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Old 10-29-2004, 07:19 PM
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HighDesertWolf
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: A flat lander lost in the mountains of Northern,AZ
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Default RE: Semi-Auto Pistol, Range/Deer gun.. Suggestions?

Is the Ruger GP 100 in 357 with the 6" barrel a capable gun to deer hunt with for shots out to 40 yards?
I have taken 3 deer with my GP100 6 inch barrel, my longest shot was 50 yards +/- 3 or 4 yards. my others, one was a 10 yard shot, another right around 20 yards. the 50 yard deer was shot with a American Eagle 158 grain soft points, double lung shot ran about 60 yards before it exspired. the others were shot with hand loads pushing a 158 grain hornady XTP's over 15.2 grains of Alliant 2400 with a chronographed velocity of 1531 fps, the 10 yard deer dropped like a ton of bricks the 20 yard deer took 4 steps into a run then the front legs gave out and collapsed.

A friend of mine also has the same gun and has taken a doe at 40 or so yards, with winchester 158 grain semi jacketed hollow points. that deer didnt even realize it was shot he said it stood in the same spot for about 20 seconds then collapsed.

The only thing i would watch out for with a 357 mag is shoulder shots especially with factory loaded ammo, in most cases it just doesnt have enough juice to blow through a shoulder blade like a 44 mag, even with my screamin handloads I avoid the shoulder but there are plenty of other spots to shoot a deer that the 357 mag will work quite well. In my opinion you cant go wrong with a GP100 with the 6 inch barrel. good luck
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