Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .357 Maximum.

I have been on a lookout for a T/C Contender rifle barrel in .357 Maximum for my son to hunt deer with.

He is 7 yrs old and will have his very own tag to fill this year for the first time.

The problem is I cannot find a carbine length/rifle barrel in that particular cartridge and even at that supposedly the factory barrels have a stupidly long throat/forcing cone...

I have though come up with some alternatives....1. buy a .38 special barrel form edst/c's for $255+14 shipping and get it rechambered in the max....providing Mike Bellm gets back with me this can be done (I think its near $100) and number 2. just order a barrel from MGM for $350 and get the twist I want and barrel length I want.

As far as price goes its pretty much a wash but just wondering what way would be the better way to go.

And Also was wondering what the twist would be on the .38 Special barrel....I would imagine its the same as the Magnum or Maximum?

I think I know which way I will go but was curious as to what others thought.

I guess I'd just order what I wanted, but you might also keep on the lookout for a Handirifle chambered for .357 Max. I have seen a couple of them go through Gunbroker in the past year or so.

i'd go with option 2. get what you want for only marginally more $$

Easy answer. MGM

Kinda what I figured.
And pretty much what I figure I would do.

Hows this sound?

Remember he is 7 yrs old and has only 1 hand so....

The barrel will be 18" long, factory taper, with a 1-14 twist in matte finish. D&T'd for a scope mount.

It will solely shoot pistol bullets such as .38 special and .357 magnum loads and of course the max.

I will have it at .357" for this not .358" like I have seen some do.

Wonder how long their turn around time is? Hmm.

Just got am email from Mike...WOW! thats a lot to consider in rechambering the .38 bbl to a max!

I think I would be better off in an MGM.

Now to scrounge some $$$$$ up.

And according to MGM's website, their delivery time is 4 weeks.

But their email just said 6-7 weeks.

I have had MGM build quite a few barrels, including a couple of barrels in .357max, and i would definitely lean towards having them build a new barrel as opposed to a rechamber of a factory tube. In the event of a bad crown from TC or some other unknown factor, could be a problem....rechambering will void the factory warranty, and Bellm would not be responsible for something he never touched like a factory crown.

The last few barrels MGM made me were around a 4-6week production time.

i shoot a pair of .357max carbines, one is a stainless 18" taper that was a special run by the TCA collectors association. makes a nice light low recoil carbine , with bullet weights up to 180gr or therabouts, you'll get around 90% of the performance of the .35remmy, but with about less recoil. it is set up with ghost ring sights as my "walkin" gun for checking cameras, etc, never know when something might pop up that needs shot.

It is properly throated & chambered...my other one is a 22" taper, also stainless, a TC custom shop barrel, and has a sloppy toilet bowl throat typical of lots of TC straight wall chambers, but it still shoots fine, i scoped it with a 2x7 nikon.

pretty sure both my carbines are 1-14. i also shoot a 16" .357max by bullberry as a pistol, it is 1-16twist, handles weights to 200gr fine. (never tried anything over that).

1-14 was TC's "standard" twist on most .35bbl's.

here's a decent article on load data:
http://shootingwithhobie.blogspot.com/2006/02/blog-post_01.html

with a tapered profile barrel, an 18" shorty will weigh in at a about 5# unscoped when wearing the tupperware stocks on the G1 frame.

Hope the info is of use..

G~

Thx FyrepowrX, that info just pretty much mirrors my way of thinking.

Appreciate it.

Personally, I would just buy a .35 rem barrel and load it down to whatever power level you desire.

Weagle

I assume he is going the Maximum route for his son due to the Indiana regulations.

I did a rechamber on an H&R and it shoots great. The only problem (to some) is the 1-18 3/4 twist it has. The mgm route sounds like the best way to go with a 1-14 twist...

Do yourself a favor and get the MGM,thay are great people and quality is second to none.

Indiana regs do not allow that cartridge.

Tom;

Get me an address, and I'll get you T/C's old reloading manual for that (and a bunch of other) cartridges.

For real?

Thx man, I will send you a PM.

Duh, "for real"...

Get me the addy, and it will be to you by the end of next week.

I see. That makes sense.

Next question..

I have been reading where people are reloading the max with magnum dies.

I have a set of .38 special dies (RCBS #18306) and was wondering...couldnt I reload the max with these dies?

Obviously I would not be able to ram the whole case into the die but what would be stopping me? short stroking so to speak.

Also I think for the most part (for deer hunting at least) I am going to load either the Hornady 158 grain XTP's or the 180 grain XTP's, my die set has the SWC seater plug...will this not work with this bullet? I'm thinking not.

I can change out the seater plug but which one would I use? I guess what I'm asking is...is there one that is bullet specific for that bullet or would one that is used for like bullets be fine?

+1 on everything Fyrpower said. I use an 18" 357 max Contender carbine too. It's a factory barrel and the only thing I would change would be going to a bull barrel because it's little light in the muzzle for my taste. I'm using a Highplains laminate stock though instead of rynite which may contribute somewhat to the light muzzle feel.