Hornady 180 gr. .357 bullets?

[S.B.]

Anybody use the Hornady XTPs in their .357 magnum pistol for hunting whitetails?

[Gregory]

I use them out of a 357 Maximum.

[terry]

 I have been killing hogs all summer long with the XTP 180gr bullets and a mid load around 1050FPS to 1100FPS out of my S&W pistol with 5" barrel. They are  blowing right through good sized hogs no problem. The bullets expand to around .50 to .53 cal in my Water testing every one looked the same like twins. That is pretty mid expanding for 357 bullets as many HP bullets jump up to near .60 cal or more when expanded, but at that size they do not give as much penetration as the 180gr XTPS which is why I choose the XTP to hunt with. I am going to hunt deer this fall with the same load I have killed about a dozen hogs with this summer using the 180gr XTP bullets I feel like it will be more than a match to the biggest deer around these parts at pistols range Well I better get going I am meeting a buddy to hog hunt tonight we had a nice cold front come through today dropping temps from near 100 degrees to low 80's for high today. Hopefully the hogs will be on the move

[Mattkc]

I used XTP-HP 158gr. out of a 5" GP100 and it was a gang flop. The far shoulder was ruined as far as meat is concerned.  However, next deer season I'll go back to the XTP-FP and leave more for the freezer.

[S.B.]

terry, how much powder are you using? You say your loads are midvelocity?

[terry]

 I am shooting 12grs of 2400 powder which is shooting about 1150-1200FPS. You can go up to about 1280- 1300FPS using 12.5 grs, but my pistol started to show some signs of pressure on the primers using 12.7 grs

[S.B.]

So, your not shooting midvelocity loads? Closer to max? I must of misunderstood your post.

[Del]

I hope to try the 180 grn XTP-HP w/12 grns of 2400 in my Ruger .357 Flat-top on deer or black bear this fall.
Like Terry, my gun started showing signs of high pressure w/ 12.5 grns of 2400, so I backed off to 12 grns even.

Terry how much are those hogs weighing that you have been harvesting w/your load? 
Distance of shots on the hogs? Where have your shots been placed? How far do the hogs generally travel after being hit?
Hearing about actual field experience of particular loads on animals harvested, is very helpful!!

Thanks,
Del

[terry]

 I have shot hogs from 50lbs up to 275lbs on one huge boar. Most are 100-175lbs average around these parts. I shoot bottom 1/3 low behind the shoulder and ranges have been 30 to 50 yards and recovery has been around 20-50 yards on average. They always seemed to run real fast and then fall over in a few seconds after being shot. I had one 150lb boar drop in his tracks but most do run like a lung shot deer for 20-50 yards.

[S.B.]

Tried some, for the first time today, in my 5" model 27. 12gr of 2400 under these looks promising. Has anyone actually miked their case heads, instead of just using the primers for a pressure judge?