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Post by sixshot on Dec 26, 2020 14:14:01 GMT -5
One thing I can say for certain, the 357 Maximum is a superb caliber for deer with the 180 gr cast bullet. I've taken 8 deer & 3 antelope with my 10.5" Blackhawk, one at quite a long distance & it kills with authority. One of them was taken with the Keith bullet, all the others with an LBT style 357.
Dick
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Post by bigbrowndog on Dec 26, 2020 17:43:24 GMT -5
Agree with Dick. The 357max has become my favorite medium game spot and stalk gun, especially if the distance can go beyond 100.
Trapr
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Post by Quick Draw McGraw on Dec 27, 2020 4:18:34 GMT -5
I'm not a hunter, but my 10.5" Max is really making me smile at the range and becoming one of my favorite guns.
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Post by seminolewind on Dec 27, 2020 11:22:43 GMT -5
I've been hunting with a Ruger .357 Max for two deer seasons and really appreciate the recoil/power ratio. The recoil doesn't punish you when shooting from odd field positions, but it's deadly on deer. Why no one is offering this cartridge in a modern revolver is a mystery to me.
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Post by crazycarl on Dec 27, 2020 14:56:05 GMT -5
Everyone who's shot my 10.5" Max fell in love with it. They look at that ridiculously long case, think it has to kick like a mule & are amazed at both that it doesn't beat them up & the authority with which it was hammering the steel plates & hanging (empty/purged) O² tanks we were shooting.
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kgb
.30 Stingray
Posts: 131
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Post by kgb on Dec 27, 2020 17:56:48 GMT -5
Dad had bought a Contender in .357 Mag and apparently read about the Maximum some time after. The gun's got a 10" octagon barrel and a thin, tapered grip with a thumb rest, he had the chamber reamed to Maximum. That gun was no fun to shoot with the Maximum loads and I wondered how well that scalloped 158gr JHP the factory ammo used would work at the higher velocity. Dad never had the chance to try it on deer, but I remember he loaded Federal brass with 180gr bullets. ***** First game to fall to the .357 Maximum was a running whitetail buck. Open hardwoods, 40 yards, sights sweep to the forward point of the should and a bit ahead. A Hornady 158 JHP chronographing 1,956 fps from a prototype Blackhawk Maximum with 10-1/2” barrel. Believe the load was 24.8/Hercules 2400 in Remington 1.605” brass with Remington 7-1/2 small rifle primer. The deer didn’t appear to break stride but piled up in about twenty yards with dilapidated lungs. The bullet hit about two feet behind Point of Aim----where it was supposed to go. This is with FOLLOW THROUGH. Without follow through the bullet might have struck 4 to 6 feet behind POA. The same load fired in your Contender 10-inch octagon might clock 2,100 fps. Thompson/Center tapered octagon barrels for Contender were nearly a standard feature during earlier production, and many showed up at IHMSA tournaments. These light, beautiful barrels kick like fury in some calibers and quickly lost favor in silhouette as Contender cranked out bull 10” bull barrels for Production and 14” bull barrels for Unlimited. Warren Center told this shooter considerable labor goes into the octagon barrels. Polishers must have a lot of practice. Correct polishing is an old school craft. Your description of recoil suggests you were shooting a T/C wood grip. My favored stock for the Contender is Pachmayr Presntation or, preferably, a Pachmayr Gripper. H4227/IMR 4227 is the benchmark powder for the .357 Maximum. David Bradshaw Fury is a good description of recoil with that grip, it's of course the wooden grip original to the gun, and the forend is a thin snap-on piece likewise original quite a lightweight piece. When dad gave me the gun I picked up some more useful grips and 10" and 14" .41 Mag barrels. Only silhouette I shot was 100 yard that several guys were shooting with .22 Hornet so I shot lightly loaded cast bullets in the 10" .41 barrel. The .357 barrel had a T/C mount and Lobo 1.5x scope, those are in the parts bin and that barrel has an old 3x or 5x Burris Long Eye Relief mounted. Not bad to shoot it as a .357Mag at all. Were the older Hornady JHP bullets pretty soft? Someone once compared their old pre-XTP .41 Mag JHP to the current Nosler product to me, the Noslers I have look a lot like the old Hornady in that caliber. I went and dug out my .357 Max brass, some of it is actually factory Remington 158gr so a chronograph trip would tell me what they do in that barrel. I also found dad's reloads, a box of what were originally 50 Federal 180gr JHP and he must have heard the same about 4227. He marked them as 21.5gr of IMR 4227 , 158gr JHP and CCI 550 primers. The markings are on a Hornady label from a box of bullets, I assume the slugs are by them and the date is given as July 25 1984.
