School me on hunting with .357mag

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School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by MtnMan » 03 Dec 2021, 7:30 pm

I am taking an interest in an Alfa Proj .357mag carbine with 12" barrel.

If I was to get one I want to have a good hunting load suitable for pigs, goats, fallow, etc inside 60m. what weight and style of bullet is good for this at velocities achieved in a 12" barrel? what powder etc? I have read that small rifle primers can be used. After some premium bullet options and a few cheaper options would be good.

I would like to make a soft load for plinking with .38 special too. trailboss? looking for CHEAP bullets for this to allow volume plinking.

I briefly looked into casting and loading bullets but that maybe a rabbit hole I don't want to enter at this stage.

I view the Alfa as a compact handy gun to have on a Quad, behind the seat of the ute or in the boat or canoe. small enough to strap to the pack while bowhunting too if I feel like mixing it up.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by InisBineest » 03 Dec 2021, 7:35 pm

I've owned the very rifle you are talking about, but with the longer barrel. First of all, AWESOME rifle:) But... loud and lots of blast onto the arm and face out of the cylinder gap. Its ok, but ear/eye pro and long sleeves are needed, or it will draw blood:D

I ran mine with 38 special cast loads over AP50N, worked it out that the most expensive component was the primer, so all up, something like 12c a round at the time.

I can't speak for its efficiency hunting, but i can say that if the round is suitable you're going to have a lot of fun in the scrub:) Assuming a hot loaded 357 mag is good on pigs and such at that range, the firearm itself would be most suitable.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by Blr243 » 03 Dec 2021, 8:03 pm

I only ever used Hornady xtp or sierras I prefeeered the faster driven 125 weight over the 158. Strictlypig stalking. Never did anything else with it
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by MtnMan » 03 Dec 2021, 8:31 pm

As for the noise and blast of the Alfa, hearing/eye protection is a given while plinking etc but is it that bad as to be unusable without hearing or eye protection as would be encountered in an unexpected shot opportunity in a hunting situation?
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by womble » 04 Dec 2021, 3:32 am

Hold it away from your face like a pistol. Because that’s what it is.
And still wear glasses at least.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by InisBineest » 04 Dec 2021, 9:19 pm

MtnMan wrote:As for the noise and blast of the Alfa, hearing/eye protection is a given while plinking etc but is it that bad as to be unusable without hearing or eye protection as would be encountered in an unexpected shot opportunity in a hunting situation?


Umm, i would always wear ear pro at least. The amount of blast I got out of the side of mine was normal (according to those who shoot revolvers regularly) but enough to come back and hit me in the face every other shot. With practice, and eye pro, it was fine, but it did have others shooting it for the first time flinching a bit. The times i shot it without long sleeves, i always ended up with flecks of soot and debris imbedded in my arm, often drawing blood in an unspectacular fashion. If any of that were to hit you in the eye, it wouldn't be good.

As for noise, that is up to you. I like my hearing unscathed, and at 30ish, its still pretty good compared to the teenagers i teach (we did a class hearing test last week, i was still keeping up with them;). But, how you treat your ears is totally up to you. It might not bother you as much.

And you can hold it away from your face like a revolver... but then all you have is a heavy and unwieldly revolver. I preferred to grip it with both hands on the pistol grip with the stock shouldered. That way long sleeves became irrelevant, as the blast was away from my arms. Still had eye pro though.

Your mileage may vary, but that was how i preferred to run mine. Still an awesome rifle. I only sold mine when i saw the writing on the wall for pistol powder. Now i run a 300 blk pump action.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by johnboy357 » 06 Dec 2021, 2:18 pm

Hand loading for a .357 is going to be your first issue with very little or no suitable powder available. No AP100 or AP70 - you might be lucky and manage to find a tin of AR2205 or may be some 2400. if you do find something then most reloading manuals have suitable loads for the 357 mag. For projectiles I would suggest you go with any of the name brand 158 JHP's for hunting anything other than very thin skinned game as penetration is the name of the game with pigs,goats, small deer etc.
Suggest you buy a box or two of factory 158grain JHP's just to give you some idea of muzzle blast and side blast from the barrel / cylinder gap. As for a plinking load you will find the same problem with powder availability - there is none. Maybe try a box of factory .38 specials.
Overall not a good time to be buying anything in a pistol calibre
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by InisBineest » 06 Dec 2021, 5:00 pm

johnboy357 wrote:Hand loading for a .357 is going to be your first issue with very little or no suitable powder available. No AP100 or AP70 - you might be lucky and manage to find a tin of AR2205 or may be some 2400. if you do find something then most reloading manuals have suitable loads for the 357 mag. For projectiles I would suggest you go with any of the name brand 158 JHP's for hunting anything other than very thin skinned game as penetration is the name of the game with pigs,goats, small deer etc.
Suggest you buy a box or two of factory 158grain JHP's just to give you some idea of muzzle blast and side blast from the barrel / cylinder gap. As for a plinking load you will find the same problem with powder availability - there is none. Maybe try a box of factory .38 specials.
Overall not a good time to be buying anything in a pistol calibre


