50 years. No matter what you do with a six gun it always comes back to good bullets & good placement. Put light weight bullets in a 357 & run them full throttle and you probably won't like the results or the muzzle blast. Living in Idaho you can run into Lions, bears, angry moose or bad people, a 357, with good ammo will take care of you if you keep your wits. I've never taken a bear with the 357 but I did take my mountain lion with an 8 3/8's S&W & the Keith bullet, dead cat. Managing recoil under duress is probably more important than horsepower in that situation.
A couple of speed loaders for the 4" S&W 586 or a few speed strips for the Ruger Blackhawk should keep me safe. I don't think a bigger gun would work any better, although you can never have too much ammo. I just read where a young man from Bozeman, Montana was found beaten to death in his tent a couple of days ago, those are the most dangerous animals of all. A staked rope line around a tent with tin cans is a pretty good burglar alarm if you're camped alone, something I've done most of my life. I've had bears come in close but never a human, they would only get one warning & it would be a loud one, the second one would be even louder! A really good flashlight is just as important, good to have it out to one side of you at arms length. I also trade off to a 15 round Kimber in 38 Super when I go to the big city, and a spare mag. If the situation changes you have to change with it, and don't forget that flashlight. One of the good ones can be more important than the gun sometimes.
One time when me & two of my brothers were packed in with the horses & mules the bears started coming in & about the 3rd pr 4th night one of my brothers had had enough, the cans started rattling & he stepped outside the tent & went to work on them with his Marlin 30/30. I think up until then my longest ever standing/laying broadjump was about 6 feet when a rattlesnake buzzed, but that 30/30 going off took me to a whole nother level, can't say how many bears he got but he eliminated our bear problem. I called him the Rifleman for a few days! At that time there were no wolves & almost no Grizzles in the Selway country.
Dick
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Post by 45MAN on Oct 20, 2024 11:05:58 GMT -5
I HAVE PLENTY OF 357's, AND SOME ARE REALLY NICE, BUT I JUST CAN'T PULL MYSELF AWAY FROM ONE OF MY 45 COLTS.
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Post by tentcamper on Oct 21, 2024 9:46:27 GMT -5
Unless one is traveling afoot in grizzly country I would think a properly loaded .357 magnum would be just fine. My 8 shot Ruger Red Hawk gets some belt time when I'm in Colorado back country and I certainly don't feel like I need more.
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Post by potatojudge on Oct 21, 2024 10:48:20 GMT -5
The quality of the recoil and blast makes a mild big bore more appealing than a 357. Earbud technology has come so far and while I've always used muffs when shooting, power tools have taken their toll and so I do very little without some kind of ear plug or closed system ear bud. The existence of the L frame 44, mid frame Ruger, and the FA97 mean I can choose between a mid bore and a big bore without having to carry a larger gun.
My DA education was with a beat up but smooth 586 that I still enjoy, and I have and shoot lots of 357, but it's nice to be prepared for an attacker that's reluctant to give up the fight.
If I was going to get serious about woods carrying a 357 again it would probably be a Smith 386
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James
.30 Stingray
Posts: 498
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Post by James on Oct 21, 2024 13:34:18 GMT -5
Having hunted north east, north central and western PA I can agree with your 357.... many years ago I would carry a 22mag when in the PA woods...
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nicholst55
.375 Atomic
Retired, twice.
Posts: 1,142
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Post by nicholst55 on Oct 21, 2024 15:53:01 GMT -5
IIRC, Major Wesson dispatched all North American big game with the then new S&W .357 Magnum revolver back in the day - up to and including a polar bear. That particular incident sounds like it was more just killing the bear than it was actually hunting, though.
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Post by reflex264 on Oct 21, 2024 15:59:22 GMT -5
I would never feel under gunned with one of my .357s. If I carried one for defense it would probably be a model 19 with 158 SWC at about 1200 fps. Truthfully if headed to the woods and feel like I may get bit I'll grab a G23 Glock with 180 grain Ranger T ammo. I do enjoy shooting my .357s and the only time I would step up from that is in big bear country. 4.2" Redhawk for that.
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