Which Barnes bullet are you talking about? If it is one of the solid copper types, they will take different load data from a regular lead core bullet. I have never shot any thing heavier than a 200 grain round nose. I prefer the 180's like CW. With the Barnes bullets, I think they want to have at least a .050" bullet jump. The bullet is quite a bit heavier constructed than most conventional bullets. You may not be able to get enough velocity to get them open. I think they have a newer style that has a "ballistic" tip, that is suppose to open up better. I have been using reloading data for pistols in mine. Beware that there is a wide variety of data out there for the 357 Max. The newer data has pressure levels lower than a 30-30. I think some of the older data is much higher. There is a lot of controversy swirling around what is safe. I think they have cut the pressure levels because of problems that have been encountered with revolvers. I know I haven't really answered your question, but thought I would mention some issues with the 357 Max. I have one and like it a lot, in a Handi rifle. I am using data that probably is of the older persuasion. My Speer #14 (the latest one) loading manual lists 48K CUP as max pressure. I have been informed that 40K psi is the new pressure level and the Speer manual just isn't up to date. In most cases the CUP is lower than psi readings, but not in all. It gets kind of confusing. For a 220 grain Speer bullet they list 18.5 grains of H110 as a max load for a muzzle velocity of 1541 out of a 14" T/C. For the Nosler's 225 cut that by 10% and work your way up in .5 grain increments. When you get to about 1500 fps, call it good if you are using a 14" barrel. If you are using a revolver, stop at about 1300 fps or so - I am guessing here a little so proceed with caution. Any way Good Luck and Good Shooting, but be safe. BTW Nosler's latest manual does not list any thing heavier than 180 grains. I suspect that the 225 grain bullets are too heavily constructed for the Max.
