Well, I went to the range with my new 12" T/C contender barrel chambered in 357 Maximum. Tried AA 1680 and XMP 5744 under 200 gr. RCBS cast from wheel weights and heat treated to a brinell hardness of 24.

The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the bullets were sized to .360 because I shoot them in my Marlin 336 35 Remington and I don't have a .358 sizing die. Next time I will size them to .358.

I achieved the expected velocities for XMP 5744 but AA 1680 fell well over 200 fps too slow. All charges were hand weighed.

Needless to say this is the second time I have tried AA 1680 and it failed to live up to all the claims of how great a powder it was. The first time I tried it in my T/C contender chambered in a 7.62x39 (.308 bore) Bullberry barrel. This was even a new can of powder. I gave the first one to my buddy after it failed to meet any of the data that was published.

Plan on trying Reloader 7 next. Have always had good luck with this powder.

Anyone else experience issues with AA 1680?

Its the powder of choice in my .357 Max carbine. I use it under a 180 gr. Beartooth hard cast and in my carbine I get almost 2000 fps.

I'm using the surplus version, WC 680 and am quite happy with it. WC 820 is another good one for the Max and 180 grain bullets.

My Max loads always favored H110/W296 or even better, Lil'Gun. I tried 1680 in it and I was not impressed but used only 180 grain or lighter bullets.