Have any of you taken deer with a .357 revolver?

I have killed a few with a .357. I would say that a 4” barrel would be the shortest, and 6” would be greatly preferred. Range is pretty limited, I would say 50 yards max with a 6” and about 40 yards max with a 4”. The issue there really is the bullet construction as they just aren’t built for longer range at handgun velocity.

My first .357 kill was a small buck at about 10 yards or less. I was 16. I have a picture of it on Facebook I can try to save and bring over. It was a single, very well placed shot. The deer ran to the edge of the woods and squatted to hop over the fence but stumbled and fell when he tried to jump. He didn’t get up again.

2nd was a doe a few years later. Similar situation. She presented a shot at close range and I shot her quartering away right on the point of the near side leg. She basically did a backflip and was done.

3rd was another doe. Roughly 40 yards. I took the shot and immediately knew I hit a bit too far back so I shot empty as she ran by. I had 4 hits on her and had to track her about 200 yards.

EVERY ONE OF THOSE SHOTS did the same thing. JHP opened up and mushroomed but not uniformly. Stopped under the hide on the far side. Those were factory loads. Basic Remington JHP loads from Walmart. All launched from a 6” Taurus 689. I wish I still had the gun.

The best thing I can tell somebody about using a 357 is that it’s marginal. It’s enough, but the shot has to be good because there’s not a whole bunch of extra anything and the wiggle room to still get a quick kill is small. 44 has more energy and does more damage as it goes through. A 44 is harder to hit with though for some folks as the recoil is significantly more, and the guns are generally physically larger so they may be hard for some folks to hold and aim properly. Personally, I like the 357 but in factory form I won’t shoot it at critters anymore. My hand loads are pretty hot and do the trick well enough. I currently don’t have a 357 to hunt with though, I moved on to a 10mm. I need to get another 357, and I keep looking at used guns. I want 8 or 10 inch though. Anything to help velocity.

If you're accurate, the 357 is plenty for whitetail.
I use a 6.5in Blackhawk with 158 or 180grn XTP's loaded max with VV N110.
I've had obvious expansion, and never recovered a bullet. Through and through.
When I do my part the 357 has been excellent.
If you put it where you need to, it doesn't matter if it's a 357, a 44, a 454 or a Freightliner, it will work.

I've killed many large Appalachian white tail deer with the 10mm, which is a ballistic twin for the 357. If you do your part is plenty of gun for 50-75 yard shots. I use xtp bullets. Nothing fancy

I’m right there with you. I’m going out this year with a .357 for deer. Fingers crossed.

S&W 686 4”, hand loads. 158gr Hornady XTP over 14gr 2400 and a SPMP. I had slightly better consistency with the magnum primer.

I’ve been reading over the past year and got a lot of the same feedback as the above posts. I’ll keep my shots under 30rds.

Happy hunting and good luck.

Yes....four to be exact. 6" 686 using 158gr JSPs, or XTPs over a hefty charge of H110/W296. All were shot within 30 yards.

Yep, using a TC and a 10” barrel. I like using JSP or JHPs in 38 calibers, and used the Gold Dot 158 JHP bullet.

Security Six, 2 3/4", Lyman 357446, 13 grains old Hercules 2400. Target of opportunity while trailing my son's deer. Wouldn't recommend that load. Was only fifteen yards.
Ruger Blackhawk, 6 1/2", 358156, 14.5 H2400. Doe, 30 yards, hit higher than intended, broke spine. Would use it again.

No, I have taken 2 deer with a .44 mag.

However, I did take out a jackass.
My son was in Tractor Supply to get some chickens. Got to talking with a guy, son said coyotes had been in his chickens and I had lost a calf. Guy offers him a jackass for FREE.
We were constantly fixing fence, told him to get rid of it before I shot it. He bit my yellow Lab and tried to stomp him.
2 weeks later, we are fixing fence. I hear a scream and see that jackass has my colt by the neck. I hollered and take off in their direction. Son says he is going for rifle. Jackass turns loose and trots out to 75 yards from me. Stops and turns to look at me and laughs.
I pull the SP101 1 1/2" barrel .357 and fire.
Jackass rears up and falls over backwards.
I walk up, perfect shot, 125 gr JHP right between the eyes.
I hear son, "holy crap, you hit him."

"Of course I did, I meant to." and no more tore up fences.

I have not. My FIL took a couple with a 6-inch Dan Wesson. I prefer a .44 Mag.

I shot two does one morning a few seasons ago with a 10mm Auto revolver and I asked them if they could tell the difference between that and 357 Magnum and they could not...

I have taken several deer with my .357 Freedom Arms 353. the farthest was 55 yards, the closest was 10 yards. I use Hornady 180 grain JHP over a very hefty dose of WW 296 giving me close to 1600 FPS out of the 6" barrel. This load CANNOT be used in most .357 revolvers and I will not give the powder charge weight, but the FA353 is very heavy duty and is built for heavy loads. I have never recovered a bullet from the deer I shot. All had complete pass thrus, and exit wounds about ping ball size.

Yes, with a 10" Contender loaded with 180/187 LBT to approx 1400 fps.
Once, while fixing fence on my FIL's farm - harvested a nice deer with an M10,
perfect head shot at approx 20 yds. 38 Spl with 140 gr TCFP at approx 1000 fps.
While very "dooable" with 357 Mag [and many do so], pick my shots very carefully;
Prefer 41 Mag (250 gr at 1200 fps) or 45 Colt (255 gr at 1000 fps).

I haven't, never got a shot with any caliber pistol. My son got one, and has coup de gras'd several more. The one he got was about 20 yards away.

