Were the oder Rossis/Pumas, from whomever, a different twist? 1:30 seems extremely slow. One would think that they at least considered whatever the most popular loading for the cartridge is.
I have shot a lot of fast twist rifles that do just fine with lighter bullets but have not had the greatest luck when the converse is true.
There are always those happy anomolies to consider, but if 158s is the heaviest I can shoot, I could live with that if they shot very well. I wouldn'nt think it unreasonable for someone with a .357 (any .357) to be able to shoot 180s well. I know that the 180 grain Remington JSPs shoot great out of my SP101, but then I can't make those at my casting bench.