38spl and 357 mag in 357 maximum chamber
- Thread starter matt bradley
- Start date
Yes you can. Accuracy may suffer from the longer jump into the rifling but with the cartridges mentioned I doubt you would notice. The maximum offers a decent increase in velocity as well. No flame cutting since you are using a single, that was something that sort of killed the maximum.
Another option would have been the 360 Dan Wesson. The brass is available and you can load to 357mag pressures and get out near 2000 fps = near 357 maximum velocities.
Not available commercially, strictly a reloaders cartridge for now.
Not available commercially, strictly a reloaders cartridge for now.
I have a couple 357 max revolvers left over from the silhouette days. Good cartridge. Be careful with your loads, two of the few T/C's I have seen sprung were chambered in 357 max. FWIW - dan
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- Location
- Saskatchewan
I had two single shot carbines in .357 max, they would both shoot very accurately with full loads in the max cases, and with .38 hollow base wadcutter low power loads, and nothing in-between. Not sure why, but i was disappointed I could not use regular .357 magnum with any accuracy. One was custom Bullberry barrel on a TC Contender, the other a Savage 24V combo gun. The Speer .358 180 grain flat point is a really good bullet in the maximum.
I have a handi rifle in 360DW. Very accurate (sub MOA with 360DW), fairly accurate with 357 and not accurate at all with 38 special. I even get key-holing with 38s. I attribute it to the big jump to the lands the 38 has to make.
So I would not count on your 357 maximum, which is slightly longer than the 360 DW, being much use with 38 specials.
If you are shooting 357 max you will probably be hand loading. If so you can load 357 brass to 38 specs, load long, and this will work better by getting the bullet closer to the end of the chamber.
Some experimenting will be in order.
Have fun.
So I would not count on your 357 maximum, which is slightly longer than the 360 DW, being much use with 38 specials.
If you are shooting 357 max you will probably be hand loading. If so you can load 357 brass to 38 specs, load long, and this will work better by getting the bullet closer to the end of the chamber.
Some experimenting will be in order.
Have fun.
I have a couple of Martini rifles chambered in 357 Maxi. I shoot 38S&W, 38 Long Colt, 38 Special, 357 magnum and 357 Maxi. All seem to be quite accurate. I believe this is the case because of the relatively tight chamber. The reamer is on its last sharpening. Maybe I will get it reground to something else??
That's good to hear, I just want this barrel to plink with and think it will be loads of fun to shoot, wood like to see pic's of your gun I'm kind of a single shot fan
I guess I could do that but I have a bunch of 38spl and 357 mag ammo id like to use up in it.
With almost all pistol powders, the case would be under filled to the point you would get very inconsistent velocities (and accuracy).
saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- near Prince Albert
I don't agree with that blanket statement, but in the event the charge is too low, and things go wonky, you just bump the powder charge.
No, I have tried that. It does work with lighter bullet weights, such as 125 grain but that moots the point of chambering for the MAXI. I have shot everything from the 125 grain to the 250 grain Speer flat base bullets out of both of my rifles and they work well. My barrel twist rates are 1-12 and have a No. 2 contour.
Being able to utilize other ammo is nice when the Maxi isn't available.
The first 38S&W cartridges I shot through the one were surplus 38/200 cast lead rounds. They shot much better than the later surplus with jacketed bullets. 38 LC were ok but I only had a limited amount of rounds and just shot around 20 to see how well they would do. 38 spcl. with 158 cast lead round nose were again acceptable. All had little or no felt recoil and would make for great plinking days. The 357 magnum had more recoil and was definitely more accurate and at close to max loads needed to have jacketed bullets to reduce fouling. This summer I will be experimenting with hard cast, gas checked bullets to see if those work well. The 357 Maxi was the best of all when accuracy/velocity/versatility were taken into account. With good bullets I wouldn't be at all afraid to take a Bear/Deer out to 200 meters. With the right powders/primers the 250 grn flat base, jacketed bullets can be driven to faster than expected velocities that easily achieve/exceed factory 30-30 Win performance. NO, I won't give out the load because it's stout, maybe to stout. It works well in my Martinis and both have had over a thousand rounds of these through them without showing any signs of overpressure.
Would not "bumping the powder charge" defeat the intent of shooting 38 special loads ?.
In any case, there is a lot of info on the web about the effect of excessive free space in a cartridge particularly as it relates to inconsistent velocities. I have found this to be the case when trying 38 special loads in 360 DW cases and would expect the same or worse in the longer 357 max case. I am just noting this as something to consider if you are expecting flawless 38 special functioning in these longer chambers.
But try it yourself. There is a lot of variations in how different rifles perform and your outcome may differ.
One of the biggest issues with accuracy I've had with my rifles is that they both have slightly over size bores, .359. Jacketed bullets shoot well. Cast lead, even with gas checks need to be at least .312 diameter to give good results. Hollow base wadcutters are ok as well as long as there is enough pressure to obdurate the skirts into the rifling.
Don't forget, the purpose of going to a 357 Maxi is for the EXTRA performance. Loading it down doesn't make a lot of sense in such a rifle.
Don't forget, the purpose of going to a 357 Maxi is for the EXTRA performance. Loading it down doesn't make a lot of sense in such a rifle.
saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- near Prince Albert
A bigger case will have less pressure than a shorter version with the same powder charge. Therefore, you could up the powder charge in the bigger cartridge while maintaining 38 Special velocities. My 45-70 and 458 WM tell me this is true. Maybe things go wonky once you get into such different lengths (38 Special to 357 Max) so I will need to check into it.
