Anyone play with a short"er" barrel 357 Maximum?

[Eric in NC]

Looking at rechambering a 9" encore 357 Mag barrel to 357 Max. Anyone have any experience with one in a tube this short? Worth it? Or is it a small increase for just a whole lot more blast?

I know most of them are on 12-15" barrels - just looking for something a bit more handy (open sights etc.).

[Fat Albert]

Almost everything you want to know about the 357 Max
http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/index.php?cid=121

[gotcha]

Here's a couple examples from Speer #11 manual. Ruger security six, .357 mag, 6" bbl 158 gr hp. 1200 to 1300 fps. T/C .357 max 14" bbl same bullet 1900 to 2100 fps. Not really fair to compare a revolver & its shorter BBL & pressure robbing cylinder gap to the T/C. I shoot the .357 max in T/C bbls 10", 14" & 23". All group 1" or so @ 100 yds (scoped) even w/ bores that look like they were lapped w/ a brick to somewhat hide the chatter marks :D The Speer 158 HP over H-4227 is devastating on deer in the 50 to 125 yd range. I've never shot one further than 125 yds w/ this cartridge. The 23" carbine will group .5 to .75 @ 100 yds. Sorry I don't have a more realistic comparison of velocity. But, judging by knock down power on IHMSA steel targets the Max is a whole lot more effective than the mag in T/C bbls. of equivalent length. Beware of the Max in revolvers. It has a nasty habit of gas cutting into back straps. Hope this helped some, Dale

[Grit #1]

Wonder why no one ever chambered a lever gun for the MAX? I think it would make a great carbine.
Best regards,
Grit

[Eric in NC]

Thanks for the info - I was aware of the Bellm site but he doesn't address short barrels (and seems a wee bit less than objective...).

Gotcha - do you have any chrony data from the 10" barrel?

[gotcha]

Sorry Eric, I don't. Fellas I shot Silouette w/ claimed 1700 to 1750 w/ 180 gr. speer TMJ. Don't think they're available anymore but would slam 200 meter rams to the ground back in the day. H-4227 worked best for me. Nowhere near the flash & stiff recoil of 296. Loaded 19.0 to 20.5 grs & settled on 19.5 grs. Got best accy. w/ .358 dia. bullets ( I told you it had a rough bore :D) The .357 max used a 1 in 10 twst & stabilized the larger bullets well, even in the 10" bbls. I've always found the T/C's inherently accurate & I feel the tapered leade contributed to centering the bullet on the bore. I tend to agree Belm isn't selling anything that T/C hadn't already done & would guess most of the "improvement" coming from match grade BBL's. I've seen no evidence of forcing cone "erosion" on my D/W .357 max. BTW I've got a pretty good supply of .357 max nickeled brass if you're having difficulties finding some. best regards, Dale