Ok you blokes, I would like to pick your brains once again. Can some of you give me the trajectory of a 158 grain 357mag with factory loadings fired from a 20inch barrel to one hundred yards. I am having trouble getting any ballistic info it is hard to get this info on the net. God Bless, Yellowboy.

Looks like you can get about 1700 fps from a 158 gr jacketed load. According to the Speer manual if the rifle is zeroed at 50 yards then the bullet will hit 2.5 inches low at 100 yards. If zeroed at 100 yards the bullet will be 1.2 inches high at 50 yards. Velocity at 100 yards will be about 1300 fps. Hope this helps. Get one of the reloading manuals that have the ballistic tables for more info. I use them a lot.

I use the JBM calculator at jbmballistics.com.

I have the 24 inch barrel and my muzzle velocity is ~ 1700 fps. With a zero set at ~ 50 yds the bullet is about +/- 4 inches out to 100 yds.

Hornady lists 14ogr FTX LEVERevolution from an 18 inch barrel as this:

MV= 1850fps ME= 1064ft-lbs, 50 yards is 1632fps and 828ft lbs, and 100 yards is 1272fps and 503 ft lbs

The 357 Mag really runs out of "energy" before the trajectory becomes a problem. Sight in 1" high at 50 yards and you're solid out to 100...shots much longer than that are ill-advised, IMHO.

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Ask me about QDMA.

Bout the same with my 16" Rossi Puma 92 lever.

A good <100 yard deer rifle & great for states that don't allow high powered center fire deer rifles.

The .38SPLs make great grouse & wabbit cappers for the stew pot.

I just set the sights to the range I am trying to shoot at .

Last trip to the range , my Rossi .357 mag / .38 Special was doing pretty good out to 150 yards , on the steel silhouettes . If & when I could see to do my part . And hold the gun steady .

God bless
Wyr

Actually, there's factory and then there's FACTORY! Buffalo bore makes a Heavy 357Mag load in 158grn HP that they claim runs 2,153fps in an 18.5" long Marlin levergun!

Using Handloads.com's free Ballistic Calculator and inputting .357 caliber, 158grn, and selecting HP you can calculate the Bullet's BC of 155. Then at the right, if you input 2,153 velocity, set the sight-in range at 100, the sight height at .5, set the intervals at 25, set the max range to 200, set the temp to 70, and crosswind where you want them, and then hit calculate the program will give you a chart showing all the information you'll need in 25yd increments.

Further, if you want to see what Winchester's 357mag does in a rifle, go to their sight HERE, hit the red Launch Ballistic Calculator button, select centerfire rifle, then select 357 mag under 'show cartridge', JHP under 'bullet type', and 158grn under 'bullet weight', and then press the SHOOT button. You'll see the trajectory displayed via a graph that runs to 500yds which is overkill, but then you click 'View Statistics Chart' in the upper right corner of the graph and another window will open showing you the information in a form similar to that shown via Handloads.com's.

Buffalo Bore and Handloads.com are both good links to bookmark and if you like Winchester ammo, their site is a good one too.

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Steve



“Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.” - Buckaroo Banzai 1984
"When you find a find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Dilbert 2009

I will have a 357 Mag with 24 inch barrel in a few weeks. I have a 4" .357 revolver now and and from the many loading manuals and websites I have found, it should push 110 and 125 GR bullets from 1800 to over 2000 FPS safely in a 24 inch barrel and 150 Gr bullets close to that depending upon bullet weight and powder used. Some newer powders have allowed higher velocities with safe pressures than were available just a few years ago. 110 or 125 GR bullets should move out pretty good for flattening coyotes and varmints out to 125 yds. 150 GR should be all I need for the small deer around here out to 100 Yds and I don't plan on pushing my luck anything past that. The .357 loses velocity fast after the magic 100 Yard mark. There is not much flat land here and I am very patient and a stickler about stalking close and shot placement. I can let a deer walk away from a shot that I am not confident with.

