Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General .360 Buckhammer

Indeed, and with a savings in pressure too. But none of them would be legal in the plethora of "straight wall cartridge" zones that have sprung up. My state is about evenly divided in that regard - the half in which I live, but rarely hunt in, went from shotgun/muzzleloader only to "straight wall too" recently - but the other half of the state (where I mostly hunt) has always been "run whatcha brung".

I'm firmly on the .357 Maxi bandwagon now, and would be even if it weren't politically mandated - it's a darned efficient cartridge that punches well above its weight class. I look forward to investigating the merits of the .360 though. It's intriguing to me but not necessarily as a deer cartridge, the Maxi fills that niche in my battery of rifles quite nicely. I see it as a mid-weight cartridge with a lot to offer in diverse shooting genres.

Another argument for the .350/Maxi/.360-class of cartridges is ergonomics. They can be chambered in light, well balanced, handy little rifles that are an absolute joy to carry in the thick stuff, and which don't scream at you and smack you like a .35 bottle necked cartridge would if provided in a six pound (or lighter) rifle. (Astute handloading of said cartridges notwithstanding - how many hunters/shooters really do fall into that category anyway?)

My little Martini .357 Maxi, 26" barrel, weighs in at a scant 6 pounds. It's a pleasure to shoot 200's at sub-2000fps out of, but would be a nasty little SOB at higher performance levels. And those 200grain/1900fps loads generate around 1600ft.lbs. of muzzle energy, death to many four legged creatures at "normal" woods ranges. And on top of that, the little thing is comfy in the hands all day (note absence of sling swivels):

Dave,
I have you beat hands down. LOL

I have a 357 Mag, 2x 357 Max, a 35 Rem, a 358 Win, and a 35 Whelen. All are rifles with barrels 18" -23".

The two Maxis get more trigger time than all the others combined. It's a well-mannered cartridge.

You and Pete convinced me sometime back.
The 357 I redid for my young relative really
surprised me at how hard it would hit from
a rifle. Been wanting to get a Henry and ream
for my own use

I'm well aware, I'm only stating the obvious.

I too will like get the 360, assuming it's on a platform I'd. I'll have to see how it plays out for a bit and see if I can turn a 30/30 into one.

That's the same boat I'm in... interested, but awaiting available platforms and some actual case dimensions. I had also been interested in 350 Legend when it was first announced until I saw the stupid rebated head and oddball bullets. That promptly killed every ounce of my enthusiasm on that one.

If this ends up being from a from a standard family case with a .357/.358 bullet offered in a Henry lever or a single shot, I may hop on the bandwagon.

I was talking to Jes about reboring a 30-30 he said it won't clean up the chamber, so it would have to be a rebarrel,
when there's a reamer available I'm just going to punch out a 357 mag Contender barrel that I have that was going to be a 357 max unless Marlin brings it out in the 336

I'd love to see a case dimension drawing.

Anyways, I'm happy for the rim as it should be perfect for a single shot. They aren't my thing, but if I could get a properly scaled one for it, I could likely slum one.

Some new info:

Nice to see an actual .358 bullet. That definitely pushes me toward wanting one more.

Another way to look at the performance of this is to consider its similarity in bullet weight/velocity to the old .30-40 Krag which drove a 220 grain bullet at a scant 2000fps out of the infantry rifle, and a couple hundred fps less out of the cavalry carbine. It was considered big medicine capable of whacking anything on four legs in America. Its record in that regard stands for itself.

The ballistics from that article page look pretty good... basically 35 Rem +P.

If it ends up offered in a little 16-18" barreled carbine I'll probably hop on that like a possum in an open trash can 😏 I had always been keen on hoping to see a 357 Max lever someday, and this would basically be the same plus a bit more.

If Ruger gets off their ass and chambers a Marlin 336 for it, I'll pounce. Not a fan of Henry lever guns.

How about the .375 Winchester, anybody?

The .375 has a lot less case taper. Is that a potential issue for the .360 BuckHmr?

I already have a 375. Variety is the spice of life 😏

I doubt the taper will be an issue... 32-40 has a lot of taper and it works fine in levers.

Not a straight wall, but 250 Savage has a ton of body taper and it runs in the 99s like butter.

Doesn't taper ease extraction?

Yes

Using the .358 was the proper thing to do. Could not and cannot get warm and fuzzy about the .355 Legend

I've always been a .358 fan 35 rem and 35 Whelan plus a big .357 max fan so I'm pretty interested in this one plus having a good supply of .358 bullets suitable for a tubular magazine lever gun.
If Marlin does bring it out in the 336 I will most likely pick one up.
Being in Ohio we don't have a case length restriction I usually use a Marlin 45-70 or 375 win, just wondering what this could do with the case stretched out to 2.020 kinda like a 375 win tapered down to .358