Author Topic: A Maxi Bad Day at Dead Barn Farm (Read 4459 times)

petemi · « **on:** February 24, 2010, 05:46:39 AM »

I got my shortie .357 Maxi on paper with .38s the other day and the weather was cold and windy so I quit. Today is perfect, so I went out to dial it in with mags and maxis. The longer cases extracted, but had to be pulled out with pliers. I now have fireformed, necked .357 Max brass. The spent cases would not chamber in my other Handi Maxi.....I suppose you could drive them in with a hammer. It seems I have an oversized chamber in the shortie. Tim suggested rechambering it to .35 Remington. Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this?

Pete

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2010, 05:58:04 AM »

It is not unusual for a chamber to be different from 1 gun to another, even from the same manufacturer. The usual practice is to full length size cases that are going to be used in more than two guns. The other solution, as Tim has suggested is to chamber it to a different case - 35 Remington would be a likely candidate, but there are others, if you are willing to make cases and hand load. If you are having trouble with new cases fitting into the chamber - you definitely have a chamber problem. Good Luck to you Pete and let us know what you work out.

rangerwillie · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2010, 06:06:22 AM »

Pete, I've had the same problem.... after shooting 38's. I had to brush the bore and 357's fit fine.

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2010, 06:10:08 AM »

Ahh...I forgot about that. Some times the shorter round will leave a ring in the chamber if lead is used or powder residue can build up causing the longer cases to hang up.

petemi · « **Reply #4 on:** February 24, 2010, 06:12:12 AM »

Thanks LaOtto, the unfired Maxis chamber very loosely....you can wiggle them around in there.

ranger, it's not .38 crud. This rifle is fireforming necked .357 Max brass.

Pete

Tom Threetoes · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2010, 07:12:13 AM »

I think oversize chambers might be a common condition on Handi rifles. My .45 Colt is blessed with a generous sized chamber. When I resize my brass the cases look almost bottle necked!

wreckhog · « **Reply #6 on:** February 24, 2010, 07:32:21 AM »

For someone that does not reload, does it matter? The case headspaces off the rim. If you do reload, full size ammo for both guns or try segregating cases and neck sizing just for the oversized gun. I have tons of 1x brass from various guns and it often does not fit other guns.

petemi · « **Reply #7 on:** February 24, 2010, 09:00:30 AM »

Wreckhog, you're missing the point. Factory Maxi ammo loads freely and easily. When fired, the cases extract as far as the extractor moves and then they have to be pulled out with pliers. They come out bottlenecked. I had one magnum reload from Blue Star that looks like it may have a small crack after firing. The magnum cases are also expanded to the point the empties won't chamber in the other rifle.

Pete

MSP Ret · « **Reply #8 on:** February 24, 2010, 09:19:18 AM »

your going to love your .35 Remington Handi, mine is one of my favorite Handis. How did your "shorty" come to be a Max? It seems it became larger in diameter in the area that was reamed out....<><....

petemi · « **Reply #9 on:** February 24, 2010, 09:36:49 AM »

No, Andy, It appears that the end that was reamed is smaller in diameter than the original chamber. I guess I never noticed it as a mag. The same gunsmith and reamer did my first one and it is fine. Yes, I'd really like to do a .35 Rem, but I really wanted this shorty in .357 for its versatility as a truck gun on the farm.

Pete

Spanky · « **Reply #10 on:** February 24, 2010, 09:41:09 AM »

Do a chamber cast Pete. Sounds like it might be toast as far as being a Maxi.
On the bright side... there are some real good 35's out there that you can rechamber to.

Spanky

JerryKo · « **Reply #11 on:** February 24, 2010, 10:21:03 AM »

Pete,...strange new case you got there. If you don't want a Shorty 35 rem, ill trade ya a long maximum for a Shorty 35 rem.

Jerry

wreckhog · « **Reply #12 on:** February 24, 2010, 11:05:59 AM »

Was brainstorming this. Never a good thing. Greybeard has a Contender in .358 JDJ. Handgun cartridge, so shorty barrel is OK, and Contender action, so SB2 is OK.

guns-o-fun · « **Reply #13 on:** February 24, 2010, 01:45:47 PM »

Wow. So your cases are expanding right into the throat and coming out bottlenecked - and with considerable difficulty at that??

Sounds like your chamber dimension are all messed up. You will like the 35 rem. Not a lot of powder, but it still hits hard at reasonable ranges.

trotterlg · « **Reply #14 on:** February 24, 2010, 03:37:50 PM »

I have a 35 Remington reamer and will cut it for free, or I can also do a .357 Herrett. Larry

JerryKo · « **Reply #15 on:** February 24, 2010, 04:06:24 PM »

That trade offer still exists. Maybe Larry could make this maximum short enough for your liking. Just trying to help.