For deer, soft points (or wide meplat cast) of 158 to 180gr will produce far better results than all lighter weights and hollow points. Hollow points and light bullet weights are seriously short on penetration, even on small deer.

I have an EMF / Hartford Rossi 20" carbine in 357 Magnum.
With a load of a 158 grain Hornady XTP over 15.2 grains of 2400, I chronographed a muzzle velocity of 1935 FPS.

Sighted dead on at 50 yards, I can hit consistently at 100 with a touch of "Kentucky elevation".

I love this little gun.

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- A Man Without A Cross -

Sight in distance is relevant to the terrain you hunt in and the trajectory of the rifle. A 50 yd zero is a bit short for a 357 in a rifle. With a 100 yd zero you are only 1 1/2" high at mid flight so no guessing needed for most game including varmints out to 125 yds. That can be reduced to less than an inch high in mid flight if you sight at 75 yds and no guess work out to 100yds needed. The 357 rifle is capable of confidently taking deer sized game out to 150 Yds.

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- A Man Without A Cross -

My eyes went years ago and scopes are almost mandatory for me for many years now. I can use aperture rear sights but the old Buck Horn and grooved rear sights are just a blur for me even with my bifocals. A scope definitely helps with accuracy and especially on longer shots for most people.

With the Federal Castcore 180gr load or handloads of about the same nature, 2" high at 50M will take you out to about 135-140M PB zero.

I love the 357 too but I have always had trouble matching some of the loads I see. OTOH I am a bit conservative and like to stay with SAAMI pressure standards.

I just ran your load through my Quick Load ballistics pro gram and from the 20" barrel is predicted 1992 fps. That seems reasonably close in velocity considering normal gun-to-gun variation. What surprised me was the calculated peak pressure was 52,584 psi compared to SAAMI 35,000.

Can you tell me the published source for that load? I would like to find out what their pressure test was. Just curious

Do you use the same load in any revolvers?

Have a good day.

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- A Man Without A Cross -

I have found different load data for the same powder and bullet weight that that give different pressures for same load. Some show higher pressure than others with a lesser weight of the same powder?? Several 357 loads published do give pressures well above the 35,000 SAAMI. There is also still confusion with some data giving pressure measurements in CUP and others in PSI and they are not the same.
The .357 was introduced in 1934 and has since been made in all kinds of frames from small light weight pocket pistols to heavy framed guns like the Black Hawk who's strong frames are also used to build much more powerful guns by changing barrels and cylinders. Because of liability issues and lawyers,the SAAMI specs will always represent the highest safe pressure for the very weakest guns of any caliber still in use today. That includes some of the 85 year old 357 pocket guns that were not built to today's high pressure standards. Most modern 357 hand guns and rifles will handle much more pressure than the SAMMI specs of 35000 being used now that is max pressure for guns built up to 85 years ago. That is an issue for all ammo that can be used in very old guns including military guns like The 8MM Mauser and 303 British. In WW11 military loads for those guns were more than 25% higher pressure than factory loads available today for that same rifle. There are also legitimate concerns about metal deterioration with age of old guns. Some gun metals do become brittle with age. Max pressures for any ammo that can be used in very old old guns are often reduced well below original pressures because of lawyers and liability concerns. Modern big framed handguns are much stronger now and modern 357 Rifle loads can often run hotter than handgun loads and also make much better use of slow powders and higher pressures.
Having said all of that, it is still a crap shoot every time you go over SAAMI specs for any load for any gun. Is still requires great caution to exceed recommended safe pressures for any published load. Each gun is individual and I load for what shoots best in my gun and that so far is always below max pressure data. I might be more liberal in loading with a newer large framed revolver or modern rifle than an older light framed revolver but that is for each person to decide for themselves according to what gun they are loading for. Losing an eye or a hand is a stiff price to pay for few extra FPS.

Sure, post links, that is no problem.

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MikeG

Do you have sources for that?