Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .357 mag will kill elk/bear.

The .357 mag on elk (and bear).

Years ago on a fall morning, "Captain Black" filled the air as I stood in my old Police Armorer's work room. He was doing the final inspection of my weapon, a .357 Colt Python. The conversation turned to elk/bear hunting and the .357 mag. I said that I really liked the .357 mag, and trying not to sound stupid (a police rookie), I said that I wouldn't use the cartridge to take an elk (everything I had read, said it was inadequate).

He stop what he was doing to relite his pipe again. He turned and looked at me like I was daft-in-the-head, and said, "I'd use one on an elk in a heartbeat." "It'll take an elk cleanly if you keep the range down." "I know, I've done it more than once." When I questioned him about all the negatives written in the "gun rags", he said "don't believe everything that is written in them, they're just trying to sell magazines." "The .357 is a good killer."

This skilled craftsman had spent time with his friends Skeeter Skelton and Bill Jordan. I knew that they exchanged ideas on firearms, hunting, etc. So his statements had made an impression on me and I felt, carried weight.

I really like the .357 mag in power, the guns that they come in, and the recoil levels they produce. I also like the big bore handguns and use them frequently, but his statement has alway haunted me.

With this forum and its vast array of experience to call upon, is the .357 mag a cartridge for elk/bear/deer/wild boar. With today's bullet advances is it better now than then? Any thoughts?

Prospector

EVERY TUB HAS TO SIT ON ITS OWN BOTTOM.

Yes, it will do all of the above. I have seen a 357 pile up an elk on the run from 20 yards. That elk went face first and never twitched.

If you look at the thread directly below this one, there is also some good discussion on the 357 and ammo for it.

It is not the ideal Elk and bear gun. But, it is a great round for anything less than that, within reasonable distances. I'd not hesitate to take an elk with it within 50 yards with the proper handloaded rounds and bullet construction.

It wouldn't be my first choice for large game however. But, alot of the writers are going overboard now with the big bore crap. I read a well known one not too long ago that stated the 454 was an okay round for med sized big game (deer) out to 100 yards, and for elk if it was kept within 50. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> This is crap pure and simple. A 454 is capable, very capable, of taking anything that walks. I've got hours and hours of video to prove it. The only thing limiting that round is the shooter's ability to place the round where it needs to go.

Now there's the new 500 smith. It is getting ridiculous. Pretty soon you'll be told the 44 is marginal for jackrabbits.

That's the mentality know though. Bigger is better, why drive a BMW when you can drive a hummer and have the biggest SUV on the road. Nevermind that you'll never take it in the dirt, or know how to use it if you do take it in the dirt, you've got the baddest car in town.

Much the same with the big bores. I'm a huge fan of the 454, but a 454 is not needed for taking deer and elk sized game!

It will do the job, but isn't it on the shy side of the line for muzzle energy required fpr elk in Colorado?

Only a fool would say that the .357 is incapable of taking elk as it has clearly been done a few times since the .357 made it's debut in 1935. I myself think quite highly of the .357 and have carried a .357 Ruger as my primary firearm when hunting deer. HOWEVER....

For me to go elk hunting costs a great deal of money, so I personally would not carry ANY handgun as my primary hunting arm. I think this is where the rub is. Is the cartridge capable of taking elk? Yes, of course. Is it anywhere near the best tool for the job? No.

Try this scenario.... I'm hunting elk in a thick pine forest. I decide I need to answer natures call and set my .375 H&H against the nearest tree and go about my business. Just then, a bull elk strolls out of the woods 20 yds in front of me. My rifle is 10 ft away, but my Ruger .357 is on my hip loaded with 187gr WFNGC bullets over a max charge of 2400. Would I take the shot? You bet.

In the early days of the .357 Magnum, it was used once to take an elephant as a demonstration of its power to take big game.

Prospector I don't know nothing about elk or bear. I will tell you what I have seen on hogs.
If you use a hard cast lead bullet the 357 will take hogs the personal defense bullets open too quick especially if you are on a boar hog with any size and age to him.
I say it will take hogs and it will if you can shoot. If you get a hog really po'd at you you better be able to head shoot because the 357 does not pack the punch to put one down quick without a head shot or break their spine.
Hogs are not hard to kill as long as you don't get one wound up. I have killed my share with a 22. If you do happen to get one wound up you are going to wish they made a 60 caliber.

BCR

A 357 can take just about everything if conditions are perfect. However, you should not shoot a big animal if conditions are less than perfect. If you can hunt big animals as often as you want then you can afford to live with the limitations of a 357. You will suffer a lot of failure as even hunters armed with powerful centerfire rifles, such as a .338, fail most of the time.

