wimp

I plan on carrying my 357 mag this year for close shots at deer, 35 yds and under. I bought some of these 170 gr. Gold dot soft points and they shoot really well from my gun. I' m thinking this would be an excellent load for deer, what do you guys think?

akbound

I have no experience with that particular bullet on deer! But based on the information I' ve read on the bullet, (and my own past experience with 158 grain soft points on close range whitetails), I would strongly suspect that they would work well if employed well. Because of the limited energy of the .357 Magnum I have purposely only taken shots when it was possible to place the bullet through the ribcage broadside. Under these circumstances the .357 proved adequate to make clean kills. I shunned taking quartering shots through the front shoulders to eliminate the possibility of not obtaining sufficient penetration. I would imagine that some of the newer 180 grains, (and maybe as well the 170 Gold Dot), might provide adequate penetration to take a quartering shot.

Anytime I have been in doubt....I' d elect to ere on the side of caution. There really is no excuse for not making every effort to insure a " clean kill" .

Hopefully some one has experience with that bullet and can provide more precise information!

t-roy

i shoot 180grain winchester partition golds, they work great. i would say your bullets would work fine as long as they expand well. that is why i shoot the partition golds, very deep hollow point. i used some 180 grain reloads once, and they barely expanded at all.....ON A HEAD SHOT!!!
no more reloads for deer outa me

Vapodog

If you' re talking about a handgun...barrel under 8 inches, I don' t think it is an adequate cartridge no matter how it' s loaded.

Best of luck to you.

Ruger-Redhawk

If you limit your shots to close range it should be sufficent. I personally think a 41 mag as a min for deer.Of course shot placement is a must.You would be much better off investing in a 41mag,44mag 45Colt,454 Casull or a Ruger 480.We owe it to the animal to make the most humane kills as possible.
Ruger Redhawk

Vapodog

Totally concurr.......

Thank you Ruger-redhawk

handloader1

I have never used their Gold Dot Hunting bullets, but they should do the job at very short range. According to their web site they are hunting bullets. Good luck

Nomercy

I' m a huge fan of lead slugs, whether semi-wad, round nosed, flat point, Keith, or CAS, they make very devastating bullets.

Sorry, had to get that out. The guld dots make good deer bullets, and they' re well suited to your purpose...I run .44mags, and they weren' t my favorite, but at that range and with a ' lowly .357' , they' ll do quite well. My problem with them was pretty much one thing: my .44mag is good for out to 100yrds, where a ' soft bullet' is required since velocities are rather low, but too soft of bullet would be kind of nasty at close ranges, so finding a bullet that does well at high AND low velocities is key. That' s not going to be a problem for you, since the .357 really does limit you to 50yrds or under, the gold dots are good for this type of range/velocity. They' re a little too soft too push into a deer at 1700fps at close ranges (yes, I do load .44mags this heavy, thanks Ruger SBH), but they' re a little hard for getting it done at 125yrds. Plus, they only shot well for me out to about 60yrds, where I can get much better results with other bullets out past 150yrds-not that 60yrd performance is what you' re worried about.

Go for it, they' re a good bullet well suited to what you' re asking of them.

akbound

As I' m sure you have noticed....a familiar theme! When used from normal length handguns the .357 Magnum is at best...." adequate" for whitetails. In your original post you said close range, ie. 35 yards or so. And I concur with that assessment. For someone that feels really comfortable with their ability I would extend that to 50 yards. But the .357 Magnum out of standard length handguns really does not make a " solid" whitetail gun unless used with absolute precision and ethics. Yes it will kill whitetails....and has been used to kill many other larger animals as well, (but I question the motives of those that use it in that capacity.....except for " real survival" situations), because it leaves no margin for misuse or error. If your gun likes the 170 Gold Dots, and you are absolutely confident you can put the bullet into the heart and lungs, go ahead and use it to those limited ranges. It will work...it just demands alot of good judgement on your part.

When the opportunity presents itself, try one of the larger bores, and see the difference for yourself. Good luck with your endeavor!

wimp

Thanks for the varied input guys, I do realize this isn' t the most powerful round, but I feel kept at close range with good shot selection, I shouldn' t have a problem. Killing a deer ain' t that big a deal so I can pass on any shot that isn' t ideal, but yet the place I hunt often produces very close gimme shots that I feel I can easily make with my revolver.