Have a special 3 day doe season coming up and was thinking of using my S&W 586. Shots will be close out of a blind set up for archery hunting. What type of bullet and what weight would be best for this scenario. Have heard some people say the 357 is marginal for deer, but I think in this situation it will work just fine if I use the right bullet.

I killed 4 or 5 in the 1980s with an 8" Dan Wesson shooting a 158gr Speer softpoint over a full charge of 2400. IMO your comment about bowhunting is right on. I have always been primarily a bow hunter and using a set up for 15-30yd shots works.

The .357 is definitely marginal! On broadside rib shots I never had one exit. They would be lying under the skin on the off side. My longest shot was about 40yds.

If you are picky about the shots you take, and stick with good broadside shots, you should have no problems.

BTW USE HEARING PROTECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The last deer I killed with it cost me the hearing in my left ear.

Good hunting,
405wcf

do your self a favor and either buy or borrow a 44 mag.The least i use is 41 mag and that is after succesfully killing a few deer with a 357.Can it be done with the 357 yes but done alot better with a bigger round

at archery ranges, a hard cast 160 or a 180 soft point should exit on broadside shots. bigger is better, but I wouldn't feel inadequately armed for whitetails with a .357. they aren't exactly hard to kill.

The 158gr Hornady XTP-FP is supposed to penetrate real good, better then the standard XTP. They are real accurate from my 686 with 2400 powder.

I have killed three whitetails with my Ruger Bisley .357, all with the factory Hornaday 158gr Gold Bond (or is that a foot powder--"Gold Something"). None ran very far, all were hit in the shoulder area or just behind the shoulder and angling across the chest cavity. One bullet exited; the rest were well expanded and did one heck of a lot of tissue damage. Range 25-40 yards in deep cover. I would say a .357 kills just fine at close range if the deer isn't running and you can place the shot. The Bisley's weight and 7 1/2" barrel help a lot. I shot one of these a second time because it was getting up after going down flat. Probably just a waste of meat.

It ought to be fine at archery ranges. The 586 is a fine weapon.

The .357 is definitely marginal for deer. Not to say it won't work, but if you are looking for a dedicated deer revolver, the .41 and .44 Magnums are head and shoulders better (the .45 Colt is also a better choice, particularly when handloaded). I've always veiwed the .357 as more of an all-around, woods walking round for general use on small game.....with the occational deer or hog a possibility....not as a planned deer cartridge.

However, from your post I get the impression you are not looking for a dedicated deer gun, but just want to take a deer with what you already have......and you already have a .357.

Assuming a new gun is not an option, you can make the best of the .357 with heavier loads. I'd suggest a hard-cast Keith-style bullet of 165 grains or so over a stout load of 2400. If you do not handload, another option is the Buffalo Bore loading of a 180 grain lead flat-point at 1400 fps. This is, in my opinion, the best factory load available for deer/hogs in the .357. Just keep ranges reasonable (50 yards) and take broadside shots and you should come out OK.

I do have a 45 Colt in a Ruger Vaquero and 44 Mag in a S&W Backpacker. It only has a 2" barrel and I thought that might be a touch loud out of a blind. Just wanted to try the 357, but from what i've been hearing maybe it's too much of a stunt. I would think those 180gr. Buffalo Bores would work though, shots will probably be 25 yards or less.

The .45 Colt would be perfect (Buffalo Bore also has some great loads for the Colt), but the .357 will also work with heavy loads. Just accept the limitations it has and don't ask it to do more that it should. At 25 yards, the .357 won't let you down if you place the bullet right.

Best answer here. the 357 will definitely work for deer, IF you are a good shot, and shoot within bow range. "they aren't exactly hard to kill" is also very appropriate..........

When hunting with a handgun, it�s more about the sighting equipment and the shooter than it is about the cartridge. With a scoped revolver, the .357 will cleanly harvest deer out to 100 yards. Take away the scope and you�re down to someone who needs to be able to shoot well. If we�re talking archery ranges, then it�s a cinch. And in .357 the last bullet I�d ever choose would be a hard cast bullet. The .357 is already at a slight disadvantage due to the bullet size, so you want to offset that characteristic, not accentuate it. I would use a 158 grain or larger JHP if I were hunting deer with a .357 and be confident that inside 50 yards, any deer I encounter is as good as dead.