I had a bad expierence with the 357 and a bear once, notice I siad once. I put 3 cylinders into that bear, farthest shot 30 feet, only one made it to the vitals, the rest were curled up under the skin. If you want to use that for defense against a wild animal, go right ahead, I'll be reading about you in the obituaries. I was lucky, now I carry a dessert eagle 44mag and nothing less. 357 was designed to stop people and that it does very well, anilmals are w whole different ball game. Call me a fool if you want, but I garuntee you, you wont see me with anyghing less than a 44mag, rilfe, archery, fishing or just plain hiking, I don't leave home without it. Just ask my son remfan. Please don't depend on a 357 mag for the woods, I did and it almost cost me.

This was posted in the campfire thread, but I'm gonna post it here again.

http://www.tylerpaper.com/site/news...4&PAG=461&dept_id=226369

870-pound Texas feral hog taken with a 357 no less! 4 shots from what I read.



Personally, on an animal that size, I would probably grab for my 338 Winnie or my 375 H&H. Screw that small stuff. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I never said that the 357 wouldn't kill, you just wont see me in the field with one NEVER. As far as that pig unless I seen it I would question the validity of it. I know what happened to me.

Rborensr

Thanks for responding to the post. However, you didn't mention the .357 mag load that you were using, nor, if it was a grizzly or a black bear you had encountered. With today's hardcast bullets, do you think that that would of made any difference in the out come?

Prospector

PS Looking at the size of that pig above, makes me rethink the .357 mag.!

I was using 158gr JSP. I know one thing, i will not under gun myself again. This was a black bear, pure balck with a white star on his chest. This was a young bear, 5 years old. Had he been older I think that I might have had some scares. I know that the 357 will kill things, the 22 LR kills things, but I don't use one to kill bear. Now that I know what the TRUE limits of the gun,that is I won't make that mistake again. I hunt country with some dangerous critters in the woods. I want something that will crunch bone and penetrate. I shot a doe at 75 yds with my dads 44mag black hawk, I hit high in the back and completely took out a fist sized chunk of back bone. Gone nothing there. Solid bone. From that point I knew that I needed a 44 or bigger to get the job done. That's when I bought the 44 mag dessert eagle. I have never regretted spending the money. I just don't want to see fellow hunters make the same mistake that I did. All's I'm saying is that if you have a choice go bigger, that's all. At 30 feet I expected better than that from the 357. I too was brain washed. See I had a friend who also was shooting a 357 at this bear. Two complete different loads and guns. One shooting factory one shooting reloads. One bullet made it to the vitals. Like I said on the bore, I would have had to see it to believe it. If it is true, then that's the exception and not the rule. Good luck and good hunting Rob Sr.

One other thing, what they used was a rifle not a pistol. That makes a little difference in the outcome. Even in a rifle, you still have a pistol round.

This is what the guy said, this is a quote:
We were afraid that it would hurt one of the little boys," Jeff Smith said.

Although they were unable to find it Friday night, Corey spotted the boar as he drove up to Jeff's house early Saturday morning and proceeded to shoot it four times in the shoulder with his .357-caliber rifle.

"It didn't even phase him," said Corey Smith. "He just kept running."

Yeah it kills, but you have to admit the pucker factor. Rilfe or not it wasn't the gun of choice. and here's the next paragraph down:

"After Corey's wife woke up Jeff, the two brothers chased the pig into the woods, where they shot him five more times and killed him. They brought the pig to Weatherford Fishing and Rental Tools in Kilgore, where Corey works, and weighed the pig on a scale used for torquing oil field tools. Jeff said the $7,000 scale used to weigh the pig is "accurate to the ounce."

rborensr,

There was a guy just last year on the Russian River who killed a brown bear with a 9mm.

".357 mag. will kill elk/bear".....so will a .22 but that doesn't mean you should go hunting them with one.

I watched a guy drop a 5 point whitetail buck in his tracks with a 22mag. It's just not my choice of a protection firearm to carry out in the woods. An animals fight for survival is far far greater than that of the humans. That's why it takes a lot to bring an animal down. Shoot a man in the chest and he drops like a ton of bricks, shoot an animal in the chest 9 times out ot 10 they're running off. I find it interesting that peaople use these light calibers on game. I gues as long as the kills are quick and ethical that's okay. Just don't want to see anyone getting hurt by making ther wrong choice.

The smallest cartridge I hunt with is my 338 Win. Mag. Do I always need that much gun? Probably not, but that's the rifle in my closet that I'm most comfortable with and shoot the most. Out of the current 5 rifles (including a muzzleloader) that rifle probably gets 98% field time. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

rbsr

I agree with all that you have to say, but one thing. Sometimes a man is just as hard, actually he can be even harder to put down than an animal.

IMHO and experience.

Prospector

WALK SOFTLY & CARRY A BIG WHOPPER.

Yes I know, they found that out in Vietnam, and even before that.