Need to remove extractor to rechamber 357 mag to 357 max?

[watkibe]

Sorry if I am asking an unnecessary question here. I know I have seen the answer on this board before, but for the life of me, I can't find it now !

Do I have to remove the extractor when reaming the 357 Magnum chamber to the 357 Maximum chamber ?

Thanks, guys !

I have the scope, just waiting for the rings...seems like I should shoot it a little in mag first before Maximizing it !
(kinda like dancin' with who brung ya, lol)

[quickdtoo]

It's best, you don't want to catch the extractor with the reamer, beside, you'll have to remove it to clean out the chips anyway. 

Tim

[watkibe]

Thanks a lot, Tim.

[trotterlg]

Quick is probably correct.  If it were an ejector barrel the answer would be yes for sure.  But an extractor is another thing.  It is easily retracted to do the rechamber, it is a rimmed cartridge, so you probably can just do the reaming, wash out the whole thing with a half can of WD-40 and be done with it.  Be careful with the reaming, I do the rechamber from 22 LR to 22 Mag with the ejector in place so that it will support the cartridge head properly, so this could probably be done easily with it in place if you are doing it by hand.  But then, I have never done one that way, so you never know.  Larry

[krod47nw]

It's about a 30 second job to remove it, and the same to reinstall it.  Very easy.  Don't be scared .



Kevin

[quickdtoo]

Kevin is right, just knock the rear roll pin out of the under lug with a pin punch or small nail, remember which way the leaf spring is installed, pic in the FAQs to help.

While you're in there, you might as well do the extractor improvement.  http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,212110.msg1099133753.html#msg1099133753

Tim

[Handi-Fan]

For what it's worth I just did mine with Tim's reamer and I didn't remove the extractor. I put bright finger nail polish in the rim area, when the reamer made contact with the polish area I stopped. I also ran an old swab up the barrel just forward of the chamber to catch the shavings,Once complete I turned the barrel muzzle up screwed rod back on swab and pushed shavings out the chamber. I made up a dummy round and chambered it to make sure it would work. And all is well. shoots fine..

[watkibe]

What long strange trip it's been, indeed ! I was afraid of what would happen to my frame, fore end, and new barrel, and that part went flawlessly. The part I thought would be trivial wasn't. I decided to just put the same bases and scope on the 357 Magnum barrel that I already have on the 223 Superlight barrel. The order showed up on time, and I realized that I had stupidly ordered medium rings instead of high rings. Not to worry, I learned the vendors return and RMA paperwork process, and fired the medium rings back for a pair of highs. In due course they showed up, and I opened the scope for the first time. The rings went on, the scope went on, and since the Handi is uniquely qualified for some eyeball scope-bore collimation, my first shot at 25 yds was just to the right of POA. A few tweaks later, and we were ready to shoot a group !
The first 3 shots formed a nice triangle, and the disaster struck! The previously plumb and level reticle I had just set up had rotated about 30 degrees to the left ! I checked the scope for movement, hoping it was just an operator error that I could fix. No such luck. So one more time, I went down the RMA trail, and reqyested an identical replacement. And so again, I will wait...The company is OpticsPlanet, and their return/exchange process works well: they really act like they want me to be happy. The scope is  a Bushnell 3-9X32 Sportsman, admitedly an inexpensive off-shore scope. The thing is, I have two more of them. One is on my 223 Handi, and it has worked perfectly for 2 years. The other one is on my Savage 111FCNS in 338 Win Mag, for about 2 years also. So far, it takes the recoil of the massive cartridge a little better than I do !
So, time to hurry up and wait...

[watkibe]

I got the replacement scope today. I wasted no time in getting it mounted on the new 357 Handi barrel and taking it out to shoot. I took 3 shots to get it zeroed, and then shot 3 groups. The first two used Lee's 158gr tumble lube SWC over a moderate amount of Unique. Both 3 shot groups measured 1 3/8". Then I used 5 rounds of some CCI Blazer ammo I had in the back of the drawer. These nice JHP's went into a tidy 1 inch. Of course, these results are shooting at only 30 yards. I also have a 50 yard and 75 yard range I can use here too, which I will do soon. My idea is to enjoy the 357 mag for awhile, then ream to 357 Max and play with that, and then finally send it out for the "big bore" to 35 Remington.
I'm having fun, hope you are too !