.357 Magnum rifle question

T

toad13

Inactive
I'm asking for a bud of mine . The H&R handi rifle is offered in this caliber now . Is the speed and knockdown if this bullet sutibale for deer ? I'll probaly be re-loading for him so we can bump it up a notch or two . Also has any one tried this on a deer or anything else . Thanks , Toad .
 
All though several will disagree, I believe the .357 fired from a rifle is quite suitable for deer, at ranges where the shooter can guarantee a proper hit, AND, with the right bullet for the job.

Firing out of a rifle length barrel drives the bullets much faster than from a handgun. Bullets designed to expand at handgun speeds usually expand violently (like varmint bullets) at rifle speeds, and lose a large amount of their penetration.

SO, don't go with the 125gr JHP, or similar type ammo. Choose a heavy (for the caliber) bullet like a 158gr, or a 180 if your gun will shoot them well enough. Hard cast bullets and soft points work better on big game than light hollowpoints out of a rifle.

Keep the range short (for a rifle), pick your shots (and with the H&R, you only get one!) and bring home the venison.

Its not a good 200yd plus cartridge, and many would only go half that, to ensure a humane kill. It is more dependent on your skill with the rifle and ammo you choose, where the upper limit of your effective range is.

Basically our of a carbine the .357Mag, with the proper ammo for the job is a little bit less powerful than a .30-30. Not enough for the deer to notice, if you hit them right, but enough to make hitting them, and what the right place is, a more limited choice.

At over 100yds, I wouldn't take a shot that meant going through the shoulder (or any other heavy) bones. Neck or broadside through the ribs would be ok. Long quartering shots are iffy. If I'm not CERTAIN I can get the hit I want (and need), I won't shoot. The .357 has enough (within its limitations) for deer, but it doesn't have a lot of extra left over, so using it within its limits for humane kills is vital.

Lots of people these days don't think the .357 is enough for deer (or at least lots of people posting on the net think that), preferring to use something else, with a larger envelope of limitations. The .357 Mag can work, and will work, but you have to do more to make it work right than you do with a full size rifle round.

Since you are looking at deer with a single shot rifle, you might want to consider a larger round, if there are not any other significant considerations. Of course, the bigger the cartridge, the more the recoil, something that can be very noticable in a light single shot rifle. On the other hand, you only shoot it once, at a time....;)
 
Killed a couple deer with my GP100 loaded with 158gr XTP and max load of H110. It put them down fine. One was about 20 yards, the other around 60 yards.

I hunt in woods where the farthest shot may reach 100 yards max. I wouldn't be comfortable beyond that range.

IIRC, H&R also chambers that gun for the 357Maximum. Much bettet option for the handloader.
 
All though several will disagree, I believe the .357 fired from a rifle is quite suitable for deer, at ranges where the shooter can guarantee a proper hit, AND, with the right bullet for the job.

Firing out of a rifle length barrel drives the bullets much faster than from a handgun. Bullets designed to expand at handgun speeds usually expand violently (like varmint bullets) at rifle speeds, and lose a large amount of their penetration.

SO, don't go with the 125gr JHP, or similar type ammo. Choose a heavy (for the caliber) bullet like a 158gr, or a 180 if your gun will shoot them well enough. Hard cast bullets and soft points work better on big game than light hollowpoints out of a rifle.

Keep the range short (for a rifle), pick your shots (and with the H&R, you only get one!) and bring home the venison.

Its not a good 200yd plus cartridge, and many would only go half that, to ensure a humane kill. It is more dependent on your skill with the rifle and ammo you choose, where the upper limit of your effective range is.

Basically our of a carbine the .357Mag, with the proper ammo for the job is a little bit less powerful than a .30-30. Not enough for the deer to notice, if you hit them right, but enough to make hitting them, and what the right place is, a more limited choice.

At over 100yds, I wouldn't take a shot that meant going through the shoulder (or any other heavy) bones. Neck or broadside through the ribs would be ok. Long quartering shots are iffy. If I'm not CERTAIN I can get the hit I want (and need), I won't shoot. The .357 has enough (within its limitations) for deer, but it doesn't have a lot of extra left over, so using it within its limits for humane kills is vital.

Lots of people these days don't think the .357 is enough for deer (or at least lots of people posting on the net think that), preferring to use something else, with a larger envelope of limitations. The .357 Mag can work, and will work, but you have to do more to make it work right than you do with a full size rifle round.

Since you are looking at deer with a single shot rifle, you might want to consider a larger round, if there are not any other significant considerations. Of course, the bigger the cartridge, the more the recoil, something that can be very noticable in a light single shot rifle. On the other hand, you only shoot it once, at a time....
Click to expand...
44 AMP is spot on with all his comments. I've shot well over 50 deer with a 357, all but seven with a handgun. I've never lost a deer to this caliber. However, I am very careful where I place my shots (same as bowhunting) and I've never found any inadequacies with this round. I can tell you that bullets I've recovered at the hundred yard mark expand about sixty percent less than the ones at the thirty five yard mark. In all fairness to the animal, keep the range no more than a hundred yards. It will kill them farther but you will not get reliable expansion.
 
