.357 Mag for a carbine

[eljefe]

I was given a .357 Rossi carbine a while back. It played safe queen while I got a few other calibers sorted.
This is a new caliber for me and I decided, as usual to go the cast projectile route. I was also given a couple of kilos of .358 sized, and lubed wadcutters, 130 gr flat nose and 160gr RN.
Because this is a tube feeder, I decided to use the FN first and went with a Unique equivalent -AP70.
5gr for the 130 gr and 6 gr for the 160 gr. The book velocity is about 1100 fps from a revolver, and it will be interesting to know how they’ll go off a 20” carbine.
The Rossi, feeds the factory 158 JHP perfectly, but lifts the handloads too high to chamber... I’ll need to strip it down and mod some parts.
I decided to go with a Red Dot sight.
All fitted up now , should be showtime soon

[eljefe]

1st pic:
130 gr FN and 160 gr RN. The RN is Hitek epoxy coated. Since these dont use gas checks, i hope to get away without leading the barrel, by keeping velocity at approx 11-1200 fps and using a good lube or epoxy coating.

2nd pic- factory loads

3rd- the Rossi is in the foreground after red dot sight was fitted. The other rifle is a Zastava Mod 70 7x57

[timmy]

el jefe, my guess is that the long barrel (relative to a revolver) and the fairly large case should give you some real load flexibility.
I have long thought about such a lever gun chambered in a revolver cartridge, either 357 or 45 Colt (preferably thee former), but that's all the further I've gotten. I don't do 357, but I do load 38 Spl., so no problem there. All of that is 148 gr wadcutter and Bullseye. I wonder how the wadcutters would work in the rifle, as all I'd use it for would be varmints and I expect that wadcutters would do fairly well in that service.

When you get down the road with that setup, please show us some paper!

[thesinfulsaint]

I acquired a Henry in 44mag a few months back. It is a hoot to shoot. All my friends always pick that over the AR whenever we go shooting.You should get one, never too late.

Since you already load 38 special, 357 should be easy and no new dies required.

My next three would be in 22, 357 and 45-70. Not necessarily a Henry, could be any of the good levers.


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[timmy]

tss:

I had a 45-70 Marlin 1895 that I gave to my older son. I had some good, stout loads for it (400 gr Speers over 53 gr of 3031) that shot very nicely. But shooting it fell under the category of "nice to carry all day, but no fun to shoot once." I can't remember if they called it semi-Microgroove, or Microgroove, but there are better choices than Microgroove Marlins for cast boolits.

Instead, I got a single shot bolt action Husqvarna in 45-70. Stout loads in it would be about as bad as in the Marlin, for the only thing that weighs anything in that rifle is the octagon barrel. But the point was for shooting cast boolits in it, probably at varmints. I have considered working up a load for it for, maybe, seeing my son and going hog hunting with him. But I have lots of other choices for doing that and the 45-70 isn't a priority in that department.

If I could afford to do what I really wanted to do in 38 Spl/357, I would get a Colt Official Police and set it up with a 16" barrel and a handgun scope. I don't need anything more than 38 Spl & there'd be gobs of velocity I could pick up in such a barrel. I might even start casting something beside wadcutters for it!

BTW, the washer RCBS used to include in there 38 Spl/357 die set, i just use for neck sizing rifle cases.

Many moons ago, in a past life before I retired, I used to go out to the Wolfe City club range. Check it out on the map -- it's about 50 miles NW of Plano. I'm not sure it's even there anymore.

[eljefe]

I used to own a .458 JCE, a variant of the .458 B&M when i was younger (and madder) 55 gr 4227 and 350 gr Hornady bloody killed at both ends! Busted my nose once and my daughter hd to play nurse, stuffing TP in my R nostril.

While 4 gr of unique in a 9mil sounds reasonable and one can see a decent amount of powder before seating the projjie, the 6 gr unique in a huge .357 case had me scared enough to recheck the load data in 3 different manuals. Its soo minuscule! The only thing on my mind was- fast powder, small quantity in a huge case = SSE

PS- that 148gr WC and 2.7gr BE load hasnt been beat in close to a 100 years!

[timmy]

I used to own a .458 JCE, a variant of the .458 B&M when i was younger (and madder) 55 gr 4227 and 350 gr Hornady bloody killed at both ends! Busted my nose once and my daughter hd to play nurse, stuffing TP in my R nostril.

Now, "killed at both ends" is the right way to put it!!!

While 4 gr of unique in a 9mil sounds reasonable and one can see a decent amount of powder before seating the projjie, the 6 gr unique in a huge .357 case had me scared enough to recheck the load data in 3 different manuals. Its soo minuscule! The only thing on my mind was- fast powder, small quantity in a huge case = SSE

Yes, this has always been a worry of mine. My practice has always been to seat the bullet right after dumping the powder. I don't know of a foolproof method, but this does make me feel more safe.

PS- that 148gr WC and 2.7gr BE load hasnt been beat in close to a 100 years!

Oh, yes sir! That's my load exactly! Mixed with a nice Colt, I've wiped a few smiles off of faces!

[Vikram]

That's a nice rig there. With hotter loads would it make a decent pig gun in the bush?

[timmy]

That's a nice rig there. With hotter loads would it make a decent pig gun in the bush?

Vikram, I think it would. The parts of Texas I've seen wouldn't necessarily require such a short lightweight rifle as this, but in the eastern part such a light, short rifle would be an advantage.

Ballistics By The Inch will give you the calculations you might want to consider, when thinking about this:

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/357mag.html

The general rule I've gone by to think about these hunting matters is 1000 foot-pounds/1356 joules of energy is needed. So, one can figure the ballistics from this to see, for instance, the maximum range for a given bullet/cartridge used for deer, elk, bear, etc.

Having said this, the energy of a 158 gr bullet @ 1700 f/s is right around 1000 ft-pounds, as can be seen from the Bullets By The Inch data for the 18" barrel.

So, the range, if one maintains the 1000 ft*lbs/1356 j rule is pretty close to muzzle. But, piggies may not be quite so large as a deer, but of course, they are quite tough, especially boars around the shoulders. Regarding the Bullets By The inch data, they list self defense loads, but you could substitute a hard cast lead bullet that you might want for pigs and obtain the same velocity.

I'd think a 357 rifle would be pretty good for close range work, assuming practice and reliable bullet placement, and that you could get a really hard, penetrating bullet that will stay together to do the job.

[eljefe]

The 1700 fps would be a jacketed load for me.I am yet to break in and wring the accuracy potential of the cast I was given.Will take a while,I guess,work and time constraints...