.357 maximum

[JNG]

Not in a lever that I can find (wish it were). In Ohio, we can use the Max to hunt deer. I love the .357, my fav next to the 45-70. That said, the 45-70 is a tad overkill for deer (didn't say it will not be used). So, I sent my H&R .357 to a Mr. White to shoot the Max. Wow!
I got less MOA at 100 yards with it using 158 grain Remington with a middle load of 2400. I am so pleased. Thank you Mr White.
I am having issues finding 2400. At the gunshow, two folks told me the 2400 is not being made. Have you folks heard this?
I have Little Gun and will try others, I will keep shooting other powders to get a great load (if I can find them). Any info, or load data for me?

Thank you,
Joe

[Rusty]

Check over on the graybeard's outdoor forums. There is a special section there for Handi rifles. The .357 Max has quite a following there.

[Nath]

Now I do believe this here smokeless powder fad will pass but I would of thought a2400 would of been one of the last to go!

Why not get ahead and try some real powder in it! Black powder!

N

[CowboyTutt]

I just "Binged" 357 Maximum reloading data and founds tons of stuff. After a brief look it would seem to me H110 and Win 296 (now the same for many years) looks very promising for max velocity. I was taught that these two powders really need some compression and a hot primer to work to their best potential. I've also had good results with Lil' Gun and a CCI BR primer in my 454 Casull and 460 loads. I always thought the 357 Max was a cool cartridge. -Tutt

Nath, that is actually an interesting idea.....

[AJMD429]

Not in a lever that I can find (wish it were). In Ohio, we can use the Max to hunt deer. I love the .357, my fav next to the 45-70. That said, the 45-70 is a tad overkill for deer (didn't say it will not be used). So, I sent my H&R .357 to a Mr. White. . .

One note - some of the breakopen 357 Mags were set up using a breech-face that had a wider 'shotgun' firing-pin opening, and guys who rechambered those ones sometimes get a burst primer from it bulging into that relatively larger space vs. a 'rifle' firing-pin opening. On GrayBeardOutdoors there are threads showing how to tell which one you have. I think there are workarounds but just something to check out.

I am having issues finding 2400. At the gunshow, two folks told me the 2400 is not being made. Have you folks heard this?

Hadn't heard that. It would be a shame, although it seems like for the reloader there are now far more choices in powder than when I was just starting to reload in the 1970's. Still, it's nice to get good loads developed with a powder, then be able to stick with it for a long time (I guess forty years though kind of IS a 'long time'. . . ).

I have 357 Max in a Contender pistol and need to take a whitetail with it. It would be nice in a levergun, but needs the 'long action' like a 336 Marlin or 94 Winchester to cycle well, so at that point, may as well just use a 35 Remington and get the same ballistics with less pressure. Would be nice to have a 'mid-length' Marlin 1894-style or Winchester 92-style gun for that cartridge though...!

I also thought about 357 Max as a candidate for a suppressor - one of the guys I know has an Encore with a 14" 357 Max barrel, and it's threaded for a Mystic suppressor - he lobs something like 275 grain lead bullets out of it at 1050 fps or so - very quietly. He has fun at the range consistently dinging the far off gongs with a barely-any-noise gun, when all the others are using loud hand-cannons to do so.

[yooper2]

I would be very surprised if they quit making 2400, sounds like hearsay to me. That said, my favorite powder in the Maximum is 4227 paired with 200 gr. gas check bullet. Mold is a custom from Mountain Molds. My second favorite is the Lyman 358627 also with 4227.


Eric

[6pt-sika]

I had a 357 MAX in a Dan Wesson revolver for awhile . It was a rather accurate setup to say the least .

I dunno if it would be legal where you hunt but you could always make a 357-44 Bain & Davis . If you're not familiar with the cartridge it's a 44 MAG necked down to 357 . KInda easy to build one just buy a Marlin 1894 in 44 MAG and find a Marlin 357 barrel , rechamber the 357 barrel and remove the 44 barrel then screw in and headspace the new 357-44 barrel . The 357-44 B&D has virtually the same ballistics as the 357 MAX .

[Sixgun]

I would be very surprised if they quit making 2400, sounds like hearsay to me. That said, my favorite powder in the Maximum is 4227 paired with 200 gr. gas check bullet. Mold is a custom from Mountain Molds. My second favorite is the Lyman 358627 also with 4227. Eric

Eric and I have the same love for 4227 ....in the Maximum.

Mine shoots like a rifle and at the Ridgeway Gunclub, I had little issue knocking over the 300 meter pigs and the 385 meter turkeys......that was five years ago and my eyes just don't have it anymore.----6



Here's my notes....not very detailed, but all the same, here they be.

[AJMD429]

I dunno if it would be legal where you hunt but you could always make a 357-44 Bain & Davis . If you're not familiar with the cartridge it's a 44 MAG necked down to 357 . KInda easy to build one just buy a Marlin 1894 in 44 MAG and find a Marlin 357 barrel , rechamber the 357 barrel and remove the 44 barrel then screw in and headspace the new 357-44 barrel . The 357-44 B&D has virtually the same ballistics as the 357 MAX .

