This tepid lil .357

[centershot]

Interesting thread. Especially the info re cheek welds..I shoot a bunch of LAs, mostly Rossi Puma in several Cals but also Winchester 92, Uberti Highwall and soon a Winchester Model 94. Cheek weld and using a rear bag are issues that never occurred to me but make a lot of sense thks.

The one thing I have concentrated on is the effect of velocity on accuracy. Also mentioned above but worth stressing. Here is a graph plotting group size against velocity for a 180gn bullet in 357mag. From the site from which this comes (link below), the evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of moderate velocity giving best accuracy.

Attachment 347800


http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

One of the major reasons these pistol-caliber carbines often display poor accuracy is due to having sloppy throats and/or chambers. I've been using .360" bullets (as-cast diameter) in my 1894c but I'm going to need to "Beagle" the mold to improve accuracy. The straight-wall calibers are prone to this, you need a little wiggle room to get a straight wall cartridge to chamber. You need to fill the throat on these rifles and a .358" bullet won't do that in an oversize chamber/throat. Accuracy can be attained at the higher velocities illustrated in the graph, but, the bullet needs to fit. Fit is everything!

[papaglenn]

The information at http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm can be valuable. I have referenced it myself from time to time to get ideas about muzzle velocities.

But I have always felt that their accuracy results were suspect.(Come on, 12" at 50 yards?) At one time I reproduced a few of their most inaccurate loads and tried them myself. I was getting 1 1/2-2" at 50 yards. With buckhorn sights and not a scope as they were using.

The difference? Their test rifle for 357 mag loads was a microgroove Marlin. I sized my bullets to .360" and they were fine. I'm not sure the authors understood this detail.

I applaud their drive and determination but I would let this serve as a caution to people to not blindly follow info on the interwebs.

Trust but verify.

[Griff]

Griff:
Does a boresnake qualify? I might have had copper in the bore when I shot my cast. Ran 20 jackets and one pull of the snake before shooting. It had a through cleaning before range session.

Kinda depends on the gilding material of your jacketed rounds. But, I like to include a copper fouling remover to the cleaning before doing any serious cast work. YMMV.

[papaglenn]

Again, I seem to be the contrarian, but I switch back and forth between jacketed and cast all the time and I have been for years. I have yet to see a change in point of impact or accuracy.

YMMV