# 357 Maximum



## Golden Bear (Feb 8, 2016)

What do you guys think of the 357 Maxi? I picked up a Blackhawk with a 10.5 barrel and am gonna stick a bisley grip frame on it in place of the dragoon. I had reeds ammo do some 180's and 200's at ~1800fps. Anyone blast one of these or taken a deer with it? Thanks!


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## Lilly001 (Feb 11, 2016)

Congrats on scoring the  Blackhawk. They are rare in the Max.
I have a 10" contender in Max. I've been using the Jamison 158 gr load but have yet to score. The one day I forgot the contender was the only day the shootable deer got close enough to shoot. 
I limit my shots to under 50 yds. Not because of the Max but thats how far I can stay on the pie plate.
I think you are on the right path with  the heavy bullets.
Let us know how it shoots. 
Also Mike Bealm (sp) is on the web with lots of good stuff on the Max.


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## Lilly001 (Feb 11, 2016)

It's  Mike Bellm.


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## Golden Bear (Feb 11, 2016)

Thanks, Lilly. I know the Max is a little bit of a novelty so I appreciate the insight. I'll post some picks once my smith makes the grip frame swap. I think it will be a hoot to shoot.


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## rosewood (Feb 16, 2016)

Do you handload?  Ruger had issues with the throats eroding from the powder burn in the revolvers.  Apparently the extra powder over a .357 mag made a big difference.  If you handload, you might want to download for target or use .357 mags for taget and only use the maxi loads for hunting.  Just a suggestion to extend the life of the firearm if you shoot a lot.  

As for power, the maxi is more than sufficient to take any deer around here.  Nice find!

Rosewood


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## Golden Bear (Feb 16, 2016)

I hadn't heard of the throat erosion on these before...only the flame cutting of the topstrap. But, I guess with the maxi powder charge over the mag the two would go hand in hand. I don't handload so I will keep an eye on the erosion but I also do not plan on putting a bunch of rounds through it. The piece is unfired as of now so we will see how it goes when I take it out. Thanks for the heads up.


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## rosewood (Feb 16, 2016)

My memory failed me, it was probably the cutting of the top strap I was thinking of but you knew what I meant. 

If you don't handload, you might have difficulty finding loaded ammo.  I have only ever seen one box in my life and it was for sale with the contender 357max barrel.  May be shooting 357 mag anyway. 

Rosewood


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## Lilly001 (Feb 16, 2016)

rosewood said:


> My memory failed me, it was probably the cutting of the top strap I was thinking of but you knew what I meant.
> 
> If you don't handload, you might have difficulty finding loaded ammo.  I have only ever seen one box in my life and it was for sale with the contender 357max barrel.  May be shooting 357 mag anyway.
> 
> Rosewood



As I recall the top strap erosion was with light bullets (125 gr). 
Reeds and Jamisons load it. Pricey, but it's available. Brass is more difficult. I have about 200 so I'm ok.


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## james243 (Feb 21, 2016)

I'm planning to send Bellm my 10" 357 mag and have the throat lengthened in order to chamber 180 xtp seated to about the same OAL as standard maxi. I will have 1.4cc's of case capacity, room for a little over 21 grains of w296. 

I'm hoping to get close to 1800fps and maybe a little more if pressures agree. If so then I think I'll have less that 12" of drop at 200 yards and more energy than my 357 revolver at point blank.  I'm getting groups about 1.5" at 100 yards without a great rest. 

I am curious to hear about the ammo golden bought. I'm trying the long throat and long seated bullet because brass won't be a problem.


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## Lilly001 (Feb 22, 2016)

james243 said:


> I'm planning to send Bellm my 10" 357 mag and have the throat lengthened in order to chamber 180 xtp seated to about the same OAL as standard maxi. I will have 1.4cc's of case capacity, room for a little over 21 grains of w296.
> 
> I'm hoping to get close to 1800fps and maybe a little more if pressures agree. If so then I think I'll have less that 12" of drop at 200 yards and more energy than my 357 revolver at point blank.  I'm getting groups about 1.5" at 100 yards without a great rest.
> 
> I am curious to hear about the ammo golden bought. I'm trying the long throat and long seated bullet because brass won't be a problem.



I've read about what I think you are describing. You can get near Maxi velocity from a mag by lengthening the throat for longer bullets there bye increasing the mags case capacity.
That would solve the case supply dilemma.
Let us know how it goes.


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## james243 (Feb 22, 2016)

I will be getting the 180xtp's in tomorrow. Then I will make up some dummy rounds to send in with the barrel. The only thing that I have to decide is whether to wait until after turkey season to send it in. I think it will only cost $45 and should shoot standard mag length rounds fine.


