357 Mag as a deer rifle
Posted: 08 Dec 2016 03:09
I will preface this post with--I LOVE MY ROSSI .357 AS A DEER RIFLE.
A couple years ago I took 2 deer with my Rossi .357, 20 inch round barrel rifle using a NOE 168 grain SWC. I lost one that I hit hard. There was zero blood trail on one a recovered and on one I didn't recover. We hear shot placement is critical, but very few posts say what that should be. I learned from magazines in the '70's that one should aim at the seam in the shoulder where it meets the rib cage. In my opinion now, this is not the best bullet placement. IMO the best shot placement on a broadside shot is straight up the front leg at a 1/3 up from the belly This shot will miss the leg and shoulder bones and will shoot through both lung and maybe the heart.
The advantage of this shot placement is it is lower in the thoracic which might hit the heart and will allow for a better blood trail for a double lung shot.
My load of 14 grains of Accurate #9 will shoot smack through a deer, maybe 2 deer. But, how much energy is expended within the deer's vital?
Fast forward 2 year: I decided to load some 180 gr. XTP's to allow the hollow points to release the energy of the .357 inside the deer. A wide rack (18 inch) 6 pointer buck gave me my first test. Read the story here:
http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=5352
The second deer with the Rossi this year was a doe at 30 yards. She quivered, took 6 steps, staggered and fell over. The bullet did not exit as I would like for a blood trail,but all the energy of the bullet we expended in her vital.
If you not gathered this yet, I love my Rossi .357 as a close range deer rifle. I can't wait for next deer season.
A couple years ago I took 2 deer with my Rossi .357, 20 inch round barrel rifle using a NOE 168 grain SWC. I lost one that I hit hard. There was zero blood trail on one a recovered and on one I didn't recover. We hear shot placement is critical, but very few posts say what that should be. I learned from magazines in the '70's that one should aim at the seam in the shoulder where it meets the rib cage. In my opinion now, this is not the best bullet placement. IMO the best shot placement on a broadside shot is straight up the front leg at a 1/3 up from the belly This shot will miss the leg and shoulder bones and will shoot through both lung and maybe the heart.
The advantage of this shot placement is it is lower in the thoracic which might hit the heart and will allow for a better blood trail for a double lung shot.
My load of 14 grains of Accurate #9 will shoot smack through a deer, maybe 2 deer. But, how much energy is expended within the deer's vital?
Fast forward 2 year: I decided to load some 180 gr. XTP's to allow the hollow points to release the energy of the .357 inside the deer. A wide rack (18 inch) 6 pointer buck gave me my first test. Read the story here:
http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=5352
The second deer with the Rossi this year was a doe at 30 yards. She quivered, took 6 steps, staggered and fell over. The bullet did not exit as I would like for a blood trail,but all the energy of the bullet we expended in her vital.
If you not gathered this yet, I love my Rossi .357 as a close range deer rifle. I can't wait for next deer season.