Second that, that's why I got rid of mine earlier:(
Bought a 300blk and how 2205 is going the way of dodo as well:(
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by bladeracer » 06 Dec 2021, 5:38 pm

InisBineest wrote:
johnboy357 wrote:Hand loading for a .357 is going to be your first issue with very little or no suitable powder available. No AP100 or AP70 - you might be lucky and manage to find a tin of AR2205 or may be some 2400. if you do find something then most reloading manuals have suitable loads for the 357 mag. For projectiles I would suggest you go with any of the name brand 158 JHP's for hunting anything other than very thin skinned game as penetration is the name of the game with pigs,goats, small deer etc.
Suggest you buy a box or two of factory 158grain JHP's just to give you some idea of muzzle blast and side blast from the barrel / cylinder gap. As for a plinking load you will find the same problem with powder availability - there is none. Maybe try a box of factory .38 specials.
Overall not a good time to be buying anything in a pistol calibre


Second that, that's why I got rid of mine earlier:(
Bought a 300blk and how 2205 is going the way of dodo as well:(


I've seen AR2207/H4198 load data for BLK with heavier bullets, might be more readily available than AR2205.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by InisBineest » 07 Dec 2021, 6:43 am

bladeracer wrote:
InisBineest wrote:
johnboy357 wrote:Hand loading for a .357 is going to be your first issue with very little or no suitable powder available. No AP100 or AP70 - you might be lucky and manage to find a tin of AR2205 or may be some 2400. if you do find something then most reloading manuals have suitable loads for the 357 mag. For projectiles I would suggest you go with any of the name brand 158 JHP's for hunting anything other than very thin skinned game as penetration is the name of the game with pigs,goats, small deer etc.
Suggest you buy a box or two of factory 158grain JHP's just to give you some idea of muzzle blast and side blast from the barrel / cylinder gap. As for a plinking load you will find the same problem with powder availability - there is none. Maybe try a box of factory .38 specials.
Overall not a good time to be buying anything in a pistol calibre


Second that, that's why I got rid of mine earlier:(
Bought a 300blk and how 2205 is going the way of dodo as well:(


I've seen AR2207/H4198 load data for BLK with heavier bullets, might be more readily available than AR2205.


That's the other powder I have, and your right, it is a bit easier to get, although it limits me to my heavy cast loads. 2205 is a bit more versatile for that round, I'm hoping they get back to making it sometime soon, although it appears they are reluctant to make anything usable in pistols ATM:(
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by bladeracer » 07 Dec 2021, 2:06 pm

ADI are having some sort of glitch in their production of the fastest powders. As this seems to have happened as they were switching their AP and AS ranges into combined APS powders, it's probably less a problem of getting it work and more a problem of getting it to work consistently in both, very small volume pistol barrels and very large volume shotgun barrels. I believe they actually produced some batches but discovered a problem and had to scrap tons of it?

Would've been nice if they just went back to the old AP/AS formula that worked so well for years, but I guess then covid hit and they've been flat-out just keeping up with rifle demand. Hopefully the dearth in primers will give them the break they need to get the powder lines sorted out.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by Rwd22 » 07 Dec 2021, 6:29 pm

bladeracer wrote:ADI are having some sort of glitch in their production of the fastest powders. As this seems to have happened as they were switching their AP and AS ranges into combined APS powders, it's probably less a problem of getting it work and more a problem of getting it to work consistently in both, very small volume pistol barrels and very large volume shotgun barrels. I believe they actually produced some batches but discovered a problem and had to scrap tons of it?

Would've been nice if they just went back to the old AP/AS formula that worked so well for years, but I guess then covid hit and they've been flat-out just keeping up with rifle demand. Hopefully the dearth in primers will give them the break they need to get the powder lines sorted out.


From memory 2205 is potentially in production in 2022. I think given the demand for the staple powders (2206h, 2208, 2209 etc) They cut back on making the less-frequent powders (2205, 2219, BM1 etc) I guess to keep up with demand on the others.

