357 maximum questions

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swampcrawler

swampcrawler

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Well, for quite a while, the most useful information generated by google searches, came from one place. THR.

So i finaly joined. :D

Anyway, iv been trying to decide on a new Contender tube for next year's Whitetail and feral pig season. First thought was 22 hornet, then 30-30, but i think ive settled on 357 max. It seems the perfect cartridge for my needs.

1. longest shot I can see ever being possible around here would be 200 yards or so, 99.9% being inside of 50.

2. I can use the contender in a .35 caliber or larger cartridge for our primitive weapons seasons.

3. Its not a boreing, see it every day round.

So, any good reason to avoid it? (Im aware of the somewhat scarce brass)
Sugestions for other cartridges that might work well in my sittuation?
Also i saw somewhere that one just uses 357 mag dies to load for the Max, is this correct?

And the biggest question of all, and one that has been absolutely pounded into the ground for the last... what... 5 or 6 months or more? Are small rifle primers available again yet?

Looking forward to seeing some thoughts on this cool little round.
 
I have not seen any SR primers on any shelves since the craziness started. I have seen reports of sporadic availability online but they seem to sell out literally within minutes. (once several Million within a half hour) Primers are going to be a problem, sorry.

As for different, how about the 7-30 Waters? I have a friend who shoots one and let me tell you, with a heavy bullet there's no Hog alive that will stay that way if hit correctly with the 7-30 Waters. AND, the 7-30 uses Large Rifle primers which are currently available on some shelves locally. Factory loaded ammo from Federal is available so even if you can't find brass you can reload the factory cases after you shoot the ammo.

It's just a thought... Welcome to the forum!
 
Welcome to THR, swampcrawler.

I have a 10" Contender barrel in 357 Maximum, and it's a sweet round, but if I did it today it would likely be in 35 Remington.
I use my 38/357 dies to reload the 357 maximum.


NCsmitty
 
The Maximum, esp. with the usual custom barrel, is capable of phenomenal accuracy. I don't know that you'd need that kind of tack driving for hunting. But it is a lot of fun at the range. I had an Encore set up to shoot though I think the Contender is a better platform in handgun configuration.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Archangel: that's bad news about the primers. I wonder if there's any hope for things to change before November? And I have looked into the 7-30, but IMHO it didn't seem to apeal to me enough to justify the extra effort compared to the humble 30-30 from which it came. Plus I'd like to stick with a 35 caliber or greater so I can use her in primitive as well as modern firearms seasons here in Louisiana.

Smitty, iv casually considered 35 Remington but havnt put serious research into it or anything. Would recoil for that round from a super14 tube be anything ridiculous?

Cosmoline, i am definitly amused by the accuracy potential. The majority of the patrons of the local range have a hard time consistently ringing an 8 inch gong at 100 yards with their rifles. I have to admit, I greatly enjoy ringing the same gong with a .22 pistol or shooting golf balls at the same distance with a .22 rifle. After all I am 20 years old, and do enjoy showing off a wee bit, so a crazy accurate pistol would amuse me to no end.

Also, could 38 special and/or 357 magnum be safely fired through a Max barrel without damaging anything so I could practice without wearing out Max brass?
 
I too have a 10" Contender barrel in this caliber. When I shot IMHSA some years ago, I liked the fact that it was very flat shooting round. You could shoot chicken targets at 50m, and with little change in elevation (two clicks) hit the rams at 200, and it had plenty of energy to knock them down.

Aside from the problem of getting components, it is a nice round. It was designed as a revolver round, but had a tendency to burn/cut the top straps when used with light bullets. No such problem in the Contender, of course. As for using it as a hunting cartridge, you may want to Google up some handloading data and also look at terminal ballistics with various bullets. Even if you are a great shot, you want the right round for a clean kill. I have no experience using it as a hunting cartridge.
 
The bad news about the primers is not nearly as bad as the news about finding any .357 Max cases.

rc
 
Bogon: thanks for the input. looks like the ten inch tubes are quite popular. I would have expected the 14 inchers to be prefered due to being able to develope more velocity? And i have read a little on the Maxes killing ability, and from what i can tell it is more than capable of anything i could ask of it. loaded with a hornady SSP or something like that it should do the trick.

RC model, i suppose the reason im not as worried about brass is that once i get my hands on some it should last a while. Once a load is developed i shouldnt need to fire more than a hundred or two of them per year. That is assuming i can do something with 357 mag loads to do the majority of my plinking and practiceing. hmm. I know it isnt going to be a walk in the park, but i believe it will be a ton of fun. :D
 
i had a 357 max barrel for my Contender for years finding brass was a PITA
sold it and bought a 14" 44mag barrel and did not look back if shots are
under a 100 yards a 44 mag will work just fine you will never find 357 max
brass at wall-mart i just think a 44 mag is just a better for deer hog bear
good luck
 
Would recoil for that round from a super14 tube be anything ridiculous?
Click to expand...

I've not shot a 35 Rem in a pistol, but with reloading, you have the option of loading down a 35 Rem to start loads, and they are roughly around 100fps over a top load out of the 357 Maximum with the same bullet. I'm sure the 35 Rem has a healthy recoil with full power loads but a set of Pachmayr grips make a difference. Regardless of what you may choose for a cartridge, they are great deer and hog busters.
My last deer was taken with my Maximum and it performed superbly.


