I am planning to have amy 357 mag barrell rechambered to 357 max. I thought there was an article here about the 357 maximum, but I cannot find it.

I am going to use this gun for an Ohio hunting trip next year. Any advise on bullets for deer would be helpful.

The 357 Max. is much better than 357 Mag. for hunting. Hornady 180 XTP would be great, Nosler also makes a good bullet.

My opinion differs from most but I prefer a 158 grain FP-XTP in my 10" Max. It flies flat to 150+ yards and smacks 'em hard. I don't like hollow points as the Max flies 'em a little faster than what manufacturers recommend. Any 150 - 200 grain soft point will do deer out beyond 100 yards.

Steve.....there is an article about the Maximum on here somewhere. I can't find it either......and I wrote it a couple years back. Maybe Gary can dig it up and post the link.

Thanks Dan I appreciate it.

Nosler Partition Gold 180 or Speer 170 Gold Dot. Had a Ruger SRM & regret selling it. No worry of over expansion at closer ranges.
Sorry I was thinking revolvers. An a aqiaintance of mine used Nosler Ballistic tips in his Contender but I don't remember the weight. Worked pretty well though. Don't know if Hornady makes an appropriate SSP bullet.

Hornady does make a SSP 180 Interlock. You'd have to find out it's velocity window. Bet somone here has used it already. Probably in a 35 Rem. Gotta be one who's tried it in a 357 Max. Left my Hornady manual at work.

I love my 15" Encore .357 Max, with 180 XTP Hornady's it kill's deer as dead as need be. Learn too put your bullet where it belongs and you will enjoy much success

I've used the XTP 180 gr., the Rem. 180 gr. jhp, Nosler 180, and more recently the Hornady SSPB.
In my 12.5 in. MGM encore barrel the SSPB is most accurate and that is with 26.5 gr. of 1680 powder. I have also used H110 and N120 with xtp's and rem.
They all shoot/group good, they just have different points of impact.
I have shot the Rems and xtps at 200 yards and for me and my abilities I was very satisfied(3-4" 3 shot groups) I did have 2-- 1 1/2 " groups with n120 with xtp's. (Finally got a shipment in so I will look at this load in the future)


I spoke to one of the techs at Hornady about the SSPB and asked at what minimum speed it would still expand-he said 1400 fps. With the rifles in 357 max that is not a problem. With the encore pistol that is about 160-200 yards with 1680(based on listed velocities, shorter barrel and sierra suite calculations)

Here are a few links with much better information than I have.

http://357maximum.com/developing-a-load/

http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/index.php?cid=121

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell357Max.htm

http://www.lapua.com/index.php?id=1195

http://www.accuratepowder.com/loaddata_caliber_handgun_standard_357cal.htm