357 Magnum GP100 deer hunting question on SWC bullet

I see/hear that many will load up a 158grain Hornady XTP for deer hunting. (GP100 6" barrel)
My personally favorite bullet of that size is a 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter, non-hollow-point, because I shoot it very well, and am confident with it.
Should I forget about using the SWC for hunting because of lack of expansion?

If I were going to use a GP for hunting I would use Missouri Bullets 180 RF with Hi-Tek coating and set the GP up like this.

A good quality SWC bullet can & will work on killing deer.

There are a few things to consider.
Accuracy; Make sure you can place a bullet accurately at pre-selected distances,, to assure a proper killing shot.
Bullet placement; Understand anatomy, and how & where you need to place a bullet to give you quick, clean killing results. The crap of; "I see brown, I'm blasting" won't cut it. KNOW where the heart, lungs, and even the spine are at different angles prior to pulling the trigger on a deer.
Bullet type & weight; A SWC bullet is an excellent choice, and the weight of 158 can do the job. But,, make sure the bullet construction (alloy) is good enough to give you good penetration even if it contacts bone before hitting the heart/lungs.

In general,, a good quality 158 grn SWC moving along at 1100-1200 fps can do the job, with proper placement.

I use 357 mag almost exclusively for hunting and have tried quite a variety of projectiles. I would be ok with a swc "depending" on the hardness of the lead. Too soft and its going to explode and too hard will just pencil its way through. I think something between 15-18 brn would be about right

oldcrab said:

I see/hear that many will load up a 158grain Hornady XTP for deer hunting. (GP100 6" barrel)
My personally favorite bullet of that size is a 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter, non-hollow-point, because I shoot it very well, and am confident with it.
Should I forget about using the SWC for hunting because of lack of expansion?

Click to expand...

Not sure I understand why you would shoot an XTP or other expanding bullet any less well? I understand confidence, but the 357 would benefit from an expanding bullet, IMO. If solid lead is prefered for some reason, I feel a 180ish WFN would be a better choice due to the wider frontal area or meplat to create a more significant would channel.

XTP is a fine option. Deer are pretty similar to people in size.

I like theLyman #358156 bullet, a nominally 158 gr. gas checked semi-wadcutter. I cast my own at a BHN level of 11. They work. Properly lubed and sized I get no barrel leading and deer die. I load a 240 gr. SWC bullet with the same 11 alloy and it's just plain better than the .357 Mag. but then, we all knew that anyway. No matter as I do not feel handicapped with either cartridge.
Paul B.

My experience is the semi wadcutters will punch the heart and lungs. Hollow points devastate them.

Killed alot of deer with the .357 mag from 4-5/8" and 6-1/2" barrels using the RCBS 38-150kt swc. I cast it from straight wheel weights for years and from hardball now,both air-cooled. It's a killer for sure placed through the vitals. It will break both shoulders broadsides.

I have 44's,45's,475's, and even 500's I shoot extremely well, but still hunt most my deer with the 357 in magnum and maximum loaded with semi-wadcutters.

When I used my first-year-of-production blue 6" half-lug Jeep for a deer rifle in upstate NYS I found that Speer Gold Dot JHPs would kill clean every time. The HPs would too but were way messier inside the critter, so I stuck to the JHPs. 11 bucks from a tree stand and only had to shoot 12 shots.

Of course the range was under 25 yards for all of 'em, they were all whitetail "meat bucks," not trophies, and bullets ranging down from above tend to be really deadly. I found that in the frozen jungles up there a .357 revolver is "enough gun".... And a six-inch barrel is a heck of a lot easier to manipulate in a tree stand than ANY long gun!