Jerry

dpe.ahoy · « **Reply #16 on:** February 24, 2010, 04:57:29 PM »

Man, sorry to here that Pete. Larry made a great offer, would kinda like a 35 rem Handi myself, some day. Guess I could make do with 2 Max. and a 35.

The Herrett would do darn good in the short tube, maybe better than the 35 rem. Which do you think would be better Larry? DP

trotterlg · « **Reply #17 on:** February 24, 2010, 07:42:12 PM »

I've never shot either one of them. The Herriott is just back from Australia from cleaning up a bad 357 chamber. I think that both would be a very nice H&R chambering. Larry

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 24, 2010, 11:37:23 PM »

Pete - I could be wrong on this. It sounds like your chamber was not reamed deep enough, but that does not make sense either as a fresh load will drop right in. Maybe the chamber walls need to be polished up some. As far as 35 Remington or 357 Herrett goes - the Herrett is pretty much a case forming; hand load situation. I am sure if you search the internet enough you could find somebody that has loaded 357 Herrett for sale, but I bet the cost would be through the roof as there is a lot of work in involved in forming cases. The 35 Remington would be much easier to find and I am sure, cheaper too. Try polishing up the chamber to see if that takes care of your extraction problem first. I wish you the best and hope it works out for you.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #19 on:** February 24, 2010, 11:40:42 PM »

Pete,
I'm very sorry to read of your problems!! Sounds to me like a bad re-chambering job to me!! the maxi is a long chamber and if one or not very careful the chamber can easily become "wallowed" if done by hand. Also sounds like its short... Its not possible its smaller diameter as its rifled before chambering. More likely its bigger thru the cases body. Once you fire a case, it appears to be necked, but in reality the body is merely bigger and the neck area is correct or near correct diameter.

Can you post some pics? I would also like to see and chamber cast. This is definitely an unsafe situation.

In any case, a re-chambering is the only way to save that barrel. As usual, Larry's generosity to the members here is very gracious. Larry, what can I say, I tip my hat to you my friend.

CW

petemi · « **Reply #20 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:05:46 AM »

Youze guys is fantastic

. Why don't I send the barrel to Larry to rechamber to .35 Rem. Instead of returning it to me, send it to Jerry and Jerry could send me the long Maxi. I'd have it cut and recrowned and I'd have the rifle I really want. Then everyone would be happy except poor Larry.....he's stuck with the work. Seriously Larry, I'd have to do something in return besides postage....perhaps some brass?

Thank you all again.

Pete

wreckhog · « **Reply #21 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:26:32 AM »

Quote from: cwlongshot on February 24, 2010, 11:40:42 PM

Pete,
I'm very sorry to read of your problems!! Sounds to me like a bad re-chambering job to me!! the maxi is a long chamber and if one or not very careful the chamber can easily become "wallowed" if done by hand. Also sounds like its short... Its not possible its smaller diameter as its rifled before chambering. More likely its bigger thru the cases body. Once you fire a case, it appears to be necked, but in reality the body is merely bigger and the neck area is correct or near correct diameter.

Can you post some pics? I would also like to see and chamber cast. This is definitely an unsafe situation.

In any case, a re-chambering is the only way to save that barrel. As usual, Larry's generosity to the members here is very gracious. Larry, what can I say, I tip my hat to you my friend.

CW

If a fired case won't come out, why would a chamber cast slide out? I'd send it back to the smith and say it did not work. Go from there.

petemi · « **Reply #22 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:48:53 AM »

If I send it back to the smith and he gets it working, I believe the brass is still going to be oversized after firing, which is going to be a pain in the butt keeping it seperate when you have three .357s in the house.

Pete

Daman · « **Reply #23 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:51:19 AM »

If I were you Petemi, I would seriously take Larry up on his to rechamber and then swap with Jerry! Both were very kind offers.

Daman

petemi · « **Reply #24 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:54:23 AM »

Daman, that's what I'd like to do.

Pete

Daman · « **Reply #25 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:57:55 AM »

Sounds like a win-win situation.

MSP Ret · « **Reply #26 on:** February 25, 2010, 03:14:37 AM »

what a wonderful place this is, and with a great membership. Larry really made a fine offer and made this work out. He is a great guy....<><....

petemi · « **Reply #27 on:** February 25, 2010, 03:56:03 AM »

+1 on that Andy

Pete

trotterlg · « **Reply #28 on:** February 25, 2010, 05:50:24 AM »

It is really only about an hour job, just send it off and I will take care of it. Larry

quickdtoo · « **Reply #29 on:** February 25, 2010, 06:04:58 AM »

Good on ya Larry, saving the day once again!!

Tim