I wouldn't be concerned in the least, personally. Slug a few barrels and you'd be amazed at how dimensions can be all over the place......

 

That doesn't surprise me at all.

 

I wouldn’t worry either. I just sighted my MGM 357 Max 20” Encore in this last weekend and it shot 180gr Hornady XTP’s into a ragged hole at 25 yards. I didn’t have any more time to shoot farther and was just going for an initial sight in to get on paper and was using loads I made for a Ruger 357 maxi but was pleasantly surprised with the results.

 

Uncruel -

Howdy !
ge
IF your chamber could accomodate a .357Max round that was actually loaded w/ a .358" cal rifle bullet, could you go that route' ? I do realize that bullet wt / selection for the 'Max might be biased towards 180s and less.

I say this because I had a custom SS .358" calibre rifle barrel chambered for .357 AutoMag..... but I shot .358" cal rifle bullets ( " .358AutoMag " ).

For my shooting application, I wanted hyper accuracy in a .358" cal cartridge. I at first shot Rem 150 PSPs and they were fantastically accurate...... but I ran out of my bag of 500.

I then switched to the incredible Cutting Edge .358" cal turned-brass 150gr Extended Range " Raptor " bullet.
I klled groundhogs w/ the set-up out to 350yd ( the farthest shot I got to make using the rifle ).

I believe my barrel had 1-16 twist. The best charge ended up being 24gr WW296 and SP Mag primer.
That is something in the .357Max zone.

The 150gr brass " Raptors " are ong for their wt, but the barrel twist stabilized them just fine @ the charge wt mentioned.


With regards,
357Mag

Cutting Edge also makes a 160gr copper version, and some handgun cal offerings.

 

I'm not sure what the problem is here. 38spec/357 mag and all other '38s' have .355 bores and SAAMI calls out .358 jacketed bullets for all.

 

I was remembering, when I had a Thompson Center 14" pistol in .35 Remington and shooting .357 Speer 140gr JHP's over a stout load of powder. It was surprisingly accurate. Would turn an armadillo inside out. A buzzard hor doeuvre?

 

I have two MGM .357max barrels and they’re both .357. I called a couple of weeks ago to see if they could make me a .358 Win barrel with a 1:12 or 1:14 twist (all their current .357 bbls are 1:16). The answer was “no, we only carry 1:16 .357 barrels for both (they don’t list .358 Win, but will make one up from their existing blanks). Cut to the chase here: I shoot .358” bullets out of both my .357max barrels and they function fine. Don’t worry about diameter, worry more about twist. MGM’s biggest problem is that what ever they have on hand is just what you need and it’ll shoot great....until it doesn’t and then they blame the shooter. My 1:20 max bbl is a mediocre shooter at best and the 1:16 shoots lights out. I just loaded up some rounds this weekend and shot them at my camp. I loaded Speer .358 180g bullets with Vihtavouri n110 and n120. Five shot groups of each shot well under 1moa at a measured 107 yards (deck to backstop at camp). Having shot a LOT of deer with .357/.358 bullets I strongly suggest using heavier bullets with the Max.