I keep thinking I ought to do that sometime...

Just gotta find a 'donor' Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag (45 Colt has the same EVERYTHING except the barrel, per a Marlin factory guy from the pre-Remlin days, and I put a 45 Colt barrel on my 44 Mag and it functions flawlessly....so I guess one could do it with a 45 Colt 1894 as well, but they are too scarce to use one for that unless it had a bent barrel or something).

[6pt-sika]

I dunno if it would be legal where you hunt but you could always make a 357-44 Bain & Davis . If you're not familiar with the cartridge it's a 44 MAG necked down to 357 . KInda easy to build one just buy a Marlin 1894 in 44 MAG and find a Marlin 357 barrel , rechamber the 357 barrel and remove the 44 barrel then screw in and headspace the new 357-44 barrel . The 357-44 B&D has virtually the same ballistics as the 357 MAX .

I keep thinking I ought to do that sometime...

Just gotta find a 'donor' Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag (45 Colt has the same EVERYTHING except the barrel, per a Marlin factory guy from the pre-Remlin days, and I put a 45 Colt barrel on my 44 Mag and it functions flawlessly....so I guess one could do it with a 45 Colt 1894 as well, but they are too scarce to use one for that unless it had a bent barrel or something).

I like the old Marlin 336-44 44 MAG guns better then the 1894's regardless of whether they claim they didn't feed as well or not . But anyway if I were gonna do it I think I'd use a 336-44 and rebarrel it .

[6pt-sika]

Nosler used to make IMHO the perfect bullet for a 357 MAX . They made an 180 grain Partition Gold bullet . I had a couple boxes before they stopped making them and shot them in both the Dan Wesson 357 MAX and a Marlin 357 carbine . They shot very nicely out to 100 yards .

IF I were gonna go that route now I think I'd have someone cut me a nice 180 grain FN GC mold .

[6pt-sika]

I would be very surprised if they quit making 2400, sounds like hearsay to me. That said, my favorite powder in the Maximum is 4227 paired with 200 gr. gas check bullet. Mold is a custom from Mountain Molds. My second favorite is the Lyman 358627 also with 4227. Eric

Eric and I have the same love for 4227 ....in the Maximum.

Mine shoots like a rifle and at the Ridgeway Gunclub, I had little issue knocking over the 300 meter pigs and the 385 meter turkeys......that was five years ago and my eyes just don't have it anymore.----6



Here's my notes....not very detailed, but all the same, here they be.

25 years ago we had some terribly good IHMSA shooters at our gunclub . Depending on what year we generally had 2 or 3 in the top 5 or so and one of those was a woman . Anyway one of the guys that was usually up there cut the top straps in half on no less then THREE Ruger Blackhawk 357 Maximums I saw them all once before he died . Each time he cut one in half Ruger would send him another free of charge . At the time of his death he still had one NIB , I assume it was the last replacement Ruger sent him .

[Rusty]

I was looking over the list of current Ruger Blackhawks and saw that they are still making the Blackhawk in .30 Carbine. I'm wondering if the frame on the .30 Carbine would be long enough for a .357 Max. ?

[AmBraCol]

I was looking over the list of current Ruger Blackhawks and saw that they are still making the Blackhawk in .30 Carbine. I'm wondering if the frame on the .30 Carbine would be long enough for a .357 Max. ?

Nope. The Max was its own frame, the 30 Carbine is on the "standard" length frame.

[AmBraCol]

Here are a few articles on the Handi-Rifle from the old Miles Fortis web site...

http://www.milesfortis.com/church/akc02.htm


http://www.milesfortis.com/church/akc08.htm


http://www.milesfortis.com/church/akc03.htm

[Larkbill]

Reloader 7 also works well in the Max. That's what I used with the Nosler 180 Non-expanding bullet they made for IHMSA shooters. Never rang a ram with that load, but did turn a turkey. Must have just brushed his tail. When it disappeared without much noise I asked my spotter where he went he told me "he's looking at you!".

[jmiller]

I spent a lot of bench time last year working up loads with my 357max Browning Low Wall. Fortunately I have a large variety of powders, bullets, and primers on hand and did some extensive testing. I kept all of the results on a spread sheet for easy sorting of promising loads and components. I will say that the powders that gave good-excellent results with most bullets were: Rel7, 4227, and 2400. My most accurate loads were with 158g bullets. They edged out the 180g and 200g by a small margin in most cases. However, even the heavier bullets produced very, very good accuracy. I'm about to go through the most promising loads and change primers to see if that will wring out a little more in terms of tight groups. I've found it will in some of my centerfire bolt guns.

