.357 mag for cattle:EDITED:

deadhorse

deadhorse

New member
Does anybody know of a source for heavy, hard cast .357 bullets? I need some heavy reloads with good penetration
thanks.
 
Last edited:
The best recipe is to put it behind the ear where the spine connects to the skull. Even with some stout loads you're still taking a chance of not killing the animal quickly if you put it between the eyes.

I've shot a bunch of em & I've never seen one suffer after a behind the ear shot. A .22 mag will do the trick if you put it in the right spot, but the .357 with any ammo will do the trick.

Just my $.02.
 
deadhorse,
I would think a hard cast bullet would be the ticket.

I grew up on a farm around Russell, and when we butchered, all my dad ever used was a .22 between the eyes. Of course, they were not aged cows or bulls, usually steers about 15 months old. Never saw him shoot one more than once, all just folded right there.

I think the skull plate on an old cow gets thicker with age, and I'm sure the skull plate on a mature bull will be at least an inch thick.

Just my .02!
Tim
 
Last edited:
Used to work in a packing plant. Yes the skull gets thicker with age to the point that after a certain age they have to use a 22 mag (at base of skull) rather than the stun gun (on forehead). Keep in mind that they are using a gun with the muzzle in contact with the animal, and they still at times have to try twice.
Behind the ear is your best choice for an in the field shot.
Anything but a light load should do the job.
 
"I grew up on a farm around Russell, and when we butchered, all my dad ever used was a .22 between the eyes. Of course, they were not aged cows or bulls, usually steers about 15 months old. Never saw him shoot one more than once, all just folded right there. "

yep, our 66 year old neighbor down the road ahs been butchering cattle forever in this way. He uses an old remington 16, "...gun hasn't killed anything besides beef steers for the past 40 years..". shoots them in the chute from about 5 feet away, hoists them with the wheel tractor and so on and so forth. Growing up, I have never seen any of the couple hundred or so cattle that I've seen him shoot take anymore than a single shell.

on the other hand we were on a trail ride a few years back where a guy's horse snapped it leg, that took 3 shots from a .45 in the side (tossing its head to much to shoot) to put down.
 
We used a 22 for years until we had 1 get up and run out of the corrals, and then they get really hard to kill. I guess we were a little off the mark. From that point on we used a 12 gauge between the eyes. At close range of course, never again has one got up. No mess and no worries.
 
Thew packing house I worked in when I was a lot yo0unger always just used a .22 rifle between the eyes. Till a six hundred pound boar pig went down then got back up after being rolled onto the kill floor, chased the crew around for about five minutes till the boss came in to find out what all the yelling was about, after he looked in and sees five wetbacks holding on to the rails and the PO'd Boar tossing bloody froth all over and running around looking to get some back. He went to his office 30-06 dropped the pig but me and every body else could not hear for a couple days them big empty rooms echo somthing Bad.
 
Draw an imaginary x between the eyes and ears, place the bullet at the intersection of the two lines. I was shooting steers in the back of a truck on butchering day before I started 1st grade. I do not remember ever shooting twice, though the memories are very clear of loading a Remington 550-1 with Fed. LR's so I think I'd remember any foul ups. Come to think of it, Dad was a real hardass, I think I'd definately remember if I had to shoot one twice.

If your brother is having trouble he is shooting at or between the eyes. Not much there but bones and sinus cavities. Makes for a tremendous headache and poor eyesight, not very lethal. Try that shot on a hog sometime and see what happens.

Try a simple FMJ or a hard cast bullet, 38 Specials would be adequate.

Kind of funny, because I think a head shot is one of the stupidest one can take in a field situation. Whole nuther story when you can walk right up on em.
 
I was typing while Blinddog was posting. See his post for why between the eyes does not work well, particularly on hogs.
 
JoeF is exactly right. Draw an imaginary "X" between the eyes and ears.

I once shot a horse with my M-29 .44 mag loaded with 240 gr JHPs. I aimed right between the eyes from 30 yards. The horse reared up and came back down on all fours with blood running out of his nose. I thought that I might have flinched so I took a another shot and the same thing happened again! He stood there with his head swaying side to side. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I then walked around the corral and put one behind his ear. His feet hit his belly before he hit the ground.

On closer inspection, there were two entrance holes less than an inch from each other, directly between the eyes. The horse's head was down when I shot and the bullets went through his head and into the neck, stunning him, but not putting him down.

The two custom farm kill butchers that I later talked to about it had never had an animal do much more than twitch after being properly hit. One used a .22 mag and the other a .32 Winchester Special.
 
I've edited my initial post a little. I've looked at the Garrett website and Buffalo Bore as well and it appears only loaded ammo is available. I'll continue to look, but if anyone knows of a source let me know.
 
Bull-X is a brand of cast bullets I have setting close by that work well. I know Hornady makes .357 diameter cast bullets. THere are a whole boat load of other mfg's that sell cast bullets. I'd be surprised if your local reloading house couldn't set you right up.

I know you didn't ask but.... Unless you're just wanting a cheap bullet that you can download a lot and shoot a lot I would stay away from lead bullets in a 357 rifle just because of the leading issue. Anything much above 1kfps is liable to muck things up a bit.

If all you're interested in is the issue that you editted (why?) out of your original post I would just go buy some of the cheap 158 gr FMJ 38's that are boxed up by UMC or one of the other generic boxed rounds that most stores handle and be done with it.
 
Several years ago Mas Ayoob did a bullet penetration test in a slaughter house if I remember right the best penetrator was the Hornady XTP's in all calibers.
 
The worst day of my life was when I tried to put down a splayed out milk cow with my 44 mag. I had never done it before so I thought it might get bloody. I stood back about 6 feet to avoid blood and aimed between the eyes and fired (no ear protection for only one shot!) I hit her half way down her nose. She let out a bellow and her eyes bugged out. I freaked. I aimed again and fired. The second round hit her about a half inch from the other. Now she was really freaking and I was just about as bad. I took a deep breath and shot again. You could have covered my group with a quarter! By now my ears are ring so loudly I can’t hear anything. I could not figure out what was happening. Without thinking I shot at her neck. Nothing happened! Then at the side of her head by the ear. She either died of shock or the last shot, but it was awful. Starvation might have been a less painful end for her. My buddy the herdsman came over and asked me what I was thinking. He thought I was trying to make her suffer. All I know is that if you hit them in the nose, I hardly bleeds and DOES NOT KILL THEM.

I think I did permanent ear damage that day, wasted 5 of last Hydroshock rounds, and made both of us suffer.

I later learned that at 6 feet my gun shot about 7 inches low! The herdsman said he always uses his 22 mag and puts the muzzle up right behind the ear.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top