Sorry I can't search now so forgive I'm sure this is in archives.

Full house 357 loads out of a lever gun.  Let's say 18-20".

What is the equivalent power rating of a good factory round.

I remember hearing way back that under a hundred yards we were talking 30-30 to soft point 7.62x39 levels of performance.

Is that true?

Some quick research shows 2000+ for for most magnum rounds, but the front/lbs don't impress me on the 125's.

Anyone have power levers for heavier rounds?

I realize it's not a rifle round, I'm really just looking for numbers.

Thanks!

I have a .357 Marlin lever action.  I like to load 14.5g of Alliant 2400 & a 158gr Hornady XTP bullet for a full power 357 Magnum load.  I've heard only anecdotal evidence about terminal ballistics at 100yds with a .357 rifle, because most people are not brave enough to shoot at their chronograph much beyond the recommended distance for fear of destroying it.  There are some bullet companies that publish external ballistics data based on velocity and their bullet's ballistic coefficient (BC); Sierra is one of them.

I will say though, that the rifle shooting a pistol caliber is capable of repeated fire with full power loads that are hard on pistols.

ETA:  Looked up some of my own Chrony data, about 10yrs old.  Numbers are 10ft from the muzzle.  Plug that data into a terminal ballistics calculator for a rough answer.
American Eagle 158gr     1853.5fps    STD 7.36
Federal 158gr                  1714.5fps    STD 17
My 158gr Hornady XTP    1721.3fps    STD 16.3

Hope that helps!

http://ballisticsbytheinch.com/357mag.html

I get 1250fps from my hand loads in my 6.5" Blackhawk. Same loads in my 18" lever gun come out right at 1900 fps .

Also check out buffalo bore. They specifically tested their heavy 357 in both revolvers and lever actions. They have exactly what you are looking for.

Yep, they claim their 158grn JHP 357mag Heavy ammo produces 2,153fps from an 18.5" Marlin 1894 levergun.   Per Handloads.com's Ballistic calculator, that's 1,626ft/lbs ME at the muzzle, 1,259ft/lbs at 50 yds and 973ft/lbs at 100 yds.

Now THOSE are some numbers.

My own hot 158grn 357mag handloads from my 20" Rossi carbine (1,941fps) and 24" Rossi rifle (1,977fps) are a bit lower, however, that's with straight H110 rather than the blend of powders they can use.

I've also had very good results with Federal's 158 gr American Eagle load - as well as their 158 gr JSP "Champion" load which gives me the same results.

Federal 158 gr JSP = 1,807 fps average velocity in a 20" barrel and an SD of 13.

I got almost identical performance with a 158 gr XTP using 16 grains of Win 296, producing 1805 fps average velocity, but with a higher SD of 32.

My preferred hand load is the 125 gr XTP on top of 20 hrs of Win 296.   I have loads of data on this, and the average has been extremely consistent with the 10 shot averages only varying between 2,168 fps and 2,172 fps with SDs varying from 14 to 17 fps.  

The above velocities are in my 20" Rossi Model 92 rifle. I also have a 24" Rossi Model 92 rifle, and the increase in velocity from the extra 4" of barrel are on the order of 40 fps for both loads.

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Trajectory wise:

Federal 158 gr JSP at 1,807 fps: 1178 ft pounds of energy at the muzzle, and 570 ft pounds at 170 yards.

With a 150 yard zero, it is 3" high at 50 yards, (max trajectory is 3.7" high at 90 yards),  3.5" high at 100 yards, 2.25" high at 125 yards, 0.0" at 150 yards, and 4.0" low at 170 yards.


Hornady 158 gr XTP at 2,210 fps: 1,378 ft pounds of energy at the muzzle, and 561 ft pounds at 170 yards.

With a 170 yard zero, it is 2.7" high at 50 yards, 3.7" high (maximum trajectory) at 100 yards, 3.2" high at 125 yards, 1.8" high at 150 yards, 0.0" low at 170 yards, and 4" low at 200 yards (where it has 464 ft pounds of energy.

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Someone commented on not being impressed with the energy of the 125 gr load, and I'm not in agreement, at least with the 125 gr XTP, as the loss is just 9 ft pounds at 170 yards, compared to the 158 gr Federal JSP bullet.  

The lighter bullet does flatten the trajectory a bit, and allows an extra 20 yards in terms of point blank trajectory.

Accuracy with both loads runs 2.0" to 2.5" for five shot groups at 100 yards, using a Lyman 17AHB front sight and a Marbles Standard Tang sight with a Merit #3 or #4 adjustable aperture.