I have had a 357 rem maximum pistol 35-years but I always wanted a 357 rem maximum carbine .I just bought a encore 15-inch encore 357 rem maximum pistol was going to extend the barrel to 16.5 inches to make it a carbine .I told about it on another forum and a guy had a 23-inch mgm 357 rem maximum carbine barrel for my contender .I can't wait to shoot it .I have a bunch of 215-grain hard cast with gas checks on.them.I usually use aa1680 powder in the 357 rem maximum .I can't wait to shoot it .I have to Redrill the holes for the forend the holes are too small .Now if I can find a 405 Winchester encore barrel and a carbine 375 win barrel that will be even better .These are cool little guns lots of fun to shoot .

I have had all sorts of fun with my maxes. I'm sure you will have a great time. Super 14 and a 16.5 carbine barrel by OTT. Lil Gun is my preferred powder. Grandson is coming to stay with me this summer and I'm sure lots of cast will go down the carbine barrel.

I like H110 in mine.

A 23 inch barrel sounds like a dandy.

I made a max on a 310 cadet action. 18 1/2" barrel. The mil stock and trimmed down forend.
I doubt it weighs 4 - 4 1/2#'s
170 grn cast 2300 fps, 200 grn will do 2000.

The load that works in all of my Maxi barrels is Lil'Gun and XTP hp's or 180 gr cast. Lil'Gun seems like it was made specifically for it but I know it wasn't.

Steve..........

I usually only shoot hornady 180 xtp bullets in my Dan wesson 357 maximum .I have never fired a maximum besides my pistol .I still might put barrel extender on other one just don't want ugly muzzle brake .I wish it was a 16-inch barrel for my encore .I wanted just one frame for all the barrels not two but just have to deal with it .I think this 357 rem max carbine will be way more versatile than my 357 rem max pistol ever was .I didn't shoot cast bullets in it always had back blast with powder in it always also .I will put a 3x9 on it probably or the little Burris 2x7 mini scope that I keep moving wish I had three of them just have two .I was going to use this in Ohio for deer hunting but I bought a Winchester model 94 444 marlin.Is there a long range bullet that will work in this 357 rem maximum that will work good on deer to 250 yards ? I thought about the hornady 140 grain but that's pretty light for that range .

I have an MGM 18 or 20 inch (my CRS Syndrome is acting up) Maxi barrel for my Encore and really like it, it shoots like the proverbial laser. Have you tried any of the discontinued Remington 150 gr pointed soft points in yours?

Steve.........

I had like four boxes of those 150 grain Remington bullets sold them long time ago .
There use to be a .358 single shot spiral point bullet but I think the quit making them too.
I don't think this pistol would push a 200-grain bullet fast enough to expand at 200-yards .
I will try these 215-grain hard cast first then see if I can find something else .It has to
Be a really soft bullet to work .

I have a 357 Max. TC Encore with a 20 inch heavy barrel.
140 grain CEB Handgun Raptors.
Fun for adults. Perfect for youth.

dgr416
I have all of 20 of those 150 Rem spcl sitting here. you can have them if you want. Might get you through one deer season!

I think I have a box of 500 of the Remington 150 gr Core-Lokt Spire Points. They shoot ok in my Maxi barrels.

Steve........

I’ve had a custom .357 Max barrel made for a Thompson-Center TCR-87. Now that we no longer have an antlerless deer season with real rifles where I live, only rifles in pistol calibers, .375 Win and .45-70 are allowed for deer hunting. I did a ballistics comparison and found that there are other calibers that have a lot of killing power way out with the right bullets but that the .357 Max with the (pointed) 200-gr Hornaday FTX bullet has a lot less wind drift.

My barrel is 24 inches and I use a load listed by accurate powders, 30 grains of AA1680 with the bullet seated at 2.5-inch OAL. The bullet is only in the case by about 1/10th inch but works OK and it is still just a little off the lands as the chamber was reamed with a pistol reamer. The load is supposed to have a velocity of 1,837 fps in a 10-inch barrel but produces 2,170 in my 24-inch barrel.

That bullet has a BC of .300 so still has a velocity of almost 1,300 fps at 400 yards and a Hornaday tech told me it would still expand at that velocity. It is their bullet for the .35 Rem. My barrel has a bore diameter of .358 with a 1-in-16 twist. With a 175-yard zero it is within 3 inches of the line of sight out to 200 yards so it is a real good 200-yard deer rifle. It will shoot minute of angle at 100 yards.

However, I wanted more range so I put a Leupold 3.5-10X scope on it with a custom dial reticle. I had the lowest sighting distance on it 175 yards and it is marked every 25 yards up to 375 yards with a few left-over clicks, so it is good to nearly 400 yards if there is not much wind. That is, a 10-mph crosswind will drift the bullet almost 30 inches at 400 yards. However, it is still much better in regard to wind drift than the other legal cartridges.

