Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots 360 Buckhammer

Ordered a Contender 360 Buckhammer barrel from SSK on Sunday and it was delivered yesterday. Already purchased RCBS dies and have converted some 30-30 brass. Loaded up 2 low pressure rounds with H4895 just for a test and got 1610 FPS. Now that I have scratched that itch will wait for Hodgdon to come out with load data.

Any one else working on loads for the 360BH?

Interesting. SAAMI 50K psi max pressure for the Buckhammer sounds like it might be 7-8K psi over the Contender's limits with a 30-30 case head?

What is the barrel length, and which bullet did you try?
Been thinking about a Buckhammer barrel for the Encore. (Rifle, likely 24").

Slugflinger:
I went with a 18” barrel for the contender in 360 BH and the bullet I used is the .358”Speer 180 grain. I also use this bullet in a contender and an Encore chambered in 357 Maximum. I have a good selection of bullets to try in .358”. Just waiting for load data to show up. The H4895 was real low pressure and had plenty of unburnt powder in the bore.

I tend to go shorter on barrel lengths as I hunt the hard woods a lot more than open fields, but if you are looking to get the most out of the 360 I think anything 20” and over will get you there.

I've been loading and shooting a Bellm rechambered 357 H&R Handi Rifle. 35-38gr of A1680 has been a range I've worked with using 180gr Speer HCFN bullets and a recently developed and experimental 200gr JFP. Today I got an average of 2193fps from the 200gr bullet and 36.5gr of A1680. 22" barrel.

I've got CVA bolt action in 350 legend, but I've been considering a barrel for my encore in either 350 legend or 360 buckhammer.

Following for updates on load data.

I'm enamored by the round and its ballistics. 35 Remington performance in a cartridge that's legal in straight wall areas. However, the currently available rifles for this cartridge don't do much for me. Presently I don't see this cartridge being successful when the only available rifle is a $1,000 Henry.

If the Buckhammer is going to make it, it's going to need more rifle offerings and ammo everywhere.

For any of you that are starting to work with the 360 BH, Hodgdon now has data. If you call them, they will email the data that they have. What they sent me has 33 loads, for 180-250gr. bullets. All data is using Rem. brass and Rem. 91/2M primers. Tested loads have an OAL of 2.380.

Dinny's A1680 loads for 180gr. bullets is right on point. Hodgdon starts with 34.2 @2274 fps and max is 38.0 @ 2503 fps. The max load has a listed pressure of 48,000 PSI.

Their 200gr. data with A1680 starts 32.0 @ 2096 fps and max of 35.5 @ 2327 fps. Max load pressure is 49,100 PSI.

The second best powder velocity wise is CFE BLK.

It’s a natural for the Henry SS, but they may be holding off to sell more of the lever actions, or to not compete with the current .350 and .450 rifle now in the supply chain. I filled out a contact form asking about it. We shall see…..

Is anyone else making a rifle now?

CVA should beat them to the punch and offer a Scout V2 20" take down stainless. I'd be a buyer for that.

Got a response from Henry today about the SS .360. It’s coming, but there’s no scheduled date.

So is this "better " than the 357MAX factoring in
dies and brass and load development and such
when using for deer and pork from what you've
seen so far?

Only better for those who don't reload and don't care to pay the premium for custom loaded ammo. It's hard to beat $30/box for factory ammo. I bought two boxes of Rem 200gr ammo just to have some factory brass. I beat the accuracy with my own handloads but the factory ammo shoots well enough for other non-discriminating hunters and occasional shooters.

Factoring in a cost of rechambering ($175) would it be cheaper to buy a SS 357 Magnum?

I can't get past the low comb stocks Henry puts on their SS rifles. It would be different if they offered other stocks.

Ok thanks
I remember all the experiments done
with the maximum, and finally did the
357mag H&R I'd bought for my nephew
since he'd grown up enough to handle
something bigger. I'd taken deer with
it as a regular 357mag and with my
Marlin 1894 long before that and knew
that worked fine. I rechambered the H&R
and shot a buck with it as a maximum.
I surely wasn't expecting the damage
it did to the deer. I can't think of anything
that would walk away from a good hit
from the maximum
Thanks again for all the info
Good Luck with your experiments

I have found bullet selection to be critical with any pistol cartridge fired from a carbine/rifle barrel. My son shot a black bear in June with his Maxi loaded with a 180gr Barnes TSX FN bullet. The bullet produced very little damage and the bear ran 265yds before expiring. That bullet is probably better suited for the 360 Buckhammer and larger cartridges. Next time he'll use a 180gr Fury TN bullet. It hits hard and will most likely cause more damage but we'd rather have that than chase a bear in a swamp again.

I've only "caught " the one projectile in a deer.
A 357 mag from the Handi before it became
a maximum. The deer lurched to turn around
and look behind it, and the shot went through
the ball and socket on the entry side, and hit
the ball and socket on the off side and smashed
it to gibbles and was in the middle of a mess
of red goo and bone chips. It was all together,
but came out in pieces

( Sierra 8340?)

Ha
Meant to post using the 180gr XTP in the maxi
and strayed off on the magnum somehow

That is an issue, no doubt about it, and shared by most lever actions as well. Maybe the CVA is better, but I’ve never really handled one. I have a Bear Creek pad on my .357, which currently has a Bushnell Lil P prism sight. The pad helps, but still doesn’t give the solid cheek-weld I get with my bolt actions. For those whose eyes permit their use, something like a Skinner peep (which likely needs a replacement front sight as well) would be a good choice. After slumming a pre-64 .270 for 30+ years, I have the “chin weld” concept down pretty good.