Who makes the HOTTEST 357 magnum rounds>

[oldgranpa]

just some follow up on my comments about Fed AE. Chart attached with my chrony readings. Note the drop in fps with the short barrel snubby.
og

 

[kcub]

heavier bullets give more resistance to pressure so less powder is required to build pressure behind a heavier bullet. less powder = less cutting.

So if you stick to 180 - 200 grain hot loads you should be ok?

 

[mavracer]

So if you stick to 180 - 200 grain hot loads you should be ok?

They'll be better but given enough rounds they'll eventually erode the forcing cone.
It's erosion, it takes place a little at a time and it's accumulative. K frame Smiths don't have as much material and are affected by much less erosion, A GP100 is much thicker around the forcing cone and takes a lot more rounds, but it'll still happen. I heard one report of a GP cracking he claimed something like 20,000 rounds of 125gr bullets with a max load of 296.
Nothing man made is indestructable.

 

[Strafer Gott]

HSM builds Bear Loads. I couldn't find a bear to test them on, but they are seriously spunky. Big hardcast Boolits make pretty good medicine for the thick critters. I still consider .357 bear minimum. The next step up, .41 magnum, has much more gusto.

 

[jmr40]

Depends on how you define hottest. If I wanted my 357 "loaded for bear" as they used to say I'd use these.

http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_27&products_id=337

A 200 gr hard cast @ 1200 fps from a 4" barrel of 1315 fps from a 6" barrel.


There are some other companies that offer loads with lighter bullets that are faster then DT, but they offer the best speeds with heavier bullets.

 

[roaddog28]

The issue here is not that these loads will blow up a gun. The issue is severe gas cutting of the forcing cone. Ever watch someone use a gas cutting torch? Steel will stand up to it for a little while. The torch always wins. Read Kuhnhausen's Ruger DA revolver shop manual. He has many photographs of barrels ruined by staedy diets of 110-125 gr. "hot" loads. Unfortunately I didn't read his book until after I ruined a barrel on a Ruger GP 100. Stick with heavier slower loads unless you don't mind paying the cost of replacing your gun or its barrel.

Drail hits the nail on target. Here is a picture of a forcing cone of a GP100 after firing 100 rounds of 125gr "frame throwers" a week for a year. Note the erosion of the forcing cone. The revolver was sent back to Ruger for a barrel replacement.
Stick with the heavier gr and slower moving rounds. A 1300 FPS is plenty fast enough.
Howard

 

[Hal]

Here is a picture of a forcing cone of a GP100 after firing 100 rounds of 125gr "frame throwers" for a year.

Can you be a bit more specific on the total rounds it took for that to happen?
I'm reading that as a total of 100 rounds fired over a one year period.

 

[roaddog28]

Sorry Hal,
Its a 100 rounds a week for a year. Forgot to put that in.
Thanks,
Howard

 

[Hal]

A bit over 5000 rounds makes more sense.
That's a pretty fair number of rounds.

 

[zxcvbob]

To answer the original question, I think Corbon makes a .357 Magnum load for the Freedom Arms model 83 only. It's loaded to 60000+ PSI and will likely grenade other guns (although a Ruger Red Hawk might can handle it -- but I'd be afraid to try, .357 Red Hawks are hard to come by and I'd hate to ruin one)

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