357 mag rifle

[Henry357158]

Trying to find people that actually hunt with 357 mag rifle and how it performs. I just got one and it’s more powerful than I thought but not hunted with it yet.

[Tycer]

They hunt great! Hardcast bullets do especially well in my experience. If using jacketed keep in mind the added velocity will cause many bullets designed for handgun velocity to blow up on entry rather than penetrate properly. There’s folks here that can contribute factory loaded ammunition suggestions. 180 grainers for me for large game and 110 grain plinkers for small game

[crs]

Most such rifles are handy and accurate and easy to find ammo or load for. My pig pak:


My 1892 shoots 110, 125 and 158 very well and the 158 with JSP will take deer within 100 yards; shot placement is key.
Hollow points can be effective, but damage a lot of meat and are not recommended for game.

However, if you want to "shell out" an Armadillo, . Use 110 or 125 JHP and watch the innards fly. Same for other small critters on up through coyotes.

[Marlin32]

When I was younger, hunted deer with the Marlin 357 mag, killed a lot of deer with it, then it was illegal to use, now legal again,
My shots were 50 yards and in, I used the Federal 180grain bullet and at that distance performed beautifully on whitetail. Expansion was enormous, and often pass throughs but most of the time, bullet was resting under the offside hide.

[Pete44ru]

.

Welcome to the board !

I took only one deer with the .357 Rossi Model 92 I had, but that occasion was a bang/flop - DRT @ 75ysd (+/-).

I was using commercial 158gr JSP ammo.


.

[Grizz]

I was surprised how much my Winch .357 liked the white box 110s. and same for the 158s, but the 110s seem like good loads...

[Nath]

You know what....I would rather have a 357 rifle over 30wcf!

N.

[Henry357158]

Thanks you guys! I feel a lot better about my rifle now. Can’t wait to hunt with it this week. I’m hunting same stand as last year and furthest shot is around 110 yards. Mostly 40-50 yards.

[fordwannabe]

Welcome and Good luck.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

You know what....I would rather have a 357 rifle over 30wcf!

N.

With the right ammo there is not that much difference. Buffalo bore shows a 158 from an 18.5" Marlin at 2150 FPS

[Nath]

You know what....I would rather have a 357 rifle over 30wcf!

N.

With the right ammo there is not that much difference. Buffalo bore shows a 158 from an 18.5" Marlin at 2150 FPS

Exactly, and a nasty narley nugget at that.

N.

[Larkbill]

Not that far off .35 Remington.

[Henry357158]

I’m so glad I joined this sight. You guys are a wealth of information! If you just go online and google about 357 rifle all you get is people who hasn’t hunted with one and say it wouldn’t kill anything. I put a 4x4 out at around 80 yards and shot it and it went through it like hot butter and that was only a cheap 158 grain federal. Because of you guys I picked up BB 180’s to try.

[wm]

My (former … I would have preferred to keep him and let my sister go in the divorce but no one asked me for my opinion when it happened) BIL hunts with a NEF or H&R single shot 357 mag. Shoots 6 rounds through it every year. 5 to insure it is still sighted in and one to put meat in the freezer.

It just works. I think all of his deer have been within 75 yards when shot and none have gone more then 100 yards after being shot. He's been using that rifle for 15 or 20 years now since his kids 'out grew' the pistol caliber carbine and latched on to the 270, & 30-06 bolt action rifles he has.


IMO if you respect the range limitations, it makes a fine deer, hog, black bear rifle.


WM

[Nath]

It makes a brilliant small game getter too!

N

[Poohgyrr]

Congratulations and good luck with your 357Lever! They are really amazing. And, if you haven’t found the other parts of this website yet, here is one link to an article Paco wrote some time back. There is more great information & articles spread about here, we just have to look around.

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/ ... rature.htm


Another link:

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/Default.htm

[Griff]

I have two Rossi .357 1892s... and while I haven't hunted with either one, (I find it too hard to pry my 45 Colts & .30-30s outta my hands), I have read what many of the other knowledgeable gentlemen on this site say for me to every worry about the practicality of a .357 levergun, if I do decide to put aside the favored ones!

[COSteve]

Done

[wvfarrier]

Both myself and my step son have harvested multiple deer,coyotes, turkeys and 1 black bear using a 357 mag lever gun. Typically with a handload of some sort. I like the Cast Performance 180 grain hard cast for deer sized critters but have also used 158 grain XTPs which worked awesome, as well as, the Speer 158 grain JSPs which really provided good expansion and excellent penetrstion. They however did not make complete pass throughs.

[wvfarrier]

I got a complete pass through on this guy. About 40 yards quartering toward me. You can see the exit. That was the 180 cast performance out of a Winchester 1894 AE in 357 mag.

[3leggedturtle]

You know what....I would rather have a 357 rifle over 30wcf!

N.

Say it isn’t so Nath! What’s next for you, 209’s and White Hots?
I really like my 20” Puma, but I would have to stick with the M94 if I had to make a choice! Todd/3leg

[Nath]

You know what....I would rather have a 357 rifle over 30wcf!

N.

Say it isn’t so Nath! What’s next for you, 209’s and White Hots?
I really like my 20” Puma, but I would have to stick with the M94 if I had to make a choice! Todd/3leg

Ok, if it's a Win 94, 30wcf.
Marlin m94, 357. (The only thing is the marlin would not exist in my hands).

N.

[Old Savage]

357 vs 30-30 - depends entirely on the situation/application.

[COSteve]

Done

[kasTX]

Several years ago I took a doe at about 25 yards with a pre-safety Marlin shooting a relatively hot handload with 158gr jacketed flat points. I used flat points because I had read warnings about jacketed hollow points “blowing up” on deer instead of penetrating.

