357 Cowboy for pistol ctg silhouettes

[crabo]

I got lucky and found a nice 24" 357 cowboy. I have a couple of questions for you guys.

1. What sights should I put on it?

2. What bullet/powder combination works well in the rifle? I have a H&G 51, (a 158 grn swc) and a Cramer 158 grain round nose, both are plain based. Do I want to go to a gc bullet?

3. So do I want full power loads or medium loads? About what fps am I looking for? Any load recommendations? (I know every gun is a law unto itself, but I am looking for a place to start)

Thanks,

Crabo

[Old Ironsights]

Some clubs have a 1400fps max for Cowboy Silhouette.

I loaded up a bunch of 358156 over 7gr N340 at about 1400 and STILL broke the 25yd chickens off their bases :oops: and knocked the 100m rams flat.

I think at those speeds either of your plain base boolits will be fine. If it were me, I'd use the one most accurate in your gun. :mrgreen:

[Jon K]

crabo,

1. sights- get sights you feel most comfortable with. I use Marbles Tang rear and Lyman 17A Front-my first choice, but also have Williams FP-TK and Lyman 17A on 1 gun. Both are good and accurate, just depends which you prefer. Go to a silhouette match and look around and ask to try some out, most shooters will be happy to help.

2&3. You only need what is accurate and comfortable. Full house loads are not needed to take the 100 yd Rams. I use a 32-20 w/118 gr/4.5 gr Unique and have no problems.

Jon

[hyoder]

I also run the Williams FP rear sight and the Lyman 17 front.

1200 fps with a 160 gr bullet is more than enough.

[runfiverun]

put together some loads with the boolits ya got at about 1000fps
go shoot the rifle at 50 yds then at 100 yds you will figure out what sights and velocity
you will be a needin real quick!!!!

[6pt-sika]

For sights I use WIlliams FP with target knobs on the 30-30 , 32-20 and 22LR .

For pistol cartridge class I use a Marlin 1894CCL in 32-20 with the above mentioned sight ! And I have a Lyman 20 globe front .

For ammo I shoot the Lyman 311316 GC bullet , it's about 115 grains and load it with 5 grains of Unique !

It does a fine job on the little rams at 100 meters !

FWIW , I have a Marlin 1894CL in 25-20 setup for this class shooting the Lyman 257312 bullet . This one is 88 grains and GC ! Load it also with 5 grains of Unique !

Now to really blow your mind I have tried the 32-20 with a 90 grain GC bullet that did just fine on the 100 meter rams ! And also tried the 25-20 with a 65 grain GC bullet that also knocked the 100 meter rams quite well !

So it doesn't take as much as you might think !

[EDK]

Go over to www.lasc.us and look at Glenn Fryxell's articles. He has an excellent one on the 1894 MARLINS and some good loads. He is working on a book, per John Taffin, that ought to be great.

I like the LYMAN 17A front sight and the 66 receiver sight on my MARLINS....from 22 to 45/70. I've got a MARBLES' tang sight to put on something; also have a LYMAN #2 on a 44 magnum. For competition, get the MARBLES!

I'm a 44 shooter, but the little 357 sure is a nice gun. I'm on the list for RANCH DOG's TLC 359 190, but playing with 358156, 358665, 357446 and just started with the 358627 (group buy.) I'd look at a 180 or better...Scrounger had a SAECO awhile back that I should have bought, but didn't.

You got a nice little rifle...and MARLIN screwed up discontinuing the 24 inch barrel length...and the 336 COWBOY in 30/30 too! I like them both almost as much as my 24 inch 44 Cowboys.

:cbpour::redneck::Fire:

[Ramslammer]

G'Day All
I use Williams FPTK on my 22 and 44 with a 17A front (shaver inserts). On my 32/20 I'm using a FP with a elevation knob added, also I'm trying a Firesight on this riflee as I also use it for wallaby hunting.
Juddy

[crabo]

A friend of mine has a 24" cowboy that he says he can't get it to shoot. He is using .38 spl cases with a .356 dia JHP bullet, 5.3 gr. of WST. Could part of his problem be the 38 special cases? Would 357 cases be better?

I get my gun on Friday and there is a match on Saturday. I am going to load up 3- 400 rounds since we can go early and practice.

Somebody give me a load that won't do target damage (they are resetables) and maybe I will get lucky enough to have something shoot okay for the first match. (although I am sure the factory sights will be a hinderance. I will be using 158 grain cast boolits sized 358. Will this gun feed swcs?

Crabo

[Old Ironsights]

I'd say his problem is using undersized jacketed bullets that won't obturate properly. Using .38 casesonly compounds the problem because of the extended leade to the forcing cone.

Any basic 1200-1400 fps load will work fine. I wouldn't go over 1400 because that gets really hard on the 25yd chickens.

My last batch was 7gr of N340 & Standerd Win Small Pisto Primers under a tumble lubed 358156HP-gc cast at 13bhn (IIRC)

[w30wcf]

Crabo,
A load that shoots really well for me in my Marlin .357 Cowboy is the Lyman 158 gr. RNFP (plain based) and 11 grs. of 4759. That is a capacity load in .357 cases and develops about 1,250-1,300 f.p.s. Accuracy has been outstanding with some 2" groups at 100 yards.:-P

I used this recipe to get my 10 pin:-P on the Turkeys at the PA State NRA Cowboy Silhouette Championship last Sept.

Have fun!
w30wcf