The APS situation is a bit of a bugger as I do alot of pistol shooting, speaking to a bloke with a background in pyrotechnics, the major issue is the environmental factor associated with producing it in the new facility, I think he mentioned they used a sort of water-conveyor system to transport it throughout the place and when the batch can't sufficiently dry with a good result, it ends up being scrapped.

Do that batch after batch and the costs would rack up. Given the run of weather events down south in the last 12 odd months, humidity effecting the batches, they probably got tired of fertilising the front garden of the factory.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by bladeracer » 07 Dec 2021, 7:37 pm

Rwd22 wrote:
bladeracer wrote:ADI are having some sort of glitch in their production of the fastest powders. As this seems to have happened as they were switching their AP and AS ranges into combined APS powders, it's probably less a problem of getting it work and more a problem of getting it to work consistently in both, very small volume pistol barrels and very large volume shotgun barrels. I believe they actually produced some batches but discovered a problem and had to scrap tons of it?

Would've been nice if they just went back to the old AP/AS formula that worked so well for years, but I guess then covid hit and they've been flat-out just keeping up with rifle demand. Hopefully the dearth in primers will give them the break they need to get the powder lines sorted out.


From memory 2205 is potentially in production in 2022. I think given the demand for the staple powders (2206h, 2208, 2209 etc) They cut back on making the less-frequent powders (2205, 2219, BM1 etc) I guess to keep up with demand on the others.

The APS situation is a bit of a bugger as I do alot of pistol shooting, speaking to a bloke with a background in pyrotechnics, the major issue is the environmental factor associated with producing it in the new facility, I think he mentioned they used a sort of water-conveyor system to transport it throughout the place and when the batch can't sufficiently dry with a good result, it ends up being scrapped.

Do that batch after batch and the costs would rack up. Given the run of weather events down south in the last 12 odd months, humidity effecting the batches, they probably got tired of fertilising the front garden of the factory.


Yep, high humidity due to the water processing is what I heard also.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by boingk » 07 Dec 2021, 10:40 pm

Sounds like an utterly stupid production method if it yeilds no usable product. Whatever the issue is I hope they sort it out soon.

Back on track, have you considered something like the 16.5 or 18" Rossi lever rifles? I know its not a revolving carbine but its probably a far more practical firearm overall. I'm pretty happy with my Citadel Levtac 92... basically a tacticool Winchester 1892.

Very short overall length, short barrel but still usable, and you won't have to worry about the muzzle blast or cylinder gap.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by bladeracer » 08 Dec 2021, 12:29 am

boingk wrote:Sounds like an utterly stupid production method if it yeilds no usable product. Whatever the issue is I hope they sort it out soon.

Back on track, have you considered something like the 16.5 or 18" Rossi lever rifles? I know its not a revolving carbine but its probably a far more practical firearm overall. I'm pretty happy with my Citadel Levtac 92... basically a tacticool Winchester 1892.

Very short overall length, short barrel but still usable, and you won't have to worry about the muzzle blast or cylinder gap.


16" Rossi Trapper would be my choice over a revolver carbine for sure. 200gm heavier and 95mm longer than the alfa, but with a nice flat profile, more capacity, better sealed action, easy top-off loading, and better performance than the 12" barrel.

I can see some novelty value to the revolver but not for a tool I'd want to be able to rely on.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by MtnMan » 08 Dec 2021, 5:34 am

great info guys. It has checked my desire for one. sounds like the cylinder gap blast makes it uncomfortable to shoot and the powder availability issues make it a less attractive option than first thought. Also the price is very steep. you're looking at around $1700! plus reloading dies etc etc
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by boingk » 08 Dec 2021, 11:10 pm

Ouch, thats a spendy toy then.

If you can ask your local stores about their 38 Special and 357 Magnum availability and pricing you could gauge how viable the whole thing might be. 38 Special is often so cheap its not worth reloading and a very good source of cheap brass. The only difference between it and 357 Mag brass is that the 357 Mag brass is slightly longer to prevent loading into older guns not rated for the higher pressures. If you seat the projectile out further to match 357 overall length you are good to go.

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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by mickb » 12 Mar 2022, 10:48 pm

I had circuit judge in 45 colt once and an alfa prof in 22LR. The handgun cartridge in a revolver carbine was a bit too much for me noise wise. Unlike a handgun which is normally arms length you have that cylinder gap nearer the ears.
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Re: School me on hunting with .357mag

Post by InisBineest » 13 Mar 2022, 5:58 am

mickb wrote:I had circuit judge in 45 colt once and an alfa prof in 22LR. The handgun cartridge in a revolver carbine was a bit too much for me noise wise. Unlike a handgun which is normally arms length you have that cylinder gap nearer the ears.


Can second that!
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