[Peter M. Eick]

I load mine with 4227 and RL7. Mostly 4227. Since I switched to it, heavier bullets (mostly 180's and 200's LSWCs) my top strap cutting has stopped. 158 LSWC's are the lightest I will shoot in mine. I think I have 4 Maxes now. Great guns and lots of fun to shoot. Just stock up on brass. I bought this a while back and still have not cracked it open. I just keep using up my current stash.

[elmo123]

I rechambered a Winchester 94 saddle ring trapper from 357 Magnum to 357 Maximum. I bought the parts so that it will feed Maximums from the magazine but then it won't feed Magnums. I feed them into the chamber one at a time. If anyone is interested I can post my loading and chronograph results. Even with the 16" barrel it still pushes a 200 grain round nose faster than the 35 Remington. It is a very accurate rifle.

[Thunder50]

My 357max rifle, a 357mag Ruger #1 rechambered to max, likes the heavier bullets. Its favorite so far is a 235gr cast bullet. Lightest I have shot is 158gr at nearly 2600fps and up to a 260gr that shot pretty well. The heavier bullets prefer WW680 and the lighter 2400 and 4227.

[Griff]

I rechambered a Winchester 94 saddle ring trapper from 357 Magnum to 357 Maximum. I bought the parts so that it will feed Maximums from the magazine but then it won't feed Magnums. I feed them into the chamber one at a time. If anyone is interested I can post my loading and chronograph results. Even with the 16" barrel it still pushes a 200 grain round nose faster than the 35 Remington. It is a very accurate rifle.

Lengthening the rim slots in the cartridge guides to the rear might allow that longer cartridge to make the turn from angle to straight into the chamber. At least that would be where I experimented with the feeding.

[J35]

Timely thread
I rented a chamber reamer and opened up my ten inch 357 mag Contender to the 357 Max back in 2005.

The only powder I have used to date is WC 820, and the bullets used have been the 180 and 200 gr RCBS, the Lyman 358315 and LBT 180 gr . My second trip to the range I hit on the magic charge with WC 820 and the two RCBS bullets so I quit and just shot the heck out of it with that powder charge and those two bullets over the last ten years, more accurately put would be the last five years.

I bought the Lyman 358627 in 2006 on impulse and have never heated it up--yet, its so ugly it couldn't possibly shoot anyway.

I about had myself talked into buying another Contender barrel recently, when I realized I hadn't explored the MAX very far.

I am going to try some different powder's this summer I doubt if I can improve on accuracy , but at least in my load book under 357 Max there will be more than one entry.

-------J

[elmo123]

I bought both cartridge guides and a new carrier and modified them so if it didn't work I would still have the original parts. I could get it to feed the Maximums but the .38's and .357's would flip up before chambering so I reinstalled the original parts and load the maximums one at a time. I did his over 10 years ago before USRA closed shop so the parts were easy to get. I shoot more from a bench these days so I only load one at a time anyway.

[Grizz]

My .357 lil'gun load under a btb 185gr cast averages 1725fps from my 16" winchester.

What are some of the corresponding .357 maximum velocities in that bullet weight range?

I fired the round from a 2.5" smith and it was accurate to minute of venison at typical SE AK hunting situations.

It was an easy shooter from both guns.

Grizz

[elmo123]

The only 180's I have used are the R-P 180 jhp.

21.6 Lil Gun 2154 fps.

23.0 of Lil Gun and the Speer 170 FN is 2270 fps

21.5 Lil Gun and the R-P 200 RN is 2073 fps.

16" barrel

[Grizz]

good info, thanks. that's a good long useful range increase over my .357

[Griff]

I bought both cartridge guides and a new carrier and modified them so if it didn't work I would still have the original parts. I could get it to feed the Maximums but the .38's and .357's would flip up before chambering so I reinstalled the original parts and load the maximums one at a time. I did his over 10 years ago before USRA closed shop so the parts were easy to get. I shoot more from a bench these days so I only load one at a time anyway.

Yeah, that's such a wide length variation that it doesn't surprise me it wouldn't feed the shorter cartridges after conversion. I considered doing one of my .30-30s, but never figured I'd improve on the .30-30's ballistics. And knew that I wouldn't get it to feed anything shorter.

[BAGTIC]

I rechambered a Winchester 94 saddle ring trapper from 357 Magnum to 357 Maximum. I bought the parts so that it will feed Maximums from the magazine but then it won't feed Magnums. I feed them into the chamber one at a time. If anyone is interested I can post my loading and chronograph results. Even with the 16" barrel it still pushes a 200 grain round nose faster than the 35 Remington. It is a very accurate rifle.

I would be interested in your loadings, etc. .357 Max is one of my favorite guns.

[elmo123]

I posted the loads above. At the time I was limited to what components I had on hand.

[AJMD429]

My 357max rifle, a 357mag Ruger #1 rechambered to max, likes the heavier bullets.

I can't think of a rig I'd be more comfortable pushing limits with....! Can't help wondering what a 65,000 psi load with a rifle-length barrel, could do...