I lucked into a bh 357 MAXIMUM 10.5" from 82-84. WOW

[Prescut]

hey Ale-8,

I'm jealous. You write beautifully. Nice to read posts from someone who knows how to communicate: clear, concise, and specific with a strong vocabulary.
Nice summary of the topic, partner. After reading the responses, I think I'm
in the "leave as is" group. Honest wear doesn't bother me. It's like looking at history in your hand.

Prescut

 

[Prescut]

Hey Guys,
I'm back from camping in the backcountry mountains around Williams, AZ. Beautiful forest with a gorgeous meadow. My Navy boy son and my Seal Team 1 brother-in-law had a great time for 4 days shooting every kind of firearm available. Family, camping, and shooting is as close to paradise as I get.
The SBH Maximum was really fun. I don't have the ammo for the Max yet, but the 38s and 357s were outstanding. A little surprised that the accuracy wasn't as expected. I shoot pretty good, but the two with me are in a league I don't understand. Shooting off a bench at 45 yards, we all shot 4" high with 4" groups. We were shooting LAX cheap plinker ammo so I'm not convinced it's the gun yet. I've got some real nice 357mag, I just didn't have it with me. I'm heading to the firing line this week for the real test.
Does anyone have a comparison of accuracy shooting the Max against the 357 and 38?
More to follow.

Prescut
Thanks for all the Welcomes. I think I found my second home.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Shooting "short" ammo in a "long" chamber can produce less-than-optimal accuracy. Give your new toy a fair shake with some proper Maximum ammo and see how it does. I realize the stuff is kinda pricey, but it's what your gun was designed for and will almost assuredly make you look good . . . better, anyway. It certainly does with mine.

 

[Prescut]

hey Ale-8,
Thanks for the encouragement. I am on a quest and this big six gun will get exercised until I find the right combo. Your comment about short ammo makes real sense. I can easily see how the 38 might wobble a bit before it hits that chamber.
Prescut

 

[contender]

Look into stuff written by David Bradshaw. He was in on the development of the 357 Maxi. He's a member here. Go to the "Gallery" & the "Gunsmithing" sections & look up his stuff. He's the real deal.
I own a few of those maxi's. Mine are accurate.
Get some ammo or some brass & load it as it was designed to be loaded. THEN you will see the performance so many of us smile about.

 

[Coogs]

Prescut, there are 297 rds. of Remington factory 158 gr. on Gunbroker right now, item #507904480, 2 1/2 days left. Bid is up to $350.00 right now. Don't know how far it will go, but you may want to watch it. I just bought some Remington and Dan Wesson factory stuff about a month ago and payed $2.00 a rd. The 158 gr. will get you shootin' and then you'll have the brass but stay with a 180 gr. bullet or heavier. Contender is right about David. He posts a lot here as well at singleactions.proboards.com. Hope this helps, Coogs.

 

[SATCOM]

BIGBISLEY's post showed 3 boxes of 20 from Remmington sold for $44.95 and 8 bucks shipping! Original ammo at the time of the SRM was $0.50 a round. The above were $1.00/round. So a bargain compared to normal $2.00/round.

SATCOM

 

[Prescut]

Hey SATCOM,
I think I'm the one that bought that $44.95 Remington MAX. I'm not sure but, I think $45 divided by 20 rounds is $2.25 per round w/o shipping. Ouch!
I'll take all the $1 a round I can get. I'm guessing you thought there were 50 rounds in a box.
Thanks for the nice thought,

Hey Coogs,
You still the man. Great catch on GB. I'm going to try for that (297) Maximums on GB at tomorrow's closing.

The bellmtcs.com site has :
"Premium 180 gr. custom hunting bullets,
optimum hunting weight for .357 Rem. Maximum,
tailored especially for .357 Rem. Max. and .35 Remington
with the crimp cannelure in the right place for maximum case capacity"
$49/100.
also 180g cast at $29.95.

