Ugly little bugger

[Herb in Pa]

Took delivery of an NEF in 357 mag, added a BSA 2X7 airgun scope and bipod. She's heading to the smith for a chop to 16 1/4" and threading to accept my 9mm suppressor.........should be a fun toy.

[Throckmorton]

>like<

[shaggist]

It's nice to see someone else has seen the value and utility of a short barreled brush gun of sufficient caliber to take white tails or any lesser game. It is very handy in the thick brush, and, in .357 Magnum caliber, you have an almost unlimited choice of factory ammo and reloading components to allow you to tailor loads to fit this gun and its game perfectly.
I have a Rossi R357S stainless steel single shot that began life as a .357 and was rechambered to .357 Maximum. I left the barrel length at 22"s, so as to be able to use the Maximum loadings to their full potential. I can still shoot .357 Mag and .38 Special loads in it, remembering to clean the 'ring' out of the chamber after firing. It is very handy in thick places, light weight, impervious to any bad weather conditions, and the 2x6 Sightron scope is perfect for whichever cartridge I am using.
Get a single shot and try it. They are available in a variety of calibers.
(Click on image for a larger picture).

[curiousgeorge]

I have an older H&R in .357 Maximum that I have packed everywhere and shot everything with. From deer to squirrels (until they changed the law here banning centerfire rifle / pistol for small game), I found this to be a close to perfect all around woods rifle. Mine wears an older Tasco, made in Japan, World Class 2.5 x 8 x 40mm scope. I changed the standard rear wood to the factory plastic made for a scoped gun. The new plastic buttstock had a sling swivel stud, so I mounted a barrel band stud and attached a sling.

Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

Steve

[exile]

Herb in PA,

You are having a lot more fun than I am! Good for you.

exile

[Jeff H]

.....Mine wears an older Tasco, made in Japan, World Class 2.5 x 8 x 40mm scope.....Steve

Those were good scopes - the World Class were REALLY good scopes.
Problem is, if you need to use the warranty - they WILL honor it, but they will send you a Chinese scope as a replacement in lieu of repairing your Japanese scope.

I returned a 2-7 World Class (Japanese) for a broken reticle and they replaced it with a Chinese scope that was not nearly as nice a scope.

Hang onto it and take care of it.

The .357 in a rifle is a cool little package. I waited for a second-hand H&R/NEF .357 barrel for about a year and a half without luck. Ended up with a Rossi 92 instead, and it's a hoot - BUT there are those limitations, such as COAL that can be a little bit of a pain. Can't always crimp where iyou want to, can't seat out where you need to....... In a single shot you can avoid some of those issues and just enjoy shooting it.

[frankenfab]

I like it, Herb!

Jeff H, a buddy of mine has a World Class 20-60 on a Ruger #1 in .220 Swift. It is a nice scope.

I had a Tasco Super Sniper 16X on a .50 BMG, and it was a good scope.

[Herb in Pa]

It should be back from the smith next week, I'm going to take a chamber cast and trim 357 max cases to fit the long chamber........I'm guessing it will be about the same length as a 360 Dan Wesson case.

[shaggist]

Rather than go to the trouble to cast the chamber, find it is too long for .357 Mag, obtain .357 Max brass, trim it to length, and then have to work up loads that won't exceed the .357 Mag capabilities by much, why not just have it rechambered to .357 Max, and gain a lot of performance for very little trouble. Mike Bellm or David White do excellent rechambering jobs, conforming the chamber to optimize the characteristics of the .357 Max, and their prices for doing this are very reasonable. You just send them the barrel, they rechamber, and send it back to you. Presto! And you have a caliber that can just about equal the other .35 hunting cartridges, such as the .35 Whelen. More time for shooting, and the .357 Maximum looks very cool, with its long, straight sides holding any .357 bullet from 110 gn. to 200+ grains. A very versatile caliber!

