high velocity gold dots for game .357

[a357lever]

I have a bunch of 158 gold dot .357 these seem to hold together well into wood , clay, wet books etc. Do you think they will hold up for small deer. They are buffalo bore at about 2050fps and double tap at about 1980fps 16" bbl figure 50-75 yards the shure make a smooth ball shape about 65 cal.

[JerryB]

I have not tried them in my rifle but I don't see why they wouldn't work on large deer too.

[Hobie]

I have seen two independent tests of bullets in the .357 mag rifles and the Speer Gold Dot beat the Hornady XTP-FP. The Hornady XTP-HP is not designed for these velocities. I can hit 2000 fps in my rifle.

[Tycer]

They work well. The GeorgiaArms Deerslayer uses the GDs and work great.

[Idiot]

The Gold Dot should work fine. The worst that could happen is they could expand, fold back, and turn into a ball if you hit something just off the tip of the muzzle. The jacket and core are fused and cannot separate from each other. I think they'd be dandy for deer.

[Grizz]

OK we're parting company on this one. Family policy I guess you could say. I don't use hollow points on meat, for all the right reasons.

I like gold dots, carrying 'em right now, but not for harvesting food. I guess if cannibalism gets approved I might reconsider..... nope, not gonna do it.

Grizz

[Idiot]

I don't use hollow points on meat, for all the right reasons.Grizz

Not even 22LR HPs on rabbits?

My Gold Dot of choice would be the 170 grain SP, but if I had a bucket full of 158 HP bullets and and bunch of little deer that needed killing, I wouldn't hesitate using the HP. The last I deer I tasted, taken with a Sierra 165 grain HPBT, tasted exactly the same as the previous deer taken with a 180 grain SP. But, rules are rules, and once set should never be broken.

[rjohns94]

Grizz, I need more data - why no hollow points on game? what are all the right reasons. (not being smart, really interested). I plan on using my 180 gr hollow point .357 loads as well as my lead flat nose .357 loads for deer this fall. just interested. thanks

[Grizz]

Grizz, I need more data - why no hollow points on game? what are all the right reasons. (not being smart, really interested). I plan on using my 180 gr hollow point .357 loads as well as my lead flat nose .357 loads for deer this fall. just interested. thanks

Maybe it's just old, old wives tales, but the hunters I've traveled with had lots of stories of hp's not penetrating shoulders, even on tiny Alaskan deer, or blowing up before causing lethal damage, or not ventilating the animal properly.

Also, hp's like gold dots are designed for shallow penetration, that's why LEOs carry them, I thought... there is a lot of literature about how hp's can fail by filling the hp up with something that causes them to refuse to expand, thereby causing exit wound and further damage. least-ways that's the way I read the literature. and there is a lot of technology advertised to avoid overpenetration from lack of expansion.

Also, I've had a 7mm mag fail to exit a little Alaskan deer, which scared the spit out of me because I reconned that if it couldn't get out of venison, it probably wasn't going to shine against a large Alaskan bear.

So, I shoot solids for penetration on game to get assured penetration thru and thru from any angle. In my tribe a bullet that stays inside a game animal is a failure. It's just a personal policy thing, and since I'm the senior elder of my clan I get to dictate such minutia to myself.

I forbade my kids from killing game with hp's, but they're all grown up now and who knows what they carry?

I concede that a gold dot would or should probably be about equally effective against two legged foes or deer, but still I'm agin' it.

Not saying anything bad about anyone shooting meat with hollowpoints, even .22 ones.

Hope it's clearer to y'all than it is to me by now...,

Grizz

[Idiot]

"Pondoro" Grizz, I certainly can't object to your reasoning, but I've not yet arrived at your hard and fast rule. But then, I haven't lived among beasts weighing five times my size, with eight inch claws, and the disposition of Hillary Clinton - like you have. If I did, I'd find out what you were carrying and carry the same thing.

BTW, the Sierra 165 grain HPBT bullet that I use in my 30/06 Springfield is one of Sierra's toughest bullets. It has a thicker jacket than its other .308 caliber bullets and needs a hollow-point just to get expansion started. I shot a deer in the back with one a while ago and am convinced that a regular bullet and even some of the premium bullets wouldn't have busted up bone and keep on penetrating to the vitals like this bullet did. Now if that same deer was hit by one of your 45/70 loads, it would have penetrated, exited, and would be still drilling for desert water - even as we speak. But for a comparative peep squeak it did okay.

I have, though, had 158 grain Hornady JHP XTP bullets and 158 grain JHP Winchester bullets blow up and completely come apart on javalina. I only hunt them with Gold Dots and Solids nowadays. But deer, well, deer are easy to kill and just about anything can be used to drop them. Heck, I've even heard of people taking them with 243 Winchesters.

[horsesoldier03]

For Game, I think you would be better served with a JSP.

[rjohns94]

thanks Grizz. by the generosity of some members here, I have some 180 grain solids to get loaded. still need some Lil Gun powder, and some range time.

[Jason_W]

for 158 grainers, Rem Jacketed softpoints seem to be the best bang for the buck, but with the limited availability of components lately, we all have to make do with what we have on hand. I can't imagine a 158 gold dot in the boiler room of a whitetail not killing it. I'd personally avoid the shoulder, though.

[madman4570]

Think of it kind of like a "real low Powered" 30-30" For fairly close ranges and hit in the right spot it should do.However myself I would use somthing else.(dont like to track wounded deer)remember average 30-30 shoots a 150gr @ 2390fps ? and can shoot 170grs@ 2300fps Good Luck!

[PaulB]

Some places you need complete penetration to get a decent blood trail (e.g.western Oregon where the cover is thick and the rain is often). Deer runs 50 yards, you might have a heck of a time finding it. Hollowpoints might not work so well there.