This is for black bears or moose attack. Yes, I know .44 magnum, and .50AE are more likely to stop a bear or moose

I developed an interest in carrying a pistol while hunting but the most powerful pistol I got is a .357 DEP. Not so much because I'm planning to get attacked but a "just in case" pistol. I'm just thinking from a standpoint of stopping the most powerful animal would mean I could stop anything less than that up to a crazy person in the woods.

Does anyone have any stories about shooting these ammo? Is it safe to shoot in a DEP?

I got a box coming and I'll test it out.

I believe the hsm bear load is a hard cast lead bullet. If this is true, do NOT shoot it in your desert eagle. It will foul the gas system with lead making it extremely difficult to clean.

The Bear Load is a 180 gr. lead bullet, listed at 1400 fps. As noted, it's a bad idea to shoot un-jacketed ammo through a Desert Eagle. It tends to plug the gas system.

Underwood also has a hard cast 180 gr. load, listed at 1400 fps. It has a gas check, but I would still not want to shoot that through my DE.

Most jacketed 180 gr. ammo I'm seeing is listed around 1150 fps. or less. Ive seen reference to a Buffalo Bore load featuring a 170 gr. jacketed bullet, listed at 1400 fps. But I don't find it on their website now.

Any chance you reload?

Hey thanks for the warning. These HSM loads are gas checked as well.

No I don't reload. I got 1 box of this stuff coming so I'll check it out. Hopefully my DEP won't be clogged.

I wouldn't expect one box of 20 hard cast gas checked bullets to clog you up (but I've been wrong before).

Subsequent firings with jacketed ammo should help clear out any lead accumulation in the gas system (again, speculation here. YMMV).

I decided not to chance it after I found my DEP would not cycle normal ammo. I tried shooting some Hornady FTX 156gr .357 and it would eject but not cycle the next round. Is it a weaker ammo? Other reviews tend to say they tested this ammo so I figure it would work.

Got any tips on full powered .357 that works in a DEP?

I recently ran a couple boxes of Federal Champion 158 gr. JHP (WMAE357A) through my gun, and it ran just fine. I happened to have the chronograph out that day as well. These averaged just over 1400 fps. The same load did 1260 fps out of a 4-5/8" Blackhawk.