to 357 max or not?

[gandydancer]

I have a TC contender in 357 mag 21" Bullberry custom barrel and it shoots great

I am thinking about haveing it rechambered in 357 maxi by mike Belem. I was shooting my buddys 357 max contender and I like the xtra ooph its got and its very accurate to boot

What do you all think?? Getch

[stubshaft]

Mike does good work on Maxi's if I had disposable cash I would convert it.

[gandydancer]

I think I will I've been thinking about it for some time now. and as seeing that my wife picked up 200 rds of 357 max brass remington still in 100 rd bags at a YARD sale today along with about 1500 rds of 6.5x55 swede ammo ammo packs in 200 rd military & 140 rd cardboad boxs & factory rds wife paid $30 bucks for the Max brass as for the swede the lady says pay me what you think is fair. and I will. thanks stubshaft. Getch

[frnkeore]

I rechambered my Low Wall that was 357 mag to Max. I've never regreted it. In my 28" lg barrel, I can get velocity that match or exceed 35 Rem with 1" groups @ 100 yd.

Frank

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Sounds like it has all been droped into your lap to get done. The advantages far out wieght anything bad about having a .357 Max.
When we get back up north there next year there is a barrel that is getting modified from a simple mag to a Supermag but with a slightly fatter bore.
Mike in Peru

[357maximum]

wanna guess what I think? [smilie=p: ...........DO IT:bigsmyl2:

If you do not like it I know a feller that could use a custom tender carbine. :lol:

[gandydancer]

thanks all. I will have it done. and keep you posted. GD

[DHB]

I will always go for the longer cartridge. 357 over 38 Spec, 44 Mag over 44 Spec, 327 Fed over 32 S&W. It just makes more sense to me.
DHB

[Tatume]

My 357 Maximum barrel was rechambered from a 357 Magnum barrel by Mike Bellm. It is my favorite Contender barrel. Mike does excellent work.

[rockrat]

I did my Ruger #1 357mag, to Max. Simple rechamber job. Took me longer to get ready to rechamber, than the actual work.

200gr @2200fps

[uscra112]

Considering the hefty price that Bellm gets for rechambering barrels to the Max, I went and bought my own reamer from Dave Manson. The reamer cost only a few bucks more than what Bellm charges, and with the barrel-shipping (both ways) figured in, it may be cheaper. And now I can do all the barrels I want, no additional cost. The .357 barrel I have for my High Wall is next.

Now, there's a couple of things to know about this. One is that you have to ask Dave to grind the .358 parallel throat on it in lieu of the SAAMI forcing cone, and second you need to know EXACTLY what your bore is, (tops of lands, not grooves) and have him supply a pilot that matches. The SAAMI standard pilot is only .346" diameter, and will invariably cut an off-center throat. Having done mine, he should remember all this, but he's a busy man, so remind him.

Actually lengthening the chamber is a doddle - I did mine holding the barrel in my hand, (with a heavy leather glove on), and turning the reamer with a big tap wrench. It is not rocket science, as Bellm would have you believe. Even with the necessary frequent cleaning, it takes only about 20 minutes, once you're ready to start. (I'm reminded of a Frank deHaas anecdote about his early business of making "K" Hornets; he said he had a hard time making the job look hard enough to justify the price he was charging. IMHO Bellm has the same problem.) Only thing to watch out for is: Do not let the reamer deepen the rim recess! Your headspace will be ruined if you do. [smilie=1:

Dave's reamer generates only about .080 of throat, not the long one than Bellm says his does. I have not found this to be any handicap. Last month the old 12" Gen 1 'Tender was shooting 180 grain j-words and 200 grain cast to about 2 MOA, using a 2 1/2x scope. It was worse before I installed an oversize pivot pin, which is easily made exactly to requirement from a standard 3/8 hardened steel dowel pin. Again avoiding the cost and tedium of buying pins that may or may not fit your frame and barrels exactly from Bellm. Sad to say all this work musta scared the deer away, I have yet to see one from my blind this season.

BTW lengthening a chamber with the barrel held in the hand works in this case because the existing chamber is straight, and guides the reamer quite well. I would not do this with a bottleneck case!

[frnkeore]

I might add to USCRA's post....... use a red or blue magic marker to mark the rim recess so, you more likely to see it and less likely to cut it.

Frank

[Swampman]

I rechambered my Handi using a rented reamer. It took 5 minutes and it shoots better than it did.

