.357 Magnum for Deer?

If you're close enough I can't see why not. I know several people who use 357 magnum in a 6" revolver for deer and black bear for years. They use 125s or 158s.

It's acceptable out of a revolver with the right bullet and restricting yourself to perfect broadside shots but becomes something else entirely out of a rifle. I don't think it's quite to the level of the .30-30 but very effective out to 150yds with the right bullet. IMHO, out of a rifle, only heavier bullets should be considered. I would test thoroughly and make sure whatever I used held together well at the elevated velocity.

I wouldn't hesitate to hunt deer with 357 Magnum from a carbine, rifle or even a handgun. I would not use a snubby but a 4+ inch revolver no hesitation. I killed two Does two season ago with a 10mm Revolver and it was loaded about the same as most full power 357 Magnum. I would probably select a 158gr or heavier bullet in 357 Mag as I tend to like heavy for caliber bullets in my hunting cartridges.

With the right bullet inside 100 yards and not talking about big mulies, I would say this is a reasonable choice with proper shot placement. If I were to do so, I would want at least a 158 grain bullet driven as fast as possible. If we suffer a feral hog incursion, I will have lil gun based rounds handy for the rifle if I am hunting small game with 38s.

This is not a legal deer rifle in my state. Heck, 44 mag in a rifle is barely legal here.

Sectional density.

ArchAngelCD said:

Why a 158gr bullet over a 140gr bullet? Plenty of deer have been taken with 130gr bullet from other rifles. Granted the velocities are near 3000 fps instead of 2000 fps but white rail deer are not all that hard to kill.

The 140gr bullet @ 1987 fps will deliver 1239 ft/lbs of energy.
The 150gr bullet @ 1826 fps will deliver 1110 ft/lbs of energy.
The 170gr bullet @1793 fps will deliver 1213 ft/lbs of energy.
The 180gr bullet @ 1584 fps will deliver 1002 ft/lbs of energy.

What would a 158gr bullet be necessary?

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I personally put a lot more stock in penetration than energy. I would rather have a heavier bullet to avoid the possibility of not having a bullet continue through the critter. The lighter the bullet, the more likely to have deflection or premature expansion due to higher speed. If I were setting out to hunt deer with a .357 rifle, I would either use the Sierra 158 jsp or I would use a 170 grain or better gas checked lead bullet cast from 16 to 1 alloy.

Mostly, I would be a lot happier using my 35 rem or 3006.

FWIW

From Hornady the 357 Magnum with a 140 FTX or a 158 XTP is indicated for medium game 50-300 lbs with a picture of a deer,

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/handgun/#!/

I voted no because this is a specious question. Can it be used to hunt deer, of course it can, as can a .22lr. Would I choose it over another similarly-priced gun, NO. If you're asking whether it would be ethical to take a particular shot with a .357 Mag. then that depends on a lot of other factors more important than the caliber used.

ArchAngelCD said:

Please don't go OT and suggest other calibers. This discussion is specifically about the .357 Magnum, nothing else.

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Ok. Suffice it to say that I would be inclined to choose something more powerful, bigger caliber, or both.

I’ve taken dozens of deer with .357magnums, a slight majority of which fell to revolvers, but over 20 Kansas and Nebraska whitetails with leverguns. My wife took a doe ‘roundabouts 2011 with a 2.25” SP101 and factory Hornady ammo - I can’t recall now whether it was the Leverevolution or Critical Defense load. She ran about 10yrds and crashed trying to jump fence, very well ventilated, but with a very small exit wound.

I voted yes in the poll, but only within specific confines of short range, low brush/open land. The .357mag does well to 50yrds, fine to 100yrds, and not great to 150. Past 150, it’s a wing and a prayer - it’s just not going to penetrate through to the back side, no matter how much H110 I pack under it, and the punch is more of a tickle fight past 100. Expanding bullets won’t be running fact enough to open properly, and hard cast aren’t going fast enough to deliver their typical punch. So you need to be able to get them close. Equally, if you’re in an area where a 100yrd sprint might mean a lost deer, let alone a quarter mile limp, then the .357mag isn’t for you. In scrub brush woods country or reed/grass, they’re going to be able run far enough to disappear, with potential for too little blood trail for reliable tracking. In good timber country with a leaf-litter floor, or a short range bottleneck on a narrow creek along a beanfield, the .357mag has as good of chance as any.

As @CraigC mentions above - no matter how close the numbers might look to a 30-30, the relatively low sectional density robs the .357mag of potential penetration.

