[Rapier]

Hey guys, sorry to be so long in getting back to you, business called, family visiting Florida, am in the middle of re-roofing our office building (remodeling by hurricane) and am redoing our landscape at the house, if I were a twin, we would both be busy.

First let me explain how this comes about. I have spent well over 20 years shooting handgun silhouettes in competition. The majority of the 20 years has been spent as an organization official. I have written 3 published articles on the 357 as used in handgun silhouette competition. I hold several titles, including a 1980s international revolver cast bullet championship shot with a 357 using the 200-grain RCBS cast bullet.

I cannot stress enough that this data is intended for the advanced reloader. Any maximum loads are just that and, as with all maximum loads, should be approached with caution and worked up to. Do not ever start with a maximum load. All information is based on use in modern heavy frame firearms that are in excellent condition. You should also know something about the original 357 Magnum and its original standard factury loading.

It is very common in silhouette shooting to use rifle bullets in a handgun. For rifles chambered using pistol cartridges, it is natural to simply return, to the rifle, that which you use in the handgun. Very few "tough" jacketed handgun bullets are suitable for hunting, they simply do not expand, for example, the very accurate, but not suitable for hunting, 170 grain 357 Sierra FMJ.

I believe in big and slow VS fast and light. This belief is based on years of shooting, hunting, directing matches, seeing hunting results and discussing results with hunters. Your experience may be different, that is OK too. There are two rifle bullet weights that work real well in a 357 as a loading for a single shot or a revolver, the 180-grain and the 200-grain bullet. Speer makes a fine 180-grain FBFP rifle bullet. Hornady makes the 180 FBSP (not the single shot pistol bullet), which I like real well. The 200-grain bullet of choice is the Remington RN bulk bullet, cheap and effective. The 200 is made for cartridges such as the 35 Remington and is designed to expand at moderate velocities. Two other bullets as cast offerings are excellent, the 200 RCBS FP rifle and the 180 RCBS. Both bullets are gas checked and are very accurate.

The drill, from front to back, end to end, is OAL when loading for a carbine. You must seat the rifle bullet deep in the case to achieve a length that will chamber and eject. Ejection is the critical point. You must be able to unload without firing. You might find it impossible to feed a 200 through your action, but it will be possible to load through the port as a single shot and eject the loaded round when it will not feed in the action. Your cartridge gauge is a revolver cylinder. All of my loads are set up to work in a Colt Python, which I shot in competition for 12 years. The OAL should be 1.575 based on my notes and the dummy rounds in the desk. Your OAL might be a little less. The OAL is a reflex length, it expands once the pressure is released on the ram, yes, it is highly compressed, and yes it is perfectly safe as this is the method used by many steel shooters for many years, prior to the appearance of the long 357 Super Magnum chambers. The 357 SM chambers allow for a much longer OAL when the 357 Magnum brass is used with a rifle bullet, a very nice combination.

The feed mechanism of the carbine is set up to feed pistol length cartridges. If you are using a 357 rifle, start with an OAL for a loaded cartridge that will at least clear the cylinder face of a revolver.... nothing else is important. When you do this, if the brass is to thick, it will bulge the case web at the bullet base, especially with a 200. The best brass I have found for this load process is WW or Midway brass, brass. Nickel brass, except for very old runs (over 15 years old), is too thick. If you bulge the web, you can feel it with your thumb. If you bulge the web very much the round may not chamber. Again, use a revolver cylinder as a gauge. If the round will chamber in the revolver, it most likely will chamber in the rifle. Do not force a bulged round, I guarantee it will stick in the chamber. Cases must be the same length to assure OAL, crimp and bulge deminsions.

Crimping the bullet over the ogive is necessary to retain the length and powder compression. A very hard crimp is the rule. I use two different crimping dies, a profile and a roll crimp. You can try one or both. If you use just one, try the roll crimp first. They also make a combo, profile and roll die that works pretty well.

I have tried various powders for this loading; the best results were with H-110. Unlike what you are told in the new manuals and lawyer-instigated loadings, H-110 shoots in two places, its top and its bottom. What those two points are depends on "remaining" capacity as established by bullet length and OAL.

Example: The 357 Magnum in a Super Magnum cylinder or single shot shoots at a bottom of 16 grains. In such a loading the bullet is crimped in the groove or on the cannelure. The 200 grain 357 Magnum revolver load shoots OK at its bottom of 12 grains. 12 grains is the new book max load in several manuals that list a load for a 200 in a 357 Magnum. Let us say that the actual max loadings are considerably more than listed.

I would recommend that you start the process by finding a maximum OAL for your carbine. Once you determine the OAL, I would start load development with a 200 grain RN at 11 grains and work up. The 180 is strait forward, arrive at an OAL, crimp over the ogive and begin at 12 grains. For a lever gun I would stick with the 200.

The 357 magnum loaded with a 200 RN in a little carbine is a very effective deer gun for a youngster or petite female. The recoil is very manageable and the energy is substantial for such a small package. I have seen a 200 RN 357 Mag take a 250 pound wild boar through the left shoulder, breaking the joint, four inched of leg bone and then make a golf ball size bulge on the right plate.

The photo is a gun that “could not be built,” a Martini Cadet in 357 Super Mag. I built two of them, the second is still not finished. I was told that the 357 SM was to long for the little Martini to chamber the round. I wanted a 357 SM Martini, so I built one. The problem is length, because of the way a cartridge is loaded into the Martini chamber. The answer is to use rifle bullets and not flat nose pistol bullets. The exposed strait side of pistol bullets effectively lengthens the case. The ogive of the rifle bullet drops away, immediately, at the case mouth. The barrel is 16 inches long, the stock is fiddle back maple. The scope is a Hakko 6x24x56. The gun shoots sub .5 inch groups at 100 and with a 180 Hornady maxes out at 2,140 fps.

The proof is in the pudding, first time to the woods, the little Cadet with the 180 dropped a deer at 50 yards, one shot, deer hit the ground, kicked twice, finis.