O/T 357 Herrett.

[AzSam]

Hi Jingle,

Just a couple a minor details. The 357 Herrett while based off a reformed 30-30 case is not just a necked up 30 Herrett. Case length is longer along with shoulder position being different.

If you can get a set of dies for a decent price go for it. Based upon my experience when it comes to forming cases for both the .30 Herrett and the .357 here are my suggestions.
1. Neck the cases up 35 cal.
2. Trim to 1.765 inches.
3. Both the .30 and .357 Herrett headspace off of the shoulder, not the rim unlike the the parent 30-30. (Which by the way gives better case life when fired cases are sized to headspace off the shoulder vs the rim, rifle or in a Contender)
3. As mentioned earlier by others, size your cases such that it requires a good snap of the action to completely close.
4. Fireform with a good stiff working load, but not max, obviously. You want to get fill out the first time around.
5. The sizer die may need some slight tweeking to bring to it's final setting. Once your sizing die is set positioned, set the lock ring and leave it alone.
6. Proper die adjustment is paramount, too much headspace and you can kiss the cases good bye after about 3-4 firings, if you are lucky. Properly set, split necks will be the curse long before head separation. I have 30 Herrett cases back from my pistol silhouette days that have been fired over 20 times. 357 Herrett, well just have not shot has much, but have not lost a case yet.

Somewhere I have a booklet published by Thompson-Center some 30 plus years ago that covers proper case forming and die adjustment for the .30 and .357 Herrrett rounds. Could I find it tonight. Of coarse not. I will keep looking and will PM when I find it.

And yes, you can load it way down or beyond the comfort level for most shooters. 110gr to 200grs and up. Just all depends what you want to do with it. 2" groups at a 100yds off the bench are very do-able.

Hope the helps. Have fun.
Michael.

P.S.
Found it. Sent you a PM

[Bill K]

AzSam has many good points. But you will also find that after about 3 reloads, if you anneal your brass, you will almost stop neck splitting and get more use out of the brass. Bill K

[Jingle]

Wow, I got to tell yall,I'm impressed! its seems I really came across a great find. The affirmation is wonderful!

I will get on ordering sizing dies and 30/30 brass and some bullets. I'm partial to lite bullets, not sure why, just something about them?

[JSH]

I have used once fired brass with no issues, but I would highly suggest virgin.
If you have once fired or even range pick up, FL size in a 30-30 die. Then use it to figure out what all you need to do.
Trimming is a royal pita for this. Buddy and I devised a jig to clamp six cases in and run through a fine tooth bandsaw to cut to rough length and minimize case trimming.

[Jingle]

I will use only brand new brass. So in doing so I shouldn't have to buy 30/30 dies correct? Or do I have to size the 30/30 brass even though its new brass regardless?

[Bill K]

With new, or even fired brass, all you should have too do is run the brass through your 357 Herrett dies, maybe a form die on the first sizing to set the 30-30 brass back and trim to length and start loading and shooting. Bill K

[JSH]

Bill, the reason I used a 30-30 die for fired brass, some Herret dies will push the shoulder back to far when full length sizing.
Virgin, you should be good. But I would not just ram them into the FL die. Bump and check, bump and check. Chambers can be all over the place with these.
Jeff

[Jingle]

Well the good news is I ordered Hornady custom dies along with 50 Hornady 30/30 brass and some Sierra 110gr blitz bullets.

Gonna be fun forming cases. I will most likely load weak loads with trailboss just to play around. Maybe work up a good coyote load.

[squirrel_slayer]

you may want to run some full power loads first to fireform those cases to your chamber.

[dungheap]

Jingle, I had a 10" and a 14" .357 Herrett back in the early 80's when I first got into IHMSA silhouette shooting.

If I were going to do those now, I would buy one of the little Harbor Freight cutoff saws that they sell for about $35 for cutting down the brass.

If you have any interest in playing with cast bullets, I have a bunch of RCBS 200gr flat point and RCBS 180gr on hand that you can have for the cost of postage. I used a lot of them in the .357 Maximum, and used the 200 grainers for fireforming .357 Herrett in the 10 inch barrel ahead of Unique powder. Fun shooting, plenty of horsepower.

If you have an older Hornady manual, I believe there was data for both the .30 Herrett and .357 Herrett in them. If you don't have those, let me know and I'll see what I can dig up. I also have a reloading manual from IHMSA that I'm positive there was load data in as well.