I shot two deer with it last season. One was a scrawny 11-point buck laser measured at 207 yards. It ran about 50 yards and died. The other was a large doe laser measured at 387 yards. This was in an open field and there was no wind. The doe trotted about 50 yards, stopped for a few seconds and fell over. The bullets exited both animals and neither had a big exit hole but both died without running a long way. Anyway, a .357 Max isn’t the rifle I would prefer to hunt with but I think it’s as good as possible while complying with our silly laws.

I agree with That fully on using the 200 grain flex tip hornady bullet .I also agree those laws are crazy ! Hopefully mine is as accurate as I think it will be .I will put a nice scope on it that makes a 200 yard shot easy .Hopefully they keep making those bullets every time I find the right bullet they quit making them .I see this happening more and more with urban rot .If I.get this then my 375 jdj going or gone .I usually deer with 338 win mag so alot less knock down .I might put a better for end on it too heard plastic ones are not good for accuracy .

I have a good supply of Hornady 180gr SSSP bullets that I used in my .35 Rem Contender. When Indiana came up with their rifles in straight walled cartridges deer law, I found a 21" carbine Contender barrel in .357 Max.

Sweet shooter with the 180gr bullets. I use H110 to get 2300fps out of it. I also seat the bullet out as far as possible to get the best accuracy. It shoots 1.25-1.5" at 100 yards.

Great setup on a Contender frame.

Jeremy

I read 357 Maximum Carbine in the thread, and I am wondering if have any of you done a Max conversion on a lever action in 357 Magnum? I have a Contender barrel in 357 Max, but the idea of having more than one shot on tap sure is interesting for use on deer drives. A number of issues come to mind with the additional length, but I would imagine it is possible with some work.

Would probably have to be done on a 336 or Win 94 if it could be done and then it would be easier to just get one in 35 Remington.

Steve..........

I wanted a 357 rem maximum lever gun too .The Winchester model 92 and the marlin 94 are too short .The angle eject 357 mag Winchester will work but finding one reasonable is the next problem .I wish someone would make a 357 rem mag lever gun .I heard Ruger made a few of the semiautomatic rifles in it but never released them .I don't know if Henry rifles would fool with one or not.I almost rechambered my Browning 92 to 357 rem maximum to shoot first shot then 357 mag after that .I would like to see one made it would be awesome!Start calling.Henry rifles you never know !

I put my 357 rem maximum barrel on my contender frame and it didn't close right .I couldn't get it to open so I took off the forend and knocked out the Hinge pin .I.got the barrel off finally and there were two loose parts inside the frame .One was a little square piece with a spring under it and a grove on top of it .The other one was a tiny screw pin .I put the barrel back on and it finally worked right .I think these two pieces are the trigger adjustment pieces .Also it will fire if you have the hammer back and close the action I asked tc and they said this was normal it sounds totally dangerous to me .Hopefully I can get it back together right I want to shoot it .I cocked it and it worked normal .I think it got knocked aloose when I shot it with the 375 jdj barrel .I didn't want to have to send it back to tc but I might have to .

Here is the Schematic ID the parts my TC don't drop the hammer when the action is closed.

The hammer does drop if you open the action with the hammer back maybe they miss understood you.

I would not use it until it is fixed sounds like an accident waiting to happen.


https://www.gunpartscorp.com/g...pistols/g2-contender

I told tc that and they Said they will fire if you open the action with the hammer back .I.Will probably send it in to them .It was always this way .The trigger was set super light when I bought it .I tried to adjust it to a heavier pull.I.think who the guy that had it before me over adjusted the trigger and messed it up .I.didn't think that firing closing was right .My.nephew tried to shoot it once it misfired then he tried to cock it again and the hammer stuck back and would not go down it miss fired again as he opened it .
I know it's not right and when parts come out it's really not right !

This is what a 140gr Sierra Power Jacket bullet looks like fired from a 1-14 twist 357 Max 20” barrel at 2600fps. Struck left shoulder, shattered it, stopped on offside under the skin. 88 yards to the 150 pound whitetail doe.

Retained weight was 45.8gr.

Deer dropped in its tracks, kicked a few times and died.

This load will touch three shots at 100 yards from a David White converted CVA Apex.

I.called smith&wesson tc division and I am sending in my contender frame and 375 jdj barrel .
They said they safety sear was what fell out .Yep might need that in there .They are going to check out my 375 jdj carbine barrel too .I am glad they are going to fix it .They said contenders are complicated little
Boogers that are are to fool with .I can shoot my 15-inch encore 357 rem maximum though that will work till I get this one back .I might get an extension permanently put on the encore barrel to be able to use a stock on it .I will try it as a pistol first then see how good I like that short of a barrel .