Author Topic: 357 Conversion - worry wart here (Read 642 times)

bajabill · « **on:** November 23, 2005, 05:09:50 AM »

Hey all of you 357 max converters. I have a couple of questions about the operation. What would or did you use to verify the job was done adequately. Im thinking a factory loaded shell and some brass trimmed to length would be nice to chamber before sending the reamer on its merry way. I am a late arriving party crasher on a tool share, and am not ready. I dont have anything, dies, brass, and am not even confident I can find factory ammo easily. I dont feel good about reaming the barrel, and setting it aside for a few months till I get ready to load and shoot the max ammo, only to find out it wasnt opened up deep enough or something else unexpected. Im I worring too much?

quickdtoo · « **Reply #1 on:** November 23, 2005, 05:59:29 AM »

Can't help ya with the reaming, mine was done by BigBoreFan before he sold it to me, but factory ammo is available from Bullseye and Reeds Ammo...

http://www.bullseyeguns.com/danammo.asp

http://www.reedsammo.com/

safetysheriff · « **Reply #2 on:** November 23, 2005, 06:48:37 AM »

do you already have the .357 handi' in your possession? if so, some of the .357 mag' dies are adjustable/workable for the .357 maxi'. my hornady custom grade, new dimension (series ii) titanium nitride dies from www.MidwayUSA.com are labeled for use with .38 spec' through .357 maxi'.

by the way, the same series die in .44 spec'/.44 mag' is not labeled for the .445supermag', but looks like it would handle the extra length of the brass.

the reamer should be capable of giving you a proper chambering if it has a good pilot on it and if it is handled carefully, following the instructions to the letter. a good oil/lubricant and a careful, slow approach would let you get it all done at home with the barrel held in the vertical/straight-up position. (remember, however, reaming done by hand would usually(?) involve turning the reamer in one direction only, just like a machine does. it is possible, of all things, to ruin some reamers by turning them in the reverse direction while working with ordnance-grade metal to back 'em out!)

if you are mechanically inclined/adept at using tools then you should be ok with the chambering if you take your time and study the operation beforehand.

take care,

ss'

bajabill · « **Reply #3 on:** November 23, 2005, 07:13:51 AM »

Ive been diggin around and midway says the Lee 3 die set is good for 357 mag/max. The 4 die is mag only, I guess due to the crimp die not working for the max. The Lee website is a little confusing, I think a typo is on the list. The 357 mag die set says "also good for magnum" while below for the individual dies, the 357 mag sizing dies says "also good for maximum".

Looks like I can stay true, Lee dies for me.

Also, how or do you mark your barrel to designate it as a 357 maximum

safetysheriff · « **Reply #4 on:** November 23, 2005, 08:08:45 AM »

baja'

to each his own, but i prefer to pay a little extra for what i feel are significantly better tools (most of the time....) by using hornady and rcbs. i do use the lee factory crimp die for some cartridges in my handi's and others; but have heard of more trouble with lee equipment than most others. my first lee loader was a poorly-machined item in fact. they had the audacity to send me a better sizing unit, and then wanted me to pay for it!

to mark the barrel for a maxi' i'd talk to one of the other guys who've done this or get the tools from a machine-shop supply house to make the lettering proper. in n.e. ohio it's easy to find such places. a dremel tool with a proper cutter could actually put the straight-lined letters of 'MAXI' into barrel steel rather easily.....for a cheap way to go.

SS'

hellacatcher · « **Reply #5 on:** November 23, 2005, 10:57:17 AM »

Being kind of dumb and slow wited. I found out my 357 mag. would chamber a 36 D W case. Then taking a 180 gr bullet and sticking in a empty 36 D W case that had been expand slightly. having the barrel off the receiver and the ejector close I inserted the case jambing it into the chamber. This pushed it back into the case witch I tapped out very carefully with a cleaning rod. Remember I do have a wallywolrd tape measure so I am continuity measuring. I then had determined I had plenty of throat. Having a good friend who has a machine shop also helps. Then bought a reamer for $20.00 had Jimmy reamed it out so it would take a 357 Max case. That was one of the best things I did It tighten up the group to about a 1 1/8 maybe less at a hundred yrds and I dropped 3 deer last sat morning with it. They where from a 100yrds to 150yrds--dropped in place.

Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

JPH45 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 23, 2005, 11:32:46 AM »

This is nothing to worry over, too many good chambers have come from that reamer to give cause to worry. Simply turn the reamer in untill the rim cutter bottoms out on the existing rim cut in your barrel. An easy way to tell when you are there is lightly coat the bottom of rim cut in the barrel with lipstick or light colored grease. (a very very thin coat, just enough to tell it is there) When you touch that, the job is done. The main concern is to not make the rim cut deeper as the depth of the rim cut controls the headspace. All else is controlled by the grind of the reamer itself.

bluebayou · « **Reply #7 on:** November 23, 2005, 01:47:00 PM »

For what it is worth, RCBS said that their 357 Mag dies would work. I gave them the model number and they said "no problem".

safetysheriff · « **Reply #8 on:** November 23, 2005, 03:20:40 PM »

Quote from: hellacatcher

Being kind of dumb and slow wited. I found out my 357 mag. would chamber a 36 D W case. Then taking a 180 gr bullet and sticking in a empty 36 D W case that had been expand slightly. having the barrel off the receiver and the ejector close I inserted the case jambing it into the chamber. This pushed it back into the case witch I tapped out very carefully with a cleaning rod. Remember I do have a wallywolrd tape measure so I am continuity measuring. I then had determined I had plenty of throat.
Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

hc'

this sounds like something we 'disgusted' on this forum recently. why did the bullet get pushed back into the case (i guess you meant bullet by "it") if the throat is long enough to take the 180 gr' bullet with a .360 dan wesson piece of brass? then too, "jambing" it into the chamber sounds unhealthy to me. remember this old wheeze: "if it don't fit don't force it"?

somewhere i smell potential for a problem to develop with the .360 dw if it is chambered into a standard .357 mag' rifle. SURE, you can jamb the thing together, but will it properly release a bullet when the cartridge is fired?

i said it before, and i'll say it again: you can't put two pounds of trash into a one-pound bag! :shock:

ss' :wink:

hellacatcher · « **Reply #9 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:09:59 PM »

S.S. the point was to measure the throat. Remember this is a unprimed empty case no bang bang. The thing was to see if it could be reamed out to the 357max with enough throat, witch it was with plenty of room.

JPH45 · « **Reply #10 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:22:06 PM »

What must be understood is that hellacatcher didn't use a standard chambering reamer. He bought a straight 379 or 380 reamer such as that used by a machine shop. He is shooting the original Handi throating with a chamber that has simply been lengthened. The method he used while sound, is not comparable to using a true chambering reamer. Not speaking for him, just that if this is not known, discussing his chamber as a model for a 357 Mag/357 Max rechamber will lead into really messy waters.

safetysheriff · « **Reply #11 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:31:29 PM »

i'd recommend the use of a .357 maxi' reamer that includes the throater in it, with one possible alternate discussed in the paragraph below.

has anybody on this site done a 'search' of google putting in the words "taylor throating" to see an alternate way of throating a Handi' or a revolver? it's something to consider when re-chambering either a .357 or .44 mag' to one of the longer-cased cousins that we've discussed here. it's usually associated with revolvers and forcing-cone work; but i believe it is applicable to a Handi' just like some re-cutting of forcing cones in shotguns is advantageous. on the brownell's site you can buy the tools for taylor throating of a revolver, and can possibly contact clymer to cut you a reamer with the taylor throating parameters in it if rechambering a Handi'.

just my two cents,

ss'

hellacatcher · « **Reply #12 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:32:28 PM »

I should add I did have a highly qualifled machinist doing the work who know more about guns than I every will. I suppose I should have left this alone.

JPH45 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 23, 2005, 05:42:42 PM »

Quote from: hellacatcher

I should add I did have a highly qualifled machinist doing the work who know more about guns than I every will. I suppose I should have left this alone.

Don't feel that way about it, others who know less than you have no trouble posting.

safetysheriff · « **Reply #14 on:** November 24, 2005, 04:23:52 AM »

Quote from: hellacatcher

I should add I did have a highly qualifled machinist doing the work who know more about guns than I every will. I suppose I should have left this alone.

paul,

i hope you won't ever go away from this site disgusted, or feeling like you were wrong to post on it. it's easy at times for someone like me, who has done safety-related work fulltime, to get concerned about the potential for someone else to get hurt. that's all that is at work here.

if it matters at all, i'm glad to see the appreciation that so many have here for these rifles and for the wildcatting/hotrodding potential that they really have. i mean it sincerely. it makes the whole thing more interesting when we step some of these rifles up a notch or two.

i hope you'll continue working with us on this site.

best regards,

ss'