[Herb in Pa]

Rather than go to the trouble to cast the chamber, find it is too long for .357 Mag, obtain .357 Max brass, trim it to length, and then have to work up loads that won't exceed the .357 Mag capabilities by much, why not just have it rechambered to .357 Max, and gain a lot of performance for very little trouble. Mike Bellm or David White do excellent rechambering jobs, conforming the chamber to optimize the characteristics of the .357 Max, and their prices for doing this are very reasonable. You just send them the barrel, they rechamber, and send it back to you. Presto! And you have a caliber that can just about equal the other .35 hunting cartridges, such as the .35 Whelen. More time for shooting, and the .357 Maximum looks very cool, with its long, straight sides holding any .357 bullet from 110 gn. to 200+ grains. A very versatile caliber!

I'm only going to use it for cast boolits and jword bullets when the suppressor is attached......in both cases increased velocity is not required........just want to decrease the bullet jump.

[troyboy]

Now that you have joined the ranks of the handi you need to spend some time over at GBO in the handi forum. While you are there check the FAQ"S. Go there introduce yourself and spend some time. You will be glad you did. I got a bunch and the 357 is next on my list. The difference for me is I will make it a max. Enjoy and welcome to the world of the Handi Rifle.

[uscra112]

I'm with Shaggist! The SAAMI .357 Magnum and Max chambers have no proper throat. As the boolit exits the case there is nothing guiding the tail of it for a good ways, so it can yaw and go down the barrel cockeyed. Mike Bellm has a good writeup on this at his site. Rechambering done right will give you a proper throat and better accuracy. I actually went and ordered a reamer from Dave Manson, since I have more than one rifle I want to do this to. I learnt something in the process - the bore diameter of .38/.357 pistol barrels runs anything up to .004 smaller than .35 rifle barrels. Your smith must have a reamer piloted correctly for your barrel, or the chamber is likely to be off-center, and you'll be worse off than before.

[Hamish]

It probably won't mean squat with a round as mild a .357, but everything I have read about a *true* airgun scope is that they are built to withstand the recoil pulse of an airgun, and believe it or not, it's exactly backwards of the recoil of a powder fired weapon. I have read repeatedly over the years of airgun scopes shaking apart under firearm recoil. That said, I have a couple of BSA's that I like very much on mil-surps.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that everyone ought to have *at least* one H&R/NEF if only for the fun factor, let alone the outstanding accuracy and great price.

[Herb in Pa]

Recoil from a spring-piston air gun is not light but actually fairly considerable, there are two recoil pulses in opposite directions i.e. one to the rear and one forward. For a scope to withstand the recoil pulse away from the shooter, it has to be constructed specifically for that task.

[9.3X62AL]

None of the NEF/H&R or Rossi top-break rifles......yet. I did inherit from Dad a 10 gauge 3-1/2" with 36" barrel H&R shotgun, though. It has gone turkey hunting with me a few times, esp. after doing some patterning with it. At 30 yards, it centers its pattern 12" above point-of-aim. It weighs a young ton, but that's not a bad thing when sending 2-1/4 oz of #4s @ 1200 FPS. Exhilarating, for sure.

These little rifles make a lot of sense for a fixed-income retiree as the lever guns in revolver calibers edge toward (or well past) the $1K mark.

[Herb in Pa]

Shorty's back from the shop, barrel shortened, bead blasted and matte blued. Coupled to an SWR Trident suppressor.....should be a fun toy................

[Beagler]

Here Kitty Kitty!!!

[Herb in Pa]

Shot a couple of rounds of FMJ 38 special out of it this evening.........you can hear the hammer fall, about as loud as a spring piston air rifle mechanism.

[part_timer]

Looks nice, should be a fun rifle.

[Artful]

I like it - I'm in process of building something similar on a T/C Contender as SBR.

I'm also adding a 30 carbine w/ 1:10 twist and hope to use subsonic 150-180 grn boolits.

[farmbif]

I have pondered getting into the 357 maximum wondering if a marlin 336 or winchester 94 could be converted without breaking the bank. I am still having more fun than a barrel of monkeys with 375 winchester

[curator]

Herb in PA: I have the .357 Handi and have found Starline .360 DanWesson brass to be almost perfect fit for the chamber. No need to trim .357Max cases. Starline runs the .360DW line once a year but cases seem to last forever, at least for me. I am shooting .357 Max loads with 180 and 200 grain LBT Long flat-nose slugs seated out to touch the rifling leade. The longer cases improve accuracy dramatically.

[tward]

Great post! Just as info, Starline Brass is making 357 Max brass now. Tim