I'm buying a.357mag for home defense would this be good for hunting deer&hogs too.?

Question

I have hunted with rifles&shotguns all of my life and I am going to try out hunting with handguns.But i am not very ejucated with handguns(scince im mostly a deer and bird hunter)so can you please tell me if i can buy one that is good for hunting and home defense.(preferably a.357 or larger)

Answer 1

Bound's hubby here:

There's alot of advice here. I will add my two cents. I think your .357 will be adequate provided you have the right ammunition. The shortest barrel I would go with would be a 6 inch barrel (my preferred home defense gun is a 6 inch K38 with Hydra-shocks... it's not too long because no intruder is going to get close enough to grab it!). A .357 has it's limitations... I would keep my maximum distance to the distance at which I can keep 6 shots on a 6 inch paper pie plate.

Your ammuntion: if you limiit yourself to factory soft points and jacketed hollow points... get a .44 Magnum. Your hunting round should be of a semi-wadcutter design. The flat part of the semi-wadcutter is called a metplat... the larger the metplat, the more shock you induce which is good for dropping the animal. You want the shoulders to be as sharp as possible. Your .357 with this type of bullet should be more than adequate for deer to 40 or 50 yards, and perhaps, smaller black bear.

While I own a couple of .357s, I bought a Smith .41 Magnum for hunting. The .41 has greater muzzle energy than the .357, with less recoil than the .44. When you compare a .41 and a .44 the difference in wound cavity size is 0.019 inches in diameter. In many respects, from this angle, the .41 is a better hunting round than the .44. Therefore, I would suggest you give the .41 serious consideration as a hunting round. I have also assembled a handload I call a ".41 Special" that I found in the RCBS cast bullet handloading booklet that shoots like a .38 Special. That big revolver with a nice big hole in it, can be real intimidating if you're looking at it from the wrong end.

If you plan on handgun hunting give serious consideration to casting your own bullets and handloading your hunting ammunition.

I would suggest you look at either an L-framed S&W .357 or an N-framed S&W .357 or .41. The new Smith L and N frames are factory drilled and tapped for scope mounts. Because you stated home defense, in addition to hunting I have not recommended Ruger's single action Blackhawks... only because (by design) they can not be reloaded quickly like a swing out cylinder revolver.

Good luck.

Answer 2

The 357 certainly has enough power to do the job at short range, but it isn't as certain as a rifle, less accuracy and power.

I'd agree with others that the two uses are slightly incompatible, a home defence gun needs to be handy and a hunting gun needs to be accurate. I have a 6" GP100 and it isn't something I want to be waiving around in the house, but it is accurate at moderate distances.

But anyway, it's actually much more likely that you will use this for hunting than that anyone will ever threaten you in your home. Given that then you might as well get something a bit more suited to hunting, I think the 357 is at the low end of what is acceptable for deer, so probably a 5.5" Ruger Redhawk 44 Magnum. That gives you a lot more power and a better chance of anchoring a hog plus it's a fiersome looking weapon. For practice and defence use you can use 44 Special to save your hand, ears and bank account. The bigger Super Redhawk adds a couple of inches of barrel but is a big hogleg of a pistol.

Anyway, if you stick with the 357 you'll still have something that can do the job, it's always possible to criticize any decision.

Answer 3

Buying a gun for Home Defense is like expecting to get hit by lightning. You'll likely never need it, but I keep a 12 gauge handy just in case. If you really want to use a handgun for deer/hogs, buy what you need for hunting like a 44 mag and forget about the home defense aspect of it. I have a 357 and I would only use it under 35 yards. We used to shoot reactive targets at my old gun club and a plastic encased bowling pin is a pretty tough customer. My 357 with max loads never came close to making it through a bowling pin, but they'd sure go through a couple of walls of drywall. My 44 mag came close to making it through the bowling pin, but was just not quite there. Of course my 12 ga with a slug obliterated the pin. This an example of just how little power a handgun has compared to a rifle or shotgun and for someone used to that kind of power, you may want to err on the side of caution and go big with the 44. You can always buy factory 44 special or hand load 44 special velocity loads with 44 mag casings.

