Benjamin Benjamin Bulldog M357 Impression

[Ezana4CE]

I’d been contemplating picking one of these up for a while. I didn’t know if I wanted a .457 Bulldog or an M357. I decided to go with the M357 because it’s cheaper to shoot considering ammo costs, I have more experience with various iterations of the.357 Benjamin Bulldog and I’m pretty familiar with the platform to where I’m comfortable enough to work on my own gun to a certain degree. I paired mine with an Athlon Helos 2-12x42mm FFP as seen below. I may try another scope or two on it in time

I sighted in the Helos at 25 yards shooting NSA 110 grain slugs. Per my other Bulldogs, this one shoots them pretty well up close. I only made it out to 35 yards before the heat started cooking my electronics and giving me a headache. I packed it in around 103F. Here’s a couple of shot strings.

My initial impression of this rifle is that out of the box, this is an adequate deer gun for me considering my experience with the platform and the regulations for deer hunting in the state of Texas as of 2023. The M357 is also capable of taking raccoon to coyote sized varmints. Due to the increased velocities compared to the stock .357 Bulldog, I’m thinking this gun is capable of ethically taking out varmints from longer distances with light 110 grain slugs. I’ll know more when I stretch my range farther.

My verdict on taking out deer at a distance is also inconclusive. I don’t want to speculate there so I’ll wait until I have more data. To satisfy the 215 ft/Lb minimum requirement for taking white tail deer, these 110 grain NSA slugs need to be shot at an approximate minimum velocity of 939 fps from this Benjamin Bulldog M357. My suggestion is to chronograph your rifle once you get it to be sure that it’s consistently shooting at or above this velocity with 110 grain NSA slugs or other projectiles of the same weight.

As you can see from my shot strings, the first two shots from a 2900-2800 psi fill meet the legal minimum requirement. After five shots (one magazine) the reservoir finishes around 2100-2000 psi. I haven’t pushed any shots below 2000 psi. That’s good enough for me for an unregulated hunting PCP. Oh yea, This rifle is LOUD and powerful. This isn’t a toy. You’ll likely want to wear hearing protection if you wish to preserve your hearing. It is not a backyard friendly rifle out of the box. I have not shot it with a moderator yet.

 

[DirtyGator]

Thanks for taking the time and posting this. I have been curious about the M357. This is good insite. Do you feel the accuracy is comparable to the older platform? I'm sure as a avid hunter, you have plans to compare that aspect, and I look forward to it. Thanks Again.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Thanks for taking the time and posting this. I have been curious about the M357. This is good insite. Do you feel the accuracy is comparable to the older platform? I'm sure as an avid hunter, you have plans to compare that aspect, and I look forward to it. Thanks Again.

@DirtyGator No problem. The accuracy appears to be consistent with this slug that my other Dogs like. That was a concern of mine considering information I’d encountered from reviews. I encourage anyone purchasing an M357 to try ammo that worked well in the older .357 Benjamin Bulldog platform and work from there as your baseline. After communicating with various people in the know, the barrels are not supposed to be different. The port size is larger on the M357, but the barrel length and twist rates are the same to my understanding (from what has been communicated to me). I’m not comfortable commenting any further on accuracy because I’ve only shot out to 35 yards. When I push out further, then I’ll know more. I do intend to hunt with this rifle, but I want to get more familiar with it. It has some recoil and it made my bullet trap jump several times as well as knocked the target out of the clip that secures it against the trap.

As you can see below I’m not where I want to be. The top left was my first 25 yard target getting my scope zeroed. Hence the low shot into the target below which was my first shot. The top right target helped me nail down and confirm my zero. Then I moved back to 34-35 yards in the center right target. As you can see I’m chasing my hold here. The reticle has no subtentions for holdunder. So I have to find my optimal zero. When it cools off, I’ll make it point to get back to it. But the second 25 yard target shows me that the gun and ammo are compatible when the shooter does his/her part. But I think that ultimately distance will tell the tale.

 

[Greg_E]

I'll have to check my stock of slightly heavier ammo, I might have something that will give you a little overhead in the power department. It's also the round that my slightly tuned up BD likes a lot. I might need to sit and cast more.

I should have a bunch of 125ish grain hollow points you could try too. I'll give that stuff a look after dinner and get back to you if you are interested. If the first choice works, you can make your own or buy from a bullet supplier (I'll need to remember the name).

 

[Ezana4CE]

I'll have to check my stock of slightly heavier ammo, I might have something that will give you a little overhead in the power department. It's also the round that my slightly tuned up BD likes a lot. I might need to sit and cast more.

I should have a bunch of 125ish grain hollow points you could try too. I'll give that stuff a look after dinner and get back to you if you are interested. If the first choice works, you can make your own or buy from a bullet supplier (I'll need to remember the name).

@Greg_E Let me know what you have. At which velocities have you had acceptable accuracy with the ammo you’ve mentioned? Do you have any semi-wadcutter or wadcutter .357 slugs that your Bulldog likes?

 

[Greg_E]

I have some flat nose in 155 grain, same shape as the 135 gr hollow point, but haven't shot them enough to really know. I have about 2 pounds of the hollow points. The 130gr Lee mold (round nose with 2R curve) has been my gun's favorite and most accurate round, running those up around 780-800fps which is under your power level, but they are made for 9mm handguns, so 1000fps should be fine if you can reach it. I have enough of each I can send some samples if you are OK with powder coated ammo. All have been run through a Lee 0.357 die which is pretty close to size. I can make new ones that are 0.358 or squeeze down to 0.356, since you said the barrels seem to be the same as old BD, I'd guess 0.357. Only thing I use now is "pure" soft lead. Let me get some pictures.

