I just bought a Handi .357mag rifle yesterday...

[woody1071]

As the subject says, I just bought my .357mag H&R rifle yesterday. I read a lot of the FAQ stickies and from that I went ahead and floated the barrel with an o-ring and the set screw down in the lug. I also have used loc-tite on the scope mount base screws. I am mounting a Bushnell scope that I already had on it tonight and plan on sighting it in this weekend.
 
I printed off the part about breaking them in which was included in the FAQ and I plan to follow one of the methods.
 
When I bought the gun I also purchased a box of 50 Blazer 158 gr and a small box of Hornady that say they are 140 gr I believe. I am planning on using the Blazer's to get it close then use the Hornady's to bring it in and hunt with.
 
Any suggestions?
 
Thanks,
Woody

[Lon371]

 Good luck with your new toy(addiction)
 
Lonny

[Dinny]

My only suggestion is to shoot it. The rifle will tell you what it likes by how well it shoots. You can search around the NEF/H&R Centerfire Rifle Forum for more details about these great rifles.




Thanks, Dinny

[parson48]

You bought a great caliber. I've owned a .357 for awhile. I did give into the temptation to ream it to maxi, and have no regrets. But they are good "as is". Welcome.

[jedman]

Woody,  If you are planning on using the Hornady 140 XTP for deer hunting beware,
That bullet is really much to fragile for the speed it will come out of a rifle barrel.
Try to find some ammo loaded with the 158 XTP flat point bullet ,  Not the hollow point.
I have seen the lighter XTP HP's fail many times on deer sized game, Im sure it would work on a perfect double lung shot but you can never count on a perfect shot angle when hunting and you dont want to chase a wounded deer all over.
Get you a tougher jacketed bullet or some flat nosed cast bullet ammo and your .357 mag will do fine.

[parson48]

+1 to jedman's suggestion on bullets. My granddaughter took her first deer with a 357 Handi, using a Remington JHP bullet; fortunately we did recover her deer, but the hollow point bullet fragmented badly. A flat point will work much better for deer.

Good luck.

[woody1071]

Well, thanks! I was having a hard time deciding which to use. Now my decision is made. You guys are a huge help!