.357Magnum for distance shooting?

BCRider

BCRider

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Last week I took a buddy out for an afternoon of rifle shooting. Being an idiot I had forgetten to pack the tube of targets I usually carry. So we spent the time trying to hit the 200 meter gong that is set up at Mission's rifle range.

I'd brought along my Cowboy Action Rossi Puma 92 clone and some full house .357Mag reloads that used 158gn LRNFP bullets in front of 14 gns of 2400. Between the two of us we actually got the most hits on the gong out of this gun rested using the little block rests that the range so nicely provides. I was shocked to say the least. And this was done with only a smidgen of sight compensation for this range. I developed a great deal of respect for a .357Mag when shot from a 20 inch barrel that day.

Now I'm wondering about playing with this cartridge even out to the 300 yard max at Mission. It'll be a sort of David and Goliath situation when compared to the more classic rifle rounds but I'm intrigued at the thought of a "close in lightweight 45-70" sort of style of shooting.

Anyone else using lower velocity options that can share any thoughts on this sort of shooting?
 
The limiting factor is the sights and your use of them. Bartell has a video of me shooting offhand at a gong at 335 or so yards. I never hit the gong, but I scared it some!:)
 
PileBuck said:
Im pretty sure there's targets on the desk of the clubhouse, not sure if you have to throw a couple bucks in the pot or not.
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It's hit or miss if there's targets in the holder up at the rifle range. And it was Wednesday so the clubhouse down in the main lot wasn't open. I'm not a regular rifle shooter but the times I've been there it's empty about half or more of the time. And yes, we signed in and tossed our money in the box. I'm one of those that certainly doesn't mind paying for having such a nice place to shoot. I even clean up more of the mess than I cause. Oh, I'm a member of the Mission club too.

As for the shooting such a "lowly" cartridge it sounds like I'm not all that crazy from the replies so far. I'm not a huge rifle and long distance fan. More of an IPSC and Cowboy Action sort. But I don't mind tinkering with other options here and there. I just need to set something up that let's me see sharper. I may start with a tang mounted target peep sight and see where things go from there.
 
BCRider said:
It's hit or miss if there's targets in the holder up at the rifle range. And it was Wednesday so the clubhouse down in the main lot wasn't open. I'm not a regular rifle shooter but the times I've been there it's empty about half or more of the time. And yes, we signed in and tossed our money in the box. I'm one of those that certainly doesn't mind paying for having such a nice place to shoot. I even clean up more of the mess than I cause. Oh, I'm a member of the Mission club too.
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I just meant a couple bucks for the targets, not sure if they put them out for free? Im a member too, maybe see you there one day. You might find this article interesting, about Elmer Keiths 600 yard shot with a 44 mag.

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=34
 
No, you're right. There's a note that targets are 3 for a buck as I recall. But if there's none in the holder like we found last week then it sure doesn't help. But I don't like to rely on such things and normally bring my own. But in repacking the bag I swapped out a few things and then packed some others and along the way the targets, along with a set of high power binos for spotting got left sitting on the desk.

Gotta go read that .44 link now... :D
 
BCRider said:
Anyone else using lower velocity options that can share any thoughts on this sort of shooting?
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I had my fair share of experimenting with 9mm Luger, 45ACP, 7.62x25 and 357SIG. I had them all in carbine configuration with different barrel lengths, hot loads too. Except for 9mm all other cartridges performed exceptionally well. Can't say it was point blank shooting at 200 but holdover wasn't an issue, minimal compensation necessary. I only wish 45ACP brass was a little beefier to handle some most interesting loads, otherwise it was nothing short of shorgun slugs. 7.62x25 and 357SIG were handling 85grainers and 115grainers respectively at 2200fps - this is rifle cartridge territory already. The only problem is that there is no loading data tailored for carbine length barrels, I had to spent some time cooking my own recipes.

So, what you see in 357 Magnum is very normal. I suspect there will be similar interesting results from 10mm, 9mmx25 Dillon, 38 super comp etc - pretty much everything with a bit of extra case volume. Seems like carbine length barrels allow pistol cartridges to perform to their fullest.

One word of caution though. Extra barrel length brings a problem with blowback designs, especially handling hot loads with heavier bullets. Case starts moving back quite a bit before bullet cleares the barrel, resulting in plastic deformation of bottleneck cases like 357SIG or tokarev , lot of blow back through ejection port and heavy battering on the slide stops. This all happens even if there are no signs of overpressure.
 
Way back in the day, I sometimes shot metallic silhouette with my 4" barreled Ruger Security Six and later with my GP100. I didn't hit very many; but those few rams I connected with, toppled off their stands, and they sat at 200 metres.
 
If you can find a suitably sized rock out in flat water somewhere, it can make long range shooting with short range cartridges more interesting, and you can range the target faster than shooting over dry ground. Many years ago I managed to get hits on a rock about 3' long and 18" high at 300 yards or so by watching the splashes in the water, and hits on the rock were obvious. Once the target is ranged in, the accuracy to hit a target that size is no problem with a .357.
 
I have a Pedersoli Baby Carbine in .357 mag equipped with a tang sight that I use quite regularly to shoot the gongs at the range. I could hit the 100 yd 8/10 times, the 150 yd pig 6/10, and the 200 yd circle about half of the time.
Once you have the hold-over figured out, it's relatively easy to go long range with a .357

I ran out of elevation on the tang sight and have installed a shorter front sight. Now to get to the range and re-sight it in.
 
I used my Rossi carbine with .38 specials to shoot a "nuisance" beaver last week, it was swimming broadside at about 100 yds. Two shots to get lead and elevation figured out, and one shot to finish the job. Pretty far for a 1" x 2" target. Load was a 170 gr. LFN cast at about 1000 fps. I use mine with full power .357 magnum loads to shoot gongs offhand. So far have only shot gongs at my 100 yard range, this thread will inspire some longer range target shooting. Should be fun!
 
I have a 6" S&W 586 in 357 Magnum, and a full house load is around 16 grains of l"il Gun with a jacketed 158 grain bullet. It is deadly accurate and I have no problem hitting the 200 meter Rams with it. Eagleye.
 
Eagleye said:
I have a 6" S&W 586 in 357 Magnum, and a full house load is around 16 grains of l"il Gun with a jacketed 158 grain bullet. It is deadly accurate and I have no problem hitting the 200 meter Rams with it. Eagleye.
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Are you using a handgun scope or is this with the regular iron sights of the 586? Or do you use the laydown and brace off the leg style used by the pistol silhouette shooters? If iron sights and regardless of how you hold the gun then I doff my hat to your clear vision, shooting skill and steady nerves.
 
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