Gramps,
I had a 10" 357 Herret that I traded to Greybeard a few years back. I also had Virgin Valley make me a 10" 357 maximum last years. The only bullet I shoot in 35 is a 200 gr WFN gc cast bullet.
My goal with the 357 Herret was 2000 fps, I knew I might not achieve it, but published data looked promising. Well, in hindsight, the published Herrett data, whether for the 30 or 357 is either optomistic, or just plain hot. I did get one reading just over 2000 fps, but velocities were inconsistant. I tried several powders, and AA 1680 was the best. I simply was unwilling to load any hotter on the 30/30 case head, so I moved the barrel on.
I'm still working on loads with the 357 Max, but have been able to get 1900 fps with the 200 gr bullet. H 110 is just too fast burning for top performance with the 200 gr bullet, the loads are hot, and the groups string verticly, way verticly! That said, AA 1680 seems to be just about ideal with the heavy bullets, you simply can't fit enough of it in the case to hurt the gun, and it burns much more consistantly when compressed, which it isn't in the Herret case.
To me, in a 10" tube, the 357 max is the berries, no case forming, no case trimming, and you get the same performance as the herret, but burn less powder in the process, and hence have less recoil. I'm looking forward to ordering some of the 150 gr remingtons that are being ordered as a special run. I see no reason they can't be driven 2200 fps, and that is serious performance in a 10" contender!
The advantage I see in the 357 Herret is used barrels are relatively inexspensive due to the lack of popularity in trimming cases. I picked up my barrel and dies from Ed for all of $115 plus shipping. The factory 357 max's are notoriously poor in the accuracy department, and having a 357 mag re-chambered will set you back over $200, custom tubes are $300.
