When I hunt deer in the fall I carry a side arm,I curious as to the heaviest 357 load I could carry in my 640-1 357 that would be effective should I need it.

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Anchors

First place to look is your state hunting regs and see if they specify ammo/handguns legal for hunting. In my state (OK) that gun would not be legal to fire at deer, although it could be carried for personal protection while hunting.

Secondly, if it is legal under the hunting regs, I would use a good 158gr for penetration. Even with a long barrel, .357 is on the light side for deer hunting, although I do use it for our 100# does.

I don't plan on this being my main weapon,I hunt with a Russian MN 91/59 in 762.54R using a 200gr bullet.

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Anchors

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Didn't say you were going to use it as your main weapon. Said many states prohibit shooting at game with a handgun at all unless it is legal as the primary weapon. Check your game laws to see.

In OK and other states, using a small carry gun to finish off a downed deer is "hunting with an illegal gun" subject to fine and possible confiscation.

Use what shoots to POA. I'll guess that 158 grs. is the way to go. The Buffalo Bore 150 gr. hardcast wadcutter in .38 spl. ought to work reasonably well too, since it is an ultra deep penetrator. I'm assuming that the bullet is for hunting not self defense. I would probably use 125 gr. .357 JHPs for the two leggers.

Thanks for the replies.I always like to be prepared whether it be 4 or 2 legged.

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Anchors

.357 158 gr. SWC is a great general purpose bullet that should work well enough for both.

Hi Anchors,

I haven't chrono'd .357 from a 2" in some time. I like max loads of Blue Dot, 2400 and Lil' Gun behind (I use magnum primers except with the Blue Dot) Jessie's TVB 158-grainers in my 3" gun, but one that's a penetrative son of a gun from that barrel-length is his 180-grainers over a max load of Blue Dot and a standard primer.

Feel free to email if you want load data. If you're stuck with factory ammo, look at Buffalo Bore's offerings - they've got data up for performance from short barrels.

I've loaded a lot of CastPerformance 180gr SWCGC bullets in 357 ahead of a close-to-maximum charge of W296/H110 and had good luck with it in a Marlin 1894 rifle, and several different S&W revolvers. I've not tried it in the 640......or the 340PD, ouch.....although have both and might have to see what it's like. I'd guess the load might shoot a little high, I've found that heavy bullets tend to shoot higher in fixed sight revolvers.

I recently worked up a load with WW296 and a Cast Performance 187gr. GC bullet that runs 1914 fps. from my Marlin carbine. I shot it in an old 2 3/4" Ruger Speed Six, but wouldn't want to touch one off in a J-frame. Might be fun to watch someone else do it, though...

I just recently chronographed some (sadly discontinued) Federal 140 jhps out of a 640-1 and got an average velocity of 1135fps. I suspect that their Vital Shok Ammunition P357XB1 with the 140 grain Barnes copper hollow point might give similar velocity but better weight retention and penetration.

A solid copper bullet will likely be longer, use more case capacity and leave less room for the powder. I'll SWAG that the velocity is less. Then again, I could be absolutely wrong.

FWIW, Corbon makes a 140 gr. .357 load utilizing the excellent old shool Sierra JHP.

158 gr JSP over 16.7 grs of H110 or 180 gr Nosler Partition or a JSP over 13.5 grs of the same.
Hodgdon lists a 125 gr. jacketed bullet with 22 grs of H110 and it barks but I'd go with the heavier bullets for deer.
Needs magnum primers.

I am working up a load using 158 grain XTP hollow point and either winchester or H110. Figure it will work on 4 and 2 legged critters

You can get in excess of 1600fps and 700 ft lbs of energy with the 125gr XTP and H110/W296. Pretty impressive stats for this caliber. As for accuracy, well, it's like a laser beam at 100 meters.

Keep in mind that this load makes the 357 sounds like a totally different caliber. It gives a loud BOOOM and bright muzzle flash so wear hearing protection.

I wouldn't carry too heavy a bullet in that M640 because it's such a light gun. I would probably carry no heavier than a 158gr bullet but probably would carry a 145gr Winchester Silvertip in a M640. When I carry a .357 Magnum as a backup in the woods I carry a 4" M686 loaded with ammo loaded with a 180gr Hard Cast bullet.

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Would the Winchester 145gr Silvertips be better than the Federal 158gr semi-jacketed HP's.I have a partial box of the Federal,don't shoot them that much as it's a real handfull from the 640-1.

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Anchors

I'm not sure what you mean by better but if you mean more controllable the answer is possibly. I would say both the 145gr Silvertips and 158gr Federals are about the same in felt recoil. The real question should be which shoot more accurately in your revolver. Since it's a backup I wouldn't worry too much about the recoil since you probably won't notice it if you need to use that revolver for protection. I like the Silvertips better because they are accurate in my M640.

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SWCA #3437