After reading two threads on flame cutting from 357 Magnum 125g loads, I wonder how the 357 Maximum fad has turned out.

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"Don't Give Up the Ship"

Easy enough to research - Ruger chambered the 357 Max in their SBH for a few years but it discontinued due to flame cutting. Regardless, I still want one! I believe with the right bullet and powder the problems could be overcome.

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S&W factory revolver armorer

Popular in Thompson Center Contenders when the steel silhouette target games were popular ... I believe barrels are still available .

I've always thought a light weight , falling or rolling block rifle in 357 Max. would be just the ticket for whitetail deer and medium sized hogs .
And you could shoot everything from powder puff 38 special target loads all the way up to full blown 180 gr. Maximum loads @ in one rifle !
Just an idle thought,

Lots of new powders are now on the market ...maybe one or two would be the thing to eliminate or lessen the flame cutting in revolvers ?
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

I own three Dan Wessons chambered for the 357 SuperMag aka 357 Maximum

It was only Ruger that withdrew their product from the marketplace. The Dan Wessons did not experience top strap cutting as severe as the Super BlackHawk

Obviously the T/C Contender is also fine with the cartridge

And Yes, I do still shoot 125s from it, I also shoot 95 grain SCHPs just to crank up the velocity for fun

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"Acta non verba"

I would like to see some adventurous fellow ream the chamber of a Ruger 77/357 and see if it’s possible to run the Max in that compact bolt action rifle. Sure, they wouldn’t fit nor feed from the magazine, but no matter, single loading is no problem.

Here is a T/C Contender in Max. Mild kick, can use .357 mag and.38 special also. Larry

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I have always heard that there was an accuracy drop off with standard .357 and .38 special rounds when fired from a Maximum. What I've heard is that it's because of the extreme amount of freebore when fired through a Maximum. Don't know if that's true or not although it does make some sense. At least to me.

It is not true.

Just like it is not true if you shoot 38 Special or 38 long Colt or 38 Short Colt out of a 357 Magnum revolver

Just like it is not true if you shoot 454 Casull or 45 Long Colt or 45 Short Colt out of a 460 S&W Magnum

They wanted the "reason" to make sense, then it would be obvious that you need an additional firearm if you want to shoot 357 Magnum

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"Acta non verba"

Yes Ruger dropped the Blackhawk in 357 Max for reasons more to do with unfounded gun writer feces. Similar to the old fictional warnings that the 220 Swift and 264 Mag would burn out and consume your rifle barrels. Gun writers yield lots of publication horsepower regardless of facts, that is just the way the media game is played, right or wrong.

The 357 Max however holds its own and is a remarkably accurate cartridge either as a rifle performer with 180 grain plus bullets or as a silouhette round in TC’s and like handguns with enough barrel length. The case offers a whole lot of possibilities for those who load or wildcat by necking down and has proven to be generally very accurate and durable brass. The downside right now is finding brass but any straight wall cartridge of this size and caliber is inherently a winner with lead bullets and all of the powder options available these days. Always thought Freedom Arms could have been a nice match and platform for the Max.

Rick

I bought a TC Carbine in 357 max - it is quite the ticket for brush hunting!

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Merle, retired
western PA

one of the main reasons the gun writers didn't like the 357 max was the Ruger made the guns available at the same time as the gun writers. there were some IHMSA shooters that had been shooting the guns before the gun writers.

I have 3 maximum revolvers and 4 contender barrels. With 180gr bullets and stick powders flame cutting is a non issue. It’s one of my favorite calibers

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-Matt

I guess need to search it but wonder how the max compares to the 350 legend?

How about a nice lever action carbine?

Something I just want to make sure of while the subject is current. I have wanted to convert a small carbine to 357 Max for a while. I always held off because any info I ever found on it (at that time at least) said that it severely degraded the accuracy of the shorter rounds. Now I'm seeing here that it doesn't. Is there any evidence one way or another or does anyone here have any actual experience with the conversion. I think one of the Henry single shots could be a good candidate for conversion.

Here is my 740 with 2 extra barrels



Here are my 2 Ruger Blackhawk SRMs



And here was my first 357 maximum. It’s an original contender that is not stainless, I believe it’s finished in a hard chrome that was popular by SSK back in the day. It’s an early 70s frame and a factory max barrel which wouldn’t have been made until at least 10 years later. This gun got me hooked on contenders, the trigger is phenomenal and it flat out shoots.

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-Matt

The accompanying image is from an old distributor catalog I have from 1984.
Notice the addendum that Ruger put in regarding "engineering changes". Unfortunately, that never happened. Sure was a nice gun while it was available!

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Oh my lord no. The 357 maximum is awesome. Unless you are firing cases of ammo you won’t cut that strap. I regret not getting a 356 Max in any non TC configuration

Don't believe everything you hear ... a LOT of it is just wrong.
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Single shot's are just easier to get to work .
I don't know of anyone making lever actions or doing conversions to lever actions in 357 Max. Anyone have a lead on lever guns ?

The Henry single shot should be an easy conversion , 357 magnum to 357 Max should be simple .
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

A quick check of my favorite reloading manual says the Legend has somewhat more punch.
I can go to the big box store this weekend and get a scoped bolt action Legend for $319. Kind of compelling economics there.

I also have looked at the 350 Legend. For a reloader it has to be one of the cheapest rifles to shoot. Capable of being reloaded using 9mm pistol bullets I could load up some snappy rounds with 147gr HP's for well under $8 for a box of 50. I believe it has more zip than the 357 Max but I haven't seen any chrono results on the Max fired from a carbine. In fact, I was all set to buy a Ruger in 350 Legend but the version I want is not available right now.

I remember when those hot Ruger 357 Maxs came out. Good looking guns. Probably worth a mint today

Larry, who did your stocks? I have a future plan for my encore rifle involving a Mannlicher stock and a .257, 6.5x55, or 7x57 barrel and I want it to look like yours...


I’ve got a 10” .357 bbl with a Leupold 4x that I’ve debated on reaming for the Max -I think I will one day.

Doesn't seem to be much evidence here regarding the drop off in accuracy in the Max when shooting 357 or 38. While I was quick to catch flak for asking that, nobody seems to be able to come forward with any evidence or experience one way or another. I would really just like to hear something. If you have a 357 Max and it fires the shorter rounds just fine then that would be good info to have. If your accuracy goes down that would be good to know also. Of course we shouldn't believe everything we hear but that tells us nothing.

Honeslty with 38 special and 357 magnum revolvers so common I have never found the need to shoot 38 or 357 out of any of my max revolvers.

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-Matt