I appreciate that this is probably a tiresome old topic but it is new to me.

I want to try some new pricey monolithic .358 rife bullets in my .357 Maximum TC Encore Green Mountain barrel. (I guess I could just ask Green Mountain Barrel Co.)

Thought I would check with you guys first, before I spent too much on bullets. Thanks, on advance for your comments, Brian

your gonna have to be a bit more specific.
twist rate of the barrel would help.

anyway.
I would bet they do just fine, I have shot up to 250grs. in my revolver.
I would imagine your will easily handle 200gr regular bullets, or 180gr mono's.

Lamar, Thanks for your reply.

I think it is 1:20 twist.

When you say "250 grs." do you mean .358 bullet?
I don't understand ( my lack of knowledge on the subject) what the twist rate or weight of bullet
have to do with it. Can you help me out there? Thanks Brian

If you are asking if you can shoot .358 dia bullets in a 357 the answer is yes. At least with C&C bullets. Monolithics might be different.

quote:

Reply

Blacktailer. Thanks. Brian

I can't answer on the bore vs. bullet question with authority but would guess, yes you can fire them without damaging your barrel. However with a 1/20 twist, you won't be stabilizing any 200 + grain rifle Mono bullets in that barrel I don't think.

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:
Lamar, Thanks for your reply.

I think it is 1:20 twist.

.....

Could be 1:14 as that's a common rifling Thompson Center uses for both their 357 Max and 35 Rem barrels.

Fury01,
You are right, that 1:20 twist is too slow for heavy/long bullets. I can stabalize a bullet up to 180 grain bullets if I run it fast.

RaySendero. Yes 1:14 is common. ( Mine is special order Green Mountain barrel.)

Thanks to both of you for responding.

Your welcome Sir.

quote:

your gonna have to be a bit more specific.
twist rate of the barrel would help.

Lamar, Please tell me how the twist rate "helps" or factors into this question. Thanks, Brian

the longer the length of the bullet the more speed it requires in spinning to be stabilized.
RPM's.

look up green hill formula.
it's not perfect and is based on measurements for cannons and field artillery but it's real close for our purposes.

how much of a difference does it make?
well a 1-12 barrel is common in 30-30's but a 1-10 is common in 308 and 30-06.
kind of an overkill in them but they will stabilize 220 and maybe 240grs whereas the 1-12 pretty much limits out around 200gs even with higher velocity's.

even going from 1-9 1/2 to 1-10 will make a difference in bullet length.
in something like a 25 cal it can mean the difference between 100gr bullets and 120gr bullets shooting well and stabilizing properly over distances as short as 300 yards and at speeds such as 3,000 fps.

that's the basics of how it works.

Ah! I See what you mean! Thanks for the explanation. I agree. Longer bullet must spin faster.
I know that I can shoot a 180 grain C&C bullet out to 280-300 yds. with the 357Max using AA 1680 in a 1:20 twist rifle barrel.

The part that I am not sure about is if a .358 cal bullet can be squeezed through the .357 cal barrel without too much of a pressure issue. I don't know yet if that is going to be a problem. Too much snow and cold for me to test right now.

Many years ago I was looking for a good 180gr hunting bullet for my DW 357 Super Mag. I used Speer 180gr .358 bullets. My brother had a Ruger No 1 in 357mag that he chambered for 357 Max and used the same bullet. Worked fine on deer and hogs.

That sounds good enough for me Blacktailer. Thanks,

I was just too lazy to go out in the snow and do some testing.

I am going to order some .358 CEB bullets and give it hell.

This is all about setting up a short barrelled encore for the grand kids. How good is that!

quote:

The part that I am not sure about is if a .358 cal bullet can be squeezed through the .357 cal barrel without too much of a pressure issue.

If you are hand loading you should have no issue working up a load with a slightly oversized bullets so long as they clear the throat. Stop when you either get the accuracy/velocity you want or you reach excessive pressure signs.

Also, Lee offers inexpensive bullet resizing dies too if you want to squeeze a .358" bullet to .357" for peace of mind. I'd just load and shoot them at .358" though.

JPL, Thanks for the good info. You helped me a lot. I don't know anything about this aspect of loading. Brian

you don't have any issues with pressure and over size bullets until you pass about .004 over.
.001 is maybe 400 psi.

Saeed done a write up a couple of years back where he asked for 'bets' on when he would see a pressure spike in one of his 308 win. rifles I predicted 312 is where he would see something.
311 was as large as he could chamber so we never got to find out.

anyway a 358 bullet in a 357 barrel is a non issue.
as a matter of fact I'd bet your barrel isn't 357 exactly.
I see barrel groove and bore diameters all over the place 9mm's at 358, 357's at 354, 308 barrels at 306 or even 310.
most people don't even know or care to know what a barrel they have measures until they see bad copper or powder fouling or accuracy sucks [and even then they just blame something else]

Lamar, That makes sense! Good info. Thanks.
Think that I am a bit of an old worry wart. (chuckle.)

I got lots of good help in this thread. I will post results in due course.

Thanks to all. Brian

Good advice from the guys, I have been doing it in my Maxi rifle and pistol barrels for years ever since the 357 Max came out. I use (.358) cup and core bullets meant for the 35 Remington and 358 Winchester on a regular basis with no problems at all.

Steve.......

Steve, That's good news to me. Thanks.