140-gr Speer HP has been a one shot killer for me.
So has the 158-gr Remington FN JSP.
Remington makes a 180-gr load for hunting deer and hogs, a tougher bullet to stand up to rifle velocities.

Cor-Bon makes a real nice 180 grain jacketed soft point. Has worked very well on hog for me and should do just fine for deer at bow ranges.

ori..,

Those who say the .357 is marginal for whitetails are most likely marginal handgun shots or have never tried. Based on the figures, the 44 mag is probably better. But, I don't personally know that having shot deer with only the marginal .357. Yep, I have a 44mag and a 10mm but have always used the good ole .357

O

All my handgun deer have been killed with .41 and .44 magnums. If I were going to hunt deer with a .357 mag I would probably use the 158 grain XTP. If you can put one of those through a deer's lungs at 25 yards there's nothing marginal about it.

cra..,

yessir. it more about where you hit'em than what you hit'em with . . . at least with deer.

O

If I didn't have the option of a 10mm, .41Mag, or .45Colt to hunt with, I would have no problems with using a .357 for deer. I don't even own a .357Mag or .44Mag anymore. I use a .45ACP, .380, .38Spec, or 9mm for defense. Just another of many opinions.

Coming to this late to add my 2 bits worth. What Kevin says is dead on. I like cast bullets, but not 'til you get up over .40 caliber and even then, you've got to pick designs carefully that have a real large meplat. It's the size of the meplat, not the diameter of the bullet, that makes a hole in meat.

I haven't shot a deer with it yet, but my old SS 10" Contender barrel shoots really well with 13.5 grains of 296 under a 180 grain nosler handgun partition. That's next up on my to-try list.

In a heavier framed revolver, a 158 grain Hornady XTP under a max load of 296 is hard to beat. In a lighter gun ( I will shoot one with my J-frame some year just because I can ) I'd look at something like the 140 with the powder choice / charge selected to give about the same velocity as that 158 would give, don't want to speed it up so much it expands too much and doesn't penetrate well. It's a balancing act.

I'm a .44 magnum fan but if you've got a good .357, load it up and go huntin'! ... and of course, report back!

Tom

The Speers Gold Dot 158 gr with a Max Load of Win 296 is a hard to beat load in the 357 Mag for Deer Size Game.

Don't be intimidated. The .357 will easily kill deer out to 100 yards. You say you're staying within bow range, so it should be a piece of cake, if you can shoot the pistol accurately.
Remember that the shorter barrel will affect velocity and therefore energy. Avoid bullets and loads designed for rifle length barrels which produce higher velocities. Go with a bullet that will expand reliably at pistol velocities and work up an accurate load for you gun using that bullet. Hard cast bullets won't expand well, but soft cast will, as will Hornady and Speer and Sierra pistol bullets. I'd suggest at least 140 gr., more is better.

I'm not a big Kieth fan. That said, he was dead on, in my experience, about cast bullets in handguns. The Keith design cast lead bullets have killed well for me. Full wadcutters and round nosed lead being absolutely worthless on game. Just my experience, yours may vary.

O

.357 wont seem to impress the deer when shot IE. They dont act hit very hard. I would say it is marginal for deer in all but the most controled broadside close range situations like you plan on using it for. So I would say go for it you should be fine. 1+ on the 158 gold dot ammo.

I shot one broad side with a 160 grn soft point 357. It went in 357 and came out 357. I would recommend a 158 hollow point to take advantage of a mushrooming bullet. It may or may not come out the other side but you want it to do it's work inside. Mine clipped the aorta out of the heart and it went about 110 yards and dropped over. An inch or two either way and I would have been chasing a wounded deer. kwg

Many put a lot of stock in deer 'dropping to the shot'. No matter where I've shot'em or what I've shot'em with, they all seem to make a death run. Exceptions being those shot with a .35Rem or a 9.3X62. In that regard I haven't found the .357 handgun to be much differant than the typical 'deer rifle'.

As a side note. I've prolly killed more deer with the .357 than anything else except perhaps a 7X57. Never kept an exact tally.

O

I'm right there with you. Good round.

Me shooting a deer with a handgun is like deer hunting with my first 45# recurve bow. I'll be talking in feet, not yards.

I think a .357 is just fine for deer.

