357 Rossi 92 lever action

About trimming....No, I do not trim cases to match Factory Leverevolution length. Frankly, I did not know that there was a difference.
Click to expand...

According to my Hornady reloading manual, (11th edition), for a .357mag using the 140gr FTX bullet, they want you to trim the case to 1.240. For all the other 357mag loads the max case length is 1.290 with a trim length of 1.280.

Also, Berry's has a 158 flat nose bullet with a cannelure that is rated for 1500fps and has a thicker plating as well.
 
Well for paper punching range ammo I agree skip the H110 and XTPs and go for a mid speed powder with a decent amount of bulk. Unique is one that I haven't used much but for which I quickly gained a lot of respect as a versatile powder. 231 will work fine for paper punching in light 357 loads that are like 38 +P+. Unique will probably get you closer to 1500fps with no excess pressure.. The bullet weight that seems to just work in 38 and 357 is the 158 grain weight but even 125s can be accurate and 140s are good too. I prefer heavy bullets for caliber when making cast bullet loads.

Now that we know you don't need high performance hollow point loads, I will steer you to start with something like these Missouri bullets or Laser Cast bullets at 1/3 the price of the XTPs. You can get 1000 cast bullets for under $150 delivered. I haven't tried the Missouri bullets myself but I can say from experience Laser Cast makes great bullets!

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1021119937?pid=556629#reviews

https://oregontrailbullets.com/xcart/images/product/38-Cal-140g-FP-358.jpg

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010865731?pid=799330
 
Howdy

The Model 1892 Winchester and its replicas uses a tilting carrier to raise cartridges up from the magazine and feed them into the chamber. Not much different than the ramp in a 1911 pistol that cartridges ride up to feed into the chamber. And just like the 1911, sometimes a cartridge will have trouble entering the chamber if a sharp corner catches on the edge of the chamber. This is not a problem with the toggle link rifles, such as the 1860 Henry, 1866 Winchester, 1873 Winchester and their replicas. These rifles feed cartridges straight out of the cartridge lifter into the chamber, much like torpedoes being loaded into torpedo tubes in a submarine.

When I was loading 38 Specials for Mrs Johnson in CAS I always loaded her 38 Special rounds with 125 grain truncated cone bullets, on the left in this photo. Round Nosed Flat Point bullets will also feed very smoothly. A Semi-Wadcutter bullet, like the one on the right in this photo, may or may not feed smoothly in a '92. The sharp corner may or may not catch on the top edge of the chamber. It depends on the individual rifle.


DCk1kN.jpg
 
My Henry BBS will feed a SWC but sometimes it requires you to let off on the lever a bit and then finish the stroke to feed a round. You can feel it catch on the lip where conical part of the bullet ends. This is why I prefer Round Flat nose or Truncated Cone style bullets.
 
After reading through this again it inspired me to take advantage of the current sale on Xtreme’s sight and I ordered a thousand .357/158grHP’s. I have plenty on hand but I’m going to load these more specifically for my Henry.
 
Those should feed well and look like they have an actual cannelure. If they have thin plating, you will want to run them under 1200fps but if they have a thick plate like speer's you can drive them fast.
 
.357 carbine

A .357 lever carbine is a versatile firearm and was my favorite for many years. Still would be if I could run the iron sights well. I was all over the map with my Marlin, shooting a variety of loads, both mine and factory. Factory 125 gr JHP likely broke 2000 fps and was terribly destructive. Factory 148 gr WC had to be single loaded, but shot accurately and were quiet and mild.

I settled on two loads, which matched to some degree what I was doing with revolvers. For a GP load it was 6.0 gr Unique and anybody's 158 gr LSWC. They fed thru the Marlin and were accurate and sufficiently powerful to accomplish much of what I was shooting with the carbine and the handguns. That load ran right at 1000 fps from the revolvers, I never screened them from the carbine, but suspect they were not all that much faster.

For an all up load, I went with 13.5 grs of 2400 and a Rem 158 gr JHP. I ran into a deal on the Rem's and bought a lot of them, but anybody's bullet in that weight would suffice. Enough magnum power there to take a deer with the carbine, yet not obnoxious to shoot in the revolvers. I never screened that load either.

For a long time, I would set the carbine and a Ruger B-hawk up with the same load, and could use the ammo interchangeably. I realized one day that I rarely, if ever, carried the carbine AND the revolver at the same time and changed my ammo arrangements. The carbine kept its full power 158 JHP. The B-hawk got the GP 158 LSWC, and the M28 gets fed 125 gr factory JHP. I've kept that arrangement for about a decade now and am satisfied. I could co-zero them again if I wished with just a little time on the bench, but the advantage of interchangeability is not that important at this point.
 
Found this post very interesting as I currently run a Rossi 92 .44 magnum and am thinking about a Rossi 92 or Uberti 73 in .38/.357.
For what it’s worth my .44 feeds, round nose flat point, truncated cone, round nose and semi wad cutter hand loads without a stutter. I also found the platted bullets were highly inaccurate. It has no problem with either Magnum or Speciel cases.
 
I'm with you with regard iron sights. But adding a green dot sight to my Rossi 92 .357 has made a huge difference for me. Lots of fun to shoot that way:

full



Frank
 
wow

Not traditional, but what a cool set up. I just put a dot sight on an auto pistol, and have run a dot on AR carbines for years, so I get it. Still a bit of a stretch for one on a lever carbine for me, but I'm getting there.

Will send PM, don't want to sidetrack the thread as it's dealing with loads.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top