Marlin 1894 .357mag for whitetail?

K

kjm

New member
I have a marlin in .357 and I was wondering if any of you have used this on whitetail? It seems like it would do a pretty good job of it, but before I take it out, I want to be sure. If you've used this rifle, how did it do for you?
 
Three fifty-seven does a dandy job on deer. It is a caliber who's power is greatly influenced by barrel length and the Marlin gives 357 Magnum a lot of power. Almost 30-30 power! A rifle in that configuration can hurl a 180 grain bullet at about 2000+ FPS. Just stay away from JHP's, they sometimes fail to expand and companies like Hornady claim that for optimal performance, not to exceed 1600 FPS with their JHP's. Use a hard cast LBT gas checked bullet for best results.

Used a 627PC last year and it work just fine. Dumped a 250+ lbs deer with ease.

Robert



[This message has been edited by Robert the41MagFan (edited August 15, 2000).]
 
IMO, the 357 is a short range deer cartridge at best,even from a rifle. If you hunt thick areas, and keep your shots within 50 yards and can place that bullet accurately, you'll get swift,humane kills.

Otherwise, there's better cartridges for deer.
 
Here is an article from sixguns.com, it has a good section about 357 Magnums from both handguns and levers. IMO, just do it! It will more than do the job and you can claim bragging rights too.

http://www.sixgunner.com/paco/huntingguns.htm

robertpic.JPG


Robert
 
Thanks for the article. I feel a lot more confident now. The marlin is comfortably accurate out to 100 yards, and I have never had to shoot further than 75 in all my hunting days, so as long as I can feel confident in her knock-down power, I'll use it. I only bought the gun because it seemed like a good idea at the time, but I always thought that my '06 was a bit much for the small deer we have and the close shots that we take. It's looking like the little marlin might be the ideal rifle after all.
 
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