How far is a .357 magnum rifle accurate/effective?

The limiting factors are...

YOU. The sights, the trigger, the inherent accuracy of the rifle, and the ammuntion, in that order.

But the biggest single factor is going to be you, the shooter. The sights on the Marlin carbine are fairly coarse, and the trigger is not a match grade unit. Some folks can shoot them very well, others not so much.

One fellow posted he has made 125yd shots with his revolver. I know guys who con't make that shot with a scoped rifle.

THe Marlin is a great little gun, and at its best under 100yds. However, in the hands of a good shot, twice that is possible.

The rifle and cartridge are capable of cleanly taking game at ranges well beyond the ability of the majority of people to make hits with it. But thats true with most rifles. The most important factor in "how far will it be accurate & effective" is the shooter. And since I don't know how well you can shoot, I won't give any other answer.;)
 
1.5" group at 100 with a 8" handgun

REALLY would like to see that on video Win 94 I'll shoot a 1" at 100 with my Raven 25acp right after that !!!
 
This is the only real world info I can gice you. This last Deer season my freind Kirby used his older Marlin short barelled cabine, topped with an old lyman reciever sight and loaded with some 160gr. home swaged lead HP's up here on my property, and took a 140lb or so doe at a measured 94yds. He hit point of aim, we had it sighted about 1" high at 75 yards. The bullet went though the heart lung area, shredding everything pretty well and exiting the far side. TheDoe was neatly piled up about 75' away. Granted only one animal one time from one gun with "homebrew" bullets, but to me that is fairly standard performance for this rig. So I would say that it is probably goo somewhat past that, dpending on the shooters skills. None of us have personaly been able to shoot 1.5" at 100 yards with a revlover of any kind, but we pretty good shots, not great shots, there is a difference. So YMMV.

Willy
 
IME, using the Marlin lever rifle, 125 yards the bullet really started to drop. This using home cast 158 grain bullets.

I've heard of guys using 170 grain bullets through the carbine and getting nearly 30-30 energy from the little gun. Once upon a time I went through the calculations and I guess you could get about 1800 fps from that combination in theory.
 
I find it funny that in another thread people were saying that 150 yards is max for a 7.62x39 and the 30-30, but in this thread the MUCH WEAKER 357 magnum is good for 125 yards. Don't kid yourself, at 100 yards and beyond the 357 has half the power of the 30-30 and the 39. Both are much more powerful cartridges. Even hotter than the regular 44 magnum loads.

energy figures
30-30
muzzle 100 200 300 400 500
1827 1355 989 720 535 425

357
1175 715 458 337 274 229

7.62x39
1762 1403 1105 863 672 528

based on these numbers I don't think you could justify anything more than 60-80 yards max.

here is the link to the other thread.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193267
 
+1 stellite. A 357 even in a carbine is no good on whitetails beyond 75 yards. A 44Mag you can get to 100 yards. Beyond those distances its unethical. Of course if you get a perfectly placed shot it will be longer, but don't count on it. If you are going over those distances get a 30-30 or better.

Also I don't see what your pistol caliber has to be with anything. Okay back in the day when you'd be carrying your worldly goods on your horse you would want to have a single caliber ammo for pistol and rifle, but let's get real. This isn't 1880 and you aren't living with your horse. Your hunting rifle should be the best caliber for your circumstances and game. For whitetail in my opinion a .44Mag is the smallest carbine caliber which is ethical for under 100 yards. Go over that and you should be in a real rifle caliber.
 
I understand that this post is a year old. Just was doing a search on 357 mag rifles/carbine and came across it.

I have an H&R single shot (20" barrel) with a Vortex Viper 2-7 scope on it. Been loading some diff loads, trying to max-out the 357 magnum.

Funny that people are talking about 2 inch groups at 50 yards - maybe with iron sights. I've got a load that is under an inch at 100 yards...

My absolute favorite is a 158 XTP flat point over a zealous load of Lil Gun - velocity is over 2,000 FPS (likely closer to 2200 or 2300) and the bullets cut holes at 100 yards off a bench. (It shoots the same height as a 125 gr load pushing 2200 fps) At these velocities, it is a 150-yard gun using the 1,000# mantra. If I can get it to 2400 fps, it will be a 200-yard gun with 1000#.

The standard handgun max loads for XTP 180 gr HP keep the bullets in the 1600-1700 fps range and shoot about 1.5 inch at 100 yards. It is all the bullet itself can handle, so why push it? The accuracy is good enough.

The Barnes XPBs shoot 2.5-4 inches with differing powder loads. I'm not into dropping that much money on solid copper bullets when I can keep my cost down with very reliable XTPs.

This started out as a fun project - something to do for relaxation. The .357 magnum has surprised me. I am hoping to get out in another week on a deer hunt where I can use it. That will be the true test - a 158 gr XTP FP behind the shoulder at 100 yards....how far will it go? Full penetration? Almost all the way? Hopefully, we'll see.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top