357 Mag for Whitetail

[cody77]

Very interesting, Warhawk.  Thanks for posting that!

[savagefan]

I think it's a great choice, was going to use mine this fall but went with my Stevens 7mm-08. My buck was 20 yards away, the Marlin would have been great. Next year. Happy hunting to you and your daughter.

[flyingfool]

Wow.  This is all good stuff and I feel more confident now.

I will have to let her handle all three guns, the 336 in 30-30, the 1894 in 44 Mag and the 1894C in 357 mag and see which one she prefers.  I've almost never seen a 1894 in most gun stores around me and I have literally never seen a 1894c!  I've seen 336, 444 and 45-70 and all the new XLR's etc.  But the 1894's are just not shelved on gun racks.

From a selfish perspective I hope she doesn't choose the 357 mag for two reasons.  1) is that it is more expensive at least as compare to the 30-30.  The 2nd reason is that I have always wanted to cut down and make a shorty (trapper) version of the 336 in 35 Rem.  If she got the 1894C, it would essentially be exactly the same package & I wouldn't have to buy another gun and do the project.  And that would be a bummer! 

[Cascade Jinx]

You could always get her a 30-30 and then load up some of the Hodgdon H-4895 youth loads.  Less recoil, but deer killing power in the ranges you are considering. 

These loads can be found on the Hodgdon Powder home page under Load Data.  Then later when she is older and has grown into it, you can just use the normal factory loads.

CJ

[MudMan]

You could always get her a 30-30 and then load up some of the Hodgdon H-4895 youth loads.  Less recoil, but deer killing power in the ranges you are considering. 

These loads can be found on the Hodgdon Powder home page under Load Data.  Then later when she is older and has grown into it, you can just use the normal factory loads.

CJ

Great idea.  Those loads work too.  I killed a 150 lb hog at 120 yards last year with their 7mm-08 H4895 youth load.  One shot - stone dead.

[kynardsj]

Flyingfool, in the ranges you're talking about the 357 mag with at least a 158 gr JSP will work great. With all the calibers to choose from I still pick a 357 mag as my go to caliber for all my hunting needs here in Alabama. In fact probably 90% of my deer hunting is with a 10 inch 357 mag Contender. The other 10% is with a bow. If your daughter does her job the mag will do it's job. Good luck on the hunt.

[Mattole]

I killed a nice blacktail buck with my 1894c two years ago. I was using Federal American Eagle 158 gr JSP and the range was about 30 yards. The buck dropped in his tracks. Just get that young lady together with a rifle/carbine that she can feel comfortable and confident using and she will do fine. Shot placement is of course essential, no matter what the caliber, so whatever can be done to help facilitate her confidence and marksmanship will be most important.

Sorry you got jumped by el aggressor early in this thread. It sounds (and looks) like maybe he needs to lay off the steroids some.

[Joe S.]

My 11yo daughter will be hunting with the same gun this season. She will handle shots 0-50 yards. I will handle the rest.

[44-40 Willy]

I don't know how many deer my cousin killed with her 1894C in the 20 years she owned it.  I do know she got at least one a year, some years two or three.  Back in '02 she sold it to my wife who's added some more to it's record.  When my cousin had it, she used Remington 125gr SPs almost exclusively.  When I was hunting with a 357 rifle, me and her husband used Winchester 145gr Silvertip JHPs with excellent success on both deer and hogs and that's what my wife uses in the old 1894C now.   

The 357 Magnum makes for an excellent deer rifle and I much prefer it to a 30-30. 

However, as in all things, your mileage might vary...

[Hipshot]

Flyingfool,
   On this site some questions should not be asked unless you wear HEARING PROTECTION as the GUMB FLAPPING will DEAFEN YOU !!!
   Buy the .357 and have her practice with .38 Spl. to start !

                                                        Hip

[Canadiandad]

i too have a chance to hunt whitetail this week with my 1894c that I just bought. But I will be hunting large Alberta bucks. They are considerably larger than most other deer around the world (200 to 285lb range). I hve a couple of questions if you all could help me out?

1. I have some factory loaded Winchester 158gr soft lead flat point for my .357 handgun and I also have some Hornady XP/XTP 158gr hollow point that I reload. Which bullet would you recommend I use?

2. If you recommend the Hornady would be good, the Lyman 49 Edition reload manual says acceptable load range for Alliant 2400 powder (rifle data) is from 12.0 to 14.9gr maximum load. But I have seen some on this forum saying they loaded the same bullet and powder to 16 gr. Is this possible? Is it recommended? Or should I load some to around 14gr and be safe about it?

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

[kynardsj]

Go with the soft points on deer. The hollow points open up too quick. Someone else will have to help you on loading with 2400. I'm a Lil Gun kind of guy.

[ki4dmh]

Shot placement is everything no matter the caliber.

[papajohn]

Bear in mind that reloading manuals are meant to be used as Guidelines, not Bibles.  There are too many variables involved to make any absolute statements.  I tend to begin my load testing somewhere around the minimum charge shown or a little above, and quickly work my way up toward the maximum.  When the accuracy peaks, or I start to get pressure signs, I drop back a grain, and if it's accurate, it's my standard load.

You HAVE to work your load up, in YOUR gun.  There simply isn't any other safe way.  Just because T-Bone's Blackhawk likes a load that's over the book maximum doesn't mean anyone's else's gun will be safe with it. 

You know what they say about assuming, right?   

[Canadiandad]

Very true PapaJohn. Thanks for the reminder!