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Thread: What are your choices of Bullets for .357 magnum and 45 Colt 16" barrel for deer?

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy huntersdog's Avatar
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    What are your choices of Bullets for .357 magnum and 45 Colt 16" barrel for deer?

    Looking for a bullet for deer hunting this season, I am not set up for casting right now.
    I was looking for factory bullet for the .357 Magnum and the 45 Colt?

    I'm looking for something being able to shoot out to about a 100 yards with iron sights.

    I have some Winchester 125 grain HP .357 magnum bullets loaded up but it's too lite for deer. In the past I bought the ammo but ammo, but it is in short supply this season.

    Or am I just better to stick with the 12-gauge shotgun with a 28-inch barrel and slugs this year?

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy Hogdaddy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by huntersdog View Post
    Looking for a bullet for deer hunting this season, I am not set up for casting right now.
    I was looking for factory bullet for the .357 Magnum and the 45 Colt?

    I'm looking for something being able to shoot out to about a 100 yards with iron sights.

    I have some Winchester 125 grain HP .357 magnum bullets loaded up but it's too lite for deer. In the past I bought the ammo but ammo, but it is in short supply this season.

    Or am I just better to stick with the 12-gauge shotgun with a 28-inch barrel and slugs this year?

    I shoot 125 grain soft points,,works great on white tail ; ) PS Remington
    H/D

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy huntersdog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hogdaddy View Post
    I shoot 125 grain soft points,,works great on white tail ; ) PS Remington
    H/D
    I wonder how the Winchester 125 grain HP would hold up on a deer?

    There was a gentleman who went by the name of Jerry Lester I believe, on graybeard Outdoors who used his 357 Magnum lever action rifle out to a 100-125 yards and shot light bullets and He piled up probably over 70 Deer over the years.
    Last edited by huntersdog; 09-21-2021 at 09:49 PM.

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master pietro's Avatar
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    I've long had good results on whitetails with boolits that are heavy for the caliber/cartridge - so, .357 = 180gr-200gr; .45Colt = 250gr-300gr
    Now I lay me down to sleep
    A gun beside me is what I keep
    If I awake, and you're inside
    The coroner's van is your next ride

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy
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    Depends on the 125gr construction. If meant for defense it will likely expand too quickly.

    I like a 158gr LSWC for most .357 uses.

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    American Eagle 158 JSP is consistent and loaded with a full charge of H110. It gets over 1800 fps from a rifle barrel where some other JSP loads are loaded with a sprinkle of medium powder and only get 1300-1500 fps in the rifle. I checked ammoseek and found some in stock at a scary price. The Remington 125 JSP is also a full power load getting about 2200 fps in rifles.

    https://ammoyard.com/handgun-ammo/fe...-50rd-per-box/

    For 45 colt I would check out Buffalo Bore or Double Tap for full powered loads. Their standard pressure loads will shoot a 250 gr at 1250 fps and their +p loads shoot 250s at 1800 fps or 300gr at 1650 fps. No sense spending a buck a shot to get a 200 gr cowboy load that goes 900 fps in the rifle.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master


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    For 357 a 158 ( or 180) gr lead with a large meplat.. should bust a deer... rnfp or similar.. maybee even a keith style swc.... if I went hp.. it would be a keith style.. and gas checked and pushed...

    On the 45.. perhaps a swaged speer 250gr swc

  8. #8
    Boolit Bub
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    Hornady's XTP is short for Extreme Terminal Performance. My rifle shoots quite well with these bullets and produces one shot kills.

    TR

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy huntersdog's Avatar
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    I found a selection of hollow points that I'm going to load up.

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master
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    180 XTP in front of a dose of 300-MP in the 357mag.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by mnewcomb59 View Post
    American Eagle 158 JSP is consistent and loaded with a full charge of H110. It gets over 1800 fps from a rifle barrel where some other JSP loads are loaded with a sprinkle of medium powder and only get 1300-1500 fps in the rifle.
    That ammo is so far my favorite and gives good grouping at 100 yards from my Henry Big Boy Steel 357 mag.
    Are you saying that they use H110 in that factory ammo?
    If so, how do you know that and have you measured the quantity of powder in it?
    Thanks
    1A - 2A = -1A

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy

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    +1 for that American Eagle 158 JSP. It is the most accurate factory load that I’ve tried in my JM branded Marlin 1894C. Gets over 1800 FPS. PMC factory ammo with a similar projectile only gets about 1500 FPS. It’s quite accurate as well.

    I want to hear more about that H110 loading, too.
    “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.” - Ronald Reagan

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
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    Its mostly a rumor, but they use 16.7 grains of something that gets 1350 fps in a 6" and 1820 fps in a 20".

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check