My NEF single shot was recently sent off to have a .357 magnum barrel fitted. I really wanted a .357 Rem Max but they no longer offer that chambering. My plan is to have the .357 magnum barrel rechambered to the longer cartridge.
Deer hunting laws in Indiana were changed for the 2007 season to allow hunting with rifles chambered for pistol cartridges. Legal cartridges must shoot a bullet at least .357 in diameter and have a case not longer than 1.625" The .357 Rem Max almost exactly matches that length and is the longest legal 38 caliber round that may be used. Ed Harris has written about a reamer for .357 magnum that produces a throat that is favorable to shooting cast bullets and may improve accuracy. My question is whether that same taper on a reamer would be advisable for the .357 Rem Max chamber? I would also like to know if anyone has a recommendation of a gunsmith who uses such a reamer that I could contact to do this work.
I have a T/C Contender with a 14” barrel chambered in .357 Rem Max and it shoots very well with the factory chambering using jacketed bullets. Using WW296 I get around 1900 fps. In the longer barrel of the NEF rifle I would expect a little over 2000 fps and this should be a nice load for whitetail deer. A heavy cast bullet should also make a good deer load and with the right throat I'd like try finding such a cast load. Any comments or suggestions about this project would be welcomed.