Feeding the .357 Lever

[MFortie]

Just about to pickup a new levergun in .357 and would like suggestions for it's diet.

What have you guys found to work well in a .357 levergun?

BTW, I do roll my own, so recipes would be nice for a starting point.

Thanks.

[golfish]

I like the Remington green box (UMC) 125gr JSP. It used to be under 20.00 a box before SH. The best I have seen since is 26.00..

What lever gun did you buy?

[bohoki]

i really wanted a pistol carbine for the longest time till i realized how hard it would be to clean the cast lead out of 16" of barrel

i suggest making sure you fire jacketed rounds

[357magnum]

A good load for .357 mag that is not to hot.
158gr Hornady XTP or other jacketed bullets with 14.0gr H110 and a magnum primer.
Been loading this for almost 25 years now with great results.
Fired in lever actions, bolt actions, and several revolvers.

[Tom-ADC]

Shoot the lead with in reasonable FPS so it reduces leading then gets some jacketed bullets and some Winchester 296 and let her go!!

[tmh1]

I shoot mostly 38 special in my lever guns. No need for any hollow point stuff as that shooting is just for play at the range. My Rossi R92's chamber and shoot anything that I have tried to put through them - in 38 special. Only thing I won't shoot is lead round nose.

357 is a bit of a different beast. Some (PMC Bronze comes to mind) may be a little longer than others, and doesn't feed/chamber smoothly. Critical Defense is no problem, but I only shoot that for functionality verification. Best "bang for the buck" I have found with store-bought 357 is aluminum cased Blazer: 100% effective, smooth to feed and chamber, accurate and generally well priced.

[rromeo]

I have a Rossi 92, and I have fired everything except full wadcutters. Maybe some guns are picky, but mine isn't.

[Sosoomi]

I have a few 92's and they will shoot just about any load I come up with regardless of the bullet shape or load.... from mild to wild..:-)

The one thing I have found that makes a difference is the crimp.... too little and the cartridge catches.... given recoil and the tube magazine you will want enough to ensure you aren't going to push the bullet further in than you want.... I made up a few blanks to test my crimp...mostly I use semi waddcutters and FNRP....

I love the 22gr. H110 w 125 gr. bullets....

[tommyboy619]

I've had good luck with almost every kind of round in 38 and 357. The only round my Rossi doesn't like is Fiocchi's truncated cone.

[Trapper]

I load a 158gr Hornady with 16.0gr of 296 in my Marlin

[mnh2obuff]

I have good luck with 180g XTP with either 10.8 of 2400 or 11.2 g of 296 in my Henry Big Boy.

[B Gardner]

Be careful with your reloads. My Marlin was great, but hard on the brass. I could only reload it a couple of times before I started to have case head seperations. Getting the broken shell out of the chamber was a real pain in the you know where.

[-hanko]

158 jhp's with 'Lil Gun, or H110. Unique with lighter bullets.

[cwilliams]

158gr Xtreme plated RNFP - I've had the least feeding issues with a RNFP
4.2gr Trail Boss - Nice 38spcl type load in a 357 case

I have some Sierra 180gr FPJ Match bullets loaded up over some Win 296 that I have yet to test. Should have some nice punch to those!

[Cowboy T]

I have a Rossi 92, and I have fired everything except full wadcutters. Maybe some guns are picky, but mine isn't.

Same here. I actually tried a full wadcutter in my Rossi 92, and it actually fed OK. But that's not what it normally gets fed; the wadcutters get saved for the revolver. That was just a test.

My 92's normal diet is 13.0gr of 2400 under a Lee 358-158-RF cast boolit lubed with liquid Alox. It also sometimes gets fed a light .38 Spl loading, in .38 Spl cases, with 3.9gr Bullseye under a 358-105-SWC, also with liquid Alox. This latter loading feels just about like .22LR in that rifle, and indeed it's a very good replacement load for ".22LR" practice until the supplies of actual .22 come back to normal levels.