Comtemplating .357 mag shorty

[schoolmaster]

My 7 year old grandson is shooting a youth stocked .357 mag rifle. The stock length is fine but the weight is a little much. It has the standard length barrel on it. How much weight would we lose if it is cut to 16.5 inches? Also what are some good handloads to shoot in it for deer? We are currently using near max loads of Lil-gun and the Remington 158 grain soft point. Oh it also is the synthetic stock version. All opinions welcome.

[geezerbiker]

My daughter had a similar problem when she was that age.  I figured if I cut the gun down to fit her, in 2 or 3 years it would be too short.  BTW, I was right about that...

So we settled for her shooting from a rest.  If he's going to go hunting with you, a set of those cross sticks shooting supports could be a solution... 

Tony

[schoolmaster]

Yep he is shooting from x-sticks and the regular full sized stock has been replaced with a shorter "youth style" stock. The length of pull is acceptable but the weight is "iffy". About the only place to lose some weight is in the barrel. So....

[Rodland]

I have the 18 3/4" accessory barrel and love it. It balances just behind the hinge pin with wood stock.

[Austin from NC]

I would remove a little at a time til it feels right.

       Austin

[Spanky]

Wait until he's strong enough to hold up the gun. If he can't hold up a 7 lb. gun he might not be ready to shoot at living things.
I know everybody wants their kid to get out and shoot ASAP but too young and too little is too young and too little.
 
 
 
Spanky

[ratdog]

  plus one on that spanky.

[petemi]

My maxi is cut to 16.5 inches, and I love it.  You don't gain a heck of a lot in weight loss cutting the barrel, but it does make it Handier.  If you do cut the barrel, I'd ream it to max at the same time.  He can shoot the maxies when he grows into it.

I'm a little confused.  You say the length of pull is OK for him, so he's got to be a pretty lanky seven year old.  On the other hand, you say the weight is too much.  I would think you need to double check the length of pull too.

Pete

[jeepmann1948]

I built one for one of my Grandkids last year. I cut the barrel off to 18" and turned it down to an ultra light profile, He handles it really well Look at my profile picture .Getting the rifle more in balance will make it more "Handi" for a youngster.
Good Luck and enjoy hunting with the boy

[schoolmaster]

OK. My grandson is 1 inch shorter than his older 10 year old brother. He is not quite as strong yet. The ten year old has already taken 2 deer with this rifle using shooting sticks. Jake is a good shot. He hits pop cans with regularity at 50 yards. He has practiced shooting with sticks on an old deer archery target and puts them well within the kill zone. We are not going to let him shoot at a deer unless the conditions are right and we feel he is ready. The pull on the youth stock is 12 inches from the center of the pad to the center of the face of the trigger. He can hold the gun up but we are not going to let him shoot off hand. My thoughts were that a shorter barrel in the ground blind with his dad would be easier to handle. Just was curious how much lighter the rifle would be and what loads would be optimum in the shorter barrel. Oh I gave my son 4 Handis all .357s all have been reamed to .357 max so he and all 3 of my grandkids can shoot the same cartridges. Got the little redheaded 5 year old grand daughter a Cricket and she is practicing for when she is 7. Jeepman, I like your thinking. petemi could you weigh your barrel and post how much it weighs. Thanks.

[petemi]

I really can't weigh it.  It is scoped for one thing and I don't have a scale to weigh in that range.  No bath scale either.

My most accurate load is a 158 gr. SJHP over 17.0 gr. H110 for 1830 fps.  I forgot to mention it's .358 dia.

Pete

[quickdtoo]

Pete's right on the weight loss, I have an 18" 38-55 in checkered syn stock, with just a scope rail it weighs 6lbs-3oz for comparison.

Tim

[schoolmaster]

OK thanks guys.

[tallyho]

For those who just want more information and data (and who among us doesn't) - I have a 357 Mag 18.5" barrel on a Topper frame.

Like this, assembled gun: weighs 6.6 lbs.

Barrel by itself, like this:    weighs 3.2 lbs.

Someone who is more mathematically inclined could probably figure out a pretty good estimate of what a 16.5" barrel might weigh, but it ain't gonna be me. 

[Doublebass73]

For a light weight youth deer gun I'd recommend a 45 Colt Carbine barrel instead of the 357. Here is a picture of my son's rig. It's a 20" 45 LC barrel on a Versa Pack frame with pallet wood youth stocks. I just weighed it, it weighs 5.67 pounds as shown. The barrel itself weighs in at 3 lbs. You could shave even more weight by using youth synthetic stocks and cutting the barrel to 16.5".