Mainly wondering about the effectiveness of the 357 on the shots at medium ranges, say over 50 yards.

And what would you say is the maximum range of the 357 on the average/medium sized hog?

And what bullet if using jacketed bullets?

Ton of good information here:
https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.357+Magnum.html
I Have killed a few pigs with 357, but it was a revolver and all of them were closer than 50 yards. I dont think you will have an issue killing a pig at 100 yards with a good 357 load, and preferably a heavier projectile.

No experience at 100 yards, but the pigs I’ve shot under 75 yards with a 357 magnum rifle died. I’ve shot them in the head and vitals with success. I shoot the HSM 180 grain hard cast bullet, but I’m going to order some of the Underwood Gold Dots and give them a go.

I would like to know the exact load in those buffalo rounds...

Thanks for those links with them detailed info.

Does anyone have much experience in the 100 to 200 yard range with 357 on medium hogs?

Most ammo manufacturers don't share that sort of information. Their formulas are proprietary.

Anything hard cast 158 grains and up in the .357 Magnum will exit just about any hog out to 100 yards or maybe farther.

Buffalo Bore is pricey, but they make excellent ammunition.

In jacketed bullets, the 158 or 170 grain Speer Gold Dot, or any bonded core bullet 158 grains and up should exit a hog.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I have killed hogs out to 125 yards with the 357 Mag Marin. My favorite load is with a bullet no longer made, the 180gr Partition Small pistol magnum primers and 13.5 gr of H110. That bullet did not stay in hogs unless shot lengthwise through them. Punched through both shoulders of a 200+ lb boar at 100 yards. Shot one at between 125 and 130 yards that weighed about 125 and was a hign shoulder shot that went through both shoulders and clipped the back bone.

Still have a hundred or so of those bullets, I use them in the 357 Mag and 357 Max, will be sad when all are gone. Not sure what I will try when they are gone but might be a 180 hard cast bullet with a gas check and large meplat.

I really like the 357 mag for hogs and deer inside 125 yards, which covers a lot of my hunting.

Good info Kmon1. Maybe I was not giving the .357 enough credit. Seems like a shoot-through at 125 yards would have to still be an adequate hog gun at 200 yards, although I have not heard anyone say this.

I have found that I really like cast bullets when it comes to shooting stuff with my pistol calibers and 4570.

At 200 yards drop compensation is going to be a necessity.

I have 3 .357 rifles. I love them. Longest shot was on a doe at 110 yards. she did a backflip, ran 20 yards, somersaulted, ran back 20 yards, and died. I have shot countless pigs with it out to about 100 yards. One time, there was a group of small pigs running in a bunched up group. I aimed for the middle of the pack, and dropped 4 with one shot. I reload, and my favorite load is the Hornady XTP/FP under 18.2 gr of 300MP. The XTP/FP is designed for the higher velocity that you are going to get from a rifle. I am getting right at 1800 FPS. IMO 200 yards is too far for the .357. I shoot steel at that yardage, but it drops quite a bit after 100 yards.

Part of why I have not tried that is that slow moving bullet is falling like a rock:
2 inches high at 50 yards
on at 100 yards
3.3 inches low at 125 over 500 ftlbs energy
8.3 low at 150
15 low at 175
23.7 low at 200 yet still above 1000 fps and 430 ftlbs energy. Enough to penetrate the vitals

I am not that good at quickly judging distance and where to hold for that kind of drop with the 2-7X32 duplex scope that is on the Marlin. Sure a bit of practice and I could get there but then would still have to range find to know where to hold.....

More good info.

And I saw on the RIFLE charts published by Federal and Winchester, that the180 grain factory loads in .357 had more energy at 200 yards than the .45ACP has at the muzzle. I was a bit surprised.

(I have not ever seen these 180 gr rounds on a store shelf).

I have not seen any in years on the shelf, then again I roll my own so haven't looked. Ammpseek has several listed, Remington, Federal, HSM and DoubleTap. That DoubleTap looks interesting but kinda high priced. http://www.doubletapammo.net/index.php?route=product/product&path=303_331&product_id=151

Do you figure 180 grain is the best for hogs? I see the Remington bullet they marked as "Hog Hammer" is a 140 grain Barnes bullet.

If shooting jacketed, would you go JHP or JSP? I would thing the JSP would be better for a tough critter, but I have read other opinions...

I’m no ballistics expert, but as stated in my original post the 180 grain hard cast works great. Killed hogs with head, neck, shoulder and vital shots. That said, I would think something like a 158 grain Speer Gold Dot would work just fine.

Have you guys had any bore leading issues with those bullets? Are you shooting .358 diameter? Are you using a standard expander plug? Lyman M Die?

I'm very wary of leading up a rifle bore and having a chore to get it cleaned out.

Don't confuse hard cast with pure lead.

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=59

Not confusing the two but I have certainly seen hard cast bullets lead up a bore, and I don't want to discover that in a rifle barrel that is harder to access to clean (and harder to confirm if cleaned) than a pistol barrel.

I wonder what hardness level is about right for a full power (not +P) .357 load in a rifle.

When I was working up my loads for hunting, I researched quite a few .357 handgun bullets and called many different manufacturers asking about performance of their 158 gr JHP and 158 gr JSP's at higher velocities. I found that most of them are designed to work only up to 1400 fps or so. Out of a rifle, you are going to get much more velocity than that, and I was afraid of over-expansion. I even tested some of the 158 gr JSP shot into milk jugs full of water lined up in a row. As I had expected, the jacket seperated from the core, and the core expanded violently. I wanted to stick with the 158 because I wanted more velocity and less drop. That is why I settled on the xtp/fp. the xtp/fp is designed to hold together at the higher velocities. Here is a chart that I found showing the designed expansion velocities for Hornady xtp bullets. Notice that the 158 gr xtp/fp is designed to be reliable up to 1800 fps.

I can not speak to the performance of 180 gr hard cast. I have loaded some 200 gr subs, but that is a totally different animal which I have not tested.

I have had great success with heavy for caliber cast bullets on hogs. I currently load 247gr .358 over Win 231, will give an exit in my experience.



Next to a 180 and a 148.

Interesting info in those posts!

Is that rifle a custom 77/357?

Looks to me that it is. I have the same rifle, but I did not cut it down to SBR length.

77/357 just bobbed it to 10" a few years ago.

I don't recall seeing a 77/357 with a bull barrel. Was that a factory bull barrel?