What commercial .357 ammo do you recommend for hunting?

[mod71alaska]

I have a Browning 92 .357 Rem Mag, which is one of my favorite modern lever rifles. What do you like to hunt with .357 and what commercial ammo do you recommend for the .357 hunting you do?

[El Chivo]

I would get one with the Barnes 140 grain XPB bullet. I think that's Cor-bon ammo. I do make my own, but with that bullet. A little extra velocity, very accurate, and the best penetrator out there. I did take a small pig with it.

[FWiedner]

All I currently use in my Marlin is the AE 158gr JSP.

I've hunted Whitetail deer and feral hogs with it. Most were through and through inside 100yds. Broadside vitals shots on deer, neck shots on hogs.

No lost critters.

[Rusty]

The last factory .357 mag stuff I bought was Remington 158 gr. SP. I wouldn't want to go any lighter than that. Heavier would be better.

[86er]

When I hunted exclusively with a handgun for a few years I used Federal Vital Shok 180 SAFE and Fusion 158. We're sufficient on deer, other small sized "big game". I have not used factory 357 ammo in a rifle.

[AJMD429]

There is a 180 grain Sierra factory load with a really wide meplat flat point that I think would be a dandy whitetail round, but all I've shot with it was paper and a few feral cats/dogs over the years. I would use it for deer, but I have a 44 Mag levergun (or two) set up for that and do prefer it due to the bit of extra 'thump' factor.

[Old Ironsights]

Unless you are discounting the Buffalo Bore or Grizzley Cartridge offerings...

[FatJackDurham]

Didnt someone post here a few years ago that MD had a energy minimum for deer hunting that made 357 more difficult?

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l ... tail&p=100

This offering from Buffalo Bore seems ideal. 1800 fps, 180 grain projectile. Seems like a good match.

I have always heard you should use 180s for hunting, but I never can find a 180 projectile to load. What is the right 180 grain projectile for 357? Is it that Barnes XPB up there?

[Tycer]

It also depends on what you are hunting. A 180 on a cottontail might be a bit of overkill.

[Grizz]

here is bearthooth's 185gr:



It exits my trapper at 1724 fps. Haven't made meat with it but have confidence that it can do the job. Marshall's alloy is very tough and reliable.

Grizz

[Pete44ru]

.

Victor, I used Federal 158gr JSP's in my .357 Rossi M92 successfully, for the 3 years I had it, on Maine Whitetails.
One of my hunting partners used the rifle with success too, after I tagged out & went shotgunning - so much that he ended up talking me out of it

I didn't mess around with any other load, since that one did the job.


.

[L_Kilkenny]

I've only used 180gr handloads and handguns for .357 deer but IME just about any 158 on up of decent design (no RNs or FMJs) will do for whitetail in your carbine. You will gain some margin for error with the true powerhouse and designer loads but if you hit in the boiler room not a deer in the world will get away with good 'ol fashioned, off the shelf stuff. Just avoid the light weigh SD oriented ammo and you should be fine.

[jmiller]

I've only used 180gr handloads and handguns for .357 deer but IME just about any 158 on up of decent design (no RNs or FMJs) will do for whitetail in your carbine. You will gain some margin for error with the true powerhouse and designer loads but if you hit in the boiler room not a deer in the world will get away with good 'ol fashioned, off the shelf stuff. Just avoid the light weigh SD oriented ammo and you should be fine.

Right on the money! I've shot over 50 whitetails with the 357 and I've used 158 and 180 grain bullets with success. I ended up using 158 most of the time since this round loses energy fast past 75 yards and the 180s will no longer expand to any useful amount. In fact, the 158s begin to perform poorly for expansion past this distance.

[44-40 Willy]

I've had excellent results with Winchester 145gr Silvertips on deer, but any good 158gr JSP would probably do just as good and be cheaper. And the Silvertips have gotten very difficult to find locally.

That being said, I've been loading my own for years now and haven't really kept up with what's going on with factory ammo.

[FatJackDurham]

That 75 yard range is good info to know for actual hunting with a .357. I wondered about that.

[BigSky56]

Double Tap ammo makes some HC & jacketed that are more than suitable for hunting and less $ than BB. I load my own 180's HC, cast performance or beartooth bullets. danny
http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalo ... Path=21_27

[El Chivo]

That Barnes XPB is the same length as a 180, it stabilizes like a 180. Powder room left in the case is similar to a 180 - I use 180 load data. They act like 180's without the bullet drop. When considering a Barnes bullet, weight isn't so important, thinking heavy is old school. A forum member did penetration tests with several bullets and the Barnes XPB 140 out-penetrated the 180's in lead.

The petals are designed to open up at handgun velocities, as low as 900 fps. At short range they may fold straight back like a banana peel or come off, leaving you with a 30 caliber solid. But between 100-200 yards they should open nicely.

If you think you might have a longer shot, these might help. For shorter shots anything will work.

[Old Ironsights]

I would expect the sectional density of an all-copper bullet to be pretty good...

FWIW, when I'm not shooting 180gr hardcast I keep Federal Premium 180gr SJHP in my .357s.

The Barnes 140s are fine out of a rifle, but for whatever reason I don't care to shoot anything under 158 out of my SP101 and really don't like to shoot those.

For my recoil preference, I prefer 180s in my snubbys (same with the 40S&W)

But out of a rifle, IMO, Accuracy First, Weight Second, Velocity third...

[Marlin32]

180gr Federal will do on deer. Have shot many with it, great performance, limited distance is obvious, but you know that if using the 357

I use my 32 special now, or the 338 Marlin, but I would not be afraid to try the buffalo bore 180's

[Pete44ru]

what commercial ammo do you recommend for the .357 hunting you do?

Interesting.......................... of the responses so far, to Victor's question (if I counted my toes right):

Recommended commercial loads: 6

Handloads: 9



.

[Grizz]

I was thinking about this...

I can whole heartedly recommend commercial ammo loaded to the specs I stated. I think Buffalo Bore comes closest.

there, I fixed it.......

[jcw]

[quote="Grizz"]here is bearthooth's 185gr:



It exits my trapper at 1724 fps. Haven't made meat with it but have confidence that it can do the job. Marshall's alloy is very tough and reliable.

I have a good supply of those things loaded up over both 2400 and unique. The coyotes never knew what hit them. I have taken one small black bear for sausage fixings with two shots out of my S&W Highway Patrolman.

[jcw]

what commercial ammo do you recommend for the .357 hunting you do?

Interesting.......................... of the responses so far, to Victor's question (if I counted my toes right):

Recommended commercial loads: 6

Handloads: 9
Your right, When I have to go commercial, I use Federal Premium Vital-Shok 180 gr. cast core.