Favorite .357 mag heavyweight load?

[hotfarmboy1]

I'm gonna be doing some hiking and camping in some bear territory here pretty soon. Was just wondering what some others' favorite loads for the 357 mag are. I'm looking mostly for loads with heavier solid bullets capable of taking a bear.

 

[sbcman]

My personal favorite full house round is a 140gr Speer Unicore over an undisclosed (and ridiculous) amount of 2400.

For bear, I would go with a heavier bullet slowed down for better penetration. Something 158gr or heavier in the 1300-1600 range. I've seen 357 bear rounds sale on gunbroker, I think they were 180grain or so. Here's a review of Buffalo Bore's 357 bear load in 180gr. Buffalo Bore’s Heavy .357 Magnum

On second thought, I would probably use the event to justify a x-frame 500S&W purchase

 

[hotfarmboy1]

Yeah I wish a bigger revolver purchase was in the cards, but I definitely don't have that kind of money right now. I've currently been looking at Buffalo Bore's 180 gr load, and HSM's 180 gr Bear hunting load. So far the HSM is the best deal for the money. Just checking if anyone had any recommendations. I can reload, just haven't gotten all the components for the ammo yet.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

"heavy loads" can also depend on which gun you're using.

"Ruger-only" loads vs. loads safe for any gun in good working order.

I don't know of any manufacturer that makes Ruger-only loads, though. Perhaps Buffalo Bore does?

If you're gonna be in black bear country, then I'd think that anything in the 158gr vein should do you well. Depending on your gun, heavier projectiles might just be too long for the cylinders.

Have fun!

-J-

 

[hotfarmboy1]

Taurus model 608. 6 1/2" heavy ported barrel, 8 shot. So far its taken anything I've put through it with no problem. Including some 160 gr fmjsp +p rounds I put through it yesterday.

 

[Six Shooter Steve]

My heavy pet load is a 180gr nossler partition with 13.5gr of H4227 which makes it run right at 1200fps. This load isn't a max load but it is up there. I would recommend starting lower and working your way up. Plenty of loading data at Hogdons website for the partition bullets