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Old July 20, 2005, 01:54 PM   #1
CHARLIEWALLERFAN
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Hot .357's In A Gp100?

Can the .357 be turned into a respectable deer pistol with hot-loading to 1935 levels?

I have a Ruger 6” GP100 that, according to people on this and other sites, is a marginal choice for deer hunting. I would like to get a .454, but I’m not sure I want to give up my GP to do that. So before I sell it, can anyone convince me that I can safely hot-load 158 or 180 grainers to match what I see on HANDLOADS.COM? I mean, a 180 gr. bullet at 1550 fps, how do they do that?

Obviously, my Sierra manual doesn’t come near these velocities. Can one safely surpass the manual limits in a GP100? How much farther can you take it? I know many people use a Mod. 27 or a Redhawk for what I’m wanting to do ... but can the GP100 take it?

My only loding experience is with 125 gr. HP’s and maximum charges of 296. It gave excellent accuracy, [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]-cat recoil, and the cases required no ejection, being just a little warm to the touch. Not really very “magnum”-like at all. I figured the GP could take much, much more.

Thanks.
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Old July 20, 2005, 02:33 PM   #2
caz223
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What other duties does that .357 do besides woods gun and hunting sidearm?
Can you afford to practice with .44 mag or .454 casull?
I'd say keep that .357, and get a big, heavy hunting wheel, like a redhawk, blackhawk, N or X frame smith, large frame dan wesson, anaconda, freedom arms, or something similar. Something that weighs 5 pounds, and has a lot of metal in the cylinder, and a solid frame.
I have good luck with ruger SAs, bisley blackhawk, etc.
Redhawks are fine guns, too.
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Old July 20, 2005, 08:52 PM   #3
CHARLIEWALLERFAN
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Well the .357 is mainly only here for hunting use. I have autos for defense. It is a good target gun though.

To get a .454 like I want, I might have to let the GP100 go ... unless I can make it a better deer gun than it is.

So nobody on here knows anything about this subject?

I'm surprised.
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Old July 20, 2005, 09:09 PM   #4
Rodger Peterson
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If you shot that deer at 75 yards with a 158 gr bullet in the vitals no problem.
If you miss and shoot it in the butt, he is going to run off and die and you will never find him. If you miss and shoot him in the butt with a 44, 45, 454 you will do enough damage and slow him down enough to catch him and put one in the head. I have not hunted deer with my 357 Ruger Security 6 6" barrell, but I hunt coyotes with it regularly. That's my opinion, no experience. If I walked up on a nice buck with just the 357 I'd take the shot if I was certain I could make it clean.
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Old July 20, 2005, 09:23 PM   #5
CHARLIEWALLERFAN
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Thanks Roger.

After posting this I went to Sixgunner.com and there are some negative threads on the .357 for deer. I might just send the GP down the road and get something less dicey.

To hear them talk the .357 is downright weak.
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Old July 20, 2005, 09:35 PM   #6
Ben Shepherd
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I do 1550 with a 180 in my REDHAWK easily-But it's not higher pressure-it's extra volume in the case that gets me there. The redhawk has enough cyliner length to load the slug REALLY long, thus increasing the powder volume in the case.

These loads stick out the front of a GP100 cylinder.

You can get a standard length 180 to 1300 in a GP100 fairly easily. Just be careful!!!
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Old July 20, 2005, 09:38 PM   #7
CHARLIEWALLERFAN
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THANKS Ben.

How do your loads perform on game?
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Old July 20, 2005, 09:49 PM   #8
Ben Shepherd
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SHOULD preform well- But I don't KNOW firsthand. I would have absolutley no qualms whatsoever about taking a deer with it, if I did hunt with it. Yes it is a little low power-wise. But if you follow these three guidelines it's easily adequate:
1. Tough deep penetrating slug design in an accurate load .
2. Very good to exellent shot placement.
3. DO NOT take a shot outside your "comfort zone" distance-wise.

When I do hunt with a pistol instead of a rifle it's usually the 44 mag.
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Old July 21, 2005, 05:12 AM   #9
WESHOOT2
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from my pair

Comforting thought: CorBon develops 357 loads using 4" GP, not alone in ammo world......

For non-giant deer suggest 180g JHP from Remington, new case (Starline is fine), mag primers, and W296 / H110 / IMR-4227 / N110 and a few others.

