.357 whitetail round input please

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Wanted an 8 w my dads gun. Did it. Shot a coyote on the run with it too. Bud thought i was nuts yote hunting w revolver.....until then LOL

Same load..... Hornady Leverevolution.

Another bud of mine shoots.357 on deer.....Marlin lever gun. 180 jhp pushed as fast as he can. Says out to 100 it works so well he dumped his .357 max. He's 12 for 12
 
i guess that would be a jacketed SP. they open but stay together to.

That's my preference any more with .357 revolver for deer, or the XTP FP instead of the HPs. In the carbine I prefer the Deep Curls or the FPs. 158 grainers for me, gives the best balance of velocity/trajectory and penetration..
 
I have a few boxes of PMC 158s. That was my plan but the Leverevolution shot scary good so stopped there.
 
My gp does group those federal jsp's very well. I did some digging on the web and seems like a lotta folks are getting over 1300 fps in 4" guns. So my 6" should be getting atleast that. Maybe I'll just keep trucking along with them for now. Still interested k. Hearing experiences though.
 
All this information has changed my mind about 357 mag revolver hunting.
My son wants to try it this year & I said a 44 mag only, because of my past hunting success of course.
Blinders is what it was, yet I own about 6 of the 357 magnums & he only has the one & it never
crossed my mind to use them for Deer hunting & again the 357 mag is what I carry for self defense from
bear & evil persons while bow hunting.
He has a Dan Wesson in 6" barrel, should I get him a longer barrel perhaps, or will his do well?
He is very good with his cast reloads.
I repent of my past downing of the 357 for deer, you guys are good for revelation.
 
All this information has changed my mind about 357 mag revolver hunting.
My son wants to try it this year & I said a 44 mag only, because of my past hunting success of course.
Blinders is what it was, yet I own about 6 of the 357 magnums & he only has the one & it never
crossed my mind to use them for Deer hunting & again the 357 mag is what I carry for self defense from
bear & evil persons while bow hunting.
He has a Dan Wesson in 6" barrel, should I get him a longer barrel perhaps, or will his do well?
He is very good with his cast reloads.
I repent of my past downing of the 357 for deer, you guys are good for revelation.
I can't see why a 6" wouldn't do the trick as long as he does his part and keeps the range reasonable. Please share if he bags one :thumbup:
 
I like the 180 grain Remington hollow point out of my 6" SA revolver. I limit my shots to less than 75 yards, and so far i am 3 for 3 with one shot. Deer went only about 25 yards after being hit with high shoulder shots.
 
I can't see why a 6" wouldn't do the trick as long as he does his part and keeps the range reasonable. Please share if he bags one

He is a very good shot with the revolver at 50 yards, that is standing with a slow aim & smooth trigger. I need to get him out on our place
with some groundhogs or something first, he has killed a few deer & all were excellent placement, I guess I just worry about an old habit he
used to have of jerking the trigger when he first started with the bow then the rifle. It is just a Dad thing. I already have a place for him to
set up where he won't be shooting over 40 yards & from a Tent like he did good in last year with the Xbow.
I sure will make sure his work gets sent here if successful, I know he will have the opportunity. It never fails there with the right wind.
 
I personally like good penetration from my bullet choices. That said, whitetail- even big whitetail- aren’t hard to punch through. I also like expanding bullets on deer and frankly, the .357 will benefit from an increase in diameter. I am a big fan of the A-frame, but Federal does load it a bit light. The XPB is a bullet that does a lot of damage, and Buffalo Bore offers a good load with this bullet. While placement is always critical, the .357 doesn’t offer a lot of margin for error, therefore, make sure that whatever you choose you can shoot accurately.
 
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All....

They are a game animal that responds positively (negatively?) to expansion and velocity.

While I agree with Max 100%, when it comes to expanding handgun bullets, one needs to realize that many of them are designed to expand at relatively low velocities and when hitting fairly soft tissue and are made more for SD against 2 legged predators as opposed to medium to large size game. This is very true when it comes to .357. 90% of it's usage is for plinking and SD/HD and the majority of expanding bullets in that caliber are designed as such. Choose a good bullet designed for hunting deer sized game and you should be fine.
 
I did test a few loads on a deer carcass this spring. Was a deer hit on the road directly in front of my cabin. Large, Northern MN mature doe, should be comparable to your deer. After a quick call to the CO to get permission and and e-mailed possession tag, I dispatched the wounded animal with a headshot from a high powered rifle. A quick inspection revealed severe damage to the front quarters, so I decided to test a couple of rounds from my camp pistol, a 6" Taurus M66.

Federal AE 158 JSP. Fired one through the lungs dead broadside, and one quartering through to far side shoulder. Both passed through and showed evidence of expansion, would have killed a deer cleanly. This is a reliable and accurate load in my handgun, and the low price is a nice bonus.

Nosler 158 JHP max load H110 (IDK if this bullet is available in factory ammo). Same shot angles. Broadside shot passed through with excellent expansion evident. Quartering shot lodged in far side shoulder just under the hide (found when I skinned).

Hornady 125 XTP factory load. Tested only a single double shoulder shot. Severe damage to front side shoulder, no pass through. Bullet lodged in muscle or bone on far side.
 
It’s been many years ago, but I killed a large Midwest doe with a Glock 19. They are not hard to kill.

My wife killed a doe ~7-8yrs ago now with her 2 1/4” SP101 running either Critical Defense or Leverevolution factory ammo. Again - they’re not hard to kill.

If I were making a new plan to do it regularly, rather than simply experimenting for the novelty, my bullet choice would start with Swift, and end with A-Frame.
 
They are not hard to kill.

No they aren't, Tons have been killed with a .22, but wound one and they can be be tough and determined. While .357 is enough for most whitetail, is also is not very forgiving, and does not have a whole lot of margin for error. Very similar to hunting with a bow. I've killed whitetails with anemic Blazer aluminum cased JHPs, but I didn't know better at the time and wouldn't even attempt it again. Still what I had going for me was a distance of less than 30 yards and an optimal shot angle using a rested gun. Like with a bow, penetration is what generally suffers with .357 from a handgun. That is why I prefer a bullet that does not give up all of it's energy inside the deer to expansion. I'd rather have a .390 exit hole on the other side than a .430 projectile short of the boiler room. But that's me. Now, while the Swift is a great bullet, and because like you said, whitetails aren't that hard to kill, I don't feel the need to spend over a buck per projectile(not loaded yet mind you), when there are plenty of other jacketed and hard cast projectiles out there that will work just as well and cost a quarter. But again, that's me.
 
Having never lost a deer with the .357mag I consider the round a good whitetail caliber. I like expansion with bullets used on them. If I had to choose only one bullet wgt/type for deer it would be the 125 grn JHP. The .44mag is excellent but my favorite is the .41mag.
 
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