I know cylinder length is the limmitting factor. What is the heaviest bullet the M27 cylinder can take, and at what velocity w/o hammering the life out of the gun?

I knew a guy in Tucson (AZ) back in the early days of handgun metallic silhouette shooting who shot 200g RN cast bullets in a long barreled M-27. Don't remember any details of his load...sorry.

Dave

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RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)

Actually the cylinder length should not matter because whether its the lightest or heaviest bullet the part that is visible should be identical.

I've shot some of the Federal Cast-Core loads , which use the LBT 180gr WFN bullets.

I load the Lyman 358429 168gr Keith-style SWC which if I seat as deep as possible to still crimp in the grrove , barely clears in my Python , but has plenty of room in my 27 and 5-screw HP.

si--------

180s are fairly common in commercial hunting bullets, 200 grain bullets are available to the reloader and the biggest I have ever used in a .357 magnum, but the biggest I have heard of is from Penn Bullets, they have a 230 grain bullet they call a "Thunderhead".

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Any commercial ammo for 357 Magnum should be loaded at a COL of 1.590" (IIRC) or less and would chamber and shoot in any modern firearm chambered for the 357 Magnum cartridge. If you are loading your own, there are some bullet styles like the Keith style SWC that mkk41 mentioned that have to be seated a little deeper. The Keith style bullet was originally designed to be used in the 38 Special case in 38-44 loadings. The crimp groove is situated to accommodate that cartridge length and the bullet has to be seated deeper over the front driving band to obtain the correct length to allow it to chamber in some 357 Mag revolvers.

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Andy