[Okiecruffler]

Just started loading for my Contender with a 10 inch bull barrel and would like some suggestions before I go out and buy 5 new cans of powder (man I wish someone would sell powder in smaller batches). I'm looking for accuracy over power, so it doesn't have to be a redhot round. I would like to stay with 158gr leadcast SWC. Right now I have 50 loaded with the SWC in front of 4.9gr of red dot. That's what I normally use in my snubby for practice, but I'm sure I could work up a better load for that 10 inch tube.

[HSMITH]

Clays has been really accurate for me in 38 specials, and speeds similar to Red Dot would be expected.

Universal Clays works darn nice for mid-range 357's too.

[P95Carry]

Okie -

You may have seen me mention this load b4 ........ it's one I find excellent in my handguns and also ...... thru my Win94. It's a tad short of a max load but I find good for accuracy.

Vit N-110 14 grns ..... pushing a Lyman gas check 158 cast SWC. I know not so many seem to use Vit powders ... bit pricey etc but I do find it one of the best for being free flowing and very clean burning.

My 0.02 :)

[Quantrill]

13.0gr of 2400 under the 158grSWC or Keith 168grSWC. Quantrill

[HankB]

In .357 Mag, I've had good luck with a cast 158 grain gas check (Lyman 358156) and 9.0 grains of SR4756. Use a standard primer, start at around 7 grains, and work up.

The 9.0 grain load is less than the max listed in Speer's #8 manual, and less than the max that used to be listed in the Dupont (now IMR) manual, but max loads have been generally cut down in the last 20-odd years.

[P95Carry]

I've had good luck with a cast 158 grain gas check (Lyman 358156) Hank ..... yep .. IMO that is indeed the archetypal bullet for the job...... the one I use... was just too lazy to remember the number.... casts just great! Love it.

[John Galt]

I think that the really fast powders are two fast for your long barrel (but I don't really know).

For "meat" loads (hunting / self protection) I see Hogdon makes H4227 which it claims to be great and their data is listed for 10" barrels. For target practice, you might want to use a powder that takes 1/2 the amount, yet slow burning like H-Longshot.

Anyway, I would send an email to Hogdon and others and tell them what gun, barrel and bullet application and any cost concern and ask their recommendation. Their advice might be best! I did that for my new 223 and was surprised by their response.

[E357]

I have a 10" TC .357 barrel and shoot it quite a bit. CLAYS and RED-DOT are way too fast for anything other than your average target plinking load. Once you start to push these powders the pressure spikes suddenly. I won't print the load, but I was using "X" grains of CLAYS, then went to "X+1" grains of CLAYS and split half the cases cases.

A great safe powder for your LEAD bullets would be either Unique or Universal. Blue Dot which is also a nice 357 powder may push your bullets too fast and product leading at the muzzle. You will need to experiment some.

My jacketed loads are about 80% max Blue dot and are very accurate.

Elliot

[GooseGestapo]

For faster cast bullet loads, the Alliant 2400 is hard to beat. I prefer 14.5 gr with Cast GC-HP 150gr. SWC and Win Small pistol primer. This runs over 1,400fps from my 4" Ruger Sec.-6 and decent accuracy. 13.5gr is a little more accurate and runs 1,350fps. An excellent load is 6.8gr. Clays-Universal, for 1,270fps. and decent accuracy. Quite economical for .357 magnum factory equivalent load. (7.5 Unique duplicates this)

However to really unlease the power of the 10" Contender, use either H110 or Win296 and Jacketed bullets. I have some Hod. Lil-Gun thats supposed to be even better with 158gr and heavier Jacketed bullets but haven't gotten around to trying any.

[Okiecruffler]

Thanks guys, great information here. I think I'm going to buy some Blue Dot, some 2400, and some Universal and then go from there. It's only money, right? Still wish someone sold smaller quantities of powder for just testing. Like 4oz or so.

[Cherokee]

There is a gun shop in Akron (Barberton) OH that does sell small quantities of powder for testing - only one I've even seen.

[mohican]

you can use a "slower" powder in the longer barrel such as ww296, 2400, AA#9, H110 works for "hotter" loads (but only within the limits of loading manuals)

for "plinking" loads in .357 & 44 mag, I alway like Unique.

[WESHOOT2]

I'm gonna ditto Universal Clays for light-to-mediums.

