Thread: What is .357 Magnum good for?

Other than shooting revolvers on the range what is .357 Magnum good for? I personally haven't bothered as I have a .44 Magnum for scratching the hand cannon itch.
I used to use an SKS for a bush/scrub gun and now that's gone I need a replacement and was thinking perhaps a lever gun.

I don't think I'll go .44 Mag despite being able to share ammo with my revolver, I'm thinking that if rego comes in you will only be able to buy ammo to feed what you own so having firearms in many varying calibres could be handy.

That said, what does everyone here hunt for using a .357 Magnum other than pigs? Is it ok for Deer up to and including reds? I'm probably looking at 100m or less in range ideally.

Deer , Rabbits, possums , wallabys
Gongs , coke cans the possibilities are endless


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Shooting pigs at a bailup.
Home defence if you live in America.

Fuck all else.

You can add some more powder if you home load and run up to 357max velocities if your game and know what your doing. Step down in powder speed and use small rifle primers.

Good mate has a single shot break open as a bail gun, cut down to just over min legal length and no front sight.
The tinny barstard has shot quite a few reds with it but all sub 60y......he also uses the extra gutless 38 special ammo in it.

Shooting 38 out of one is actually quite neat. Just a little pop, next to zero recoil. It's like shooting 22lr. Can't wait to suppress one

Good gun for the bush. But 100yds max. stick to closer.Similar trajectory to a 22
Stay away from 125gr hollowpoints-way too aggressive although when I was buying them they were the cheapest factory ammo so guess what I bought for shits and giggles
find some 158 grainers and get them going. I have a packet of 180's but never tried them. Not sure if they will do better with the weight or being slower stuffs them up
Shot goats with mine but no deer but wouldn't stop me doing so and I did carry it looking for them, just never saw any.
I would be more inclined to take shots that don't involve shoulders especially on big deer.
I don't reckon they have enough punch to wreck one and do enough damage behind to be effective. I think I may have read someone else saying the same thing on here recently and they gave their reasons way better than I have.
Ive been given some hand loaded Hornady flex tips loads but haven't tried them out.
BUT while I do like my little bush gun, if you got 44 that would be much better

357 magnum has lot better trajectory than 22LR. 140 grain at 2000+fps zeroed to 100 yards has only 4" drop at 150 yards. Its a legitimate 150 yards gun if you have the right load( keeping in mind 2-4 moa might be all a lever gun shoots) I use mine at shorter ranges more often but it will make the shot further out if you need. The shocking power will drop off at longest ranges, but it still kills.

Pushing a 357 with 158-180 bullets hard in a strong action like a marlin 94 or rossi 92, slow burning handloads it will hit 1600ftlbs, so its knocking on the door of moderate 30-30 loads. Thats probably what I equate it to, for game size comparisons. If you feel comfortable plugging something with a 30-30 or your 7.62 x 39, a 357 with the right bullets squeezes into that category as well. Range will be a little less of course.

Other advantages. 38 special loads. Low recoil, low noise, lots of fun. Just note these can be a little hit and miss cycling in lever guns, levers prefer a certain cartridge length. While they safely fire the shorter rounds, they may need tuning to feed smoothly. The alternative is load 38 special bullets out to 357 length, or load 357 down to 38 levels. It can be a very economical plinker at these levels, 2.5 -3 grains of AS-30N or similar fast burners will shoot 140-158 grain cast bullets to subsonic speeds, thats 2000-3000 reloads just one tin of powder. Case life will be in the dozens of firings at these low pressures. Its possibly cheaper than 22LR for plinking but I havent checked the numbers exactly.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I ended up picking up a very interesting little .357 carbine, I did have a good think about the .44 but this Alfa was just too odd to not take home.

There are some cartridges that for whatever reason they got it right and are fun to shoot and 357 Magnum is one of them. I own one 357 and plan to own more in revolver and would like to try a lever gun at some point.

I shoot 38 Special out of it and also have downloaded 357 Mag cases with Unique powder for plinking type shooting.

Originally Posted by wanneroo

There are some cartridges that for whatever reason they got it right and are fun to shoot and 357 Magnum is one of them. I own one 357 and plan to own more in revolver and would like to try a lever gun at some point.

I shoot 38 Special out of it and also have downloaded 357 Mag cases with Unique powder for plinking type shooting.

One day I will own a pair of sequential numbered vaqueros in .357, I promised myself that a long time ago haha

we have a 30/30 (wifes) and a 44 mag. both are ok to 100-120m . the 30/30 ballistics are close to the 7.62x39 that cindy thinks are evil the hornady "leverlution ammo may stretch range out a bit

I could use leverlution ammo but it is not tube fed so not absolutely necessary. Though if it provides better ballistics I might use it anyway. I'm not sure what the action will handle in terms of pressure though.

Originally Posted by ojc2

Thanks for the replies everyone. I ended up picking up a very interesting little .357 carbine, I did have a good think about the .44 but this Alfa was just too odd to not take home.

Wouldl this be thethe alfa proj revolving carbine?

357 is great to load 3 of them in a revolver along with 3 38specials - get them started on the 38s then watch them freak out on the 357's - excellent fun