Reloading 357 Maximum rifle recommendations.

[Stonechucker]

I was just curious about peoples favorite 357 maximum rifle loads. I have a 20inch MGM Encore barrel and want to get the most out of it. I am just getting back into the reloading game after 25 years or so. I have seen the loads the famous Mike Belhem recommends. I think my powder choice at this point looks like either AA1680, H110/W296, 300mp, or Lil Gun. Anyone have any recommendations with the above powders or do you use something else? I would love to see what you think. Of course as hard as it is to get powder I might have to take what I can get. BTW I have ordered some .358 158 grain Fury bullets. Thanks for the help.

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

I was just curious about peoples favorite 357 maximum rifle loads. I have a 20inch MGM Encore barrel and want to get the most out of it. I am just getting back into the reloading game after 25 years or so. I have seen the loads the famous Mike Belhem recommends. I think my powder choice at this point looks like either AA1680, H110/W296, 300mp, or Lil Gun. Anyone have any recommendations with the above powders or do you use something else? I would love to see what you think. Of course as hard as it is to get powder I might have to take what I can get. BTW I have ordered some .358 158 grain Fury bullets. Thanks for the help.

Until I saw this round in the Hornady reloading book (It was just past 357 Mag) I never knew it existed. How old is the round and when was it most popular?

 

[Stonechucker]

It was commercially brought to the market back in 1983 by Remington in a long cylinder big frame revolver, which didn't last to long because the fire it created would over time break the back strap of the revolver. The round was the original idea of Elgin Gates for hand gun silhouette shooting. After Remingtons issues, the cartridge became pretty obscure, but TC had barrels in there Contender for it. This is an awesome mild recoil cartridge. The cartridge is an elongated 357. Magnum that is 1.605 inches long. Loded correctly in a rifle length barrel it will hit 2300-2400fps with 180 grain bullets. This round has become very popular in states that have the straight wall 1.8 inch rule for deer hunting. I live in Maine and we don't have that rule, I just love the attributes of the cartridge. If you want to know more go to Mike Belhem's web page, he is the king of the Maximum.

 

[alfsauve]

Both Ruger and Dan Wesson made revolvers for it. The low weight very high velocity rounds were the ones that flame cut the blackstrap. 158gr loads were fine. I shot it in a 10" T/C for IHMSA and loved it.

 

[Jonny V]

I have two of the Max’s big brothers, 445 Super Mag Dan Wesson’s. The main thing that caused flame cutting of those Ruger top straps was that they went too loose in the barrel/cylinder gap. It should only run .002”, where as for normal rounds (including regular magnums), .006” is the standard.

AA 1680 is awesome! Has a very wide usable range, whereas something like 296 needs to be run near the top. I have worked up reduced loads with 2400 (starting with max 44 mag loads), and kept those to about 3/4 what the SM can handle. You can also contact Western Powders tech support. The gurus name is Don and he loves talking load data for obscure rounds. Huge help with my 445’s and 45-60’s.

You should be able to have very similar success with your 357 Max!