Author Topic: More on the .360 DW (Read 641 times)

Paul5388 · « **on:** November 13, 2005, 07:39:32 PM »

I was out loading tonight and decided to load up some .360 DWs for my standard chamber .357 Handi. I normally load Hornady 180 gr XTPs and crimp in the cannelure closest to the nose of the bullet. I get good accuracy at that length with the right load.

However, tonight I was playing. I said to myself, self, you should be able to load that 180 gr Rem JHP that's designed for the Max. Well, that got the wheels to turning and I decided the loads I normally use with the XTP should do just fine.

I have to adjust my dies every time I use them, because I use the same Lee carbide dies for .38 Special, .357 Mag and .360 DW. I have 3 more sets of steel .38/.357 RCBS dies, but I was only going to load a few and the Lees got the nod.

The .360 cases had already been sized and belled/flared/expanded, so it was just a matter of seating and then switching to another crimp die. Tonight I wondered just how deep that chamber is, so I decided to seat and fit until I was using the whole chamber.

So I pushed the bullet in a ways and tried it in the chamber and kept repeating that process until I realized the bullet wasn't what was stopping the cartridge from chambering. It was the remains of the bell/flare/expansion.

Since I only taper crimp, I seated a bullet just a little ways in the case and ran the crimping die down until I made contact, then I screwed it in 1/4 turn more. I now found I can use a COL of 1.935" and the cartridge will chamber and extract without help.

I have been hunting this year with 250 gr Beartooths in .357 Mag. It's only 1200 fps and it would be nice to get just a little more velocity out of it. I can seat that 1" long bullet in .360 DW brass all the way to the crimping groove and the COL is 1.935", just like the 180 gr is.

So, I loaded some of each with the same load I use in either .360 brass with a shorter COL or I used the .357 Mag load. The loads will be a little light due to the extra case capacity, but it's a starting place.

When I came back into the house, I began to wonder what the COL for the Max is and found these loads are bumping that COL! :eek: I guess I may have some Max length cartridges to use without reaming the chamber. :grin:

Time and weather permitting, I'll get these shot tomorrow, so I will know what the next step is!

safetysheriff · « **Reply #1 on:** November 14, 2005, 01:40:51 PM »

when using 'longer' brass, and short-seating a bullet, the tendency is definitely to raise the working pressure in the firearm. you did mention "extra case capacity" in that one paragraph so i'm not sure how short you "sized" that .360 brass..... sizing is not the same as trimming, of course.

you also need to be sure that the mouth of the case is not up against the end of the chamber so that it can readily/reasonably open up to release the bullet when the weapon is fired. the .360 dan wesson is a .357 mag' case that has been lengthened -- in case you didn't know -- to 1.415 from the std' mag' length of 1.285! i don't see how you can readily chamber that brass......

you could be headed for big trouble.... no insult intended. just the old wheeze about 'a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing'.

best regards,

ss'

quickdtoo · « **Reply #2 on:** November 14, 2005, 01:45:31 PM »

As I recollect, there are several members here shooting 360 DW in their .357 Mag handis, MSP is one of em.... :wink:

Mac11700 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 14, 2005, 01:56:13 PM »

Hmmm...I wonder if that 360 DW is better than this 356 GNR? It supposedly can be chambered to any 357 barrel or chamber...and that 2100 is revolver velocity too.......

Quote

The regular 357 is on the right...356 GNR, shown here on the left. On the right is the standard factory 357 magnum. This cartridge is a necked down 41 magnum and gives the 357 bullet as much energy as a 44 magnum. Simple to load and no backing out in the cylinder makes the 356 GNR an excellent revolver cartridge for medium sized game. A 125 grain jhp will do almost 2100 fp

Mac

quickdtoo · « **Reply #4 on:** November 14, 2005, 02:06:30 PM »

Me thinks the .35 Remington is the king of that crowd until ya step up to the .35 Whelen!!! Even the .358 GNR is a step below the .35 Rem.

