I'm considering chambering a single-shot rifle for the .357. With the longer cartridge length possible and the higher pressures the action can take, I believe 180 gn at 1900 fps is feasible. I'm concerned this may put me in a no-man's land with regard to bullet construction, between the .357 handgun and the .35 Rem rifle.

My thoughts first turned to the 180 gn .357 bullets, the XTP and the Partition. Will the XTP expand excessively and fail to penetrate fully? Is the partition on the Nosler far enough forward to leave enough bullet mass to penetrate fully after the nose is shed?

Then there is the 140 gn XPB from Barnes. I've read the petals fold back pretty flat allowing it to penetrate well despite its weight. Anyone here have much experience with this bullet?

How do the .358 bullets for the .35 Rem do at reduced velocities?

As always, full penetration in deer is desirable, hopefully including angles less than perfect broadsides. Which bullets are suitable for this proposed chambering? Thanks,

Karl

asdf,

why not use a LBT lead bullet?
XPB are incredible (I use them on my .44 Mag.) but very costly. I find them not much better than a good LBT bullet.
Also you can get a little more fps with lead bullets at the same pressure.
JMHO, as I have use them on handguns

Martin

With a .44, cast at modest speeds seems the safest approach, but with a .357, I'm not convinced the diameter is sufficient. I'd be happy to hear reports otherwise.

I also worry that 1900 fps is a bit much for cast lead meeting bone, but, again, I'm all ears.

Both the Hornady .357 180 gr. XTP and the Speer .358 180 gr. FN bullets would do well, depending upon the game you wish to use them on.

I vote for a LFN style hard cast bullet with a big flat meplat. I designed a 180gn bullet a few years ago, C358-180-RF, and it has turned in good accuracy with great results on deer. Another cast bullet shooter used a similar bullet from a Win 357mag levergun to take a Bull Moose with 2 shots.
http://castbullet.com/shooting/rossi-s3.htm
Here is a short writeup by another shooter with some load data also.


There has been several runs of molds for this bullet. You could check in here to see if any are availible. It is very similar to the LBT 180.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=17826&page=6

Another vote for heavy cast bullets........

I like the hornady 180 gr xtp with a max load of aa1680 behind it.I have had good luck with this bullet in the 357 max.Some people like the remington 180 gr hp which is alot softer than the xtp.I think the partition would be an awesome bullet also.The 357 maxium is better suited to 180-200 gr bullets.I do want to try some of the 150 gr remington bullets made for the 35 remington in it.I think the 200 gr bullets for the 35 remington might be good for closer up like 75 yards or less.I have loaded over 10,000 357 maxiums and 95 % of them were 180 gr hornady xtps because its the best bullet for the money for the 357 maxium.

You don't talk about whether or not you cast for your firearms, but if you cast and are looking for an accurate, off the shelf bullet mould, try the RCBS 35-200 FN. In a rifle you should be able to get 1700-1800 fps with it, and it is plenty accurate. A lot of guys shot that bullet in their 357 Max IHMSA loads some years back. I would try it with 296 or maybe AA1680, although 1680 may be just a bit slow...

I don't cast myself, but I see Beartooth has wide meplat 180 gn bullets. I'll have to try those out before committing to one load.

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
Another vote for heavy cast bullets........

Another for hard cast......

I have never used hard cast bullets for deer hunting with my 357, but I know the 158 and 180 XTP bullets and the 180 HG Partition do work well.

If you are using a single shot make it a 357 MAX instead-you can get 2000 fps and use 180
35 Rem bullet-I use a Ruger #1

I was able to push a 200 gr WFN 1700 fps, from a 10" contender. That barrel had a long throat so I seated the bullets way out there, I could load them with only the gas check in the case and still not hit the lands.

I agree that in a rifle, a 357 mag with a 180 to 200 gr cast bullet is perfection.

Of course if I were building a rifle I'd use the 357 maximum, you can't put enough 1680 in the case to get pressure issues, and it pushed the same 200 gr bullet 1900 fps from a 10" contender.

Yes, the .357 Max did occur to me, but I worry the brass will not be available 25 years from now. Not many were sold.

In a single, I can load the .357 Mag to a COL about 1.85 and up the pressure a bit to the 40,000 of the Max. The performance difference will not be great enough to be worth the risk of the odd brass.

You can make brass out of 5.6X50R, I believe it is relatively popular across the pond.

I agree that the 357 mag is the more practical way to go.

quote:

Originally posted by asdf:
Yes, the .357 Max did occur to me, but I worry the brass will not be available 25 years from now.

You must be younger than me if you're worried about feeding your guns a quarter century from now.

FWIW I can get a 180 gr Remington hollownose soft started at 1500 fps from a 10 inch 357 magnum Contender using Speer data and a full charge of H110.

Ok, call me an optimist: I do hope I'm still kicking then.

Actually, I wonder if Max brass will be around in 10 years. I suppose it should. It's short enough it's likely easy to draw, and so it wouldn't involve terribly expensive tooling. That it's straight sided should also keep the tooling inexpensive.

I'll ponder it the Max case. One can always buy ahead.

I ordered a carbine-length .357 maximum barrel a few years ago for the contender, and it was worth it. Drops deer extremely well with the hornady 180 ssp. i've never had an issue getting brass, although it may become more difficult later on. I'll risk it.

gd

You are right about the 25 years, but it is probably nothing to worry about-order your self 500 rounds of brass, and in a single shot that should be adaquate for a life time-very good cartridge, more than adaquate for deer

I have shot deer with both a 357 mag and max carbines I used 158 gr rem sp's at 1800 and 2150 they kill deer well. but if you want great penitration one would hove to go to a tougher bullet

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
I have shot deer with both a 357 mag and max carbines I used 158 gr rem sp's at 1800 and 2150 they kill deer well. but if you want great penitration one would hove to go to a tougher bullet

Flat point hard cast..............

quote:

Originally posted by asdf:
Yes, the .357 Max did occur to me, but I worry the brass will not be available 25 years from now. Not many were sold.

In a single, I can load the .357 Mag to a COL about 1.85 and up the pressure a bit to the 40,000 of the Max. The performance difference will not be great enough to be worth the risk of the odd brass.

buy 500 pieces of brass and what happens 25years from now will be utterly irrelevant.

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