.404 chain on 357xp?

[palbin]

So - I have bought a 10 year or so old "toasted" Husky 357xp
for very little just to have something to pretend I am a mecha-
nic a little with ... .

Now when I am hoping saw is getting ready for use I was thin-
king of changing the clutch drum to a Oregon 108565X with a
large sprocket fit in order to use a 7-tooth .404 sprocket and a
.058 gauge .404 pitch chain together with a Sugihara 17 inch
hardnose bar on the saw ... ???

I know people wine a lot about .404 being for saws 80 cc or so
and upwards - but at the same time they say 3/8 cuts better -
seems to me both cannot be true at the same time ... .

Anyway it looks good with a large pitch chain ... . OR???

 

[psuiewalsh]

404 7 tooth is similar diameter to 8 tooth 3/8 sprocket. If it is a hard nose bar why not just run 3/8 or .325? You can get both rims for the same drum probably just .325-9 tooth and 3/8 7 or 8 tooth.
I had a old Remington pl4 with the same displacement that ran .404 but the rpms were lower than your 357 so it is certainly doable.