for those of you who are shooting the .357 max,,in a contender,,how long are your cases lasting ??
buckweet

BW,

Mine seem to be lasting well but a few that were fired with some case sticking overloads during load development grew from trim to length to max length in one shot.

I have spoken to a steel shooter about it and he said they will tend to grow with very heavy loads and sizing them in carbide sizers which really tends to squeeze them down a lot and works the brass.

He said some guys will use a Carbide sizer in 38 Super to limit working of the brass. Followed by "neck sizing" in the 357 Max/Mag sizer just far enough to seat a bullet. The Super is a bit larger in finished diameter.

With the amount of shooting I do, I think this load of brass I have will last a long time.

Regards

I no longer have a Max, but I did shoot a 10" and 14" quite a bit after the cartridge was first commercialized. I had no problems with case life, and a cursory look at my old files indicates one particular batch had been loaded and fired at least 21 times. The primer pockets are still relatively tight.

Most loads ranged in power from heavy .357 Mag-type to upper-end .357 Max loads, and virtually all were fired with 180 grain bullets.