Hi, does anybody have any spare contender barrels lying around?
I'm looking for something in 357 mag / max and something in 45colt.
Do the 45/410 barrels shoot good? Or does the long 410 chamber mess with things?
thanks
Glenn.

I just traded for a 10" blue bull 357 magnum with a Weaver base as part of package deal. It's still in transit my way, but it will be needing a new home. If you're not in a super rush, I can send you a picture of the barrel when it arrives.

I'm too happy with my 10 inch 357 tube to let it go just now. I use Speer data and H110 to start a Remington 180 @ 1500 fps. Works nice on whitetail. Thought once or twice about having it rechambered to Maximum but have yet to get around to it.

My pre-California 45/410 barrel never liked any brand of Colt ammunition. My post-California 45/410 shoots Winchester cowboy loads okay out to 50 feet, but by the time the bullets get to 25 yards they are all hitting the paper sideways. Too much freebore. I understand that some have tried to wildcat the problem, apparently without success. A fella might use a brass 410 case to get a bullet close enough to the rifling to make a difference but I have other more pressing projects. Otherwise I wonder if a 45-70/410 wouldn't work better... Both barrels worked/work well enough with 3 inch 410 shotshells. Slugs will shoot into five or six inches at 50 feet, but a foot or so below the sights. A 22 rimfire insert barrel from MCAce might make for a handy small game combination. Good hunting!

Glenn,

I still need to get a contender barrel for my frame, so I can't help on barrels.

I have tried the 357 mag, 357 max and 357 Herret all in 10" contenders. Heres some comments on them.

The factory 357 mag chamber has a generous throat, what Mike Bellm calls a toilet bowl throat. This tends to make for poor accuracy, and I'd agree. I tried many powders and primers, and only found one odd combination of a 160 gr cast and a mild load of AA 1680 that shot well, and it shot really well. Other than that, I wasn't happy with the accuracy. As far as how generous the throat is, I was able to seat my 200 gr WFN cast bullet with only the gas check in the case, and never hit the lands. With that 200 gr seated to the lube groove, and stoked to the gills with H-110, I got 1700 fps. These barrels can be found at reasonable prices and are a great candidate for a re-chamber to 357 maximum.

Virgin Valley had a shorty sale, so I had them make me a 10" ss 357 maximum. I went right to it with the 200 gr cast bullet and H-110, and while I worked up to impressive velocity, high 1800 fps, I got horrible verticle stringing. I then changed to AA 1680, and go up past 1900 fps, and accuracy was improved, but not what I was after ~2" at 50 yds. In a whim, I sold the barrel. The guy who got it ran some jacketed loads through it, said that broke the barrel in, and that it shot great after the break in. Bad on me for letting it go, but if you want a compact pocket cannon, the 10" 357 max is IMHO, the nee plus ultra combo. You're talking 30-30 rifle power.

The 357 Herret is a good round and used ones are typically pretty inexspensive, and dies aren't hard to find. I was able to get up around 1900+ fps with the 200 gr cast, though was concerned about pressure, so never broke 2000 fps. The Herret burns much larger charges of powder than the 357 max for the same level of performance. It also puts more strain on the frame due to the larger case head. It was an accrurate barrel, would should 2" or less at 100 yds, the new owner claimed MOA. Supposedly the powder is the discontinued Win 680, well, same holds for the 357 max.

Since you like doing your own machine work, I'd recomend getting a 357 mag barrel, and picking up some decimal chucking reamers to turn it into a 357 max. My buddy says his Bellm 357 max re-chamber is the most accurate contender barrel he's every had, shooting moa with iron sights.

Found them, thanks.

I have a 45 win mag 14 inch barrel if your interisted