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experienced opinions on 357 maxi hunting bullets

3K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  cwlongshot 
#1 ·
After several years the new place has been transformed from a jungle to an overgrown horse horse farm:tango_face_grin:. That said I now have time to play with my 357 max. My problem is that my gun hates hornady 180 xtp's . It does however shoot 200 grn ftx's well and I am getting right at 2100 fps out of them. I am curious to know what those of you that have shot that bullet think of it's performance on deer size game out to 125 yards or so.
 
#3 ·
Haven't shot a deer with them yet, but I'm going to give them a try this winter based on what guys have been reporting. This one was shot by WABBITT_HUNTER on the MDWS site with a 200ftx at between 70yds and 100yds with a muzzle velocity of 1850. I'd likely load them at 2030-2050fps. Most of our shots where we hunt have been between 60-140yds and with the additional velocity it should be fine out past where we'd shoot.
 

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#4 ·
I loaded that bullet years ago in a long chambered Maxi. I was close to 2000fps and the bullet expanded fine in every pig I shot.

Thanks, Dinny
 
#5 ·
my gun hates hornady 180 xtp's
So did mine! :tango_face_surprise Really a surprise since the XTP is my go to bullet of that type...

Fortunately my rifle liked 180 gr. SSP's which I have a goodly number of. I say fortunately as they are no longer made. :tango_face_sad:
 
#6 ·
Mine does like the 158 xtp soft point, but I don't trust that bullet past 2000 fps. I am playing with some fury bullets and the 170's show some promise. But the ftx is the most accurate so far. Another odd thing is that I have not had any luck with consistency using 1680 powder. 300MP is what I am having best results with.
 
#9 ·
Dennis's Fury Bullets are A-Ok in my book. He makes a great bullet and shoots most if not all of them himself. He probably started off with a 0.025" jacket that tapered closer to 0.016" at the tip. A bullet lighter and shorter than 180gr probably has a jacket that didn't taper that thin. Shoot them into some wet newspaper if you're concerned about their performance.

Thanks, Dinny
 

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#10 ·
That's my next step. Everything I have found on the fury bullets has been positive, but most info is with the 170's and 180's. I may test them on a "beaver problem" I am having in my pond. They clogged up the spillway and the pond was dangerously close to overflowing. I had to take the kayak out to clear it then paddle like **** once it started draining:tango_face_surprise lol.
 
#13 ·
I have used allot of bullets thru the years in the Maximum. I have a new Maximum this year and a new bullet to try in mine!

Top bullet is was and always will be the Hornady 180 SSP. BUT as we all should know they are discontinued. 😞. (I have a stash so wont run out)

The 180 XTP is what I like to recommend but as stated it dosent shoot well enough.

Speer 170 Deep curl SP was another excellent bullet. But alas this one too was discontinued.

The Speer 180 is a tough bullet. I have used it a couple times and expansion was marginal at 2100 fps. Exp was better if/when I shot for bones.
I have shot the 200 FTX but not on deer taht I remember. They shoot very well and everything I read says that they should be just fine in the Maxi. If your able to hit 2100 all the better! I would not be afraid to hunt with them at all. Im going to be using this as a dedicated bullet in my 35Rem 760 at +P velocities.


I have moved to cast bullets with the Maxi. Im lucky to have a couple excellent bullets. A 195 WFN styled after a ranch dog. A 190 Ranch Dog and 170 g SWC Lyman and my newest a NOE 230g Ranch Dog. Im powder coating them and casting them to a hardness that will expand a little.





This is the NOE 360-232 RD. Its a great looking and should be just as good preforming with its WFP. Im hitting 1800 FPE with my load of 1680 powder from my 24” barrel. Accuracy is good at 1.5” 100 yards. For this one, I dont need much past 100-125.

I have taken a couple deer with this 190 WFN in my H&R 17” maxi and it works well!

I feel cast bullets are a excellent replacement for the SSP.

BTW: my 180SSP loading produced just over 1700 FPE. 🙂

CW
 
#14 ·
Well after a long process of trial and error I have my load. 170 grain furry and H110 powder was the combo. consistent 1 1/2 " groups over and over again. The 158 furry bullets were almost as good but the 170's are just more consistent. Cast core 180s showed some promise but I would get 1 out of every of 5 to fly High for no reason. Now I am on to my small game load. Hopefully that will go a bit easier LOL.
 
#15 ·
Have you tried any AA1680? That's what Dennis recommended to me for a balance of the best velocity and accuracy.

Thanks, Dinny
 
#16 ·
I did try it. Mp300 seemed to be a more accurate powder in this gun, 1680 just didn't give me any kind of real consistency at all. H110 was by far the most accurate powder. I like the the gun a lot but it is without a doubt my most fickle rifle.
 
#17 ·
Did you find data for 300MP or just extrapolate?

I have only just started using this powder a couple years ago and I do like what I see.

CW
 
#18 ·
I did my own exploration with 300 mp. It seems to be faster than 1680 and slower than h110, so I started with that in mind. I never ran into any problems and overall I really Like the powder. I works great in my 44 mags with 300 grn bullets. It did well in the max just not as good as H110 in my gun.
 
#19 ·
I have used it in 357 Mag with good success. I also tried some in the 300 BO and it worked well

Id like to try some in the maxi.

CW
 
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