Not personally but a good friend and his Taurus Model 66 6” has taken more deer that I ever have. Really good Hunter. His was very successful with the .357. Now that is NY hunting, rare for a shot to be over 40 yards. I am a .44 Magnum guy myself but if you can hit the kill zone why not. Don’t know what rounds he used, he wasn’t a reloader.

About 6 years ago I did some tests on .357 ammo with different bullet weights. I was thinking about taking out my Marlin levergun in .357 Magnum for White Tails. The results were surprising and good IMO.

I used a now discontinued Sierra JHC bullet line.
140gr JHC - H110 - AV 1976 fps - SD 7.8 fps
140gr JHC - 2400 - AV 1930 fps - SD 10.6 fps

150gr JHC - H110 - AV 1826 fps - SD 18.6 fps
150gr JHC - 2400 - AV 1810 fps - SD 11.6 fps

170gr JHC - H110 - AV 1699 fps - SD 9.1 fps
170gr JHC - Lil'Gun - AV 1793 fps - SD 19.1 fps *** That's high velocity!

I also tested 180gr Cast Performance WFNGC bullets in the Marlin
The velocities were impressive especially with Lil'Gun
180gr WFNGC - H110 - AV 1547 fps - SD 18.2 fps
180gr WFNGC - Lil'Gun - AV 1657 fps - SD 19.8 fps *** 110 fps more than H110!

Yes

S&W M27 8-3/8" killed 2
16.8gr WIN 296 under 158 Speer Deepcurl
They go around 1,400 out of that gun. It works well. Expansion and short trail.

Used my 6" M28 for a couple more, these with 158gr hardcast LSWC wit a bit less oomph, but no slouches with around 13.5 grains of 2400 probably doing 1,300 fps. These passed through. Short trail, one made it about 130 yds.

Only one deer was of considerable size, an 8 point buck around 190 lbs. The others were all antlerless no greater than 120 lbs.

Shot placement is everything, missing the heart/lungs completely and they could run a long, long ways. I keep my handgun hunting to archery stands, and archery distances. I have no desire to even try past 40 yds where the patridge style post begins to cover more of the target. If I'm hunting in an area where a further shot is possible I'll use a rifle.
I don't understand attempting long handgun shots just for the sport of it when in the field.

bernie said:

I appreciate all the input. I am primarily a bow hunter but gun hunt with a revolver. I use an open sighted .41 but have been having some issues being able to see the sights. I have been thinking about a scoped GP100 with a 6” barrel, possibly shooting heavy cast bullets. You guys are helping me to make up my mind.

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A Ruger Blackhawk may be a better choice for hunting because you can shoot very hot loads through it. It's single action only trigger is better than the gp100s trigger. You can also get a convertible model with an extra cylinder in 9mm which is an added bonus. I have both guns and if I were going to hunt with a 357 it would be the Blackhawk.

Yes, exactly one. We'd been working cattle in the back of the place and I happened to have my 4.75" SAA clone on my hip. Rode around the corner of the feed barn and there stands a doe at the mineral feeder. Dad hollers "pop her!" so I did. She was about 20 steps (not yards) from me, looking at us and the horses we were on. Shot her in the little white patch under her throat, down she went. No twitching. I thought it was a pretty good shot, considering it was one-handed off the back of a horse. I think the ammo was some old Winchester-Western 158 JSP's; can't remember any of the specs, but they darn sure did the job.

Mac

I have the same revolver as @Fyrstyk ,the Freedom 83 in 357. I was considering sitting out back with it this season, as it's accuracy is second to none for me at 25yds, but I couldn't get any 180 XTPs in time to work a good load for it. The 158, while I'm quite sure will do the job, just seemed a little on the light side. I like when they go down in a heap.


Shot placement is everything, but I'll feel better trying it next season with just a bit heavier bullet.
The Super Red with my hot 45 Colt loads will be the revolver of choice tomorrow morning

Good Luck

I did take a deer with a Rossi 357 mag Levergun with a 16inch barrel… performed perfectly

bigpower491 said:

I have the same revolver as @Fyrstyk ,the Freedom 83 in 357. I was considering sitting out back with it this season, as it's accuracy is second to none for me at 25yds, but I couldn't get any 180 XTPs in time to work a good load for it. The 158, while I'm quite sure will do the job, just seemed a little on the light side. I like when they go down in a heap.


Shot placement is everything, but I'll feel better trying it next season with just a bit heavier bullet.
The Super Red with my hot 45 Colt loads will be the revolver of choice tomorrow morning

Good Luck

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The FA Model 83 is not the same as the 353. The cylinder on the 353 is larger, with more metal between the 5 chambers.

Fyrstyk said:

The FA Model 83 is not the same as the 353. The cylinder on the 353 is larger, with more metal between the 5 chambers.

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Holy, and I thought the cylinder on mine was quite mammoth for the cartridge.

This question pops up occasionally. I hunted deer with .357 during Illinois "handgun-only " deer season .
I positively remember at least six with my .357s.
I was/am a poor boy and always reloaded my own ammo. My loads were mild but accurate. Looking back, I probably didn't have the necessary velocity to bloom my 158gr XTPs. I also used my cast LNFP 158s.

My experience was always successful, but I had some long blood trails. I compared my .357 experience to shooting a deer with a field point arrow. A deer can go a long ways with a pencil sized through and through.....even through the lungs.
I had good success with. 45colt, then our county was excluded from the late-season program. The laws also changed to allow slug guns so I haven't used a .357 for years.