I am planning on running my .357 686 6" on deer. It is topped with a leupold 2x. Right now I am running 11.7 grains of aa number 7 behind a 158 grain xtp. This combo gives me 1258 fps. It is really accurate however the bullet starts to drop alittle more than I would like beyond 65 yards.

My accurate manual says that 11.4 grains of this aa number 7 gave 1462 for velocity out of a 6 inch test barrel. I gather that this is just a barrel with no forcing cone area to love velocity at. Am I really losing 200 fps of velocity or do I just have a really slow batch of powder? Primers don't really look that bad and I don't have sticky extraction so can I just work up by 1/10th's like an over the book max rifle load?

Does anyone have a really hot load from an old reloading book that I could work up to. Or can anyone tell me which reloading book to look in.

I gather that a 158 grain bullet should penetrate a deer's shoulder and still expand if thrown through the ribs. Is that about right?