Answer 4

My experience is that there are 2 different applications that have different requirements. If I was to have a "home" gun, it would have a relatively short barrel. A hunting handgun is best with a long barrel.

I am a long time rifle/shotgun/archery hunter and have shot a relatives .357 revolver and have a heck of a time hitting a 3lb coffee can at 10-15 yards. I would never take it hunting. I suppose with enough practive, you could get adequate with it. Another relative has a much longer barreled pistol with a scope for hunting and he is very good out to about 75 yards in practice. He has killed several deer out to about 40 yards.

So IMHO it comes down to: Do you want a home defense gun or a hunting gun?

Good luck with that!

Answer 5

For hunting deer sized game I would look at a .44 mag (Which can shoot .44 specials) or a .45 colt. The larger diameter and bullet weight will be more effective on deer. Of course a .357 will work, it is just not the best choice. If spliting the difference in hunting and self-defense I would look for a 4 inch-6inch barrel. The longer, the better for hunting. If you go with the .357 go with the 170-180 grain bullets for better penetration on deer.

Answer 6

i would go with the happy median between .357 and .44: the .41 magnum. its an odd caliber, but it is great for medium game up to deer, if you are close enough. i would suggest a taurus with at least a six inch barrel. dont listen to these people about, as short a barrel as possible!!!!. if it is home defense, not carry, you could have one with an 8 3/8 inch barrel and it would be fine. worst case scenario, you have to move around your house, think there is a difference between a 3 inch barrel and a 6 inch barrel? no. besides there is always the intimidation factor. if the burgular can see you, what would he be more afraid of, a small revolver with 2-3 inch barrel, or a massive revolver with a 6-8 inch barrel? try to find a good dan wesson revolver. some of them have interchangeable barrels, so find one with a 3-4 inch barrel and buy a 6-8 inch for hunting. otherwise check out this revolver:

http://taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=195&category=Revolver

and if you are dead set on a .357 here are some choices:

http://taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=278&category=Revolver

http://taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=265&category=Revolver

do take into consideration a larger revolver would be bulky to mauever in your house, but if you practive with it and get used to the weight, there will be no problem.

Answer 7

I've been wanting to get into handgun huntin' for a while.My personal sights are set on that Ruger Super Blackhawk hunter..44Mag,single action,stainless steel ribbed barrel and it accepts Ruger scope rings.It's pricey,I think around 600 bucks.

For home defense I'd go with an auto....9mm,40s&w...I prefer Sigs,but in the event you need it,any handgun will do.

.357 is a good cal for deer,but I'd practice my butt off,and keep the shots close.Like the other folks said,it's not the gun,it's the hunter.

Answer 8

I have a 4" barrel .357 revolver that's a general purpose gun. I've taken deer with it, and I've lost hogs. .357 Magnum is a good close range deer cartridge (under about 35 yards from a pistol or 100 yards from a rifle), but my experience with hogs asks for a little more gun.
For Home defense AND hunting you need to not be too much gun for the house or too little for the field. You don't want a scope in the house, it's too slow in acquiring your target, but you don't want to be taking one off and on over and over either, it's a hassle and you need to re-zero every time (At least to verify). At handgun hunting ranges you probably don't really need one anyway. I'd stick with a 4" to 6" gun and good high-visibility adjustable sights.

And if you're really enthusiastic about shooting hogs with a handgun, I'd upsize to a .44 magnum, same parameters, and shoot .44 specials (instead of magnums) for home defense loads.

Answer 9

The .357 magnum was used by Col. Doug Wesson to take elk and all manner of big game in North America. (Of course, it's the shooter, not the caliber, that counts the most.) Yes, it is adequate for deer within reasonable range and with the proper ammo. In a lever action carbine, the .357 becomes a whole 'nother animal with energy at 100 yards equal to what a pistol has at the muzzle. Ammo is cheaper than .44 magnum, too. It is one of the top handgun cartridges of the 20th century.

Answer 10

I killed a whitetail deer with my .357 mag a couple of years ago; it dropped in it's tracks. Just make sure you keep the range down (I won't shoot over 30 yards at a deer with my revolver). And practice enough so that you can consistently hit your target at that range. A larger caliber handgun might be more efficient, but a .357 mag will do the job if you only shoot within it's limits and your own limits.