NCsmitty
 
Also, could 38 special and/or 357 magnum be safely fired through a Max barrel without damaging anything so I could practice without wearing out Max brass?
Click to expand...

I don't think Mike Bellm advises this. It isn't a matter of wearing them out, just screwing up the chamber with crud. They are very finely tuned barrels. And what I discovered is that .357 Max is essentially a different animal from the Magnum or special. It uses different bullets of different weight with different powder and different primers. There's little if any crossover. Bellm has had the brass on stock off and on so you might check with them if you're interested. The Encore I had built was so accurate you could write with it. There are special Single Shot Pistol bullets I think Hornady makes that do really well with the Maximum.
 
I have a 10 inch T/C Contender in .357 Max. I love it, it shoots very well. I shoot a 180 Sierra Flat Point in front of a cupful of 296 or H-110. killed a bear and a couple mule deer bucks with it. You might need SR mag primers, I need to look up my load....you can shoot 38's and .357's too.
 
Well, due to the concerns about brass and primer avalability I'm starting to wonder about 375 JDJ? It's in a whole different class of round but it meets my needs and wants, and being a necked down 444 marlin, putting loads together shouldn't be as much of an issue once I find a set of dies. Thoughts?
 
I have a T/C Contender .357 Max barrel (think 10" bull barrel) and and a box of 100 rounds of new brass that I will sell; PM me if you are interested. Will have to "dig" them out. Don't have a price yet but will research one if you are interested.
 
swampcrawler said:
Well, due to the concerns about brass and primer avalability I'm starting to wonder about 375 JDJ? It's in a whole different class of round but it meets my needs and wants, and being a necked down 444 marlin, putting loads together shouldn't be as much of an issue once I find a set of dies. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I would think if necessary you can find 444 brass a lot easier than 357 Max brass.

You know, looking at a 375 JDJ hunting setup from SSK looks very cool. You could do a lot worse than buying that barrel. It looks like it would be a lot of fun developing ammo for it and watching the Hogs plant!

Another thought, how about a 460 S&W Magnum barrel? You could then shoot 45 Colt, 45 S&W, 454 Casull and of course 460 Magnums all from the same barrel. Does anyone even make a 460 Magnum barrel for the Contender? I do know SSK has a 454 Casull barrel. Just another thought, not that there's anything wrong with the 375 JDJ...

EDIT!
OH BOY! I think I found something for you!!!
How about the .357 Herrett?
It seems to generate the same velocities as the .357 Maximum, uses the same bullets and Midway USA has brass IN STOCK for the .357 Herrett!!! http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/970636/quality-cartridge-reloading-brass-357-herrett-box-of-20. Even better, 357 Herrett brass can be formed from 30-30 brass which is cheap and available.
The barrel is available from Bullberry Barrel Works. Now for the bad part, dies are on the expensive compared to 38/357 dies but probably no more expensive than 375 JDJ dies come to think of it. I did see a set of Hornady 357 Herrett dies on Midway USA for only $70 but of course they were not in stock. The RCBS set is special order and will run you $145! :eek:
 
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Archangel, man I have looked into 357 herret. Ballistically it's great for what I need, but honestly I'm not confident enough in my reloading ability to try something so notoriously finicky just yet. All i have any experience loading to date is plinking ammo for my HK45. And 45 acp isn't exactly complicated to load. As I'm sure you know, to form from 30-30 I believe it has to be trimmed A LOT, and fireformed. I just think the jdj would be much simpler to load. Am I missing something about the herret?

By the way, my caliber/cartridge discussions always go like this. Start with one and end with something totally different.
 
Another vote for the 44 Mag. You can load from mild to wild and out of a 14" tube I'm running it at 1400 fps is nothing to sneeze at and I'm not pushing it hard. This is with a
260 grn gas checked lead Boolit I wouldn't want to be on the receiving side of this combination. As for mag brass you can find it also if you load for a 45 you should have Large pistol primers on hand and some fast burning pistol powder so you have some of the components on hand get some 2400,296, or H-110 as for bullets from 180 grn to 300 grn I don't think there is a deer or a pig in LA that will stand up to it.
Flip
 
If you are worried about forming brass, give T/C Custom shop or Bullberry's a call. How about a 25/35, 7/30 Waters or a 30/30? All can be made from 30/30 brass. I went through this years ago, with slightly different parameters. I got a 10" Maximum and it works for me.
 
swampcrawler said:
Archangel, man I have looked into 357 herret. Ballistically it's great for what I need, but honestly I'm not confident enough in my reloading ability to try something so notoriously finicky just yet. All i have any experience loading to date is plinking ammo for my HK45. And 45 acp isn't exactly complicated to load. As I'm sure you know, to form from 30-30 I believe it has to be trimmed A LOT, and fireformed. I just think the jdj would be much simpler to load. Am I missing something about the herret?

By the way, my caliber/cartridge discussions always go like this. Start with one and end with something totally different.
Click to expand...
No, you're not missing anything. I thought that round would interest you since you said in your OP, " 3. Its not a boreing, see it every day round." The 357 Herrett sure fills that bill! lol

It looks like you will be buying a 375 JDJ. Don't forget to post the range report after you get set up and shooting...
 
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