I think the answer is to crimp em and prep em just like I did for the revolver but was wondering if anyone is doing something a bit different 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?

I generally don't crimp cartridges intended for use in a single shot rifle or handgun.

Also, you can seat the bullet out as far as you like provide there is enough bullet in the case to hold it securely and provided it's not jammed against the lands; just off the lands is OK.

Also, you don't need to resize the entire case; just enough to hold the bullet securely is OK.

WOW--just made a "slip fit" dummy round. In my new barrel I can hang out the bullet another .340" beyond the cannelure. Almost like you said....to the point there isn't enought bullet to properly hold it in place. I bet if it wasn't a 180 grain it would have been out of the case. HMMM..interesting....still wondering about the powder burn without a crimp.

I load for 44 Rem. Mag., 460 S&W Mag., 500 S&W Mag. and a bunch of others with no crimp. The powder burn will be fine.

The purpose of the crimp, in my experience, is to make the cartridge more durable and accomplishes little if anything else. I crimp for heavy recoiling rounds that will be fed via a magazine or cylinder.

I agree with the crimp issue...don't do it if you don't have to. I also only size the case that actually needs to be to hold a bullet. I believe it makes for a better fit, is much easier on cases and results in longer case life.

skb2706 wrote:

quote:

I agree with the crimp issue...don't do it if you don't have to. I also only size the case that actually needs to be to hold a bullet. I believe it makes for a better fit, is much easier on cases and results in longer case life.

Those are my sentiments exactly.

Thanks guys....will play with the dies a bit. I've got a lee 4 hole turret press and will probably set it up with a decapping die.....sizing die that only goes down half way...bell die that just touches the case mouth.....and seating die set to hang the bullet out much further than the cannelure. Could be interesting to compare same loads to those seated to cannelure and crimped for speed etc. Thing thats neat about the contender is it looks like with the longer barrel and extra speed the energy at 75-100 yds will be identical to my old taurus 6" revolver at the muzzle! ALSO I understand the benefit of not constantly crimping on the case mouth....especially with the nickel stuff that takes a beating in that area.

Unlike others with more experience my 357 magnum Contender pet load is sized full length in the Dillon 550's carbide die and crimped using a Redding roll crimp die. I use Speer silhouette data charge of H110 under the Remington 180 grain softnose hollowpoint (the bulk bullets with the scalloped jacket) for 1500 fps on the nose from a 10 inch barrel. By some happy accident the duplex reticle in my 2x Burris puts that load, 158 grain 38 special service loads, and 148 grain midrange wadcutters all through the same hole at 25 yards. At 100 yards the full power load cuts two inches most of the time. It converts whitetails into venison quite nicely.