NYS
I can't really tell you much first hand about the conversion to Max, since I bought it already converted. But yes, simple way is to rechamber a 357 mag. You can rent a reamer - I believe there's something in the FAQs about where - or have it done by a gunsmith. Dies; well I did acquire a set of Max dies, but I did use 357 mag dies for some time (Lee carbide), and if I hadn't stumbled on a such a good deal for the Max dies, I doubt I would have bought them.
Truth be told, most of the rounds through it are built on 357 mag brass anyway. I've got a Ruger Blackhawk in 357 mag, and a lot more 357 mag brass than 357 Max brass so it makes sense to load for 357 mag. I mostly load 148 and 158 cast bullets (cheaper) though I have tried a couple of potential hunting loads with 180 and 200 gr jacketed bullets. However, my son and I never did manage to get out Bambi chasing, so other than a few times we did pop off some 180 and 200 gr loads, pretty much all the shooting with this one has been at the club range with moderate to light cast loads. I don't have a chronograph so I don't have hard information about any of the loads.
As far as the Survivor stock is concerned, the main reason I put it on was for my son who at 11 was kind of skinny and light and wanted a shorter, lighter stock at the time... now he's 14, and less than 1/2" shorter than me, is working out, and still growing. I guess we'll be putting a regular adult stock on it soon...
And one thing about the Survivor stock, is that it seems to have less felt (subjective?) recoil with the 'hunting' loads than with the original wood stock. That stock was heavier, so it would be normal to expecte that the recoil would be less... but that doesn't seem to be the case. When he first shot it with the wooden stock, my skinny, smaller son, didn't like the recoil. I put a youth synthetic stock on it, but it was actually too short (and according to him, still too much recoil) so it ended up with the Survivor stock as you see it, and, as Goldilocks said about the porridge: "It was just right."
As far as handling goes, I can find nothing to complain about using the Survivor stock. What I like most about it is that it weighs less than the wood stock it came with. All I can say is that my son likes it (as do I), and it is accurate enough for him to plink with at ranges inside 100 yards. (It also has a 20 ga barrel, but he doesn't go for the shotgun stuff so much.)
As I mentioned, I set up this combo when he was 11. It was intended to be his first exposure to centerfire (and to learn to reload for it) with the optimistic idea we could go hunting together. (Never happened, due to ex-wife requirements, kid going to school, living 4+ hours apart etc). But it did its job just fine. He got used to something other than the .22 rimfire, he got some reloading experience, and had we managed to get out in the field, it would have handled his first deer just fine.
That's about all I have to offer, but there are a bunch of folks on the forum who can give you a lot more info on the Max regarding loads, how they reamed it, etc. You could use the search feature, or post a new thread asking for info.
Cheers
Kerry