[Okiecruffler]

Well, I finally got out with my new loads. some with 9.3gr of BlueDot, some with 13.7 gr of Herc 2400. All of them are behind a 158gr lead cast SWC. Best I can do is 6 inch groups at 50yrds with the BlueDot, and over 10 inches with the 2400. Very embarrassing since several people are standing around watching the guy with the "funny looking pistol". Then I dig a box of cheap S&B 158gr fmj and I'm getting 1.5 inch 5 shot groups at 50 yrds. That's when it dawns on me. I'm shooting cast lead with no gas checks, in front of some pretty heavy powder loads, thru a 10 inch barrel. I don't have a chony, but my book list those loads at around 1500fps out of a 6 inch barrel. I don't know how much boost I'm getting with another 4 inches, but it can't be good for accuracy with that soft lead. Oh well.

So it's back to the drawing board, this time with some fmj stuff. Good news is, my .357 snubby just loved the load.

[P95Carry]

Okie ..... If your cast bullets hard enough you should be reasonably OK ...... tho I do prefer gas checks. My lyman cast swc with gas checks works very well ..... and most good hard cast bullets should be good for something approaching 2,000 fps ....... tho around 1500 should be very reasonable.

I have non checked bullets for my 44 mag and do get some leading but ... still seem to find a load that gets an acceptable group.

May be a case of keep trying ..... to include some ''close'' loads ....... such as 5 rounds each with increasing charges of say .5 grain or even less ... and run a comparison .. and delead between strings. You could well find a ''magic'' result... even if a tad tedious.

[Okiecruffler]

I Might try some good hard cast bullets, the stuff I use now is super cheap and pretty soft, not to mention not always uniform. Work well for my snubbies, but probably not the best for long range shooting. I'm also giving some thought to 125 gr jsp's. But it does pretty good with the $9/50 S&B. Not sure if I can reload for less than that.

[P95Carry]

If your lead is poor, then there will be probs . even with checks. Try and get some wheel weight material .... but otherwise use some plumber's solder (50/50) and make a mix which is around 1:11 ..... tin to lead .. even this is quite good. Of course, intoduction of some antimony helps too.

I'd almost imagine you have to be leading with that you used ..... use a Lewis or Hoppes de-leader and strip out properly . usually worst near forcing cone. That long barrel will suffer way more IMO from over soft cast bullets, and leading generally.

$9 per 50 ....... well without doin the math and if you don't cost your time ... I'd be surprised if you can't load for no more than 10 cents a shot..... so savings are there. Plus ''tailoring'' the load to the gun.

[Okiecruffler]

I used to, but my brother and his friend were messing around my table once and knocked it over. As a reflex I reached out to catch it and ended up with a handful of molten lead. Ended up with a major infection, a failed skin graft, and 9 months of physical therapy for my efforts. That was 12 years ago and for some reason I still haven't taken casting back up.

[P95Carry]

As a reflex I reached out to catch it and ended up with a handful of molten lead. OMG ...... horror! Well I guess I can understand your reluctance!! I can but imagine that .... it almost makes me feel sick thinkin on it.

I always cast alone ....... partly for concentration but also maybe cos of what might happen with people around. Only exception I think has been showing someone ''the ropes'' ...... but even then they have to stand well away and clear .... for their safety as well as mine.

I picked up a box of 100 Remington lead 240 grn 44 swc's some time back at a gun show .... cos they were cheap! Respell cheap as ''crap''! I pulled out great strands of lead after shootin a few ..... I still have about 80 unused ... and they'll stay that way.

There are some hardcast commercially available bullets to be had .... damned if I remember names right now. Maybe ''Beartooth'' is one.

[Okiecruffler]

hot lead is not a plaything. Anyone who has ever had a serious burn can tell you, it'll ruin your weekend right quick.

I've been looking online for bullets, I love these local guys, but the selection is pretty limited. I've found some hard cast, but they cost almost as much as the jacketed. I'll probably buy both and see what happens. With as much as I shoot my snubbies, it's not like they'll go to waste.

[357Man]

I've done quite a bit of shooting and load testing with Contenders in both .357 Mag and .357 Maximum. While jacketed and gas check cast bullets work great, I have never been able to get a plain base bullet to shoot worth a darn in a Contender barrel at ANY velocity. I believe it is because the throats are a bit long, and the bullets tend to get cocked after they leave the case and before they hit the rifling.
With a standard plain base 158 gr.SWC, I would think that your best bets would be lower velocity loads, about .38 Special level. Try about 5.0 grains of Unique, or an equivalent with the Universal you mentioned. That ought to get you started in the correct (i.e., most accurate) direction with that bullet.
For full power loads, stick with jacketed bullets or with hard cast gas check bullets. Then, you can do just about anything you want as far as powders go and get good to great results.