recommend some .357 deer hunting ammo

Any good quality ammo with 158 grain JHP/JSP should work fine. I'm partial to the Speer Gold Dot, but I think any of the new bonded bullets are probably just as good. I definitely wouldn't use anything with bullets lighter than 140 grains.

How well you hit the deer is going to be far more critical than your choice of ammo.
 
Buffalo Bore has two loads of 357 magnum that I would recommend and use.
A 180 Grain LFN at 1400 fps and a 158 Grain SP at 1475 fps. Either one should get the job done if you do your part and have an accurate hit!!

Both of these rounds are even better through my Winchester 92 trapper with a 16 in barrel. :D
 
solids.
Federal and Buffalo Bore have 180gr lead solids.
You don't need a sp or hp with a bullet this size, you do need penetration.
 
I don't hunt, but my guess is that it really depends on your location. Some people think deer are >250 lb and some people refer to deer as being barely over 100 lb soaking wet. Where I live in the south east, they are small and distances in the brush are such that it really doesn't require the same load as say a large deer in the midwest.
 
Federal 140gr Vital-Shok (Barnes' XPB all-copper bullet)
W-W 145gr Silvertip
W-W 180gr Partition Gold
W-W, R-P, Fed 158gr SJHP
Hornady 140, 158gr XTP or their new 140gr LeverEvo ammo
Speer 158gr Gold Dot
Federal 158gr Fusion
 
I don't know yet how it will perform on deer, but I was impressed by the oomph, and the accuracy of Federal Fusion 158gr .357 in my 4" GP100.
 
Anything heavier than 125gr. 125gr and lighter will work, but only with perfect shot placement for those bullets, as the bullets are optimised for self defense work, and their expansion retards deep penetration.

While deer are not (mostly :D) huge armored monsters, the shoulder bones have been known to stop the lighter bullets from getting to the vitals. A heavier bullet will ensure this does not happen. Expansion is nice, and useful when it happens, but only when it happens along with the bullet getting to where it needs to go.
 
How can you say that a 180 grain bullet is too heavy for deer?

The most popular deer rifle rifle, a 30-30 Winchester, uses mainly a 170 grain bullet at about 2200 fps. Much, much faster and more powerful than a 357!

I think 180 grain is ideal for deer, and even then at close range!!
 
You say a 170 gr 30-30 but I say a 150 gr .270 works fine for most deer. Considering the .22 mag used to be the popular and effective deer rifle back in the day my opinion having hunted deer, and shot a lot of different things with a lot of different ammo out of my .357 is that a 158 would work fine if you knew where to place it. Just depends on your preferences. Different strokes you know
 
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The 150 gr 270 for deer works because it is traveling much, much faster that a 357 mag. Many times skill and preference are overridden and dictated by the changing circumstances of a hunt.

The 22 mag was sometimes used I never of it being preferred or popular for deer hunting!! Thats just wrong or the product of necessity.
 
Buffalo Bore 180 gr or a milder load is Federal's 180 gr cast core, still no slouch, especially out of a 6"+ barrel.

You definitely don't want HP bullets for deer hunting with a .357 and I wouldn't go below 180 gr, either.
 
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