Will the 357 maximum cut the frame in two on a ruger blackhawk shooting 158gr. and larger ammo?
Also for you guys that shoot this ammo,where do you get the brass?
Can 38spl.& 357magnum be shot in the 357maximum as well without the frame getting destroyed and how in the world was a gun/ammo ever put on the market like this that ate frames!Did they forget to "TEST" ?What about the liabilty of the factory?

The maximum was made to shoot 180 gr+ bullets. When it came out, gun writers used 125 gr to see how fast it would go........
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The flame cutting goes about .020 and stops.
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Your Colts do the same thing. They put a radiud to cover it.
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Smith 686s have a similar warning, no full house loads with light bullets.
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There was testing, but there is no limit to idiots.
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Yes you can cut your frame in half, with a torch or hacksaw.
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38, 357 mag are fine.
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A great round.......

Yup, the flame cutting came with the light and fast loads, not the heavies it was designed to sling. The best thing to do with a Ruger .357 Maximum is to turn it into a .500 Maximum.......

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With 158 gr or heavier ammo...no! The 357 Maximum got some bad press when it first came out & yes a lot of guys tried shooting the 125 gr stuff at really high velocity & got some initial gas cutting on the top strap, that usually quit after a certain time as mentioned above.
The 357 Maxie is a great hunting round, flat shooting & hard hitting. It was developed with the handgun Silhouette crowd in mind & with heavy bullets did exactly as advertised.
I've use mine on several deer, its a superb deer/antelope cartridge & with a scope under good conditions is a legitimite 200 yd gun if the shooter is up to the task.

Dick

I have a TC in 357 max with a 14 inch barrel and 2.25 inch extension I use as a carbine for a kids frist time deer rifle. at 4.5lbs leupold 1x4 scope the kids just love it. Shoots a max load of h110 with a 158gr rem sp at 2150fps.

Mine would never group with 357mag brass throws them all over. With 357 max brass it shoots into 2 inchs at a hundred.

It has over 25 deer kills works well but I don't think I would try hard angle shots with it.

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Posted 22 January 2011 19:38 Hide Post
Yup, the flame cutting came with the light and fast loads, not the heavies it was designed to sling. The best thing to do with a Ruger .357 Maximum is to turn it into a .500 Maximum....... Big Grin

Not entirely true. I shot only 200 gr rifle bullets and still had the cutting. It was really nothing to worry about because it only goes so deep.
The light, fast bullets only speed up the cutting but it will still stop.
The big issue was when the wrong bullets were used, just like in the .454, the core could be shot out leaving the jacket in the bore. The next shot made a nice KABOOM!
I really think this was the reason Ruger stopped making them. They could not control what guys were loading.
Read your warranties for all of your revolvers and notice they ALL say factory loads only. Yet Ruger and most others will still fix your guns free.
Notice some S&W guns have a replaceable plate above the cone for high pressure loads.
The frame can be protected but the gun can not be protected from stupid hand loaders.

I have one, but it's in .500 Linebaugh Max, and darn near too pretty to shoot...

Search Taffin and the .357 Max, and you may find he thinks gun writers stupid articles caused the demise of a wonderful revolver. I think he includes himself in that group.

My .357 is becoming a .500 Max.....the .50 Alaskan needs a baby brother!

Wonder if the gun would stand up to a steady diet of 525's at 1100 fps?

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Originally posted by GS:
Wonder if the gun would stand up to a steady diet of 525's at 1100 fps?

Which gun?

Ruger .357 Maximum converted to .500 Max. Linebaugh.

Of course it'll stand up to that load. It is a .500 Linebaugh load and doesn't produce a whole lot of pressure.