Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .357 for deer

Looking to load Hornady 140 xtps at 1900 fps in my 357 Henry single shot. Any reason this won't work or any better options in .357?

Looks like the velocity limit for muzzle velocity on that one is 1600fps. Hmm. Now what?

Look at the Hornady 140 grain FTX factory ammo. I was able to collect 3 deer in Ohio with it including a great buck. All shots were about 50 yards and I was amazed at the bullet performance.

It's only 1400 fps. Was wanting more like 1800 and that bullet is apparently not made for those speeds.

I load the Hornady 180 gr XTP bullet using 14.8 of Hodgdon Lil'gun powder. Shot one large doe very close....three leaps and she fell over.

B

I prefer something that works, velocity be damned. At the range a 357 would be most effective, the higher velocity would be little noticed. At least that has been my limited experience with a 45 Colt out of a rifle.

I haven't shot a deer with a rifle in 357 mag but I have a fair number of deer. A 158 gr or heavier bullet in soft point or hardish cast works well out of a pistol. Out of a 4" revolver they clocked in the mid 1200 fps range so would have probably been around 1450 fps out of a rifle. A couple of deer were while hunting with most of them being in some stage of adrenalization due to having been hit by a car first. Most of the 158s I bought myself did a better job than the 125 gr and 140 gr hollow points we were issued. The only ones worse were the swaged 158 gr lead bullets.

I've been working up a load using the 180 gr XTP and L'il' Gun for a 6.5" Blackhawk. The bullet seems to have a better reputation on deer than the 158 gr bullets. Through a rifle at higher velocities I would expect the difference in performance to be more noticeable.

I would look at a suitable bullet as the important criteria then look to the velocity. That really is the crux of the matter.

So is it speed or b.c.? Because it seems like neither would really matter in 100 yards. Maybe a 158 at 1600 is better?

I wouldn't worry about speed, 180gr XTP, and shoot em in the shoulders, make it hurt.

How far are you shooting? Don't forget it will shed velocity fast so 1900 fps at the muzzle shouldn't be an issue at say 75 yards. Now at say 25 yards it may blow apart so I'd opt for a neck shot or broadside heart/lung. In my H&R 357 I've found a factory PMC 158 gr sp will exit even on a large body deer. A handloaded 125 gr XTP at 2100 fps and a 30 yard shot went to pieces on a slight angle shot. I found the deer about 75 yards away but no blood trail and only found him because of all the noise in his death thrash. I'll be staying with the 158's which are clocking in the 1700's.

It's terminal ballistics that is the most important. I wouldn't use less than 158gr HPs.

Ok thanks. Will grab some.

I shot some jackrabbits with 158 grain XTPs from a Marlin 1894. The rabbits blew up leaving a giant hair cloud drifting in the breeze. I definitely would not go any lighter than 158s on deer and would prefer 180s. With 158s I would be tempted to download a bit to keep the velocity in a range where the bullets don't expand so much they want to come apart.

Personally, I cheat. I have a few boxes of the old, discontinued 180 grain handgun partitions cached away.

Tom

Buffalo Bore heavy . 357 mag ammo is advertised as reaching 1850 fps with either 180gr hard cast or 170gr bullets out of a 18.5 inch barrel.

Might be worth taking a look at.

With as frangible bullet as an XTP I would definately NOT aim for a shoulder shot. Shoot them in the lungs, may not be a bang flop but the blood trail won't be long. A 158 or 180gr. bullet would be my choice, the XTP bullet is made to expand over a broad range of velocities. Read your Hornady manual to gain knowledge as to the preferred load.

BC is totally irrelevant for this round.

My boys have killed a half dozen deer out of 357 Mag Handi-Rifle using 158gr XTP. Only one has made it out of it's shadow and it went 30yds. Out to 75yds, I've been impressed.

This.

I'm inclined to go heavier with the bullet when using pistol cartridges in a rifle.

I took a doe from 20 yards with a Glock 29, loaded with Underwood's 200gr XTP. They chrono 1170 from the 3.77" barrel. Broke some ribs, and made a pass through. She only made it 15 yards.

I wouldn't call an XTP fragile. They are designed to penetrate more, and expand less. The 200 grain Nosler from my 10mm gives larger wound channels, as they expand more.

OP, look at the Nosler offerings too. The 124gr Nosler Bonded holds together when fired into water at 1700 fps from my 9x25 Dillon. They are a phenomenal handgun hunting bullet, and double as great SD rounds.

Read my post, the term I used was frangible not fragile, the XTP is designed to reliably expand over a broad range of velocities. Based upon my experience with shoulder shots using other bullets the XTP would not be one I would choose for a shoulder shot. Other's experiences may be different, my opinion is offered only for informational purposes.