357 maximum

T

tdoyka

New member
this coming year i hope to have a t/c encore 18" MGM Barrel in 357 max. i'm thinking of staying with cast bullets with a gas check. 158-200gr flat nose, what bullets should i use? beartooth, leadmans, or xtreme bullets or someone else?

thank you...
 
Last edited:
180gr Speer HotCore (for 35 Remington) shoot fantastic in mine. Still waiting for Porky Pig to catch one. Max load of Win 296 with CCI 400's out of a 10" Contender with a 2X Redfield. Lots of good 35 Rem bullets out there for the Mighty Max!;)
 
Tdoyka, what made you decide on an 18" barrel for your maximum. I have been thinking of having one made from MGM as well. I just can't decide on the barrel length. I hear of them anywhere from 24" to the 18" you are doing. I'm having a hard time deciding.

Jim
 
the max

This is such an under rated cartridge I cannot believe it has not received more press.
My T/C is a 19 inch bbl in the Max that was originally a 357 mag. The absolute best person for 357 Max barrel work is Mike Bellm and his son Kurt.

Check out Bellm TC web sight for further info as well as an education on this round.

The "ideal" bullet weight is 180gr though I have taken big boars using hard cat linotype with gas check at 210gr.

Another perk fir this round is that it can be used in states who limit deer hunting only to handgun calibers(which can be shot thru a rifle).

Enjoy! :).
 
The absolute best person for 357 Max barrel work is Mike Bellm and his son Kurt.
Click to expand...

ammo.crafter I would agree. That is who made my 14" max. barrel. Ohio is one of those states that allow the max. in a pistol and hopefully in a carbine soon.

Jim
 
fisher, i haven't decided yet,(probably in june), its either 18 - 20" mgm barrel. it will be my 5th encore barrel, 6.5 creedmoor (16 1/4" barrel), 20 vartarg(16 1/4" barrel), 257 bob ai(21" barrel), and a 50 cal inline. and high plains gun stock(rifle) in saphyrre laminate.
i honestly don't know, but something is telling me 18". mgm will make rifle barrels 16 1/4" - 30" long.


http://matchgrademachine.com/
http://www.highplainsgunstocks.com/wood selection page.htm
 
This is such an under rated cartridge I cannot believe it has not received more press.
My T/C is a 19 inch bbl in the Max that was originally a 357 mag. The absolute best person for 357 Max barrel work is Mike Bellm and his son Kurt. - ammocrafter


it really is. and i read mike bellm's post too!!!
 
I have not had good results with cast bullets in my .357 Max. It is a re-chambered Handi-rifle. David White and D&T did the work. I shoot Hornady 180 gr. SSP and Hornady 158 XTP softpoints (not JHP) with excellent results.

I prefer to hunt with cast bullets in 30 cals but have not found one that will be as accurate at 2,100 fps as a Hornady jacketed.

I highly recommend D&T for custom work on TCs or Handis (As does Mike Bellm).
 
Interesting I shoot 180 MBC and Lasercast out of my 357 Maximum revolvers and they work well. My standard is a max load of 4227 and I am pleased with the accuracy with lead. I don't even mess with gas checks as leading is not a problem.
 
i have a t/c contender with a 10" barrel topped with a simmons 4 power scope,
i use 180 hornady xtp's backed by 19.6 grains of win 296, 1/2" groups at 50 yards off the bench. good recipe for mine! Havent chronied it yet, the book says i should be hitting around 1600 feet per second though.
 
8ball yours sounds almost like mine, a 10" scoped Contender is a pretty compact powerful package.;)
 
man, i love it to death, my dad used to shoot competitions with it, he gave it up cause he kept winning. he had several barrels for it, but he only had the 357 max when he passed away, fine with me! i would love to have a lever gun in 357 maximum, just to try it! i still have a ways to go with mine, i get 1/2" groups at 50 yds, more like 3" groups at 100 yds. its a blast to shoot though!!

what is your pet load guv?
 
Last edited:
Right out of the Speer No. 12 manual, 23.0 gr of 296 Win with CCI 400 primers. The bullet is the Speer No. 2435 180gr flat point they sell predominantly for loading the 35 Remington rifle cartridge. It gives you more case capacity than most of the 358 pistol style bullets but would be too long for a Maximum revolver cylinder.It also has a pretty good ballistic coefficient. Fantastic cartridge in my book and it seems hand tailored for the Contender. I'm sure your Pop would be proud to know you value it so much!:)
 
Old Yesterday, 07:38 PM #16
Guv
Senior Member

Join Date: February 24, 2012
Location: South Texas
Posts: 423
This cartridge should definetly be in more long guns!


yes it should!!!

i think i'm gonna go with a beartooth 180gr gas check flat nose. now i have to wait on brass, and then the barrel goes!!!

357 max, 18" mgm barrel in encore
 
i always thought it would be cool to have and m1 carbine in 357 maximum, would take a lot of work i would assume, building magazines to suit it and such.
 
You're gonna have a lot of fun! Mine is a Cadet, 24" 1 in 16 twist barrel rebored down the original tube. It shoots the Beartooth 180LFN, Montana 180 spire point, and the RD359190 equally well. I also shoot the RD boolit in PP form, in fact nothing else now. I use AA1680 powder exclusively after trying the other recommended ones. It is a slightly slower progressive burning powder that works best in heavier loads, in my case I'm using 28gr as I have a rifle type chamber and can seat the boolits out further. Good luck! GW
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top