I called Ingrid, great lady, and we yakked about everything. I ordered 158g (50) rounds at $65 (minimum 5 boxes). I should receive them from the October run. $1.30 a round. Great MAX site.

Prescut
It's official. I'm now a Max junkie.

 

[SATCOM]

Prescut,

OH, I see now, "Price is for one box".

You now have some good ammo to see and feel what the SRM can do. Then reload the cases.

SATCOM

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Yep, once you have brass, the Maximum can be reloaded relatively inexpensively.

Welcome to the party.

 

[Prescut]

I've got IMR 4227, H110, Win296, VV N110, VV N350, Universal, and Titegroup
I'm looking for 180g lead gas check bullets to use. Probably bellmtcs.com

Any advice on primers? I'm looking at
Winchester SPM (small pistol magnum?)
Remington 7.5 sr benchrest (SRM - small Rifle match?)
CCI 450 or
CCI 550.

Any help would be much appreciated. No clue what the difference is in those primers. There's a little too much data out there to swallow all in one bite.

Prescut

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Use whatever primer your reloading manual recommends.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Sorry about the double-clutch.

 

[toroflow]

I would (and do) use small rifle (CCI450) primers for all my max loads. Rifle primers have a bit thicker cup to handle the higher pressures that a rifle cartridge produces, and the max's pressures are "up there". As an aside, if your gun doesn't strike these rifle primers hard enough to fire, you may have to upgrade your hammer spring. I had this problem with a BFR .45-70 handgun, using (naturally) CCI200 large rifle primers, had to order a higher pressure hammer spring for it, which solved the problem.

 

[Coogs]

Small rifle primers work the best. I think I'm doing 18.0 grs. 4227 and a 200gr. cast w/gas check. Lots of pet loads out there, but I have always used small rifle primers, Coogs.

 

[Prescut]

Thanks guys,
That info is exactly what I was looking for. It verifies all of my reading.
Prescut

 

[se3388]

Prescut

Check out these sites for 357 Maxi brass and info:

http://www.dandtcustomgunworks.websitetoolbox.com/?forum=199988

http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/

Mike Bellm is a certifiable 357 Maxi nut, well he probably is just certifiable.
Just kidding he is a wealth of knowledge and a great guy. Be warned he does have strong opinions.

Steve...........

 

[Prescut]

Hey Team,

This has been one hell of a Max ride.
The way I accidentally walked into a Max was pretty spectacular by itself.
Then I had a refinish question about sending it into Ruger and fearing that they would keep my "recalled" gun. Studying the Max history brought lots of appreciation.
Then began an ammo search, and then a brass search. With lots of help from members here, I finally got some ammo and brass to try. My reloading journey is well along the path.

Last week I told everybody here that I had shot a 4" group shooting 357 mag and was very disappointed.
Today I went to a local indoor range with my recently acquired Remington 156g Maximum ammo, and shot 3/4" groups at 40 yards. The heavens parted, the trumpets blared, and the voice of god declared "All is good".
The recoil wasn't even noticeable after seeing that big bullseye ragged hole at the back of the range. To say it was FUN would be a severe understatement. It wasn't long before I had almost all of the shooter's watching behind me and asking questions. I spent 1/2 an hour with an old shooter who had done silohouette shooting in the early 80's and it was like watching joy relived. He couldn't figure out why he had ever stopped.

I pulled out my 686 Pro for comparison and shot a really nice 2.5" group with it. That's better than average for me. I'm pretty sure my confidence was sky high and I was really feeling the Force with me. I am now officially a Max junkie.

Thanks guys!
I had great advice and encouragement along the way that kept me going. I wish there was some way to communicate this emotional bonding that has occurred between me and this hunk of steel. I don't think it would have happened without all of your help. I owe you.

Prescut

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Yeah you owe us . . . continued reports on your ongoing Maximum Adventures!

 

[contender]

I see we have another believer!


I own a few Maxi's and just like so many,,, have found them to be quite nice!