Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Anyone with 357 Max experience?

357 Maximum (.357 Super Mag) brass is still listed by Jamison International Brass and Remington at www.grafs.com you can login to be advised when it is available. This brass is a seasonal production item, so grab it when you can.

I purchased one of the earliest Ruger Blackhawk revolvers chambered for the .357 Maximum for use in IHMSA Silhouette matches. With a 10" barrel and target sights it was (is) one of the most accurate revolvers I ever shot, bringing home many trophies.



I still have a supply of the original Federal brass from the contract order from Elgin gates and IHMSA in 1980, the brass is marked with the ram target logo.



Here the load page from the Reloading Guide for Handgun Accuracy by G. Riley, J. Shaver, B. Stringfellow, 1982. Note the designation is still .357 Super Mag, which IIRC Remington refused to use due to copyright issues with S&W which owned the Magnum appellation, hence the later Maximum designation when it was put into commercial production:



As other posters have noted AAC 1680 will be the powder of choice. I never found anything better than W-680 with jacketed bullets. I would shoot 10 shot cloverleafs of .750" at 50 yards using the Sierra bullets using Win-680. There are numerous loads for the .357 Maximum (Super Mag) at www.loaddata.com and AAC 1680, along with cast bullet loads. I also found that Win-296/H-110 did not work in the Maximum.

The claim that the Maximum cut through the top strap of the Ruger was poppycock. Flame erosion of the top strap stopped after about 50 shots and never amounted to much, but gun writers being what they are had to hype it out of proportion. Eventually Ruger withdrew their offering. Bill Ruger refused to lengthen the cylinder another 1/8" as Elgin Gates recommended, which would have solved the problem.

This is a fine cartridge that filled a particular niche in a specialized game, it is quite suitable for mid-range hunting of up to deer sized animals, but will probably never see a return of popularity. Shame really, but it is interesting.