357 maximum ruger

[Abert Rim]

I always felt I missed out on a Blackhawk in the Max. It seems like such a perfect hunting cartridge for a sixgun.
I enjoyed Milek back in the day and built a .30 Herrett -- my first wildcat -- exactly like his. But he sure had his blind spots, e.g., "There are some hunters, I am sorry to say, who insist that the .45 Colt is a superb game cartridge without being souped up."
Seems to me Rick Jamison had a lot to say about the Max, but I can't recall what he said!

[murf205]

For a long time I was happy with 296. As my stash of 296 was running out, I got a jug of H110. This was also about the time I was changing over from J words to PC coated boolits. I had ignition problems with the boolits / H110 combination and gave up on H110 for the max.

I looked hard at Lil Gun, but saw too much stuff about it having problems.

Others have reported good 4227 results in the Max, but when I tried it, I did not like it. My gun got "happy" accuracy wise at nothing less than a full charge worked up during the winter. This same load seemed "too hot" in the summer.

I found some Wc 680 (milsurp version of 1680) and found it much to my liking. I started watching for it, found some and stocked up on it. I will probably have some leftover for my son when I am gone. The second purchase was almost 4 years ago (just before things went nuts).

If I were searching for powders at this point, I would take what I could find from the following list:

1680, N110, Enforcer, Accurate 4100, AA 9, SW Blackout.

As a warning, the above are powders that seem to behave well and have the right burn rate. Unfortunately, available load data could be a problem.

Thanks for reminding me about Wc 680. That's exactly the powder mu old shooting buddy had the best success with but it is dirty IIRC. He just happens to have 10 1lb cans. I hope they are still good. They are from the early 70's but stored in a controlled environment.

[LeonardC]

For those that missed the Bob Milek article about the .357 Max., it can be read in a '17 thread on Singleactions. The thread on the .357 Max. is 7 pages long.

I miss Bob Milek's stories. He passed away from cancer 1993...hard to believe it was so long ago. He did a lot of good for the handgun hunting community. Among his works on my shelf are HANDGUN HUNTING ACROSS NORTH AMERICA AND CENTERFIRE REVOLVERS TROUBLESHOOTING AND TUNING.

[P Flados]

I have seen "very dirty" ball powder applications. One was Wc 844 (similar to H335) in some stuff where it was obviously much slower than optimum. That was obviously a bad choice and I moved on.

Other times you can find yourself "just living with it". For example, I am running some SW Clean Shot mouse fart loads with small charges under very light for caliber bullets.

I have not really noted Wc 680 as being dirty in any loads I have tried. These loads have probably all been 30,000 psi or more.

[murf205]

My friend with the 357 Max found it to be dirty in his Contender probably as a result of me suggesting that he starting low and work up high-something he is noted for not adhering to. Many yrs and a lot more experience later, I have learned that with some powders, it takes pressure to burn clean. With his propensity to start hot and go hotter, he/we might have found just the right combo. If I can score a maxi, I will let you know if that stash of 680 has not degraded.