.357 mag Trapper Accuracy

[kmittleman]

Hi Guys,
 
I'm having some trouble getting this gun to shoot. At the moment, the best I seem to be able to do is 2" @ 50yds. I've been using this load:

• 158gr Speer JSP
• 14-14.5 gr of 2400
• OAL- 1.590
• 1/2 turn roll crimp

Today when I shot it the first two shots were touching but everything opened up after that. The barrel didn't seem to get hot though. 158 gr XTP's haven't been any better either. My goal is to try to get this weight bullet up to to around 1800 fps so I can hunt deer with it.
 
-Kevin

[revbc]

Ream it to maxi.  Won't hurt your accuracy, and can actually help in some cases.  Lose the crimp, not needed in the rifle.

Bobby

[Doublebass73]

How many rounds do you have through it?

I had H&R factory fit a .357 Mag barrel and the accuracy out of the box was horrible, 6 inch groups at first. After 2 full boxes of jacketed ammo the groups shrank down to 1 1/4" at 70 yards with open sights. It might just need to be broken in.

[kmittleman]

Ream it to maxi.  Won't hurt your accuracy, and can actually help in some cases.  Lose the crimp, not needed in the rifle.

Bobby

I'd like to do that but have no gunsmithing skills. Is it hard to do? What's involved?
-Kevin
 

[twoshooter]

Before you ream, give it a chance. I had a std 357 barrel, it shot about 3" @ 50 yards when I fired the first rounds. I now have a couple hundred rounds through it, it is at about 1.25" at 75 yards. I use 158 gr XTP-HP and 13.8 gr of 2400. I have found that I get much better accuracy and burn when I put a pretty solid crimp on mine also. Dont get too excited early on, I was getting nervous myself and almost swapped it. Now my grandson has 3 deer with it in his first 2 years of hunting. If you get 300 rounds through it and it has not settled in, then do something radical.

[ratdog]

that guns not shooting to bad might try a scope or different ammo it should get better mines not shooting much better i like it but i shoot lead 158 grn wadcutters.shot 170's they shot high don't know why its not a talo though my 44 shoots about the same. once the barrel heats up groups start to spread 0n the 357 haven't got the 44 hot yet. my first 357 barrel was junk remington fixed me up with a new barrel i have quite a few only had one bad one love my handy's.

[bikerbeans]

Kevin,
 
Have you read the accurizing information in the FAQs sticky at the beginning of this forum?  If not, there is lots of stuff to try that might help also.  I do agee with the others that sometimes these barrels just need to have some rounds down range to come around.   Also, IIRC, there was a post not long ago where a member did a chamber cast on a 357 mag and the leade was a mess.  If you do decide to ream to 357 Maximum this reaming process will remove the old leade and give you a much better chamber to work with.  The reaming process is in the FAQ sticky also and there is another sticky with info. on the GBO 357 Maxi rental reamer.   With the 357 Maxi you can still shoot your 158 grainer @ 1800 fps if you want but you can also shoot a 180 grainer at that velocity or higher.     I reamed my 357 Maxi Trapper myself, first chamber I ever reamed, and it shoots 1 to 1.5 MOA @ 100 yards with a Speer 180 jacketed bullet @ 1801 fps.  It will shoot the same group and velocity with a 180 grain XTP.  I am using H110 and I found I have to crimp with this powder to get it to be consistent although I would much rather go "crimpless".
 
My groups at with a 4x Scope, never tried the open sights, and I never shot this gun before I reamed it.
 
Good Luck
 
 
BB

[revbc]

+1 on all BB said.  Also, when I said "lose the crimp" I was really talking about the maxi.  I haven't put a lot of mags downrange.  Unless you have a reason to keep it standard 357mag, the reaming is not hard and will generally help.

[OSOK]

I reamed my Talo Trapper to Max. I am getting 1" 100 yard groups using H110 and Hornady 180 gr. SSP bullets, using a 2.5x scope. I highly reccomend reaming it, it is an easy job, cheap, and really opens up you options for hunting.
Mine shot well out of the box with magnum and special ammom so I have nothing to tell you there, except go through the FAQ's and try all the accuracy tricks. Every Handi I own has benefitted from adding the o-ring to the forearm stud. Dry the latch and add an o-ring, see what you get.

[jackddavis]

My .357 mag. was shooting all over the place at first, too. It came with scope base and that base was not only loose, but mounted crooked, too. Scrapped it for a picatinny rail and scout scope. Made all the difference.
 
Another thing to think about....as said above, is you don't need a crimp in a rifle. That means you can seat the bullet much further out, leaving much more room for powder. I've worked up a load with the 140 gr. FTX over 20 gr. of IMR4227. I don't have a chronograph, but it should be ~2050 fps MV. The FTX bullet is seated about 1/4" deep and the powder is slightly compressed. Absolutely no signs of excess pressure. By the way. the 140 gr. FTX has a lousy ballistic coefficient. The 200 gr. FTX is far, far better, ballistically. A true spitzer.
 
Next, I ordered a box of 200 gr. FTX and expect to get ~ 1600-1800 fps out of my 16.5" barrel. This is a WAG. I haven't worked up that load yet, but I am fairly sure I can get there. Maybe even surpass that MV with H110.  This puts the 200 gr. FTX in a magnum case at a similar MV of the max. load in the Maxi. Hodgdon says 18 gr. IMR4227, 200 gr. bullet at 1440 fps in a 10" barrel.
 
I'm assuming you have the SAAMI chamber with the long forcing cone/throat that allows seating the bullet way out. Ideally suited for spitzers. If you do and can load your own, experiment. Tailoring your ammo to get the most out of your rifle is what handloading is about.

[kaveman]

Jack davis who made the pic rail on your rifle in the pic?  I like the scout scope set up, sorry to hijack the thread, to  original poster try the o ring and different ammo all relatively cheap choices before reaming to maxi
                                                             Kaveman

[quickdtoo]

My .357 mag. was shooting all over the place at first, too. It came with scope base and that base was not only loose, but mounted crooked, too. Scrapped it for a picatinny rail and scout scope. Made all the difference.
 
Another thing to think about....as said above, is you don't need a crimp in a rifle. That means you can seat the bullet much further out, leaving much more room for powder. I've worked up a load with the 140 gr. FTX over 20 gr. of IMR4227. I don't have a chronograph, but it should be ~2050 fps MV. The FTX bullet is seated about 1/4" deep and the powder is slightly compressed. Absolutely no signs of excess pressure. By the way. the 140 gr. FTX has a lousy ballistic coefficient. The 200 gr. FTX is far, far better, ballistically. A true spitzer.
 
Next, I ordered a box of 200 gr. FTX and expect to get ~ 1600-1800 fps out of my 16.5" barrel. This is a WAG. I haven't worked up that load yet, but I am fairly sure I can get there. Maybe even surpass that MV with H110.  This puts the 200 gr. FTX in a magnum case at a similar MV of the max. load in the Maxi. Hodgdon says 18 gr. IMR4227, 200 gr. bullet at 1440 fps in a 10" barrel.
 
I'm assuming you have the SAAMI chamber with the long forcing cone/throat that allows seating the bullet way out. Ideally suited for spitzers. If you do and can load your own, experiment. Tailoring your ammo to get the most out of your rifle is what handloading is about.

The GBO 357 Maxi reamers are PTG rifle reamers, they cut a 6º ramp into the lands, my COL for the 180gr Speer FP is 2.293" which is .007" off the lands,  read the 357 Maxi reamer section of GBO reamer sticky above and the review at Midway.

Tim

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/734226/ptg-solid-pilot-chamber-finish-reamer-357-maximum