I also need to make myself some 88gr flat nose and 84gr hollow point, good for smaller stuff like medium size pests! Last testing had those around 110-120fpe, but I'm clean out of those. But if you need 50cal muzzle laser bullets, I have pounds of those!

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Greg_E My Dogs do well with .357 swaged lead. The 145 grain ballistic tip Noslers do ok as well. They’re just expensive as hell. I’ve never shot powder coated slugs. That’s new to me. Do you have to do anything differently before shooting them from an airgun? Do they require a particularly clean barrel?

 

[Greg_E]

In order 84gr 130gr 135gr 155gr. The 84 is old junk lead that I won't shoot and won't give to anyone, I'm going to melt it and make it into a soft face hammer. But you get the idea, it's a NOE mold and not my favorite. The 130 Lee is one of my favorite to cast, just easy to make lots. The 135 and 155 are Lee steel molds, they get heavy and the hollow point is 1 at a time which has a higher success rate than the solid version.

 

[Greg_E]

Powder coat just gives a lubricating layer, helps keep the bore clean and accurate. I have some tumble lube that I'm probably going to try with The Hammer, not sure if I'll use it with the BD. Powder coat is nice because it keeps your hands clean!

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Greg_E I like round noses but I worry about how they can deflect and get redirected when hitting bone at an angle. That’s a nice looking hollow point. How’s the expansion been in your experience? I’d be interested in trying the last two for sure to see what type of results they produce.

 

[Greg_E]

I haven't shot anything but paper and cotton with the 135, not seeing much expansion. All of them mush up really good in the cotton so expansion in flesh and hide should be decent.

I'll try to dig around in my cotton bucket and see what I can harvest for you. The 130 go about 8 to 10 inches deep into old denim, the 155 are almost to the back of the bucket at 12 inches, this is about the max power I can test in my garage without fitting a steel plate in the bottom of the bucket.

 

[Greg_E]

Found a couple of the 155 that didn't get smashed into a big ball, somewhere in the 200-210 fpe range on these into denim in a bucket. I'll have to unpack the entire bucket and see what I have before my next casting session, should be about 2 pounds of lead in there.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Found a couple of the 155 that didn't get smashed into a big ball, somewhere in the 200-210 fps range on these into denim in a bucket. I'll have to unpack the entire bucket and see what I have before my next casting session, should be about 2 pounds of lead in there.

View attachment 382302

@Greg_E What do you mean by “the 200-210 fps range?”

 

[Ezana4CE]

I did a little more shooting this evening and set my zero from 25 to 40 yards. When I shot from 45 yards with a 40 yard zero, the slug dropped. It seems that somewhere around 40 yards is my apex zero with this scope in these rings shooting these slugs. I’m still feeling this scope and rifle out. Not the biggest fan of this 2-12x42mm Helos Gen 2. I don’t think it belongs on this rifle. With the range this gun is capable of I think that a scope with a max magnification of at least 20x with a 50mm objective should be the minimum standard. This Helos may be better suited for a stock .357 Benjamin Bulldog, but then there’s the issue of light transmission in low light environments close to dusk and dawn. That’s another thread altogether.

 

[Greg_E]

Whoops, should have been fpe.

I thinks this rifle needs a 20 moa rail or rings on it, at least mine does.

 

[Ezana4CE]

The lower left target is where I reset my zero from 25 to 40 yards. I think I had one slug fall out of the mag in my pocket.

They are not good groups, but they’re honest. I can live with 1” at 40 yards for now. I guess things can really only get better from here.

Tip: Matt’s Modded Mags sold by Pitbull Airguns are still the best magazines I’ve used for the .357 Benjamin Bulldog and the M357. Your ammo doesn’t tend to rattle at all like it does in the stock magazine and the o-ring keeps them in place once inserted which makes loading them easy and it’s less likely that ammo will fall out of the mag once loaded.

Matt's Modded Mags | pitbull

The Benjamin Bulldog 5-shot magazine gets a much needed upgrade courtesy of Matt's modding ingenuity. The stock magazine is modified to receive an O-Ring that intersects each chamber, holding the bullets in place and preventing them from rattling around in the field while hunting and loading...

www.pitbullairguns.com

 

[Greg_E]

I need to get my mags on my milling machine and cut a groove for an o ring. It's a good idea that I'm surprised Crosman didn't come up with originally.

 

[extradrygin2001]

I had terrible accuracy with my bulldog, anything past 30 yards and I couldn’t hold a group with any ammunition. I looked down the barrel and found that I couldn’t even see the rifling. I sent I back to crosman a couple of times and eventually I got a barrel that was bright and shiny, apparently when the barrels come across the ocean from Germany they put wax down the barrel for a anti rust prevention. Unfortunately the wax does not come out. This is not an uncommon issue. I spent over 6 hours trying to clean the barrel on my bulldog and it never came clean. So check the barrel

 

[extradrygin2001]

Just so you know this rifle should be holding a 50 yard group well under an inch and if yours does not do this then the rifle is the problem. Send it back to crosman and demand improvement.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@extradrygin2001 I’m not worried about that at the moment. I’ve never seen wax in a Bulldog barrel. Mine have had grease in them. It came out with a Patchworm, Ballistol, and a couple dozen patches. Some I cleaned, others I cleaned after shooting. I’m not new to the platform and I’m not making excuses for my shooting.

@Greg_E I was thinking that exact same thing. I have several Bulldog mags and one of Matt’s modded mags that I use when I hunt. I can’t stand that rattling around crap. Why Crosman hasn’t rectified the issue is beyond me. There are several small issues that they haven’t addressed. Good thing there are shops like Pitbull Airguns and Veradium Air.