357 Magnum loads for hunting

GlockZ

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Don't see much on here when it comes to pistol hunting, but I do enjoy another challenge. I use a Ruger SRH in 480 with a bit of success on deer, and just recently picked a GP-100 in 357 as another interesting way to take deer, and was wondering what loads and bullet combo's some of you are using? I was leaning towards a 158 grain JSP as a possible load for deer. Thoughts?
 
I'm a dedicated handgun hunter. The 158 JSP is a fine choice in .357. My personal opinion is to load it as hot and safe as you can and limit yourself to deer size animals out to about 75 yards max.

Good luck with it!
 
I also have a GP-100 in .357 My daughter and I have used Hornady XTP 158 gr to harvest a handful of whitetails out to 70 yards. They have performed well and dropped some of the deer in their tracks. I have a scope mounted on mine, I think it's like a 2-7 power. I also have played with the Buffalo Bore 158 gr bullets. These are soft lead, flat nose, not jacketed HP. They really make the gun bark and are fun to shoot but I have not shot one at a deer because I don't know what would happen with that type of bullet. Would it flatten out into nothing and loose it's energy and mass in a hurry? Anyway, have fun playing!!
 
I'm a dedicated handgun hunter. The 158 JSP is a fine choice in .357. My personal opinion is to load it as hot and safe as you can and limit yourself to deer size animals out to about 75 yards max.

Good luck with it!
Yup, I was already set at a maximum of 75 yards with it, especially since I’ll be using the iron sights. Just as a side note, my 480 Ruger SRH is scoped and I’m proficient with it out to 150 yards, which is the max distance I’ve used it.
 
I also have a GP-100 in .357 My daughter and I have used Hornady XTP 158 gr to harvest a handful of whitetails out to 70 yards. They have performed well and dropped some of the deer in their tracks. I have a scope mounted on mine, I think it's like a 2-7 power. I also have played with the Buffalo Bore 158 gr bullets. These are soft lead, flat nose, not jacketed HP. They really make the gun bark and are fun to shoot but I have not shot one at a deer because I don't know what would happen with that type of bullet. Would it flatten out into nothing and loose it's energy and mass in a hurry? Anyway, have fun playing!!
That was the load I was looking at. Have heard a lot of good things about the XTP bullet. Thanks.
 
I used Hornady XTP bullets with sabots in my .50 cal muzzleloader and they performed really well on deer. I think they were a .44 cal 240 gr, but can't remember for certain.
 
I also have played with the Buffalo Bore 158 gr bullets. These are soft lead, flat nose, not jacketed HP. They really make the gun bark and are fun to shoot but I have not shot one at a deer because I don't know what would happen with that type of bullet. Would it flatten out into nothing and loose it's energy and mass in a hurry? Anyway, have fun playing!!

I shoot the Buffalo Bore 180gr. out of my .357 Blackhawk, they have some pop for sure but I don't know how they function for hunting...
 
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I was reloading the 158gr XTP on top of H110 in my GP100 until I decided that reloading for handguns wasn’t really worth it for my hunting (lions out to 30 yards tops).

I then switched to the 140gr Barnes factory load as I have had such great performance with Barnes in my rifles, but have yet to kill with it.

Curious how they go and if anyone has used them on here.
 
158 JSP put deer down just fine. I have used them in my GP100 and M77/357. I personally recommend a 180 gr hard cast out of the pistol for hunting. The 180gr really shines out of the .357 pistol.
 
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