Man, I wish we were on a forum hosted by the premier gun magazine in the States that had someone who could ask for clarification. Anyone have Scott Mayer’s info? #ohnoyoudinnint
#ohyeshedid
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates, Rule #37: There is no “overkill”. There is only “open fire” and “I need to reload”.
Maybe I’m missing something here, and I DO NOT reload, but if you boys are interested in .357 bullets, why don’t you just roll your own anyway? Custom dies can be made to order as most of you know. I’m doubting that a factory load is gonna stop ya.
I always go the extra expense and just rent the reamer. Again, I don’t reload so I know **** about it, but couldn’t a person just use 223 brass and have it neck sized for a .357 bullet? Not straight walled but I assume it could work.
.223 brass does not like being opened up to accept a .358 diameter bullet. You end up expanding the case mouth to well past the body dimension at the start of the shoulder. Its doable, but a multi step process of necking up.
While looking for reloading ideas, I came across this article and this guy makes an argument against using .223 brass to reload the 350. You guys decide.
"There has been speculation that we might be able to load this new round
in .223 Remington based brass, especially Starline’s offering of 223 Basic.
Now that we can see the numbers listed on the SAAMI drawing I don’t
believe that will be a viable option. You can find the actual SAAMI
spec sheet here: https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/350-Legend-Public-Introduction.pdf
When we compare the drawing for this with the drawing for .223 Remington
we can see that everything from the base of the case to the arrow at
letter A is identical. The measurements at letter B are different
however. At this point the 223 case measures .3579″ while the 350 case
measures slightly larger at .3900″. That may not seem like much of a
difference, but it’s significant enough that using 223 brass in the 350
chamber would likely result in a blown case head. The 350 Legend is
rated at a maximum average pressure of 55,000 psi...
...The bullet diameter is listed as .3570″ -- The Reloaders Network
The article is a good read if you have a minute or so.
Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience -- Mark Twain How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
I question the measurement at point B. If A is equal between the two, then the 350 grows about 0.016" from point A to point B and a .223 shrinks the same amount over that same span. My .223 basic brass is 0.374 at point A and 0.372 at the case mouth.
Per some quick Quick Load figuring with new brass and the bullets I have available I should be able to push a 180gr Speer SP to about 2250 FPS, or the Hornady 200gr offerings to 2000-2100 FPS (depending on bullet used, FTX, RN, or SP), or even the Hornady 250gr SPRP to 1800 FPS while staying below 46,000 PSI. This keeps me below the maximum press for the case with a +10% lot to lot burn rate variation fudge factor.
If it truly is enough different that it wouldnt be wise to use .223 brass in a 350 chamber, that just makes me like the idea of using .223 basic and stuffing a .358 bullet in it at a trim length of 1.790 all the more. It wont fit a 350 chamber and per my Quick Load tinkering I can push to higher velocities if I push pressure higher than the approximately 45k PSI im basing things off of now. I still need to check a few more measurements and consult with someone that knows far more than I do about will and wont work for chamber dimensions and case dimensions and taper.
With a .358 bullet seated in the case I am at .376 where the bullet is inside the case. Clearly I would have to allow the back of the case to expand to greater than its current dimension and then have dies made that will keep this new taper to the case. Say something like a sized case with a base diameter of .378 and a taper down to .376 with a bullet seated in the case. I see no reason a .223 basic case couldnt survive that amount of stretch in that area of the case, and it would still allow 0.002" taper to help with extraction of fired brass. If it turns out that it can be done with no taper than it would be even easier on the brass to only have to expand to .376 over its current .374.
As far as the 9mm bullet mistake (and it is a mistake) that WW is making, the only salvation is going to be putting out a reasonable selection of purpose-built bullets that can take the velocity required for effective hunting. In other words, they need to reinvent the wheel and make some .357 mag-equivalent projectiles in .355" that would be worth mentioning. Seems like an unnecessary convolution when they could've done the smart thing and make it a handloader's paradise from the giddy up.
I'll go out on a limb and assert that with any new round, those who buy factory ammo will continue to do so while those who reload will generally refuse to buy factory-only ammo.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Replies
My .357 Mag Contender is getting 1,586 fps with the same bullet in a 12” barrel.
My Dominator in .35 Rem is getting 2,242 fps with a 158gr XTP from a 15” barrel.
I don’t know what barrel length they are using for the .350 Legend.
It will be interesting to compare.
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
Doesn’t have the BC and Speed of others. It just damn well works in a paltry manner.
https://www.starlinebrass.com/brass-cases/223-Basic/
"The Un-Tactical"
"The Un-Tactical"
That picture makes me feel kinda funny. Like the rope in gun class.
I need a cigarette.
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
When we compare the drawing for this with the drawing for .223 Remington we can see that everything from the base of the case to the arrow at letter A is identical. The measurements at letter B are different however. At this point the 223 case measures .3579″ while the 350 case measures slightly larger at .3900″. That may not seem like much of a difference, but it’s significant enough that using 223 brass in the 350 chamber would likely result in a blown case head. The 350 Legend is rated at a maximum average pressure of 55,000 psi...
...The bullet diameter is listed as .3570″ -- The Reloaders Network
https://thereloadersnetwork.com/2019/01/31/350-legend-specifications/
The article is a good read if you have a minute or so.
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
"The Un-Tactical"
Per some quick Quick Load figuring with new brass and the bullets I have available I should be able to push a 180gr Speer SP to about 2250 FPS, or the Hornady 200gr offerings to 2000-2100 FPS (depending on bullet used, FTX, RN, or SP), or even the Hornady 250gr SPRP to 1800 FPS while staying below 46,000 PSI. This keeps me below the maximum press for the case with a +10% lot to lot burn rate variation fudge factor.
With a .358 bullet seated in the case I am at .376 where the bullet is inside the case. Clearly I would have to allow the back of the case to expand to greater than its current dimension and then have dies made that will keep this new taper to the case. Say something like a sized case with a base diameter of .378 and a taper down to .376 with a bullet seated in the case. I see no reason a .223 basic case couldnt survive that amount of stretch in that area of the case, and it would still allow 0.002" taper to help with extraction of fired brass. If it turns out that it can be done with no taper than it would be even easier on the brass to only have to expand to .376 over its current .374.
"If you get it and didn't work for it, someone else worked for it and didn't get it..."
I'll go out on a limb and assert that with any new round, those who buy factory ammo will continue to do so while those who reload will generally refuse to buy factory-only ammo.