Range Report .357 Mag Rossi Lever Gun

[WyrTwister]

Range Report .357 Mag Rossi Lever Gun
I am turning in to a wuss ( or more of one ) in my old age . And even more of a cheapbastard , as Geoff coined the term .

I have migrated down form a .45-70 lever gun to a .44 Mag to a .45 LC . ( Each step down has less recoil and burns less powder and lead . )

Tuesday I picked up a Rossi .357 Mag lever gun , from lay-a-way .

Loaded the following in .38 Special brass ;

~ 150 grain Lee RNL seated to ~ .357 OAL - Feed great

~ 150 grain Lee SWC seated to ~ .357 OAL - Had to hand feed them , one at a time

~ 150 grain Lee SWC seated to ~ .38 Special OAL - Feed OK , but not quire as good as the RNL

All were loaded with ~ 13 grains of AA # 9

Since I do not own a .38 Special gun , I am not too worried about possessing .38 brass loaded to above .38 Special pressures .

If I owned a .38 Special , it would probably be a different story .

I tested but did not shoot some factory .38's .

Accuracy ? Probably about as good as my vision permits . We shot at 200 meter rams .

I need to file down the front sight , I was close to or at the top notch on the rear sight .

Had to do the same with the .45 LC Rossi . In fact , it needs a little more filing , too . No big deal .

No idea of the velocity , did not set up the chrony .

The .357 would knock down a ram , but not every time . I suspect , if it hit it high ?

A good time was had by all . :-)

You all ought to try this ! :-)

God bless
Wyr

[fecmech]

Twister--I've gone you one better in the "wuss" factor. I shoot the Lee 158 TLSWC over 5.3 grs of 231 and shoot it out to 200 yds on a steel swinger. Rips right along at 1150 fps and holds 3 moa accuracy to 200 out of my Rossi 92 octagon. Your 13/AA9 is running in the 1500 fps neighborhood. On a full size ram at 200 I would probably have to hit him on top of the horn to tip him over with my load! It does work just fine on the reduced 100 yd ram targets used in pistol lever silhouette.

[runfiverun]

even 180's are a bit iffy at 200. you have to keep up the velocity for the 357 to tip them.
the 100 yder's will go down to a medium velocity 158.
a slower speed 240-250 will plonk them right down and even pinwheel them.
heavier gun too, the trade off might even out the recoil.

[rintinglen]

Been there: done that. Still at it, but for Rifle caliber lever action silhouette I still shoot my 45-70, but loaded down with 340 grain 457-192 bullets and a modest charge of 2400.
As hard as I have to work at it to just hit a ram, I want him to fall down.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Now I like that.. you migrated down to a 45 Colt ! You are still packing one fine THUNDER stick ! A good dose of 2400 and there is nothing I would fear to tackle this side of our world.
But I have to sat last time I touched off a .685 round ball at 1500 fps it seemed to make the older thinker slosh about a bit more....

[WyrTwister]

The .45 LC Rossi has no problem knocking down the 200 meter rams .

Mild recoil .

As far as economy , compared to the .357 Mag , it is a trade off . The .45 LC uses more lead , but less powder .

God bless
Wyr

[WyrTwister]

even 180's are a bit iffy at 200. you have to keep up the velocity for the 357 to tip them.
the 100 yder's will go down to a medium velocity 158.
a slower speed 240-250 will plonk them right down and even pinwheel them.
heavier gun too, the trade off might even out the recoil.


Yes , I have the Lee mold for ~250 grain RNFP .45 LC . It will knock over the rams at 200 meters .

I also have the Lee 200 grain RNFP mold . My cousin was using that bullet . Seemed to work fine , too .

God bless
Wyr

[WyrTwister]

Been there: done that. Still at it, but for Rifle caliber lever action silhouette I still shoot my 45-70, but loaded down with 340 grain 457-192 bullets and a modest charge of 2400.
As hard as I have to work at it to just hit a ram, I want him to fall down.



457-192 , I am afraid you lost me ?

My Marlins seem to like .460" bullets . I shoot the Lee 405 grain HB , mostly .

I tried 2400 years ago , but settled on Unique . For light loads .

God bless
Wyr

[colonelhogan44]

Has anyone ever shot 158 or 180 grain slugs out to 200 yards? I have heard rumblings that The Rossi Rifles won't shoot well out past 50 yards with the heavy slugs due to a very unorthodox 1 in 30 twist. any truth to this? I know mine shoots the 356-120-TC really well out to 150, but I have no experience with heavier slugs out that far.

[fecmech]

Here is a thread I posted a while back on my Rossi with 30" twist. So far there are 4 bullets that I have found are pretty accurate out to 200 yds. The Lee 158 SWC TL, Lee 121 Truncated cone 9MM bullet, RCBS 124 grn TC 9MM bullet and the Hornaday "Clone" 158 swc. All of these will stay under 3 moa out of my Rossi to 200 yds (on a calm day!!!) .
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=89295

[colonelhogan44]

That Lee Truncated cone 9mm bullet sure is a little gem. No leading at all with 4.5 grains of green dot and a splash of JPW and or LLA/45-45-10 in my Rossi. Now I need to get into pan lubing and pump up the charge a little.