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Post by bradshaw on Dec 27, 2020 18:24:46 GMT -5
kgb.... probably me who compared the Nosler JHP to Hornady’s (pre-XTP) Jacketed Hollow Point. My guess, the Hornady, and Nosler years later, have a pure lead core. Have taken deer with both, but manu more with the old Hornady. My late shooting partner, Ed Verge, killed many whitetail one shot with the Hornady 210 JHP from his 8-3/8” Model 57. I’ve use both the Hornady .44 240 JHP and 200 JHP, much fewer of the 200 JHP. All those Hornady JHP’s are serious accurate. Ed Verge walked out to stand beside the target @ 100 yards, for me to take a few affirmation shots offhand. As he set the example, I followed suit. Neither of us would stand beside the target @ 100 yards for someone else too show their revolver work, nlet alone OFFHAND. David Bradshaw
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Post by reflex264 on Dec 28, 2020 12:44:38 GMT -5
Y'all fellers have me tore up wanting a .357 Max again. I guess I need to end this year with a .357 Maximum.
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Post by reflex264 on Dec 28, 2020 12:46:07 GMT -5
I read mine the next day,, and while I do wish it had had more info using the revolvers,, I did enjoy the Contender info. I own a pair of T/C barrels in Maxi. ME TOO!! I think Brian Pearce is on a rotating schedule of handgun and rifle loads each every other issue. They are now, as they told me yesterday, on the "homestretch" for the Book of the .44. Part of the book will include the early 1940s ".44 Associates" loading manual and in-depth loading information on the .44 Special provided by Brian. Looking forward to it. Love the .45 book.
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Post by magman on Dec 28, 2020 13:33:13 GMT -5
Look forward to the Book of the 44.
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kgb
.30 Stingray
Posts: 131
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Post by kgb on Dec 28, 2020 23:00:30 GMT -5
kgb.... probably me who compared the Nosler JHP to Hornady’s (pre-XTP) Jacketed Hollow Point. My guess, the Hornady, and Nosler years later, have a pure lead core. Have taken deer with both, but manu more with the old Hornady. My late shooting partner, Ed Verge, killed many whitetail one shot with the Hornady 210 JHP from his 8-3/8” Model 57. I’ve use both the Hornady .44 240 JHP and 200 JHP, much fewer of the 200 JHP. All those Hornady JHP’s are serious accurate. Ed Verge walked out to stand beside the target @ 100 yards, for me to take a few affirmation shots offhand. As he set the example, I followed suit. Neither of us would stand beside the target @ 100 yards for someone else too show their revolver work, nlet alone OFFHAND. David Bradshaw Good to hear, it was years ago I heard of the connection so you're confirming what I'd heard from a fellow shooter. I made up some loadings 5 years ago with the Noslers, picked up another box this year so the combination is established and it's just a matter of getting after a deer with it. Have only used .41 among the handgun cartridge options, with Speer 220gr 3/4 jacket, Sierra 170gr JHP, Speer Gold Dot and XTP 210s, the latter out of a rifle being the only one where I recovered the slug. Figured the next would be with a cast bullet, but the Nosler has captured my interest.
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Post by bradshaw on Dec 30, 2020 21:53:54 GMT -5
kgb.... probably me who compared the Nosler JHP to Hornady’s (pre-XTP) Jacketed Hollow Point. My guess, the Hornady, and Nosler years later, have a pure lead core. Have taken deer with both, but manu more with the old Hornady. My late shooting partner, Ed Verge, killed many whitetail one shot with the Hornady 210 JHP from his 8-3/8” Model 57. I’ve use both the Hornady .44 240 JHP and 200 JHP, much fewer of the 200 JHP. All those Hornady JHP’s are serious accurate. Ed Verge walked out to stand beside the target @ 100 yards, for me to take a few affirmation shots offhand. As he set the example, I followed suit. Neither of us would stand beside the target @ 100 yards for someone else too show their revolver work, nlet alone OFFHAND. David Bradshaw Good to hear, it was years ago I heard of the connection so you're confirming what I'd heard from a fellow shooter. I made up some loadings 5 years ago with the Noslers, picked up another box this year so the combination is established and it's just a matter of getting after a deer with it. Have only used .41 among the handgun cartridge options, with Speer 220gr 3/4 jacket, Sierra 170gr JHP, Speer Gold Dot and XTP 210s, the latter out of a rifle being the only one where I recovered the slug. Figured the next would be with a cast bullet, but the Nosler has captured my interest. ***** kgb.... of the bullets you mention, don’t know about the Speer Gold Dot on game. Do know the Hornady .41 210 JHP which preceded the XTP was an excellent deer bullet. Those old Hornady JHP’s were consistent performers from revolvers on whitetails; quite gratifying to see Nosler, when Nosler got into handgun bullets, approximate the old Hornady JHP. David Bradshaw
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