Reeder Custom Guns - 357 Rem Max

Mr. Reeder, I will acquire a well used Ruger Blackhawk in 357 Remington Maximum soon. I know that there were only little over 11,000 of them made and that many of them were used to make custom Big Bores by excellent smiths such as yourself. I am also aware of the frame & forcing cone cutting associated with this model and the 158 grain ammo.

My question: Is the frame & forcing cone cutting as serious as I have been told? I like the idea of the 357 Rem Max but if these issues are that bad then I might consider having you convert it to something else. I do not plan on using "express" loads. I am interested in using it as a "magnum"

Thank you and sorry for the lengthy post.

micfly.flynn@yahoo.com

Metal from the frame fitting the over sized cylinders than the flame cutting ever goes. It is just not a thing to be considered over

I own 2 Ruger 357 Max revolvers. Straight from the Hornady manual Starline cases, ww spm primers, H-110 18.5 gr., Hornady 180gr. HP XTP,about 1450 from my 10.5" gun. Killed a small whitetail with it this year, one shot.

a buck in northern NH with it, if I am not mistaken.

I wished I had bought three or four of them.

One of the gun writers wrote up about it as if it ruined the gun and made it dangerous, which turned out to be totally false. The flame cutting took out not much more than a human hair in depth. Custom gunsmiths take out 20 times that much when we open the cylinder window up for a larger diameter cylinder. So forget the flame cutting BS and enjoy the gun.

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OK Thank you! That's great new. Found a lot of conflicting write-ups on the issue so I went to you since you've built three of the guns I've owned and I trust "the devil I know" no offense intended. Thanks again and have a wonderful day

I sent fat ton of 125 gr JSPs down range and never cut through the top strap. Supposedly light bullets were a no-no for that gun. I never had an issue.

what kind of performance where you getting from 125s? Im looking to load 180 - 200 gr

HEAVIER 180-200 GR. BULLETS AT .357 MAG/158 VELOCITIES.

8-3/8" and rechambered it to .357 Max. I had intended to play with all brass hot shot shells. The .357 Max. with 4227 will push a 180 gr. JHP easily to 1700 fps.

That's a hand blister in a 2.5 Lb. TC!

.. was in a single shot. Seating the bullet way out gave you just enough extra capacity to really make that bullet go. I had a H&R re chambered and cut to 16". Those 180 SSPs were a bag of hammers on a deer.

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.. I didn't have a chrono back then and was just lucky enough to have had the gun. I shot 110 HPs out of that gun too. I used a stout load of 296. I pushed forward .1 grain at the time until the cases got a little sticky and then backed off until it got accurate. I wanted to carry the gun more often hunting so I had the barrel turned down to 6 inches. Then I ended up trading for a new 44 mag Blackhawk. I did shoot a 357 max 16" single shot rifle. I pushed 180 SSPs hard out of that thing. I can tell you that no powder worked better for me than H110/296 for accuracy or speed. Lil' Gun was a real close 2nd. The best bullet for anything I shot was a 158 gr jacketed flat point. I did my first handgun hunting with that revolver. Had no idea what I really wanted out of a handgun back then. I don't miss it, but I probably should have kept it.

Thank you all for the info. I am getting very excited now to get my hands on the pistol. Really looking trying out the 180+ grain loads. Thanks again and wish you all the best. Happy hunting

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