357 Herrett Short?

[Greenhunter]

Please let me know if this will work or not to meet Indiana's Deer hunting cartridge length specifications;
I want to take a 357 Herrett case (1.750") and cut 0.126" off the neck.
It would then give me a case length of 1.624".
That would comply with Indiana PCR cartridge length specs.
I believe the cartridge should still headspace on the shoulder properly and I'm hoping there is ample case neck left to work with.
Would doing this in anyway be detrimental to the cartridge or barrel chamber?
I will be using a 23" Contender Carbine.     

[jedman]

Greenhunter,  I assume you already own a Herrett barrel and handload for it ?
If so I would try it,  remember you are reducing the powder capacity by shortening the case so you would need to cut back your current loads by at least 10 % and rework them, plus you would have more freebore than before unless you have some long bullets you can seat a extra 1/8 inch farther out of your shortened case.
I really don't know what the Indiana laws require, but if you have the gun and the loading nohow, I don;t see where you will hurt your gun doing this, although you may accelerate the erosion of the throat area.  Good Luck,   Jedman

[Reed1911]

Would doing this in anyway be detrimental to the cartridge or barrel chamber?

No.

You may not have enough neck tension to properly support the bullet insofar as to make the current loads shoot the same. Now, considering that it is a SS gun, you may have to adjust the loads a little to bring back the accuracy you need, but otherwise you'll be fine.

I'm not sure if it will still work for the IN laws, that you will need to talk to them about and you may need to have a new barrel made so that the chamber will comply with the law.

[Greenhunter]

Thank you gentlemen for your assistance and input.
Indiana initiated a Pistol Cartridge Rifle season last year and the enthusiasm has been great so far.
The Indiana DNR was swamped with questions about the new regulations and finally stated that as long as the cartridge meets the following criteria, they didn't care what the wildcat configuration was;
Rifles must fire a cartridge with a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger; have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches; and have a maximum case length of 1.625 inches.
Furthermore, all rifle actions, SS, lever, pump, semi-auto, and bolts are permitted. Magazine capacity is not limited. No full-auto rifles allowed of course.
I figure my .357 Herrett Short is legal, I just wanted to make sure it was also safe. I'll cut my necks down, and load up some 180 or 200 grain bullets and just seat them out a bit so that my overal cartridge length stays about original. Thanks! 

[Graybeard]

I very seriously doubt they are gonna put a tape measure on your brass to make the determination of legality. If a .357 Herrett is too long just cuz you trim it shorter that is unlikely to get you by. Best talk to them about that plan.

[Greenhunter]

I already spoke with the Indiana DNR and they said their conservation officers will measure the cartridge cases and calibers if it looks close. My .357 Herrett short wildcat will be close but I'll make sure it is under the maximum that the regulations allow.

I may be overly optimistic, but personally I think think this opening of Indiana to pistol caliber rifle hunting for deer is a first step toward becoming a full rifle hunting state like Michigan and Kentucky. Indiana is having a hard time controlling the size of its deer herd. Increasing the harvest quotas has not helped, so the next step is to find more hunters interested in taking deer. I think Indiana is cautiously experimenting to see if there will any injuries or property damage as a result of the use of the new pistol caliber rifles hunting.     

[Lone Star]

I don't think you will have a problem from a loading standpoint - I will deferr to others on the legality.  You are changing nothing but the neck length, so if you load the same bullets out to the same COAL the loads will perform the same.  The neck is short - only 0.23 inches long - but that is longer than the .300 Savage neck which has stood the test of time for almost 90 years.  As long as the bullets you use are gripped well enough, no worries.

If you fired the short cases with full loads enough times you might eventually see minor erosion of the neck of the chamber ahead of the short case, but that would only be a problem if you ever fired full-length brass.



.

[Hank08]

You think you've found a "loophole" to beat the new rule but the Game warden may also be a gun person who knows what a .357 Herrett is and it says .357 Herret on your barrel.  The intent of the rule appears to be to limit the velocity to pistol velocities and your going to have a rifle velocity.  you might want to get a letter stating legality from someone just in case and restamp your barrel.
H08

[WolfTrap]

Safe to assume the Indiana guys will spot a 357 Herrett cartridge when they see it? Their guidelines will be printed as:357 Herrett with case dimension of 1.750-1.765... give or take a couple of thousands! Bet the next comment from them will be "Looks like you trim them to far from 357 Herrett's OAL?
 Knocking it down 1/8 inch for a single shot firearm shouldn't be attempted for the simple reason of chamber neck dimension will be destroyed in quick fashion. As for freebore....will not make a difference!
As for backing off 25% on powder.....why bother when there's a ton of rifle length  357 Maximum's (Case Dimension:1.625) barrels out there ready to be bought? Which these same guys used for the 1.625 max case length for the deer hunts
Save your barrel and buy/trade for a legal cartridge for a "Welcome Back" future "Special Deer Hunts"?
JMO,
WT

[SHOOTALL]

wouldn't what you are doing be a 357 bain-davis ? Bullberry may make such a bbl.

[Greenhunter]

Ha! the problem is solved, Indiana changed the regulations to read Case Length of no more than 1.610" to now read no more than 1.800". So now the .357 Herrett fits the bill without any cutting down of the neck! thanks anyway for all the input!

[HuntMeister]

Careful Greenhunter, Indiana has only proposed this change in case length and so it is not legal at this time. The proposal, part of the deer hunting rules changes package is a long way from becoming law. I hope they do adopt the proposed change to 1.80"

Ha! the problem is solved, Indiana changed the regulations to read Case Length of no more than 1.610" to now read no more than 1.800". So now the .357 Herrett fits the bill without any cutting down of the neck! thanks anyway for all the input!

[no guns here]

Might start to open up a market to more rifles of all types that fire pistol cartridges.  That would be interesting.


NGH

[blksqurl]

whats wrong with trading your barrel for a 357 super mag. (357 max) barrel 1.600

[omegahunter]

Because next season he will be able to use the .357 Herrett.  The proposal has passed and will be in effect next year.

[Vic49]

Would this be doable reaming a .357 barrel?

[sr sawyer]

Vic49,
 
The very short answer to your question is yes.  Might be better off selling the 357 Mag barrel and buying the 357 Herrett if your are talking pistol length but rifle length Herretts are scarce.
 
Ken