.357Max. Brass

[teeball]

I just got a barrel off the internet. It was posted as a .357Rem. When I received it, it was a .357Max. Do I need different dies for this caliber? How do I make, or where do I get Brass for this caliber? This is my first experience with this caliber. Thanks for any help you can give me.

                                                            teeball

[cherokee]

Very good caliber! You can use 357 mag dies. www.midwayusa.com sells the brass.

[exflatlanderNH]

I recently bought some brass at www.Cabelas.com that was actually cheaper than midway.

You can use any .38/.357 dies - you just have to back them out of the press to compensate for the longer case.

FYI - I have found it better to stick with bullets no lighter than 158 gr (180 gr are better) - the lighter stuff is hard to find an accurate load.

I have an 8 inch barreled Dan Wesson.

For load data, try the Dan Wesson site or Steves Page's

[Bullseye]

Graf & Sons has the brass.  www.grafs.com

That is a very accurate cartridge, know you will like it.  Works good on deer with a 180 gr XTP also.

[PaulS]

Tball,
The 357 Remington Maximum is a great round! It is accurate, potent, and easy. The best place I found for brass is Cabela's but it is going to get hard to find so buy it where you find it. here is a favorite load of mine:

Reloading Record

Thompson Contender Super 14 357 Maximum

Weapon make   Thompson   
Bore-to-sight height (inches)   1.375
Weapon model   Contender   
Twist rate   1 in 17
Barrel length   14 inch   
Serial number   xxxxxxx
Case make   Remington
Cartridge head stamp   357 Maximum
Cartridge designation   357 Maximum
Trimmed length (inches)   1.6
Over-all length (inches)   2.24

Bullet make   Speer
Bullet weight (grains)   180
Bullet type                   Flat Nose
Ballistic coefficient   .245
Bullet diameter   .358

Powder make   Hodgdon
Powder type   H110
Powder charge weight (grains)   22.5.0
Wad (make and type)   None
Primer (make and type)   CCI 400

Recorded velocity(at 3 yards)   1845   Muzzle velocity(FPS)   1854
Standard deviation(FPS)   12   Extreme spread(FPS)   41
Sight-in-range(yards)   102   Group size(at 25 yards)   .375

As you can see at 25 yards it shoots to one ragged hole - at fifty yards it shoots cloverleaf groupswhich ar close to two calibers with five shot groups. The rifle bullet is going fast enough to perform reliably out to 120 yards which means that I am always within one inch of line-of-sight.

PaulS