Rechambering a 357 Mag Browning Low Wall

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  • Last Post 08 August 2009
Crooked Creek posted this 09 April 2008

Don't know if this is the right spot for this topic, but since it's a single shot, it seems a good place to start. I am considering rechambering a Browning Low Wall in 357 Mag to either a 357 Maximum ( with appropriate throating ) or a 35 x 30/30. Has anyone tried either of these ? I know the 18” twist barrel may limit some bullet choices, but seeing as how the 35 Rem and 350 Rem Mag have 16” twists and regularly use bullets of 250 gr. plus, I don't think it will be too much of an issue. I have a Lyman two cavity mold #358009, 280 gr. that I use in a 35 Whelen. It has an abrupt round nose so it is relatively short for the weight.....1.155” long with a .350” bore riding nose. I would appreciate any thoughts or actual experience anyone may have with these conversions. I think I'm leaning toward the 35 x 30/30 ( although I have about 500 rounds of 357 Max brass ! ) as I have “dummied up” a couple of rounds, and it looks pretty good. Also, if I should post this question in another area, let me know.

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Ed Harris posted this 09 April 2008

Crooked Creek wrote: Don't know if this is the right spot for this topic, but since it's a single shot, it seems a good place to start. I am considering rechambering a Browning Low Wall in 357 Mag to either a 357 Maximum ( with appropriate throating ) or a 35 x 30/30. Has anyone tried either of these ? I know the 18” twist barrel may limit some bullet choices, but seeing as how the 35 Rem and 350 Rem Mag have 16” twists and regularly use bullets of 250 gr. plus, I don't think it will be too much of an issue. I have a Lyman two cavity mold #358009, 280 gr. that I use in a 35 Whelen. It has an abrupt round nose so it is relatively short for the weight.....1.155” long with a .350” bore riding nose. I would appreciate any thoughts or actual experience anyone may have with these conversions. I think I'm leaning toward the 35 x 30/30 ( although I have about 500 rounds of 357 Max brass ! ) as I have “dummied up” a couple of rounds, and it looks pretty good. Also, if I should post this question in another area, let me know. I've fooled with both the .357 Maximum and the .35-30-30.  I abandoned the larger .35s and went back to the .357 Magnum. I can use a compressed caseful of RL-7 or 4198 powder in a rifle for about 1400 without leading a plainbased bullet, using common brass, but I don't shoot any bullets over 200 grains.

An 18-inch twist twist is marginal for #3589 at 1.155” if you use Greenhill @ 150, but it will probably stabilize OK if you can get it supersonic.  If you already have the .357 Max. brass and access to a free or low cost reamer, I would go ahead, as it would be a simple enough job to cut carefully by hand without needing a lathe. Try that first, and if is doesn't work you can always punch it out to .35-30-30 later.  A .35-303 or .35 Krag would also be good wildcat options if you want a bit more case capacity, either about 2000 fps with a 280-gr. bullet in a “strong” action.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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RicinYakima posted this 09 April 2008

You didn't say what your goal was, hunting power, target, general walking around rifle. But like Ed, I have settled on two 35's: a 357 magnum Martini Cadet (158 grain cast bullet at 1900 f/s) and a 358 Norma Magnum for the big boomer. Where one stops in bullet weight and speed, the other starts.

If you want to use a middle sized case, Ed's idea of Max then Wildcat seems logical to me.

Ric

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linoww posted this 09 April 2008

Try some of the heavier bullets as a .357,you may be surprised at how well they shoot in the mag.I am able to shoot the RCBS 35- 250 Sp in my Ruger #1A .357 mag at about 1350fps.I use W296 and H4227 for powder choices.It does very well and sometimes(rarely) I get groups between 1-1.5” at 100.Most are in the 2” or less range.I am unsure of how your Browning is throated,so that may be an issue of seating the bullet “long". to get enough powder space.Most .35 rifle bullets are  undersized on the nose or oversized(like my RCBS 250 or NEI).I had a taper/bump die made that has helped out a bunch.The nose “should” be about .350-.351 for most rifles.

I also shoot a Lyman 358318 copy by Cramer and an NEI 275g FP with pretty good luck even with a .248 nose.I cant remember the twist of my Ruger,but I think its a 1-16??

