I inadvertently ended up with 2 boxes of .357 max ammo. I thought I knew a lot of calibers/variants but never saw this one. Anybody got any thoughts, ideas, trivia. These are useless to me but man, I would love to shoot the gun that chambers that bad boy.
Info wanted on .357 max
- Thread starter ppland
- Start date
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Ballistic performance from the .357 Max round is pretty incredible. A 170gr 9mm bullet moving at about 2,000 ft/s & 1500 ft/lbf of energy is a mean dude.
Too bad the flame cutting on the top strap of the revolvers it was chambered in was such that no manufacturers make one anymore.
If you can find a Ruger Blackhawk chambered in .357 Max, buy it. Only 400 were made.
Too bad the flame cutting on the top strap of the revolvers it was chambered in was such that no manufacturers make one anymore.
If you can find a Ruger Blackhawk chambered in .357 Max, buy it. Only 400 were made.
highstandard40
Well-Known Member
It was originally chambered in a Ruger single action. The frame was longer to accomodate the longer cartridge. As Leadfoot said, there were issue with flame cutting of the top strap. Dan Wesson revolvers were chambered for it also and called a Super Mag. They suffered the same flame cutting. It was generally believed that the cutting would advance to a certain point and then stop, still within the limits of a safe firearm. There are a few still left around and are collectable. They were very popular with the Metallic Silhouette crowd. The cartridge still holds high favor with specialty handgun shooters and it is a popular chambering in the Thompson Contender single shot pistol. T/C no longer chambers it but it is readily available from custom barrel makers. It makes a fine handgun deer cartridge and many Contender Carbine barrels chambered in the 357 Max go afield for Primitive Weapon season.
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highstandard40
Well-Known Member
Many 357 Mag barrels have indeed been rechambered to 357 Max. It's an easy rechamber.
No, I never thought about it. Talk to him and make an offer. I wanna keep one round however. I have a collection of odd/rare rounds that I wanna eventually make a display of.
I deer hunt with a 357 Max in a T/C Contender carbine and know of a few other guys in MS that do too. Last season using a 180 gr XTP over N120, took a medium sized buck no problem. One shot, two holes, and a blood trail a blind man could follow.
Only ever read about it and was pretty impressed.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=345736726
That auction is current, if you want to watch it and see how far up it goes in price, to get a feel for how some of the wheel guns go. I put it on my watch list out of curiosity. Pretty neat. There's a couple Contenders up there, too.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=345736726
That auction is current, if you want to watch it and see how far up it goes in price, to get a feel for how some of the wheel guns go. I put it on my watch list out of curiosity. Pretty neat. There's a couple Contenders up there, too.
Wow! Bout how far was the shot? Just curious.
highstandard40
Well-Known Member
Technically yes, because the only difference in the external dimensions of 38 Special. 357 Magnum, and 357 Max is the length. You can also include 360 DW but it is even more rare than the 357 Max. It's not the best idea though. There is too long of a bullet jump from case mouth to chamber throat.
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hunter5567
Monolithic Mentor
It was factory loaded with 158gr and 180gr .357 bullets at around 1830fps and 1550fps respectively out of a handgun.
I used to shoot it in a T/C Contender 14" and a Dan Wesson 8" barreled revolver. As was stated. a H&R Handirifle in 357Mag can easily be rechambered to it and you can fire 38's or 357's out of it. A 180gr bullet loaded in a 44 Magnum revolver will eclipse its power.
The heavier bullet weights in the 357 Max will alleviate the flame cutting and bore erosion in the revolver and of course you didn't have that problem with the T/C Contender. You could get extra barrels for the Dan Wesson to alleviate that problem. H&R/NEF also had factory chambered barrels in the 357 Max. There was also a .445 Super Max and .41 Super Max.
The 357 Max is easily loaded using 357 Magnum dies and so are the others using 44 Mag and 41 Mag dies. I believe there was also a 375 Max. They were also used for shooting Silhouettes.
I used to shoot it in a T/C Contender 14" and a Dan Wesson 8" barreled revolver. As was stated. a H&R Handirifle in 357Mag can easily be rechambered to it and you can fire 38's or 357's out of it. A 180gr bullet loaded in a 44 Magnum revolver will eclipse its power.
The heavier bullet weights in the 357 Max will alleviate the flame cutting and bore erosion in the revolver and of course you didn't have that problem with the T/C Contender. You could get extra barrels for the Dan Wesson to alleviate that problem. H&R/NEF also had factory chambered barrels in the 357 Max. There was also a .445 Super Max and .41 Super Max.
The 357 Max is easily loaded using 357 Magnum dies and so are the others using 44 Mag and 41 Mag dies. I believe there was also a 375 Max. They were also used for shooting Silhouettes.
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