My first handgun was a JP Sauer & Son model 38H, 32acp. (Posted earlier under 'guns') I took it in trade for an old beat up pool table that my father gave me. My first handgun purchase was a Ruger Security Six 357Mag with a 6" barrel. It was stolen out of my car while parked at Clearwater Beach, Florida. I then purchased a Colt Trooper 357Mag that I later sold, and then bought another Ruger. I just never got used to that Colt revolver.
I still have that Ruger Security Six 357Mag with the 6" barrel. I fired thousands of rounds through that gun and basically wore it out. I took several deer with it, and some more since it was fixed. By wear out, I mean that something in the action, buried in the frame, broke and locked it up. I sent it to Ruger for an estimate to fix it only to have it returned ready to rock and roll at no cost other than shipping. I think that was about 15 years ago.
With fading eye sight, and since I like to shoot it 50+ yards, it now wears a red dot sight. In my later years I find that I just couldn't see the sights and a deer at the same time. The last deer taken with it measured 120 yards away, according to my laser rangefinder.
Any so-called "expert" that considers the old 357Mag as too light for hunting deer should be ignored. I use 157 grain hollow points that are very deadly for hunting deer. At about 20 yards it'll penetrate from shoulder to ass, and also cleanly down a whitetail broadside at 120 yards. My only complaint is the high pitched bark that's hard on the ears. Baffle type ear plugs or electronic stereo muffs work fine to tame the noise in the deer woods.
2 comments:
I'm glad you said that. I've wanted a .357 mag for awhile now, but have been thinking .44 mag to hunt deer. I'll focus on the .357 first.
Yeah, it'll do a fine job but has one definite drawback. The high pitch, sharp report is rough on the ears, the 44Mag not so much. In fact, in the woods the .357 makes my ears ring more than the 454.
I use 158 grain bullets by either Hornady (XTP HP) or Sierra (JHC), but that's mostly because I get better down range accuracy with them out of my old Ruger. I run them about 1250f/s in front of AA#9, but be careful, that powder tends to be temperature sensitive.
For handloaders the 41Mag seems better for deer than the 44Mag. It appears to have better ballistics.
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