.357 Heavy Hunting Boolits

[Catpop]

I was a firm believer in 158 gr lswc boolits until—— I tried some west coast Kieth 175 gr boolits. I used 11.0 gr 2400 @1.665 oal crimping behind front driving band for 1079 fps. And I know I started on low side with this long oal.
With my RUGER BH I can go over 1.700 oal so I’m wondering what heavy hunting boolits others are pushing out of the .357. I like the big flat metpath? for hunting black bear and wt deer.
Hope to hear from you experts!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

My favorite .357 Magnum hunting bullet is made by Cast Performance, the sister company of the Grizzly Cartridge Company. Their gas checked 180gr hard cast bullets have an extremely sure meplat. They are accurate too.

http://www.grizzlycartridge.com/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=CP38180

When shot from a Marlin Levergun here are the velocities.
Using a Cast Performance 180gr WFNGC bullet: (Hard Cast)
14.8gr Lil'Gun - CCI-550 primer - AV=1657 fps
13.7gr H110 - CCI-550 primer - AV=1547 fps

 

[blue32]

I really like the Accurate 36-180F. I push it with Lil Gun at 1,253 fps out of a 6" barrel. The meplat is great for blasting steel but I haven't used it on game yet. COAL: 1.690".

 

[Catpop]

Blue32,
Man talk about a wide meplat! That’s like shooting a plan lead cylinder! And 628 ME!
How’s the accuracy?

 

[blue32]

It shoots as well as any of my 158 stuff and cuts nice holes like a wadcutter. Correction on coal: 1.610".

 

[Legionnaire]

My favorite .357 Magnum hunting bullet is made by Cast Performance, the sister company of the Grizzly Cartridge Company. Their gas checked 180gr hard cast bullets have an extremely sure meplat. They are accurate too.

I like the look of those. May have to try some in my Handi-Rifle.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Badman Bullets (and Penn I think still) make 230gr for 38/357. I have loaded about 100 of them thus far so not a lot of date yet to share. However, they are stable at 50yds from a Handi rifle in .357 and a Blackhawk .357 at 25yrds when loaded in .38 brass per Badman's load data.

I'm looking for a heavy, quiet, short range load and this looks like a great fit for my need thus far.

Then, will look at a self defense .38 load with it and maybe push it harder in a .357 hunting load.

So far, I have been very happy with it and after the sample pack committed to 1000 of them. They do have sample packs at a good price for you to try at Badmans which is nice to see if they fit you needs.

 

[MEHavey]

you can always use Lee's 200gr RNFP-GC
See http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/c...-can-shoot-357-a-post7330881.html#post7330881

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Blue32,
Man talk about a wide meplat! That’s like shooting a plan lead cylinder! And 628 ME!
How’s the accuracy?

The Cast Performance bullets I linked to have a similar meplat and a gas check. You are correct, those bullets made with that mold do have a large meplat and look downright mean lol.

I like the look of those. May have to try some in my Handi-Rifle.

I'm glad you like the look of those bullets. They are even better than they look and will perform well in a handi-rifle. While I will not use Lil'Gun in a revolver I do in a levergun and that powder delivers ~100 fps more than W296/H110 with less pressure. Please let us know who they work for you.

 

[Walkalong]

you can always use Lee's 200gr RNFP-GC
See http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/c...-can-shoot-357-a-post7330881.html#post7330881

(Can you spot it?)

Yes.

 

[Walkalong]

My favorite .357 Magnum hunting bullet is made by Cast Performance

Nice.

I really like the Accurate 36-180F

Well, now that is a wide meplat right there.

 

[Charlie98]

When I loaded for .357, I used to get some commercially cast 180grn bullets that looked very similar to that CP bullet; I don't know if I would go much heavier than that in a pistol. I normally buy my cast bullets from Montana Bullets, they offer a very similar 180grn bullet, but the CP bullet is gas checked... it looks like a winner! I'm a very big fan of the CP 250grn GC cast .41 Mag bullet, it shoots well in everything I stuff it into, I'm sure that .357" bullet would, too.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The .358" 1 87gr bullet right below the 180gr bullet I linked to is meant for the 35 Remington. A friend has shot it and it's also an excellent bullet.

http://www.grizzlycartridge.com/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=CP38187

There's also some load data available in a link from the main page.
http://www.grizzlycartridge.com/index.php?app=cms&ns=display&ref=loaddata

I you want a heavier bullet for the .357 Magnum than 180gr (which I don't) CP also has a 200gr Hard Cast bullet.
http://www.grizzlycartridge.com/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=CP38200

Like I said, these are the same bullets used in the factory ammo produced by Grizzly Cartridges.

 

[murf]

here's my cpb load: .38/180gr wfngc .358 bullet, 10.0 gn bluedot, cci 500, .004" neck tension, heavy crimp, winchester cases. the load comes from the speer reloading manual #14, page 901. the 180 grain bullet is different, but i am still below the starting load. for details of this "silhouette" load, i suggest reading all of page 900. i shoot this load out of my two blackhawks (1200 fps) with no problems. cases almost fall out of the chambers.



luck,

murf

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Murf, I see you like the same bullets I like.

 

[murf]

Murf, I see you like the same bullets I like.

a quality lead bullet.

murf

 

[Eddietruett]

I like the 180gr HyTek Coated from Missouri. The have a striker model with a slightly rounded nose and they have a pug with a flat nose. I shoot these over 12gr of 2400 and get around 1250fps out of a 8 3/8" Model 686. No gas check but I have no problems with leading and they both shoot very accurate. I have stroked them with H110 and got over 1300fps with no leading but not as accurate as 2400. Off a good rest and with a red dot scope, on a good day I can hit a 4" round plate at 80-85 yards consistently.

 

[FN in MT]

My favorite .357 HUNTING load for deer/bear , Is either my .41 mag or any of my other revolvers that start with a FOUR.

 

[buck460XVR]

My favorite .357 HUNTING load for deer/bear , Is either my .41 mag or any of my other revolvers that start with a FOUR.

I enjoy my .357s for hunting, but I know their limitations. Despite what the bullet used, they are still a limited range, make sure you have a great shot before you pull the trigger, primary weapon. In scenarios where that is not probably going to happen, I too take something bigger. But withing it's parameters, the .357 is a very viable hunting firearm for deer and Black bear when the right bullet is used. Lots of good options out there. I still stick with a good quality 158gr JSP or Hornady's 158gr JFP. That way I have both the penetration for a clean kill and the velocity needed for flat trajectory within the 30-45 yards of it's legitimate hunting distance. This is with both the revolvers or the carbines.