Toad13:

The .357 magnum is a marginal caliber for deer. It calls for pinpoint accuracy: a skill that most people don't have with a pistol at fifty yards. With a rifle shots can be made too a 100 yards: meaning a neck shot or a shot through the lungs on a broadside shot. What if the deer won't hold still for that precise shot. If the deer is movong the shot would have to be held. We don't need wounded deer, use enough gun.

Semper Fi.


Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
As mentioned the limited power factor of the 357 requires more selfcontrol than a more powerful round. If the shooter can absolutely ensure only taking a broadside, standing shot under 125 yards, then I'd say it will work.
 
Once again, as in Salmoneye's link, we have a question about a specific round without any info about the anticipated shooting environment. Small deer and dense cover (short shots): sure a .357 Mag will work. Big deer and little cover (long shots): no way. It's the middle ground that's iffy. When in doubt, ask the locals where you'll be hunting.
 
I am divided on this one.

On the one hand, a 158-160 gr .357 bullet at 1,600 fps (approx 900 fpe), while not even close to a 30-30 (170 gr at 2,100 fps, approx 1700 fpe), is better than a 32-20 (100 gr at 1500 fps, approx 500 fpe), once considered a fine deer cartridge. Of course, back then people were generally shooting at close range and were far better at tracking than we are today on average. They also were not terribly concerned about "humane kills", as just about anything that was shot in the right place would probably die soon enough. One of my hunting partners shot and killed his first deer with a Remington pump in 25-20 and it was enough for the job, but even he will admit he would have rather had a 30-30.

On the other hand, while many people using this caliber are capable of fine accuracy, other people seeing them might try to emulate them and wind up adding dead or crippled deer to the countryside at an alarming rate. I once helped a man track a supposedly wounded deer he shot with an M1 Carbine, and when we found it, it was mostly unharmed except for a hole in its shoulder, nothing vital. One shot from a 7X57 brought it down.

So, in summation, if you are capable, and will choose your shots well, sure, it will work fine. Otherwise, reconsider.
 
More then enough for deer. The Trading Post got in a bunch of NEF single shot 357 mag rifles and they couldn't keep them on the shelves. Guys were buying them for their kids and going to walmart and purchasing a hundred round count of 38spl for them to practice with. They would come back later in the summer and buy high end 357mag rounds for deer hunting that fall.
 
I get kind of tired of all the guys on here saying it's not enough gun but have never used it, and have nothing to offer based on real life experience. Too many keyboard experts and not enough real hunters. Also, way to many think a gut shot 458 magnum is better than a lung shot 357. Lots of guys want to substitute "big gun" for "no practice/ability". Shot placement kills deer, not muzzle energy. If you can't hit the vitals you shouldn't be shooting at it with any gun.
 
For what it's worth, the factory does not offer the Handi in .357Max. However, you can join up over at Graybeard Outdoors and rent the reamer quite reasonably and do the job yourself in about 30 minutes. Then ya got a choice of 3 cartridges. Personally I'd take the Max over the Mag any day, even tho it's a handload proposition. Goat
 
With a 180 gr cast or bonded bullet, it will shoot in one side and out the other of a broadside whitetail at 125 yds. Deer scrambled a short distance then piled up. Cor-Bon makes an excellent 180gr .357 hunting load. I used e same load out of a 6.5" Ruger Blackhawk on several feral hogs. It zipped right through pigs less than 100-125 lbs. I did not get complete pentration on several larger hogs.
 
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Bullet placement is everything. Stalking and camouflage or blinds really help. The .357 is sufficient, but is the person wielding the gun up to the task?
 
Firing out of a rifle length barrel drives the bullets much faster than from a handgun. Bullets designed to expand at handgun speeds usually expand violently (like varmint bullets) at rifle speeds, and lose a large amount of their penetration.

SO, don't go with the 125gr JHP, or similar type ammo. Choose a heavy (for the caliber) bullet like a 158gr, or a 180 if your gun will shoot them well enough. Hard cast bullets and soft points work better on big game than light hollowpoints out of a rifle.
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Exactly!

Hornady took this into consideration, and designed two 158gr XTP bullets...The first is the one they load commercially, and it is the HP/XTP...It opens great at handgun speeds (700fps-1400fps), but violently at rifle velocities...The other bullet is the FP/XTP...They call it a 'flat point', but it does indeed have a small hollow cavity in the nose...It differs from the hollow point in that they wrapped the jacket up and over the point to the hollow...It is designed to open from 1200-1700fps...

There are commercial loadings (Buffalo Bore comes to mind) that make a .357 rifle shine in the deer woods...
 
Depending on the bullet weight and barrel length, a .357 rifle can add up to 600 FPS over a handgun barrel.
If you can put it in the right spot, with the right bullet, it's more than ample for deer at 100 yards.
Denis
 
I've killed a bunch of deer with a .357 Mag rifle. Never lost one. Shot placement is important with any round/gun.
 
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