Loading for .357

[jnyork]

Just Saturday picked up a nice condition, almost new, .357 Puma 24" barrel rifle. Not having any loads for it, I tried some different revolver loads I had just to function test it, nothing more. I found that it appeared to be sensitive to the type of bullet in that it would feed round nose bullets just fine but some of my flat tip conical bullets hung up going into the chamber. I feel this must be a function of overall length and type of crimp. To save me hours and hours of messing around at the loading bench trying to get everything dialed in, can someone pitch in here with a little info for me? All loads are cast bullets, I will be using it for Pistol Caliber silhouette only. If someone has a secret never-fail load they would share, that would be nice also. Thanks.

[ppkny]

ynyork, I also have a 357 Puma I started shooting in PC a couple of years ago. Here's what works for me:
125 gr plated Reiner round nose bullet with 12 gr of IMR 4227. I use this load on all animals but recently I've been trying 13/14 gr of IMR 4227 for the turkeys and Rams so I would have to move the rear sights. So far it looks good but haven't shot it enough to say it's a go.
ppkny

[jbolt]

jnyork,

I have a new 92 in 357. I had similar trouble out of the box. The problem is most likely with the carrier not coming fully up. If you look in the top of the receiver with the action open is the front of the carrier aligned with the chamber? If not try cocking the lever forward with authority and see if it comes up all the way. I found on mine that the tab on the back of the loading gate was rubbing against the carrier. On the left side of the carrier is a sprung ball which keeps the carrier locked down when the action is closed. As the carrier comes up the ball is depressed and pushes the carrier to the right where the tab is on the loading gate. I spent an afternoon going through the action cleaning, adjusting and lubricating. I also installed the Lee Gunslinger spring kit. I now have no trouble cycling any rounds at any speed.

My current load is 6.0 gr of Unique, 125 gr Lee RNFP plain base cast bullet.

Jay

[PaulG]

Very timely. I am working with my fairly new Rossi 24" .357. I am pretty much of a mechanical dunce, but I ordered Steve Young's instructional DVD and spring kit, and last week tore into it.

To get ahead to the point, I was also having problems with cartridges hanging up on the sharp lip of the chamber. When I had the rifle stripped, I took a cone shaped Cratex point on a flexible Dremel shaft and beveled the bottom of the chamber. I measured the head thickness on a couple of pieces of brass, and found the head is a good .10" or so thick, so no risk of weakening anything critical. A conversation with Steve confirmed it. I went on the conservative side with beveling, but feeding was improved considerably. I might even have taken a tad more off if I were to do it again.

To the tuning job. Best part was the trigger. The already fairly decent Rossi trigger now breaks at just over three pounds, and all creep is gone. Great. Also, my rifle wouldn't eject .38 special brass, and now it does, although ejection with both .38s and .357s are on the soft side. I'm OK with that, especially for silhouette. Of course crimping the rounds helps too.

However. Keep in mind that Steve is coming from the cowboy games where running smooth and fast is the goal. In hindsight, I feel that his approach to smoothing detent surfaces goes farther than I am comfortable with. If I were to do it again I wouldn't smooth the bottom detent recess, and I didn't round off the lever detent point the way he shows, just knocked the sharp point off a bit. It's a matter of preference.

Also, although most gun pins insert right to left, it appears that the pin that holds the lever in the bolt goes the other way, and it is important to note which end of a couple of the pins has the knurling.

Overall I am happy with this Rossi. The fit and finish and function are better than I expected, and I have seen far worse on US made guns. Like most, I prefer to buy American made products, but pistol caliber Marlins are scarce and pricy, and I am spooked by stories of feeding problems with newer Marlins in pistol calibers, though I would love to have a nice .32-20. I'm not willing to pay a collector price for a Marlin or Winchester, and still have to pay extra to tune it to my satisfaction. Not worth it to me. With the cost of the Rossi plus the cost of tuning it, it still stays within my subjective notion of value, and I'm not worried about losing value with alteration. The Rossi will never be more than a shooter.

Paul

[PaulG]

About loads. To date I have not found a lead bullet load that my Rossi likes, but I haven't given up.

Best so far has been the 125 gr. Berry plated bullet.

One thing I have found is that light loads in .357 cases burn dirty, probably because the .357 is designed for fairly high pressures, and the brass doesn't obturate adequately for good sealing. The relatively large case capacity doesn't help either. There isn't much published data for lighter loads in the .357, as conventional shooting practice puts those in the .38 Special range. Recently I ran some loads over the chronograph and found lots of velocity variation in the lighter loads, particularly with IMR 4227.

The direction that seems promising is to use fast burning powders, the idea being to give a quick pressure "kick". I am about to do some more experimenting, and I have a match coming up soon so I have to get it done. As the scientists say, more research is needed.

Paul

[Daveb43]

Here's my .02 worth. I've heard several shooters complain about SWC loads not feeding well while RN loads work fine. I found that using the Lee factory crimp die or the Redding profile crimp die works really well but I also polished up the feed ramp a little as insurance. To date I have not had problems. I keep the OAL on my loads at 1.600" to allow plenty of room on the lifter. Hope this helps.
Dave

[Daveb43]

Guess I should have read a little further in this thread. I just posted a load for the 357 using 4.5 grains of Trail Boss powder that works really well in my Rossi M92. I should also add that this load is my first experience with Wolf small magnum rifle primers. Anyone else have any experiences with them?
Dave

[PaulG]

Dave, which bullet with 4.5 grs. of Trail Boss?

I also beveled and polished the bottom edge of the chamber on my M92, and it greatly improved feeding. I sectioned a couple of different brands of cases and found that the heads are at least .10" of solid brass. There is also a groove ahead of the rim in the brands I shoot. So, I see no real risk in the light beveling of the bottom edge of the chamber, and certainly not with the relatively light loads I am shooting. Had to disassemble the rifle and go in with a Dremel shaft and an abrasive rubber point. You have to work around the "bridge" of metal at the rear of the receiver to get the point at just the right angle. Touchy job, but I got it done.

Paul

[Daveb43]

My bullet was the 158 gr CAST bullet from Berry's Bullets. I used Wolf small rifle primers, Starline brass. I haven't "chronyed" yet. The OAL I believe was around 1.610.Really mild recoil and Trail Boss burns really clean.

[Tlee]

My bullet was the 158 gr CAST bullet from Berry's Bullets. I used Wolf small rifle primers, Starline brass. I haven't "chronyed" yet. The OAL I believe was around 1.610.Really mild recoil and Trail Boss burns really clean.

With 4.5gr Trail Boss and 158g Berry's Plated I saw an average of 670FPS out of a 24" 1894. With 4.8g of it I saw 704FPS avg. I don't know how it grouped. I ran out of sight adjustment trying to get it on the paper. I believe the longer barrel is actually a detriment with the 158g bullet because I got 730-775FPS with the same two loads out of a 6" S&W revolver.

With 5gr of Trail Boss and 125gr plated bullet I saw 985FPS average. With 5.4gr of it I saw an average of 1005FPS.

I used CCI pistol primers and seated the bullets to an OAL of 1.59"

Don't be tempted to compress TrailBoss any at all... The group size "went to heck" and I actually LOST about 40FPS when I tried 5.8gr with the 125g bullet (which should've put the base of the bullet barely touching the charge).

-Tim