Quote

358 GNR
Next up the ladder is our 358 GNR. This one is intended for big game and has taken a lot of it through the years. It is a 445 SuperMag necked down to 358 and comes very close to 35 Remington ballistics. Does well in stretch frame revolvers and in Contenders. Any 357 Mag or 357 Maximum Contender can be rechambered.

safetysheriff · « **Reply #5 on:** November 14, 2005, 02:20:31 PM »

Quote from: quickdtoo

As I recollect, there are several members here shooting 360 DW in their .357 Mag handis, MSP is one of em.... :wink:

quickd'

you may be right, particularly in light of some guys saying how long-throated(and possibly long-chambered) some of these rifles are. that's why i said he "could be" headed for big trouble. i'm just one of those who believes each firearm is a law unto itself (in more than one way!) and that assumption is the mother of all screw-ups! :eek:

i just hope he doesn't run into problems either way: with a chambering problem or with a pressure problem from short-seating a bullet.

take care, tim,

ss'

Paul5388 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 14, 2005, 02:30:39 PM »

Well, I did make it out to shoot those loads today.

First off, I noticed there was much less sign of pressure compared to 15.0 gr of Lil'Gun with the same Rem 180 gr in .357 Mag brass. That Lil'Gun load came straight out of the Hodgdon site's loading information, but it was cratering primers a pretty good bit and I think I had one that perforated a primer.

I think the Rem bullet that is supposed to be designed for the Max must be a pretty sorry bullet, because I haven't gotten decent accuracy in any of the loads I have tried so far.

That said, the group (if you want to call it that) to the right is the Rem bullet and it's basically a 5" group.

In typical fashion for my Handis, the first shot with the 250 gr Beartooth, after shooting a different bullet, went way high. However, the next two shots were very close together, pretty close to the bullseye.

The scope is zeroed with 250 gr Beartooths in .357 Mag brass to shoot about 1 1/2" high at 100 yards. So, this change in OAL has decreased the velocity and caused the impact to be lower than the zero point.

I may have been a little unclear on the load, but it is the same load, crimped to the same point on the bullet, as what I use in .357 Mag brass. That means there is an extra .13" of capacity when I use .360 DW brass and I expected the velocity and pressure to be a little less, because of that extra capacity.

Tonight I will increase the powder and switch from the Rem bullet to a 180 gr XTP/HP that has given very good accuracy in the past. :grin:

quickdtoo · « **Reply #7 on:** November 14, 2005, 02:39:19 PM »

Paul, FWIW, my .357maxi rechambered .357mag barrel, cratered and perforated primers using factory DW maxi ammo when I shot it on the topper frame I bought it with. But it shot fine on an SB2 frame. Dunno if that is any help, but that's my story and I'm stickin to it! :wink:

Paul5388 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 14, 2005, 02:54:19 PM »

Tim,

That's a thought about the frame. This one is an SB1, but it hasn't given me any problems with any other loads. I'll keep an eye on things with that in mind.

Paul5388 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 14, 2005, 04:43:19 PM »

It doesn't take long when you're only loading a test batch!

This is the final product for tonight. To the left is three .360 DWs with 180 gr Hornady XTP/HPs (OAL 1.87"), three .360 DWs with 250 gr Beartooth loaded real long (OAL 2.15"), one .357 Mag with 250 gr Beartooth and last one is a .44 Mag with 240 gr LSWC.

The XTPs are seated in the bottom cannelure and as you can see, the 250s are seated below the crimping groove. I increased the powder by 0.5 gr to see if I can get the velocity up a little more.

I don't know if I can shoot these tomorrow, since I have a 1 pm appointment at the VA hospital, but Wednesday should be a sure thing!

lik2hunt · « **Reply #10 on:** November 14, 2005, 09:18:20 PM »

Here's thought on the perforated primers............I believe it's been stated before, and I can attest to the fact, that the SB-1 firing pins are larger in diameter than the SB-2's, and since they are, then a higher pressure load will have more "room" to cause perforation due the larger striking indentation made by the larger diameter firing pin that is actually designed for the larger sized shotgun primers.

Paul5388 · « **Reply #11 on:** November 15, 2005, 03:02:33 PM »

Being smarter than the average bear, I went out this morning, before I needed to leave for Shreveport, to shoot these latest loads!

The first shots were the 250 gr Beartooths, since that was the last powder and bullet to foul the barrel. Then I shot the XTPs.

I think I'm going to have a hard time improving on the Beartooths with a <.75" group at 100 yards! The extra 800X did raise the POI a little and I can live with these results.

The 0.5 gr extra 800X was too much, so it doesn't matter too much what they did. The two holes toward the bottom are XTPs, but I was aiming at the bottom of the target X hair.