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## rosewood (Feb 22, 2016)

Have you checked your throat?  I have a 12" .357 mag and can seat 206grain RNGC boolits out to 2.800" easily.  I bought some .360 DW brass planning to use it, but the throat taper starts a bit too soon and that brass cannot be used in my barrel without some throat work.  However, I am getting 0.7" groups at 50 yards at 1580 fps.  I am seating further than the .360 DW load data and still not hitting the lands.
Rosewood


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## james243 (Feb 22, 2016)

My barrel has an extremely short throat, I can only seat 158xtp's out maybe 0.050" past the cannelure before contacting the rifling. I know the deal with some TC throats such as my dad's 44mag super 14 where you can just about drop a projectile in the chamber and a sized piece of brass and still just about close the action. 

However I guess mine is an ideal candidate for this chamber work.


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## Golden Bear (Feb 22, 2016)

The Reeds Ammo (180xtps) were screaming out of the Maxi on Saturday night. They had them loaded right out to 1.99" OAL in the 180s and 220 Hawk soft points. The 158s and the 140s were loaded a little shorter but didn't get a measure on them. Reeds had a fairly good selection of ammo ~$25 per 20 and appeared to be in Rem brass so I should be able to reload them once I get into that. I've heard mixed reviews on the Jamison brass out there.

The pic is of the blackhawk. I took a hog with it and the round produced some profound devastation. It left a baseball size exit at 50 yards on a 100lb hog.  Pretty fun to shoot!


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## james243 (Feb 23, 2016)

I like the looks of that very much.


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## Golden Bear (Mar 2, 2016)

Here is a pic of the fire-talker in action!


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## Rich M (Mar 4, 2016)

That's a great photo.

See the little pieces flying off to the side on both sides?  Hate to find one in my eye...


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## Alan in GA (Mar 5, 2016)

Maybe you had them and just not visible, but I'd sure recommend hearing protection!
NICE find by the way! I never see the Ruger Maximums! Unfired (?) to boot!


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## Golden Bear (Mar 9, 2016)

We typically wear the Surefire Sonic Defenders like we were in the picture. They sit inside the ear cup and do pretty good while not being bulky. I would recommend them as relatively inexpensive hearing protection option that is pretty seamless in the ear. The EP4 does well even with the piercing report from magnum revolvers and will even wear muffs over the top if are spouting off with the big boys. 

We generally wear eye protection but weren't for this late night shooting spree. And as Rich pointed out...those flying pieces of powder would really mess up an eyeball.


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## Rich M (Mar 23, 2016)

I wasn't being critical.  

Just a great pic of what happens with a revolver and the side gap.  

I load 357 mag XTP 158s with a 357 maximum recipe with Lil Gun and it is awesome on deer.  Use them in a Ruger M77-357 rifle tho.


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## Big7 (Mar 26, 2016)

This is the first time I have heard of throat burn in a strait
case. I don't have the Max but shoot some VERY warm loads in my GP-100 .357. 
No signs of throat burn yet. I have two of
the exact same gun. One, I put a LOT through.
The other is a mint condition safe queen.

For what it's worth. Don't think that will be a problem.
First, you have a stepped chamber that will take the brunt.
Then you have to jump the gap. That's where you lose
a LOT of gas and pressure.

Bottle neck cases are where you usually run into burn problems.

Hope you get things worked out!


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## james243 (Apr 2, 2016)

Shot my 357 mag contender with extended throat today. 21 grains of w296 under a 180 xtp seated at 1.9" produces 1750 ft/sec and a three inch group. I'm not very satisfied with the group but it will do if I can't improve it. I guess I'll call it a "sub-max"


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## Big7 (May 14, 2016)

james243 said:


> I'm planning to send Bellm my 10" 357 mag and have the throat lengthened in order to chamber 180 xtp seated to about the same OAL as standard maxi. I will have 1.4cc's of case capacity, room for a little over 21 grains of w296.
> 
> I'm hoping to get close to 1800fps and maybe a little more if pressures agree. If so then I think I'll have less that 12" of drop at 200 yards and more energy than my 357 revolver at point blank.  I'm getting groups about 1.5" at 100 yards without a great rest.
> 
> I am curious to hear about the ammo golden bought. I'm trying the long throat and long seated bullet because brass won't be a problem.



You can do that your self.. 

You will need to buy a reamer
a sandard reamer is fine since you will only be doing
6 holes.

The rest you probably have laying around.

You will need a home made stop.
Brass, aluminum or other no-marking material.
Might get lucky and find a brass fitting at the hardware or plumber supply.

Set screw to cross drill and tap so you can lock
on the reamer at the correct depth.

Since you hand load you can use the depth or step
method with a standard caliper.

Another good thing about using the standard reamer:
It will have an angle at the tip which actuall does the cutting.. 
So that will automatically give you a small
"forcing cone" like shotgunners use.
That will help alot with the XTP's and any other spitzer
shaped bullet you may want to try.

If you need further instruction, PM me and I will
PM you back or edit this post. I have a stop mounted on a drill 
(for a different reason) that I can take a pic of and post.

_Pretty self explainatory and real easy to do._  

Since you already had it done, maybe this will help someone 
that is considering doing that. It will work with other calibers as well.

The little "forcing cone" will help with speed and accuracy.


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