So yes, it’s a viable choice, but it’s BARELY better for range and anchoring power than a high speed compound or crossbow. If you treat it appropriately, it’ll fill your freezer.

I’m also a strong proponent of putting scopes on .357mag leverguns, if you choose to hunt big game with them, to help ensure your shot placement is perfect. Wobbling around with ironsights across a pie pan sized whitetail vital zone at 100yrds is a great way to wound and lose a deer. Get enough magnification to let you find the pocket and place the bullet off of the shoulder. The rifle should be plenty accurate enough to deliver, but the typical semi-buck’s on most of them just don’t let a guy pick his POA tightly enough on game at range. It’s a service to the quarry to place the bullet well, and too few folks can place their aim well enough at 100yrds with open sights. Tradition be damned, get glass or a dot sight on target.

There is another thread on this in the rifle section. My thoughts are it’s adequate to 100 yards. Much past that and the trajectory will start to become difficult without exact rangeing and a drop chart.

I have water jug tested a bunch of bullets in a 12” 357 maximum pistol. The majority of 357 bullets are designed to expand at 357 revolver and even 38 special velocity and will fragment like a varmint bullet if they hit something at 1800+ FPS. The Sierra JHC bullets are really soft and will overexpand from my testing. 158 Sierra JSP’s have really hard cores and expand nicely at 1800 fps. The 180 gr xtp holds up well also but I don’t really like 180’s in 357 mag since they take up so much case capacity. I would use either the 158 jsp Sierra or a 158 gas checked cast bullet if I were going to do it.

I’ve shot 3 with a 357 revolver and I’ve come to consider that inadequate. I have more suitable rifles so I don’t plan to ever shoot another deer with a 357 mag. If I wanted a lever carbine for deer I would get a 44 mag.

I voted no do I think that a 357 magnum in handgun or rifle can kill a Deer yes but you would be better off with a 44 magnum of even a 41 magnum

I place the 357 mag at the low end of adequate for deer.

I did forget to call out - I don’t consider .357mag to honestly be suitable for deer. Capable “enough” is fair, and it’s a far sight better than a 22LR referenced above, but it’s certainly not of the same class to be considered suitable. Most American whitetail hunters are going to be considering 0-200yrds shooting on 150-250lb bucks; the .30-30, 243win, 44mag, 25-06, 7mauser, etc at the low end of whitetail cartridges are capable of fulfilling that need. The .357mag is not.

If you're hunting little farm-deer from a stand at close range, a good, stout .357 load with quality projectiles will do the job humanely, as long as you do your part well.
If you're shooting big deer from across the soybean field or more, you need more gun.

I use it from a 6 5/8” RUGER Blackhawk out to 50 yards so it should be even better from a rifle!
I only use 158 or better solid boolits.

If that buck of a lifetime shows up you'll wish you had more gun. I hunt in the "Shotgun Zone" of southern Michigan and a few years ago it became legal to use certain straight walled center fire cartridges. A lot of people ran out and bought a .450 bushmaster or a .44 lever but I still use my 12 gauge with Hornady SST's. It makes a very large hole.

If you impose a reasonable limit on range, and make a clean shot.
I would restrict myself to 100 with irons and 150 with a scope.
I load as much h110 as I can cram under a 125xtp.
If you load to 360 Dan Wesson o.a.l., it will push a cast 158 over 2000.

Shot placement and distance are key, (as always).
.357 from a Lever should do fine to 100 yds.

Last deer I took was a measured 62 feet away. 6” Python with a 125gr .38 Spl +P. Spine, behind the head, he dropped like a stone.....

someguy2800 said:

My thoughts are it’s adequate to 100 yards. Much past that and the trajectory will start to become difficult without exact rangeing and a drop chart.

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I was going to post something to the effect of knowing your drop and at what distance you are shooting.

If you put the bullet in the right place, it will do the job. However, the farther away you are from the critter, the more challenging this becomes. Not to mention, the slower the bullet is traveling.

As noted, inside 100 yds, trajectory isn't too bad. Backing up to 200 yds, I get around 16" drop when sighted at 100. These are 158 gr. bullets that are leaving the muzzle of my 14" Contender pistol at a little over 1600 fps. I was aiming at the red squares, and you can see where they ended up.



I've got a load in the .357 Maximum that will get 2400 fps from a 140 gr. FTX. One of these days I'll have to see what kind of drop I get at 200 yds with that one.

Using Hornady Leverevolution 140gr. FTX from a 20" barrel, I'm getting 1900 velocity & 1123 energy.
Three deer have been dispatched with one shot using this load, all within 100 yds.
Very accurate ammo for me.