 

George

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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Ed Harris posted this 10 April 2008

linoww wrote: Try some of the heavier bullets as a .357,you may be surprised at how well they shoot... I am unsure of how your Browning is throated,so that may be an issue of seating the bullet “long” to get enough powder space... cant remember the twist of my Ruger,but I think its a 1-16?? Ruger twist for the No.1 in .357 is 16 inches.

Clymer .358 cal. rifle throater from Brownell's is easiest way to adjust throat length if you need to.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Nrut posted this 04 January 2009

Hello Roger... Did you make the conversion from .357mag to a larger Cart. case? How did it work out for you?...I have the same rifle but can't bring myself to mess with it...to much fun...Looking for another to rechamber to a 35 Krag...

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Crooked Creek posted this 19 January 2009

Hi Nrut,

 Well, I just learned something about posting here: Don't do a spell check while in the process of replying.....I was 99% done and lost it all, at least I can't recover anything, but then two answers may show up when I'm done. I'll try again, this time with no spell check or preview !

 Like you, I just can't bring myself to do it, just yet. I will pass on something a friend did, as it may interest you and others out there. He had an original Low Wall that had been rebarrelled to 357 Max. with an 18” twist and a throat for breech seated bullets. He said it did not shoot fixed ammo very well with that throat, so he had it rechambered to what he calls a 35 x 38-55 to clean up the throat. It's virtually the same as a 35 x 30-30 (but .028” longer), and obviously, either case will work. He chose the 38-55 case as he prefers to size down to 35 rather than up from 30 cal. He did a post on this on http://www.bench-talk.com>http://www.bench-talk.com in May of 2008 and a recent answer on the success of the conversion. If anyone is interested, go there and look for posts by Tom Hencken. I'm including a photo and narrative below from his post that shows his cartridge in comparison to a 357 Max. case. Good luck to you if you choose to convert yours, I'm going to wait a while longer on mine.

http://www.bench-talk.com/photos/tom_hencken/images/1505/original.aspx>

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Nrut posted this 24 January 2009

Thanks for your reply Roger...It looks like Tom used a 35X30-30 reamer for this re-chambering, and then just used 38-55 brass resized with a 35X30-30 CH4D sizing die...I understand that there are several diffrent 35X30-30 chamberings so one would have to make sure the dies and reamer match up... Thanks again..

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excess650 posted this 28 June 2009

I do hope that you have resisted the temptation to rechamber.  I have shot my 357 Low Wall a bit, and found it will shoot the RCBS 35-200 very accurately at 100 yards with hot loads of H110.  Unfortunately, the narrow, crescent buttplate wasn't particularly comfortable with the sharp recoil produced by those loads.  I prefer a Saeco #354 180gr gc  that works well in the Browning and my Marlin 1894c, and again, loaded over a stiff charge of H110.

If I wanted a 35 cal single shot in a strong action for shooting cast, I would opt for the 357 Herrett or 35 Remington rimmed(30-40 Krag case) with something other than a narrow, crescent buttplate.

 

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Crooked Creek posted this 29 June 2009

Thanks for the advise and load information. I have decided to leave it as is. I might try some of your lighter bullet loads in both the Low Wall and a Rossi '92 in 357 Mag.

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excess650 posted this 29 June 2009

I like the relative efficiency of the 357 mag vs larger 35s, and have been pleased with the accuracy of my 1894c and the Browning. My Marlin was shot considerably with jacketed prior to cast, and I'm convinced that my cast loads are as good or better(sub 2 moa for 5 shots with receiver sight). The Browning has had only cast, and only with the factory sights. Best loads were sub 1.5 moa at 100 yards for 5 shots. Both the Saeco and RCBS bullet will do that, but the RCBS(215gr) only at near maximum charges for my rifle. These results were achieved easily, so adds to my preference for the 357 mag.

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frnkeore posted this 08 August 2009

I rechambered my rebored Low Wall from 357 mag to 357 max with a 3 deg throat. It has a 28 in barrel. I got a H&G 146 gc to go 2300 with groups of 3 to 4in @ 100 with WC820. It shot about 10 in higher than my scope would reach. My best load was a Ideal 35875 rifle mould that weighed 208 with 22-1. I got a .735 group @ 100 breech seated with 15.5 gr of 4227. I got good accuracy with with Lymans 358315, it weighs 208 with #2 alloy. It went at least 1800 fpm. If anyone is interested in the 2 gc loads i'll look my info up for them.

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