.357 long distance

[357marlin]

I am looking into the idea of doing 200m GRCF at Bisley at the next Gallery rifle event.

Does anyone reload to shoot .357 at 200m?
What loads do you reload?

much appreciated

[enfield2band]

I have never shot my .357" at 200m but I regularly shoot it at 100m.

I use 6.8 grains of Alliant Unique with a 158 grain round nose cast bullet. I use open sights and I do not need to give it any elevation.

I also use 7.2 grains of Alliant Unique with a 150 grain hollow point bullet without any elevation. The groups on both bullets shooting unsupported is 1-1/2" to 2".

I would expect to need approximately 6 inch elevation to hit the same point at 200m. It could be more, but without actually shooting them at that distance I can only guess.

[amc577]

158 gn bullet at 1500fps...zero at 100 yards...drop of 16" at 200 yards. I have seen 38 special shot at Bisley 200 yards and all shots were within a ten inch group.
amc577

[andrew375]

I shoot .44 mag out to 600 yards ok. You need the heaviest bullet you can get at the highest velocity. With the .44 mag I use the 330gr. LBT cast from backstop lead and quenched from the mould to give a hardness of 24+ BHN and a near maximum load of N110 to give a bit over 1300 fps out of the 22 inch barrel. It's all about momentum with these rounds as you are not going to be able to use bullets with a better b.c. due to their length and lighter bullets don't have the sectional density to retain their velocity advantage for long.

Having said that, for 200 yards you will be ok with regular 158 gr. swc or flat nose bullets. Just find the load that gives good accuracy at the most velocity.

[clive_J]

Rifle is a Marlin 1894 cowboy with 20" barrel, chopped down from 24".
I shoot the 100, 200 & 300 yards in the Phoenix at Bisley and used .357mag CCI Blazer rounds. I found them to be one of the fastest over the chrony and got the best groups with them, over Remington & Magtec .357mag ammo.

First year I made it to a joint first place, and was placed second on count-back.

[airgunnut]

If your casting your own, would a gas checked bullet help, I know they will allow you to get a bit higher velocity (Asuming your not at the point where cast starts melting as it goes down the barrel)

[simgre]

H110, Vv-110, Win 296 or the old classic, 2400. With a jacketed bullet in the 150 to 158gn range you're going to get around 1600 to 1700fps. If a Marlin, the 1 in 16" twist will allow you to go heavier, up to 220gn with particular rifles, but easily around the 200gn bullets. Rossi with a 1 in 30" twist rate or even the Henry and Uberti with 1 in 38" twist, you're pretty much limited to 158gn bullets maximum.

Hard cast lead "shop bought" bullets, keep velocities below 1400. A softer cast bullet, but a specific mould used for bullet fit, you can push these faster. Gas checks will assist in limiting leading of the bore with hard cast, but they are no substitute for proper fit.

[Daryll]

Reminds me of my one and only go at "long range pocket pistol".... I had an ex Police S&W M19, 2.5 inch barrel, and while down at the AD event thought I'd give it a go.
I only had light target ammo with me, so bought some factory .357, laid on the line and had a blast at 100 and 200m.....

I think I hit the target a couple of times..

[AD_K]

6.4 Grains of Alliant Unique (about 900 FPS ish) 16 inch drop at 200 yards. I use a low mag scope so I can actually see the target at that distance!

Oh. 158grain Truncated cone... GM Hardcast.

[357marlin]

Cheers for all the advice I think I'm going to buy a .44 when I sell my benchrest rifle. Hopefully that should be easier than 357

[andrew375]

Cheers for all the advice I think I'm going to buy a .44 when I sell my benchrest rifle. Hopefully that should be easier than 357

Don't bother. There is no significant difference in ballistic co-efficient between equivalent bullet designs and achievable velocities are more or less the same.