[catmandu]

I rented the reamer and did my Handi. It was easy. It still shoots 38 Spl and 357 Mag just fine.

In fact its really fun to shoot. Like eating peanuts. Pull the trigger and a hole appears.

Paul in WNY:-P

[nanuk]

I'm in the process of buying a nicely stocked Uberti RB in 357.

I am thinking about the 357Maxi.

but I have a tonne of 357mag components. but zero maxi brass.

I'll have to check the chamber and see how much extra would need to be removed...

[uscra112]

Watch out for rental reamers. They will 99.99% certainly be SAAMI spec, with the undersize pilot and a pure forcing-cone throat. The forcing cone you might live with, but the undersize pilot will cut an off-center chamber, and that will be double-plus-ungood! Apparently the SAAMI spec is still for the revolvers, which seem to have had smaller bores than the rifle-type blanks that are used for making Contender barrels.

There has been a lot of comment about how poorly the T/C factory .357 Max barrels shot, and Bellm has photos of chamber casts that show off-center chambers. I can easily imagine what happened: some purchasing clark at T/C was told to buy one or more .357 Max reamers, and he(she) just went and bought the cheapest standard SAAMI reamer from a web site, never having been told that the blanks they were using were .350" bore, not .346", and that the reamers needed to be made custom for proper fit.

(That kind of buying is precisely what made GM engines such junk in the 1980s. Was there, saw that, burned the T-shirt in disgust.)

[uscra112]

I'm in the process of buying a nicely stocked Uberti RB in 357.

I am thinking about the 357Maxi.

but I have a tonne of 357mag components. but zero maxi brass.

I'll have to check the chamber and see how much extra would need to be removed...

I messed with my 14" barrel at .357 Magnum length for a couple of months before going all the way. Bottom line is that the extra volume makes a large difference to the amount of muzzle energy you can get. Accuracy is no different, however.

With a 24" barrel on your 'Mag RB you might well be able to get about the same power using slow powders in the Magnum case as I get from my 14" Maxi barrel. Lil'Gun would be my choice of propellant, followed very closely by H110. It will depend a LOT on how your rifle is throated. The whole point of the Maxi is to use bullets of 180 to 200 grains. If your Uberti .357 Magnum throat will let you seat a 180 or 200 grainer well out, maybe to a C.O.L. of 1.80 or so, then you can get enough of that slow powder in there to do some good. Get a copy of Quickload software - you won't find loads like that in any handbook.

The Maxi is about .300" longer than the Magnum. 1.59 vs. 1.29 nominal lengths.

[nanuk]

uscra112:

thanks for the heads up. once I get it, I will have to inspect/impact cast the chamber/throat.

only then will I really know for sure.

I should buy some Maxi brass though right away just so I have some on hand. I could then sacrifice a couple by trimming back until they just chamber to see if I can gain without having to ream.

[xringshutr]

Man,
I was just about to post this exact same question about a 20" 357 Mag Contender Carbine barrel. It is actually a Bellm barrel and shoots lights out as it is. Last time I shot it, my buddy Marc S was spotting the shot holes at 100 and he only seen the first hole appear on the target; after subsequent shots he says, "either it don't shoot worth a **** or you are putting them through the same hole. Guess what it was.....same hole. So I am hesitant to mess with it!
I have a 14" factory Max barrel that is pretty accurate too but have read all the info on the throat/forcing cone chamber. Plenty of Max components too. Found some brass in Cabelas BC for $14/100. Bought 400 of them. :happy dance::happy dance::happy dance::happy dance::happy dance:
The 190 RD does a real nice job out of the 14" and that is what i will be shooting for the most part. May try some 180 SSP's if I can talk Marc out of a few!!
So what does everyone think on this one? Keep the hard shooting Mag or punch it out?
Sorry to hijack, but my situation is the same. Thanks!

[nanuk]

what is your estimated velocity out of that 20" barrel?


does the Factory Maxi have the same "Forcing Cone" issue as the Mag? or is it cut like a rifle?

[xringshutr]

The factory barrels are cut to replicate a revolver cylinder. LOOOONNNGG throat/forcing cone. I seat my 190 RD out quite a long way to get them closer, but it still jumps a bunch. Shoots 2-2.5" groups at 100 with a 2X scope. Acceptable but not spectacular. I think I'll call Mike Bellm and see what he thinks about my barrel and the re-chamber.

I am not sure what the 20 inch ballistics of the MAG are. Not too shabby, I would guess, but the MAX will definetely out perform it. By a large margin in the 20".