NOE 360-180 cast in 357 brass

[donhuff]

The way I have my 357 16" Rossi set up makes it so reliable that I actually shoot better with it than my 20" Winchester 94. What can I say, it just feels right. I'm sure many Rossi shooters feel the same way. I actually don't shoot paper anymore, only steel now. The heavy wfn at 1800 fps still makes a pretty good "clang" on the target, even at 200. Heavy crosswinds are another matter... Next summer I really need to see what it does (and velocity too) at 250-300 yards.

Be sure to let us know what it does at 250-300. I keep saying that I'm going to find a range where I can shoot mine that far, but I just keep going to my usual 100 yard range instead.

[donhuff]

GG,

Now you have THE powder, get to loading. But you really have to shoot them sometime or other.

[GasGuzzler]

It's nearly impossible to organize a shooting trip. I'll do my best but baseball starts soon...

[cdmajesty]

[quote="donhuff"

Be sure to let us know what it does at 250-300. I keep saying that I'm going to find a range where I can shoot mine that far, but I just keep going to my usual 100 yard range instead.[/quote]




I did some shooting today. I tested the MP 358-180-RF (similar to the NOE 360180). Actual weight of bullet this time is 192 grains in it's solid configuration. .28 meplat. Plain based gas checks installed. 16 grains Lilgun. Rifle wears a Lyman 66 peep on the receiver.

Muzzle velocity this time was 1785 fps. I didn't chrono at 100 yards this time. Last time I got around 1400 fps. I did chrono at 200 & 300 yards. 1156 at 200 and 1055 at 300. My last two 3-shot groups at 300 were 6.5" and 5.5". I would say this load continues to amaze me (and the rifle too).

BC's are approximately:

.17 between muzzle and 100 yards
.19 between 100 & 200 yards
.3 between 200 & 300 yards

Hope this helps.

[donhuff]

cd,

So if you loose about the same fps on the 1785 load, you ought to be doing around 1400 fps @ 300 yards. That's pretty impressive, and should make a good hunting load for sure.

A 6 inch group at 300 is really pretty good too I think. It would be nice to have a 3 inch at 300 but hey, it's a lever gun, and 6 inches is good enough to do anything that type of gun was intended to do.

[cdmajesty]

Don,

Not sure what you meant by this statement:

"So if you loose about the same fps on the 1785 load, you ought to be doing around 1400 fps @ 300 yards. "

The 1400 fps was at 100 yards. Velocity bleeds off really fast when muzzle velocities are up there a little bit. I chronographed one shot fired offhand at maybe around 30 yards (was experimenting with something), which registered at 1633. That's quite a drop in speed from 1785 over such a short distance.

I have no doubt that my rifle would do better with optics, but that's not what I want to do. And yes, I fully agree that the accuracy, even with peeps, is good enough for anything that anyone would reasonably want to accomplish.

Perhaps we could even extend that into the unreasonable. After all, would a deer hit correctly with a 190 grain slug at 1000-1100 fps, with .28 meplat and excellent expansion characteristics from the 9 bhn alloy, not quickly succumb? Sure it would. Well, I don't hear many people calling the 357 magnum a 200-300 yard deer cartridge. But, in the right hands (not mine) it is clearly capable of more then just those boring shots inside 100 yards that most people talk about.

[donhuff]

Sorry, I got mixed up on the numbers. I see it correctly now. 700 fps loss @ 300 yards sounds more reasonable. I was daydreaming or something.

I know what you mean about it being plenty of power at 300. Lots of people talk about how strong the 357 is in a hand gun shooting a 190 grain bullet 1100-1200fps at the muzzle. Saying it's great for hunting. But then out of a rifle and at 300 yards where it has slowed down to 1100, for some reason it does not look so good???

[cdmajesty]

But then out of a rifle and at 300 yards where it has slowed down to 1100, for some reason it does not look so good???

Yeah, LOL!!

[GasGuzzler]

I don't wanna eat 1100 FPS 187.36754 grains of lead. EVER