For several years I have fancied a Contender Carbine barrel in .357 Herrett. I finally broke down and placed an order with E. Arthur Brown for a 21" tapered barrel. They quote 6-9 months so we'll see how long it takes. In the meantime, I have proper headstamped brass coming from Quality Cartridge.
That is a long wait and I hope it's worth it for you. Being a fan of the late Bob Milek I've always had the itch to get something like that. Sounds like a neat project.
I suspect it won't take that long, but I'd rather they over estimate than under. Gunsmiths and taxidermists are notorious for promising sh*t too soon and then making excuses later....
I read Milek’s too. The Herrett 30 and 357 were the ultimate according to him, but I wound up with a 35 Rem Super 14. HOWEVER soon after my purchase Milek actually wrote an article on how the 35 Rem might be as good a choice (he understandably would not admit ‘better’) as the 357 Herrett.
All that to say that even after enjoying handloading and shooting the 35 Rem, I still had an itch for the 357 Herrett, and grabbed a used Super 14 barrel and dies when they popped up for sale. Though about it and decided it was possible to fireforming cases by shooting 30/30 rounds in the 357 Herrett chamber, and then trimming to Herrett length. I’m not saying to do it as it’s a waste of 30/30 ammo, but I had to try it out of curiosity. Worked fine. I’ve heard “curiosity killed the cat”, but I’ve tried itand our cat is still fine- lol.
Years later I bought an MGM 18” SS bull barrel in 357 Maximum. It in a Contender walnut rifle stock made what has to be one of the best ‘tree stand’ woods rifle there is.
Looking forward to reading your 357 Herrett posts!
Congrats on the project. The Herrett seems like a cool cartridge. I keep meaning to order a 7-30 Waters carbine barrel but haven’t made the jump mainly because of not liking long wait times.
I first read about the .357 Herrett in an article Milek wrote for Petersen's in the early "80s. He was hunting Alaskan moose with it and shot at a big bull at least two times. If memory serves, the first shot was in the rear ham and he flung another shot at him as he went into the thick stuff. His partner or guide ended up bringing it down with a .338. After it was over, they shot the pistol to check the zero and it was either badly off or missed completely. He stated that "Another scope had succumbed to the punishing recoil of the .357 Herrett." He talked like it ate scopes for breakfast. I was probably no more than 12 at the time and remember thinking what a cannon the .357 Herrett must have been. I also remember Milek stating (paraphrasing) "The bull was mine, no doubt about it, but I was not proud of the shot placement." Even though I had never even killed a deer yet, I remember thinking I'd have a hard time "claiming" that moose that I crippled and my buddy actually brought down. I guess it was the "first blood" line of thought, but I'd still feel that way today. I loved Milek though.
Another article some years later by Dick Metcalf compared various handgun cartridges for deer. He stated that the .357 Herrett was "just too much gun for the average deer."
Once I finally got to the age of understanding ballistics, I realized the .357 Herrett was less gun than a .35 Rem, which has never been considered overpowering. But those early writings stuck with me and I always thought about the .357 Herrett. I'm a .35 nut in general anyway, but I'm just not a serious enough handgun hunter and finally decided I'd likely get more actual use out of a Contender Carbine so chambered than out of the pistol.
Thanks to Milek I got on the Contender Bandwagon.
Ended up with 30 Herret, 35 Herret and 357 Maximum with 10 inch barrels and 35 Remington with a 14 & 16 inch barrels. And several other calibers not relevant to this discussion.
My favorite of the lot was the 357 Max.; Could use 357 Mag carbide dies for reloading and it had plenty of power, close but not quite up to the 35 Rem.
I met a T/C Smith at a gunshow in Arizona... Van Horn(?) who had the neatest little T/C carbine with a full stock over his shoulder. Talk about a handy little rifle.
All of the T/C's are gone now, and Milek's only lasting impact on me are my 250 Savage's, which he wrote highly of.
Jerry
If anyone needs dies for .357 Herrett, I got 'em.