357 Rossi citadel 16.5 in barrel

[Blr243]

We have fair bit of stuff goin on up here flood related so it’s easy for us to forget Sydney got flooded too. All goin well I’ll get out for a week hunting mid June so sight my rifle in then

[mickb]

what ammo you looking to try first mate?

[Blr243]

S and b 158 factory handgun ammo 15 /20 yrs ago I got rid of all my 357 reload g gear back then I was using xtp pills . If this ammo not work properly I’ll have to start reloading again to take advantage of hotter loads the rifle will be safe with

[mickb]

I havent tried the S&B stuff yet but 158 grains of anything should do what a 357 is meant to. For reloading I assume you have pistol powders already on hand mate as there is almost none out there. Grab some small pistol primers while you can too. As to load levels the Rossi 92 is probably the strongest of all platforms. It will do any pistol and rifle data out there without breaking a sweat. Interesting read on the max power of rossi 357 vs other carbines here. https://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco ... rature.htm
paco kelly the author pushes things pretty hard but he knows a lot about leverguns and is still kicking in his 80's with all his fingers intact

[Blr243]

Thanks for that Mick I will look it up tonight.... bloodypistol powder. That’s an issue for sure I have red dot bullseye and trail boss but can’t imagine the latter to be any good. Plenty of time anyway before I have to get serious about loading for it.

[mickb]

Blr243, good powders for economic shooting foreever but all too fast for full power in 357. (he ideal powders are stuff like AR2205, Alliant 2400, lilgun, 300-MP etc)

Of the three bullseye is the best bet and will at least get some sort of velocity.

Complete 357 Load Manual
https://archive.org/details/CompleteRel ... Magnum2004

Pistol barrel data. figure on extra couple hundred fps in a carbine.

Page 69-70
Alliant data- Bullseye- 5.6" barrel.
125gn JHP, 8.4 grains, 1550 fps
158 JSP, 6.9 grains, 1250fps.
180JHP, 6.3 grains, 1135fps

Page 22, Sierra Bullet data, 6" barrel
140 gn JHC, 7.8 grains, 1200fps
158JHP 7.2 grains, 1150fps

Factory 158 ammo will probably run about 1700-1800fps from a carbine by comparison so if you want full power buying some is the way to go. The bullseye power loads will still kill within range limitations, Very economical at any rate( 1000 odd reloads for a pound of powder)

[Blr243]

Thanks again for that link mick. I encourage anyone loading for a 357 lever to read it .. there’s a ton of very useful info based on real world experience and data for different powders

[mickb]

S and b 158 factory handgun ammo 15 /20 yrs ago I got rid of all my 357 reload g gear back then I was using xtp pills . If this ammo not work properly I’ll have to start reloading again to take advantage of hotter loads the rifle will be safe with

Mate I just tested the 357 S&B 158grains and it was a bit low powered for factory stuff. Chronying from a 20" barrel it got 1405fps average. Full powered 357 should be more like 1700-1800 from a carbine barrel.

This stuff must only be running 1000-1050fps from pistol barrels. I knew it was light even before I checked the chrony as it felt and sounded just a bit more than stout 38 special+P loads. Im sure it would kill similar or better than such loads. But if you want the full effect of 357 you might want to try something else.

I might chrony some of the cheap Geco stuff next.

[Blr243]

Thanks for that mick. Your report is nuff to make me just go get some dies and roll my own but then I thought bloody pistol primers. Are they hard to get , rare or impossible in bris ATM?

[mickb]

Mate not sure about primers in Bris as Im further north. I know cleavers down there was selling a lot of the 357 factory Geco158 grain JHP cheap. I'll buy a box up here and see how they chrony.