T/C .357 Rem Max with JP Howitzer muzzle break

Finally got the scope mounted on the Super 14" .357 Rem Max barrel and got to shoot it for the first time with the new muzzle break. Barely kicks at all now but the muzzle blast can be stunning especially with heavy charges of A1680 or R7 both sparked with magnum small rifle primers.

The 180 gr FMG Sierra and 180 gr truncated cone hard cast FPGC bullets grouped really well. I need to fool with OAL and see how far from the forcing cone these bullets like to be seated for best groups. Hitting the rams this weekend and looking forward to working some more with this barrel.

oh that looks sweet that is cool that would make a kick but truck gun for coyotes and other varmins

I think it would too Dart but I mostly bust the iron with it. This will be first time shooting it with the new crown job and muzzle break installed.

I load the .357 Rem Max like a small rifle, so I bet it would make an awsome 'yote gun.

I have some 300 gr Honrady XTPs to load in it and I bet they would be pretty good on a 'yote - but I would want something with more expansion if I could get it.

I am looking for a HP boolit 180 - 200 gr .358 diameter cast out of soft WW alloy, 20-1 or near pure lead for busting 'yotes, rock chucks, prarie rats and other vermin.

All my boolits for this round are hard as a woodpecker's head and tend to punch a 35 cal hole through the critter rather than expand.

Muzzle blast is a bit severe on the sides with the howitzer style break. I had to move on the indoor range as I was flame spraying my neighbors.

lol yea id say they wouldnt like that to much! the 357 is a heck of a round you can do just about anything with is from wad cutting to deer thumping lol thats a keeper you got there i like it alot!

Here is the ammo I was shooting today at the rams. I did fairly well despite the wind and the rain.

A .357 Rem mag flanked by two .357 Rem Max rounds below. The Sierra 180 gr FMJ is to the left - the 180 hard cast truncated cone FPGC is to the right.

The Sierra sits on a case full of RL7 - the TCFPGC sits on a similar compressed charge of A1680.

Did not see much difference on the rams or in the gun in difference between the two loads.

Can you shoot either of the two in your gun? How about 38 spl

You can shoot all three - 38 spcl, .357 mag and .357 rem max (AKA super mag) but accuracy suffers a tad with the shorter rounds in the max chamber.

Shooting even hot loaded .357 mag in the max with the muzzle break is like shooting a .22 LR pistol but a lot louder. Never thought of a .357 as loud until you shoot one in this barrel.

Only thing about this type of muzzle break is you can not shoot shotshells out of it because the shot will scatter in the brake's baffles and go all out the sides rather than the front.

what kind of velocities are you getting with the 180 grainers? Also was that a factory chambered barrel or custom? I've got a T/C in .357 mag and the maximum has always interested me.

I do not have a chrony to verify but according to the drop lines in my Leupold scope and the loading manual, it is supposed to shoot either bullet at about 1,813 fps.

Must be close to that because the rate of drop out to 300 yards was spot on for me hitting the rams today.

This was an old factory Super 14" .357 mag barrel that I had Mike Bellm in Grants Pass OR ream out to max and cut a custom throat. He does a lot of these .357 mag to max rechambers and charges right around $100 but his service is SLOW but does awsome work IMHO.

E A Brown installed the JP Howitzer muzzle break and the 3 ring 6 screw Keylock sight base.

For those interested in this round, here is a link to an article from Handloader #168 about a fellow that took his 10" .357 mag T/C barrel and had Mike bore the barrel to max length.

This article is from a few years ago (1994 IIRC) but does have some great information on the cartridge and compares it to some other cartridges as well.

http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/item.php?pid=1185&

Don't own a break action gun but there is some good information on his site. Thanks for sharing the link scorage!

Hey Scorge....If you ever have the chance, Take a little footage shooting that bad boy. You would not believe how much the concussion hits the camera. I was shooting my CETME/HK yesterday and the concussion on the camera was wicked...and it is only a two port brake. I can only imagine what that brake would do.

i second that request id love to see that bad boy in action!

I convinced the wife to come with me to the indoor range and attempt to film me while I shoot this barrel. Let's see how this comes out.

Neither of us have attempted to film me shooting this cannon - so this will be a learning experience for us.

When we get the shooting filmed we will attempt to get it posted here in the next couple of days. I have been trying to get her to come to the range for months now - and your request has finally managed to do that - so I must thank you all.

As requested here is a short video of me shooting this barrel at the local indoor range.

Thanks to my friend William who came with me to shoot the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmIYO3bEPGU

Bad A%^ weapon Steve. ^5

Thanks guys I am glad the vid came out well.

This was my first attempt at a video post - so was kinda nervous.

The muzzle flash was not as bad as I imagined even with a case full of A1680 or RL7. I did not see any difference between the small rifle bench rest, small rifle, and small rifle magnum primers.

The A1680 seems to burn a little cleaner than the RL7.

That was a great video, I enjoyed it. I also placed in down in the youtube section so it will be in the video library

Thanks DW, I saw that you put it in the YouTube section - thanks again.

Two thumbs up scourge! Great job on the video. That is one sweet looking hand cannon