At the shot I saw a large plume of dirt kick up from behind the deer and the deer took off into the brush. I figured I had missed but went looking anyway. It took me a while to find the deer in the dark even though it hadn’t gone far. On cleaning I was surprised to note how little internal damage had been done - nothing like a 30-30 or 30-06. Power level was similar to a 30-30 so bullet style/construction might have played a role. Maybe a tough hollow point would have been a better choice?

In the end, the 357 in a rifle did its job - the deer wasn’t going to survive a .357” hole through both lungs. The bullet had enough steam left over that I suspect it would have gone through another deer if there had been a second standing behind the first.

[COSteve]

Done

[FWiedner]

I used to favor my Marlin 1894C as my truck gun and would periodically swap it out with my Model 94 Trapper.

I tend to find a commercial load that I like and stick to it. I use the AE 158gr JSP for the .357 and Winchester 170gr PP for the Trapper.

Inside 100 yards there is virtually no difference in performance. Past 100yds, the Trapper get the nod.

For the .357 I keep my shots inside 75yds for medium sized creatures, just because.

I've shot a handful of deer, several hogs and a black bear with the .357. It's one of my "keepers".

[Old Ironsights]

Trying to find people that actually hunt with 357 mag rifle and how it performs. I just got one and it’s more powerful than I thought but not hunted with it yet.

Dig in the archives and you will find several posts I made about hunting with my .357 W92.

Longest shot was aprox 110 yds with open sights on a running whitetail. The 180gr Buffalo Bore WFN completely destroyed the right shoulder and dropped it like a lead ingot.

[Old Savage]

I recall those posts. Nice rifle too as I recall.

[Griff]

In fact, I just load up a bunch of 115gr RFN in some .38Spl cases (cause I'm outta my 200 grain .452 bullets), and I wanted to do some reloadin'... Thankful I have the ability, the desire, knowledge and freedom to do so! Loaded up 5 of 'em in the Rossi '92 I slicked up for my son in 1988 and ran 'em thru... like popcorn thru a goose. Liked 'em so much... went back out and loaded another 200... ready for plinkin'!!!

[Rusty]

I'm a big fan of Veral Smith and LBTmolds.com. I can't remember if it was in his book or on the forums at graybeardsoutdoors.com Veral said that his wife's elk rifle is a Rossi '92 shooting his 180 grain cast. She fills her tag every year.
My personal opinion is that the .35 cal is something magic in the ballistics world. Be it .357 Mag,.35 Remington, or any other name you want to tag after it they all offer magic results out of proportion to their paper abilities.
Just as Jack O'Connor wrote about the .270 Win being a perfectly balanced cartridge, I think the .35 cal has magic.

[Nath]

I'm a big fan of Veral Smith and LBTmolds.com. I can't remember if it was in his book or on the forums at graybeardsoutdoors.com Veral said that his wife's elk rifle is a Rossi '92 shooting his 180 grain cast. She fills her tag every year.
My personal opinion is that the .35 cal is something magic in the ballistics world. Be it .357 Mag,.35 Remington, or any other name you want to tag after it they all offer magic results out of proportion to their paper abilities.
Just as Jack O'Connor wrote about the .270 Win being a perfectly balanced cartridge, I think the .35 cal has magic.

I agree but lament .35 in rifle chamberings coming and going unnoticed.
358win, the short belted magnums and others have never been given the credit they deserve.

N.

[Ray]

I'm a big fan of Veral Smith and LBTmolds.com. I can't remember if it was in his book or on the forums at graybeardsoutdoors.com Veral said that his wife's elk rifle is a Rossi '92 shooting his 180 grain cast. She fills her tag every year.
My personal opinion is that the .35 cal is something magic in the ballistics world. Be it .357 Mag,.35 Remington, or any other name you want to tag after it they all offer magic results out of proportion to their paper abilities.
Just as Jack O'Connor wrote about the .270 Win being a perfectly balanced cartridge, I think the .35 cal has magic.

This perspective re. bore size somehow reminds me of bob milek and his fondness of the .35 whelen for western hunting.

[Henry357158]

Deer not moving good today so I’m doing some testing before I hunt some more. I’m zeroed 1 inch high at 100 yards with 158 grain federal and about 2 1/2 inches high with 180 grain buffalo bore at 100 yards. My target was at 150 measured yards. The 158 he was only 4 inches low and 180 only 1 inch low! Went through the plywood and a 2x6 behind the plywood and dirt flew out of the back stop. Either paper ballistics are way off or I have a magic gun or the 357 mag is just plain better than people realize. I wouldn’t mind taking 150 yard shot but that would be my limit only because I’m not the best shot around but my confidence just keeps growing with this caliber!!!

[Nath]

I use to plink my 357 to 400yds all the time with little fuss.

N.

[AJMD429]

Either paper ballistics are way off or I have a magic gun or the 357 mag is just plain better than people realize. I wouldn’t mind taking 150 yard shot but that would be my limit only because I’m not the best shot around but my confidence just keeps growing with this caliber!!!

I think we all have the occasional "magic gun", that just doesn't seem to be able to miss. One of mine over the years was a little Marlin 357 lever action which I still have.

[Rusty]

Back in the 70's when I was a LEO we shot a PPC qualification that maxed out at 50 yards but if no one was around we could back up to the parking lot and shoot 100 yards at our range. When I was shooting my 5" M27 S&W there was more than one time when I would go prone and keep my groups in a small area inside a standard B27 target. I really thing the .357 is amazing.