Fred, re: pistol 357s stopping people, bullets are key, the 125 JHP loads were giving around 97% one shot stops IIRC.

As to velocity, well, 1240mv /540 ft. lbs. Fed factory 158gr ammo-whatever pistol bbl length tested, surely a 4" or maybe 6".

My Marlin spits said 158 grain, at 2000+ for 1400 Lbs.

Hmmmm, looks like the rifle has 260%, that is 2.6x the energy.

Have you shot a Rifle in 357 Royce? I will paste a post from another forum by a man who used the 357 exclusively. It was a random find via google.

Re: What good is the .357 Magnum rifle for whitetail deer hunting?
10-06-2008, 09:22 PM
Rries Rries is offline
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Re: What good is the .357 Magnum rifle for whitetail deer hunting?

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Periscope Depth Wow where to start. My dad used to go hunting with some guy named Roy and Dad used to sell his rifles. Out of this I got a Weatherby 257 magnum with my initials on it. Needles to say I could not hunt with this rifle for fear of scratching it. As a kid I traded a half dead calf for a little 357 rifle. Everyone has a 270 or a 30-06 for a near perfect all around hunting rifle. Then the hope of an Africa hunt and a 375HnH shows up on the rack. Then the fever hits and a specific rifle for specific type of hunting comes to mind. The middle ground is covered the high end is usually covered with some type of mega magnum but what about the lower end. I believe the 357 rifle fills this bill very well. Now back to a day in the life growing up in MT. I would wake up go out to the CJ2 and grab the 357 ck barrel load it up with bird shot and go into the barn and shoot pigeons that were crappin all over the combines. Then outside (2 notches up on rear sight) load it up with 38spec 148grain wadcutters and attempt to shoot some pesky cats. It would make a nice pop so mom would not wake up and realize what I was doing. Hop into the Jeep to fence or some kind of work, load it up with full house 170grain Keith style bullets and hope I would see that massive 7 pointer or maybe get to split another coyote in half.
Not enough for deer? Has anyone looked at the original 30-30�s load and it was considered a bear killer. I have killed 30 mules� whitetails and one elk with this rifle. One of those deer was out to 200yards.
Let�s compare some store bought stuff. Buffalo bore 357 180 grain bullets; they leave my 18 inch barrel around 2000fps. A 170 grain 30-30 leaves a 22inch barrel at 2200fps. A 357 is about 30% wider before expansion and 10% heavier. The 30-30 wins velocity by 10% but I can throw a ball 200fps. 35rem due to its low pressure is pretty much the same. Comparing same 158grain bullet. Some people may say the BC is better but at 150yrds this is miniscule. Choose a median gel wet news paper and you will see why it works so well. The 357 is a hand loaders dream and it is cheap. My brother and I would sit and shoot over a thousand rounds at small rocks at around 200yrds every Sat. This is the only thing that really matters in hunting the accuracy of the shooter ,um��practice. Most reload manuals are using fast burning pistol powders which really limit the potential. Thanks to cowboy action slower burning powders like Hod LilGun are using the full potential and keeping pressure well within limits and velocity higher.
I have moved around a lot, an army thing and I still like Mt the most but now that I live in WI the 357 is all I use. I do like showing up the neighbor and his new 300Win short magnum. I bounce between 180 to 158 but the 125 is made to be frangible and not over penetrate so it would not be a good choice for deer.
I blab a lot but there are many other writers on the web that have taken a serious look and agree with me. Get it and you will be very happy.


I thought the above users comments might shed light on the 357, WHEN used in a Rifle obtaining SIGNIFICANTLY higher velocity and energy, which MUST correlate into SIGNIFICANTLY higher killing power vs. traditional revolver ballistics.

Hope that helps some sort thru the ballistic minutia/Gack of 357...Rifle vs. Handgun performance.