Then you MUST be able to deliver your shot(s) accurately. Use a paper plate as your target, and consider your 'hunting range' as whatever your paper-plate target tells you (see, you set that plate out at 50 yds, run around the house once, then set up and carefully shoot the plate. When you can fairly rapidly hit it six times set it out farther, run around the house, and try again. That paper plate will tell you.....)

E-mail direct for data.....maybe.
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Old July 21, 2005, 08:53 AM   #10
mec
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Corbon loads them pretty hot but not to 1500. These are the only corbons I've tried in my rugers that produce sticky extraction.

Last edited by mec; August 28, 2010 at 09:22 PM.
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Old July 21, 2005, 09:11 AM   #11
CHARLIEWALLERFAN
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Thanks Weshoot, I never thought of running around the house but that totally makes sense for realistic practice.

I think though I am gonna sell my GP100 to finance a .454 SRH or .44 Bisley Hunter, even though the deer here are fairly small.

If I don't have any luck selling it, then I might pursue the hot-rodding ...
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Old July 21, 2005, 10:16 AM   #12
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FWIW, my "woods carry" load for my 4" GP100 is a 180gr XTP at 1200fps. The only pressure sign I get is flattened primers, but I get those with any magnum load (and some +P 38s as well). Extraction is easy and smooth. After firing over 1000 of these, I'm sure they're safe in my gun.

Anyway, I'd feel comfortable taking a shot at a Virginia deer out as far as 50yds for a broadside shot and to 25-30yds for a quartering shot. Deer here are small. At our deer camp, the average size is just over 100lbs. The biggest one ever was 140ish.

Chris
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Old July 22, 2005, 10:12 AM   #13
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What part of the world do you hunt?

I hunt in Indiana and use a 6 inch barrelled S&W 586. This year I am going to develop a load I think using Lil-Gun and 158 soft points or the Remington 180 grain SJHP that WESHOOT recommends. I don't get to practice much so my range for the pistol is not great, 40 yards maybe. Luckily most of the areas that I hunt are prety wooded and I have a very patience Bow-hunter attitude, but if that big deer comes out at 75 yards and give me a shot between the trees, that is when I shoulder the 20 guage that I also have with me in my sitting spot. It is good to carry two guns when you can.

I am pretty sure that any deer (even the 200 lb. dressed out buck that I shot 4 years ago) would be cleanly taken with a 158 grain bullet at 1400-1500 fps or a 180 grain bullet at 1200-1300 if I put it where I should at MY ranges. If you want a .357, 180 grain bullet to go 1500-1600 fps, get yourself a contender with a 10 or 12 inch barrel or a 357 Maximum.

Boo586

I have stressed my 586 a little too much looking for unneeded speed. As soon as I get my first deer with it, the heavy loads are banned from that gun.
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Old July 22, 2005, 11:34 AM   #14
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Quote:
Then you MUST be able to deliver your shot(s) accurately. Use a paper plate as your target, and consider your 'hunting range' as whatever your paper-plate target tells you (see, you set that plate out at 50 yds, run around the house once, then set up and carefully shoot the plate. When you can fairly rapidly hit it six times set it out farther, run around the house, and try again. That paper plate will tell you.....)

Hmmm, let's see-I live about 30 miles from the range. There and back is 60, pluse another 200 yards or so around the house.

Jeez, if I could do THAT I wouldn't even need a gun to hunt!


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Old July 22, 2005, 10:22 PM   #15
CHARLIEWALLERFAN
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Boo, I live and hunt in North Central W.Va., where most deer seem pretty young and pretty small.

Are they hard to stop? Sometimes.

I'm not having much luck trying to sell my GP100 so far, so I might be stuck with a 158 gr. load of some kind for deer season. Shots will be no more than 30 yards as I have a good position where deer practically run over me.

Too bad they don't make the GP in .44 Spec., as it feels "just right" in my hands. While a bigger gun is better for hunting it will never feel this good to me.
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Old July 23, 2005, 06:03 AM   #16
WESHOOT2
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don't stress

Practice accuracy; that GP and any decent modern load WILL do the job if you do yours.......

GP's are pretty tough.
Deer aren't (but they still need good hittin').

I do not feel under-gunned with my 357's, and I do have Redhawks in 41, 44, and 45 (and yes, two 357's ).
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