Accurate heavy .357 bullet

[Humbo]

Veral,
this time I'm looking for a 180 grain bullet to use in my 357 magnum sixgun. The gun is a Ruger GP100, and it will allow a .37 nose max, then with the meplat flush with the cylinder face. So I'm thinking a .36 nose max. This bullet will be used for paper punching and silhouette shooting, up to maybe 70 metres. I'm leaning towards a LFN PB, I've had great success with the LFN in the 45 calibers. As usual I'd appreciate your input before I go ahead and order. Should I go with a plain base or gas check? What about the nose length?
 
Thank you!

[Veral]

The LFN is excellent  in 357 if not used for hunting.  However the LFN meplat is too small for quick kills  on game.   If you gun handles pb well, and you don't need full throttle loads, pb is a good choice, but the 357 is a high pressure cartridge and if loaded at full throttle, which you might want to knock the rams over, a gc will give you complete freedom from leading when the barrel heats up, and at least 100 fps higher velocity at a given pressure when working with upper end loads.  A 200 gr would be more accurate, slightly, and knock iron targets much better, while also allowing more horsepower from a plain base.

[anachronism]

Which bullet would you recommend for hunting medium game with the .357 magnum, Veral?

[Humbo]

Veral,
thanks again for excellent advice. I won't be using this bullet for hunting, so the LFN is the way to go. Maybe I should step up and go with the 200 grain instead, when thinking of it I already have molds in the ~170 grain range. Would you still recommend a GC for the 200 grain mold? Should I also go with the longest nose my gun will handle, or will bearing length suffer? .370 is the absolute max, so I was thinking .360, which should leave plenty of space for powder. I'm using Vihtavuori powders, which take up a lot more space than the American ballpowders.

[Veral]

I recommend the 180 gr FN for 357 big game use, though 160 or 170 gr is very good for deer size critters.  What  I like about 180 gr is the muzzle blast is tamed considerably compared to 160 gr, trajectory is more uniform out to extreme ranges (graceful rainbow, rather than fairly flat followed by quick drop, and one doesn't have to back off if something up to elk is on the tag.