Hello Everyone!

I am considering building up a short carbine as a walking-around gun, based upon a new, steel-receiver H&R/NEF Handi-Rifle.  The barrel would be cut & crowned at 16-16.5".  I anticipate handloading the highly regarded Beartooth 38/.357 185g FN GC, as its main cartridge.  What is a reasonable estimate of the velocity obtainable from this combination?

J.E. Andreasen

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Eichra Oren

What you describe will make an outstanding "walk-around-the-woods" gun!  I've fired lots of my favorite .357 Mag ammo out of 16" barreled lever actions and get right at 1800 fps +/- 35fps with this load:

BTB .358"-185g FNGC/16.0g H110/WSPP

This load kills all out of proportion to the paper ballistics!  Until you use it, you really can't appreciate the terminal effect it develops.

I think you're onto a really great, managable little carbine.  You might consider one of the William WGS receiver sights, they are designed especially for these guns and existing screw holes for scope mounts makes installation a snap!

God Bless,

Marshall

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Marshall
Romans 1:16



Beartooth: A Bullet Worth Waiting For!

After reading this post I decided that I needed one of these little cabines!

I just picked up an NEF "Survivor" carbine in .357 Magnum and the Williams WGRS receiver sight to go with it.

I have also decided to have the chamber reamed to .357 Remington Maximum.  Should be quite a little "thumper."

Marshall, what do you think of this conversion?

-Dutch

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-Matt

Guys,

Don't overlook the 180 WLN +P bullet also. This is a great bullet for a fixed chamber gun with a good throat. Very ballistically sleek and maximum powder space due to most of the lead hanging outside.

I'm about ready to start some work with it in a 10" 357 Max Contender barrel.

The Max would be an excellent conversion in this gun and it's variations. They chambered for that round at one time.

On another note, with the Handi-Rifle, I wouldn't bother cutting the barrel down and leave it at the 20-22" length. Remember, there is no action length so this gun is already quite short to begin with as an advantage.

I have a 280 Rem Handi with the 26" inch barrel and it is only a little over an inch longer overall than my 444 Marlin Levergun with 22" bbl. Just something to consider.

The Handi's are an excellent value for the money. The barrels especially, are quite well done.

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Contender-

I'll definately put that bullet on the list for load development.  If you'll recall we discussed this conversion a couple of weeks ago.  180 - 200 grain seems to be the ideal bullet weight for the carbine in the .357 Max.

After going over available load data it seems that Accurate 1680 seems to be the powder to start with.  I plan to keep the original 22 inch barrel on this carbine so I can take full advantage of the .357 Maximum's potential.  

By the way, how does the .280 Ultra Rifle shoot?

-Dutch

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-Matt