357 Rem Max

[686]

I Will Be Getting My357 Rem Max 14 In Tc Next Week. Will Be Shooting Steel Targets 50-100-150- And 200 Yards. I Have A 200 Gr Gc Mould Comming , Also Have 158 Gr And 180 Gr Jacket .357 And .358 Bullets. I Will Be Using Fed Sr Match Primers. If Any One Is Doing Something Like This And Has Some Loads You Can Share. This Would Save Me Some Range Time. What About A Lighter Load For 50-100 And Heaver For 150-200 ? I Will Let You Know How The Loads Worked For Me. Thanks

[357maximum]

My favorite powder for heavy boolits in the max is H4227, I shoot an MAX load with 180 gc'ed and it works well.

Good place to start, but you may wanna buy some remington 7 1/2 primers to try, something about them (pressure curve?) my encore really likes..

Michael

[Johnch]

I have found H4227 , 2400 and Reloader 7 produce my best accurey .
AA1680 produces the fastest loads , a little more BOOM than I like .

And like 357maximum said Rem 7 1/2 seems to be THE primer

I have both a 10" and 14" Contender barrels .
I found I get my best accurey with a 180 gr RCBS bullet by seating just the gc in the case .
I also have a Lyman 358315 , 215 gr after lube and gc
I found I could JUST reach the rifling if I seated it with just the gc in the case .
Hopfuly your barrel will have less free bore .

I am at work so I can't get my load notes for either barrel , but all my loads were worked up with the bullets seated long , even the jacketed .

You need to crimp firmly
I use a 357 mag Lee factory crimp die

Johnch

[felix]

Johnch, have you tried regular primers with deep seating with lots of case pull, while ignoring the amount of freebore? ... felix

[Johnch]

Johnch, have you tried regular primers with deep seating with lots of case pull, while ignoring the amount of freebore? ... felix

Regular primers ?
The 357 Max is a high pressure round , load books show loads with the same pressure as 223 .
They recomend Small rifle in all loads .
The 7 1/2 is listed as a mag match primer and I fould I got better accurary and a clean barrel when I went to them . ( jacked )
I did run some low pressure loads with pistol primers and cast , not enough testing to be sure of the results ( groups , velosity and SD ) , other than lots more unburnt powder.


Using jacketed I found with "normal" seating depth I either had to shoot real lite or MAX loads to get accuracy .
But I was young and looking for the quick fix and jumped from load to load .
After I tryed long seating with jacketed , I got much better accuracy with any load I tryed .
I put a new canalure on the jacketed bullets .
But velosity was always well lower than listed , my guess due to increased case capasity and lower pressure

When I switched over to cast I guess I never did any "normal " seating depth testing .
I quickly found several loads that out shot my ability .
So I left well enough alone and spent the extra time chasing a skirt :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I quit shooting IHMSA many years back .
So I know use the barrels to ring the gongs and shoot a few deer .

Johnch

[357maximum]

686
SAFETY FIRST

Remember one thing: small RIFLE primers, not small pistol primers on ALL 357 maximum load data. The 357 maximum was designed to use small RIFLE primers. I tried using sp primers on stuff I considered light loads and had black spot issues with the primer (almost a punctured primer), please use small rifle primers. The remington 7 1/2 small rifle benchrest magnum is THEE best in my max, and my 223 coincidenentally. I buy em 10,000 per whack.

[TCLouis]

title sayz it all . . . Who has used that boolit in the Max?

[Leftoverdj]

Me. 19 grains of WC 820, aka AA-9, does about an inch at 50 yards from a rechambered Handi with WW+2% waterquenched and sized .360. WC 680 shoots about as well, but takes more powder for the same velocity

[Mugs]

I also have to put in my vote for the Rem 7 1/2 primer. Started using them for the 357 Max. It is now all I use for my small primer needs. 357 Mag. [FA] 30 carbine light bullets and heavy, and 7 BR.
Mugs