200+GR. 357 bullet

[Gallahad]

I had a 357mag. a long time ago. used factory ammo,@ went whitetail hunting with it. I think it was a soft flat point jacketed bullet either 158gr. or smaller.  I hit a big doe in the shoulder at about 17 yds. She literally got knocked off her feet and on to her side. I had never seen that happen before.  I thought "well,  she's done!"  After 20 sec's of kicking on the ground she got up, and ran 20 yds., and stopped to look back. Then trotted away with 2 others like nothin ever happened.  It was late, so I never did track that night. I came back in the morning, tracked for 100 yds or more, to an open feild, where it must have fed that night.  Its trail diden't stray from the deer path it was following. I lost blood before the feild, and assume thats where it went. Now there was snow on the ground, and it was VERY easy to track, but the blood was few and far between. prabably about as much blood found as a dose of cough syrup altogether.

 I never found that deer. It was the only time that ever happened to me, and I hated it! It haunted me for some time. After fireing the same ammo at the range another day, I noticed I found the bullets, which the jackets had pulled apart from about 4-6 inches in the sand behind the target.  The load had power, but I think those soft flat nosed bullets expanded so quickly that they never penatrated thru the shoulder of that doe.? I never hunted with it again.

 Within the past six yrs. Iv'e gotten into reloading, and the science behind ballistics. I am now a huge advocate of making sure you use the right bullet for the job at hand. So many hunters in my erea,  have no idea that changing the weight, shape, velocity, or hardness of a bullet has a HUGE impact on performance. So when they use the wrong ammo for the purpose and fail miserably at their task, they blame the caliber and gun. The gun gets sold, and the caliber bad mouthed as "insufficient" fire power for "whatever" purpose.
Well I now know that 357 mag is plenty good for deer with the right load,(and that right behind the shoulder is better than thru it) and am considering purchasing another one.

SORRY FOR ALL THAT, here is my QUESTION,
I'd like to know some favorite deer loads for 357, and in particular, any 200+gr. bullet loads followed by where I can get the bullets!
Thanks

[De41mag]

Gallahad;

You could try some 200gr. gas checks from Leadheads Bullets. Tommy Mace is the owner, his operation is out of St. John Kansas. His Phone # is (620)-549-6475. He is very helpful and backs up what he makes. I use his bullets in my 41's, 44's and 45's. they are very accurate!
Now if you want a jacketed bullet that's on the heavy side, try the Sierra 170gr. JHC. To me when I used to shoot a 357, I found this bullet to be the most accurate jacketed bullet I shot.
Good Luck.

Dennis  

[Badnews Bob]

Solid lead bullets in and LBT style from 180 to 200grs work very well. I used a 180gr cast performance LBT gas checked round to stop a doe this year she ran about 40 or 50 yards and then piled up very good performance and clear blood trail.  went clean thru took out both lungs and the liver.

[Leftoverdj]

Lyman makes a .358 round nose GC mould for the .35 Remington that casts 212 grains from my alloy. It's worth considering if you are talking about a carbine. Dunno that I would go heavier than 180 in a pistol.

The Hornady 180 XTPs and the Remington bulk 180s both have good reputations. They are designed for the .357 Max so they should hold together well.

[Mikey]

I use a 200 grain cast SWC from Colorado Cast Bullets over 12.4 gr of WW296.  This load has proved to be very accurate in my 357s and punches on through a whitetail at out to 50 yds from a handgun.  The Winchester recorded velocity for this load is 1335'/sec.  HTH.  Mikey.