My neighbor is Tom Henderson. Here is a piece I wrote about him. He uses a .357
http://www.castbullet.com/hunting/th.htm

Here is an account of my experiment in shooting deer with a .357 Wish I had the pictures Cousin John took that day.
http://my.voyager.net/~jhecksel/Deerseason.htm

One thing that is counter-intuitive is that slower moving bullets tend to penetrate more deeply. A bullet that leaves the muzzle at 1400fps will expand more violently at the expense of less penetration than one that leaves the muzzle at 1100-1250fps.

I don't know if you hand load but 1200fps with any reasonable 158 grain hollowpoint should give you two holes in the hide unless it has to bust a shoulder. And you won't need a great blood trail if you bust a shoulder because it will be a short tracking job. Win. Win.

-Joe

Shoot from a rest. Try to angle the shot through the chest and bust the offside shoulder with a fast 158-180 hollowpoint. Pretty much need to handload to get original ballistics, though Georgia Arms/BB/Corbon will get you close.

If you shoot cast try to bust both shoulders and clip the spine. A caliber sized holes through the lungs can make for a pretty long tracking job.

If you want a spectacular drop, punch one through the lungs at about 10 yards with a Federal 125 JHP.

What length bbl on your 586 BTW?

P.S. My 15-year-old son says he wants to take a deer this year with his 10-in. TC .357 with 2X Tasco. His uncle gave it to him several years back and he can shoot into about an inch at 50 yards. He's gonna use some Georgia Arms Deerstopper 158 Gold Dots. If I get motivated may chrono and see how fast that barrel gets them going. Sending that barrel off to be punched to .357 Max is a future project...maybe a Leupold scope with a BDC turret, too.

It's a 6".

Use that .357.....most of us got our first hand-gun deer with one.....watch the placement and use a quality projectile.

yes it will work,no it probably wont drop them where they stand.Nothing will including rifles with much higher velocities.the only time I would use a cast bullet is where I could not get enough penetration using a jacketed hollowpoint. there is a difference between cast and hard cast . a lot of people use the terminology hardcast for any cast bullet.use a cast bullet that has a hollowpoint and is soft enough to expand or a two piece bullet where you use 2 different dippers .one to fill the nose portion with pure lead and then the base of a harder material. then you will have the best of both worlds with a nose that will expand and if you hit a harder part of the animal such as a shoulder then the base will punch through the nose and continue to penetrate.Ross Seyfried has talked about this many times. you can read how a hard cast that doesn,t expand will kill as well as a bullet that does expand but it doesnt on deer sized game. hard cast is easy to make shoot well and are fun to make just either make them as soft as you can and still shoot well without excessive leading or make a two piece bullet as I described.you can either use two melting pots or do as Ross Sefried describes which is to use one large pot then take a tube and squeeze one end to seal it off then put the end in the main melting pot.put pure lead or something close to pure lead in the tube you just closed off. then use a small amount of that for the nose.Now I think maybe you are not that deep into making hunting bullets so i would suggest something like a 158 jhp . JD Jones head of SSK Industries which makes a lot of various different types of hunting handguns and has invented several different hunting and defense catridges refers to the 357 mag as a decent 50 yard tree stand type of gun. If my memory serves me correctly so does a man who writes for the sixgunner mag.I this his name is Doc hitman Rogers who regularily kills hundreds of deer a year with a variety of handguns including the powerfull single shot kaboomers,SSK.though long out of print ,Lee Jurras and George C Nonte co wrote a book on handgun hunting in which they described taking deer and hogs with blackpowder revolvers ,38 specials,45 autos , 9mm ,32-20,357 automag etc. Both claimed the 357 magnum was actually more powerfull than needed ! I expect that a 357 mag with good shot placement and decent bullet expansion will still kill a deer quite nicely! would I rather have a 44 mag or something similiar 41 maG,45 Colt ? yes . I hunted with various 44 mags exclusively for over 12 years but came no where close to the game that the men I have mentioned have killed!!I I hope the cast crowd doesnt lynch me because cast will kill, just hard cast doesn,t kill as well as soft cast or jacketed. I would endeaver to use jacketed 158 grain Hollowpoints,get within about 50 yards,place my bullets in the shoulder or lungs with as close to a broadside shot as possible. Now here is the kicker. practice from hunting positions such as sitting with arms across the knees ,leaning up against a tree, kneeling .of course this is an approximation but any range at which you can keep your shots within say 5 inches or so of point of aim will kill deer for you all day long. Keep in mind your limitations and your weapons limitations and enjoy yourself. too long winded I know but I just wanted to help you as much as possible.