Any "tricks" for loading 357 mag in contender??

[kraky]

 Hello...new to the forum but am a pretty experienced rifle shell reloader.  I just sold off a 357 revolver and picked up a new barrel for my contender in 357 mag.  Was wondering if I should continue to crimp bullets as I did with the revolver or if it might be ok to size and prep differently for the contender.
I was wondering what would happen if I did the equivalent of neck sizing for a bottleneck case and just seated the bullet out longer than the cannelure a bit closer to the rifling??
Anyone got a success story from doing things different than they did for the revolver?  Does not crimping affect the burn and consistancy of the round?  I did make a "slip fit" dummy round and found I can really hang the bullet out towards the rifling....an easy .325" more and still not hit the rifling on this barrel.  Thanks for any hints as it's slightly "new territory" for my adventures!!

[blhof]

I have both a revolver and Contender in 357 max.  I set the bulets out considerably farther in the contender.  I've tested it at the range with both and found tighter groups with the longer bullets.  I do mark my Contender bullets with an indelible marker(shell and box) to insure I don't mix them with the revolver ammo.  Testing will see if you get similiar results with 357 mags.  I used a sand bag rest and started with factory spec., and then the longer ones with same powder.

[Czech_too]

I would suggest that you continue to crimp for now and see what kind of grouping you get, then look into seating the bullets out further if the groups aren't acceptable.  You might want to make a chamber cast and see just how much 'throat' the chamber has first.  I have two .357 barrels and one of them has considerably more of a throat than the other.
I seem to recall some mention of the .357 needing a crimp in order to get a more effective burn of the powder but this may only apply to revolvers.  I would need to check the manuals to be sure.

Brian, in Ohio

[kraky]

Thanks guys.  I have a ton of stuff to " burn up" that was loaded for the revolver and was set up with the normal crimp in the cannelure.  I can see a nice advantage to not crimping if I don't have to as I see how crimping raises heck with the mouths of the nickel coated cases. 
My biggest challenge is that I have about 150 rounds of berry's plated bullets that were set up for the revolver with a start charge of AA9.  These bullets have a frangible jacket and aren't supposed to be run over 1200 fps and my guess is that with the longer barrel  of the contender my quick load program thinks they might run about 1250.  Hoping they hold together and I can use these up and then start experimenting more with the empties. My chrono will guide me there.   I hope this gun is accurate cause it sure will be ez to load for compared to alot of my high powered rifles.  Hopefully the recoil will be manageable enough that my wife and some friends can shoot it with ease and can get a  little "wow factor" out of those that haven't done much shooting.

[handi243]

Don't know about you but mine is a 357 max and i'm not looking back man this this is fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[700 223]

I have owned my 357 10" bull TC for 19 years now and have usually just loaded as I would for a revolver. The accuracy (at least for me) has been very good to exceptional. I was shooting the 357 TC last week with a powder that is new to me VV N110 , the results were pretty impressive with 158XTPs. 

I have a 150 grain spire point type bullet that I am going to try in the 357 TC again , this time with the N110.

[kraky]

Is it taboo here to talk about certain loads  and pushing towards the top performance?  I have read that the contender can easily take 45k pressure and I was wondering how far I might push a 180 grain with win 296.  I used my quickload program last night to set seating depth for a perfect 100% fill with a near max published load...was wondering if I can print the load and get your opinions.  I am using the hornady 180 xtp that has two cannelures.  I wound up near the bottom cannelure and then just crimped against the side of the bullet just above it.  Looks pretty cool with the bullet hanging out a bit. 
BTW--the Berry's bullets wound up clocking 1330 fps and did not come apart at all.  They were really accurate.  The first 5 shot group at 25 yds was .8" c to c.  Considering the red dot covers about 1-1.25" at that distance I'm pretty happy with that performance.  Now I'm anxious to see what it does at 75-100 yds.

[Keith L]

Common sense dictates that posted loads stay within the manufacturers range for safe reloading for the stated firearm, and that if someone is interested in trying loads they start lighter and work up paying attention to pressure signs.  No one here is accepting any responsibility for injury or damage caused by trying advice given here on reloads or any thing else for that matter.  Your individual liability exposure for posting unsafe loads should be a matter between you and your legal council.

[kraky]

My speer manual lists silhouette loads with their special 180 grain bullet at 15.9 of 296. (for heavy fram e revolvers and contenders only)   I am gonna try 15.2 with my bullet out of the case a bit more as mentioned above. 
My quickload program seems to "guess" that pressures really go down fast when you hang the bullet out a bit in the .357.  For those of you with experience does this seem correct.......I don't think I "buy it" because in my experience wtih normal rifle shell reloading I don't see nearly the effect that quick load predicts.  (but I realize we are talking a much bigger percentage change with a small casing).
This speer manual is also where they talk about the contender handling 45k cup.  Your input please?  Thanks