357 Maximum Gratuitous Loading Pics

[Meatpuppet]

In complete disregard to the norms of Holidays... I had enough time between Christmas and New Years to load up some 357 Maximum....

Three different swaged 185 grain projectiles... S6 Ojive Soft Point, JHP and Wide Meplat. All loaded from Annealed 9mm cases for the jackets; a Accurtate Molds 32-120C cast boolet as a core, and then swaged up in a BT Sniper Point Form Die.

Also have some 300 grain sub-sonic (suppressed) powdercoated (Smoke's JD Green) for giggle-fun.....

[cwtebay]

I absolutely love it!!!!
(Mostly I love it because my 351 WSL is still whoopin on it!) But I always enjoy seeing anyone's work - especially a bit of pride and joy!!!!

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Stephen Cohen]

How do those home spun jacketed do accuracy wise. I have been thinking of getting a set of those BT dies as it is almost impossible to get 35 cal jacketed in the land of Oz. By the way they look as good as factory to me. Regards Stephen

[Meatpuppet]

To be fair, I have actually never fired a commercial projectile in my Maxi's. I’ve always "Bumped up" 9mm projectiles or swaged my own, with or without jackets, so I don’t have a fair comparison. Once I achieved the accuracy I needed, I didn’t really pursue it further. The .357 Maximum project, MGM Maxi barrels and the BT Sniper swage dies were the result of discovering this evil forum which sent me down the Rabbit Hole of swaging.

Initially, I “bumped-up” The Blue Bullets brand of 9MM-150gr coated projectiles to .358 for plinking and suppressed use. I have thousands on hand for reloading 9MM anyway. They were accurate out to 50 yards and cheap.

Powdercoated: I’ve been using Accurate Molds “34-XXX” range of molds from 200gr to 310gr, then powder coating them and bumping-up to .358dia in one of the BT Sniper point form dies I own. This is by far the easiest way to produce perfect projectiles as the swaging process removes any casting or powdercoating imperfections. During the point forming process, I can add a gas check if I want to, but it has not increased accuracy in the heavier bullets, so I usually don’t add one. It is important to note that this process can be done in almost any strong commercial “O” style press. You do not need a swage press for this.

Jacketed Swaged Projectiles: By far the most time consuming but crazy-fun to experiment with. I can produce Jacketed bullets that work great at a nominal 2000 fps. This is the point where commercial projectiles for .357 magnum seem to disintegrate from excess speed, but is a bit slow for the projectiles for the faster “35-rifle” chamberings.

First: Anneal spent 9mm cases in a cast iron pot with high pressure burner.

Next: Using BT Sniper’s dies (worth every penny!) and a used Sea-Girt press (a smaller version of the Walnut Hill swage press) I draw down the brass to .355 dia, insert a core, notch skives in the jacket and then swage up to final .358 diameter as a Spire-point, JHP, Truncated Cone, or Wide Meplat. I’ve experimented with weights from 153gr to 315gr using annealed brass from 9mm, 9X21, 38 Super Comp and 9mm Magnum. But with the ability to simply powdercoat 300gr lead cores, I only use 9mm brass for 185gr to 210 gr projectiles. You definitely need a strong press for this operation.

And to finally answer Stephen Cohen’s question, the accuracy is good enough for me out to 150 yards. It is really surprising how well they work for accuracy. There is a noticeable improvement in groups when I hand sort the brass for jackets by manufacturer since the brass can vary by several grains between brands. However, I don’t bother to do it any more to save time. Below are a few groups from when I was building up loads several years ago. I am now focusing on the best powders for 185gr projectiles in 10” to 16” inch barrels, both supersonic and suppressed. I believe I’ve settled on VV N110 for the supers and am still bouncing around between VV 3N37, N350 and 3N38 for the 300gr subsonic.

One note of caution. You cannot use commercially published loading data when approaching maximum loads! The extra space from the base web and primer area of 9mm brass cause a nominal 185gr swaged projectile to be longer than a corresponding commercial 185gr jacketed projectile. This will increase pressure when loading cartridges to the same Overall Length. Ironically, the same base web and primer area holds the bullet together while allowing for easy expansion. Quickload is of great value estimating loads since I can “create” BT Sniper swaged bullets in the program.

BT Sniper's products are not cheap, but quality never is. The versitility of his products give you the best bang for your buck (haha). Especially if you are in a situation where you cant obtain projectiles. If you are only point forming a powdercoated projectile you can reduce your costs by not getting the entire line of dies or order his BT Simple dies.

Finally, I apologize for my caffeine-induced, post New Year’s diatribe.

[blackpowder man]

Is your twist rate 1-16” or 1-14”? I’m seriously thinking of getting a MGM max Encore rifle barrel and the ones that are in stock are 1-16”. I like the 1-14” in my 35 Whelen and if I get a max I’d like to have the option to use 250+ grain boolits. Those swaged 9s are awesome.
Thanks

[Meatpuppet]

My MGM 16" Contender & Encore barrels are 1-16. I also have an MGM 10" Contender barrel thats 1-10 (it was apparently a Stub from another MGM project and I asked about one at just the right time).

I was convinced I needed the faster twist for stabilizing heavy bullets to shoot through a suppressor (baffle strikes suck), but the 1-16 twist stabilize 300gr powdercoated bullets as long as the velocity remains above 900 fps. If you launch a .358 dia 300gr bullet at 1050fps at the muzzle, it will still be above 900fs at 100 yards.

[Stephen Cohen]

Very interesting project I may well take up. I get a lot of pleasure from casting and trying loads and this looks like another fun project. Thank you sir. Regards Stephen

[blackpowder man]

Thanks, maybe I should just go with 1-16”. What powders are you using with you’re heavy powder coated boolits? I love my Whelen, if it had a rim to headspace and extract on it would be perfect. If I could find dies and a barrel for a 303-35 or 35-40 Krag or 35-30 or 35-7.62r that wouldn’t cost a fortune...... I do however have 357 Max brass and 357 dies already.

[Meatpuppet]

If you are shooting full power loads, I don’t think a 1-16 twist is going to matter over a 1-14 or 1-10 at the ranges a 357 Max is intended for. Its probably better for max-velocity loads. MGM has done quite a bit of testing and seems to have settled on the 1-16 with pretty impressive results.

I've primarily stuck with Vihtavuori Powders since I have quite a bit on hand. VV N110 seems to be super versatile in the 357 Maximum. I can use it from 153gr full power loads to 300gr subsonic. However, N110 has a relatively high muzzle pressure with the heavy subsonic which I generally shoot suppressed. So I drop down to slightly faster burning powders to achieve a lower muzzle pressure.

Again, I use VV N110 because that’s what I have on hand and all my barrels are 16” or less. There is a heck of a lot of wisdom on these forums with AA1680, W296, Lil Gun and H110 achieving superior results, especially in longer barrels.

A 16” barrel Contender with a youth stock makes a dandy lightweight “walking around” gun. Or you can play the ATF game and go with a shorter barrel Contender pistol with a folding “arm brace” and it will fit into a small day-pack for easy carry. Lots of versatility potential.The icing on the cake is the straight wall cartridge is so easy to reload.