Contender 357 mag or maximum?

[Lager]

My early model Contender's clearly says 357 mag on the barrel.
Ive been having troubles finding mag ammo so I bought my own reloader.
Im making my first box of fifty when I remembered something that I read a while ago. This article said that the bullet head should just touch the rifleing in a single shot or a rifle for the best accuracy. That determines your OAL or overall length you should set your seating die to.
Now before the Mods think this is a reloading question and should be moved, it really isnt. Bear with me for a min, I need some Contender only advise.
Back to subject, useing a spent shell and a new 158 grain head,Ive determined that the perfect OAL length for my barrel/chamber is 1.990 inches.Exactly the same size as the 357 maximum recommended length.
It appears that my Mag barrel is actually a maximum barrel. Is it common that TC would bore a mag barrel to accept max cartridges or my barrel a miss print?

[securitysix]

Did you buy the barrel new or used?  If you bought it used, it's possible someone had the .357 Magnum barrel rechambered to .357 Maximum before you got ahold of it.  If you bought it brand new, I dunno what to tell you.

[Lager]

Hey Security Six,  good question.  I bought this pistol used from a guy I work with and it used to belong to his Dad who bought it new back a while ago.
I asked guy at work the same question, I got a blank look from guy at work, so he called Dad. he used speaker phone so I heard Dad's voice say" Huh,What the ( inject swear word of choice) is a maximum?"
So, Im guessing it hasent been rechambered.

[Lon371]

 I say get some Max brass and heavy bullets and go for it. I swapped my .357 mag barrel for a .357 max super 14. Until I had some Max loaded up, I shot .357 mags. They shot better out of the Max barrel than out of the Mag barrel.

Lonny

[Lager]

Lon, thanks for your reply. Can I assume that your Maximum brass loads shot better then your Magnum loads did in your Max barrel?
Right now, out of my 10 inch barrel with a 4X scope.  I am shooting .7 to 1 MOA @50 yards useing reg Mag ammo.
Will I notice an increase in accuracy If use the Max brass  and the head set correctly to lightly contact the rifleing as compared to loading mag brass/ loads and allowing almost a half inch of free flight of bullet travel before it slams into the rifleing at what ever angle it decides to?

[WayneS]

Did you drop the bullet into the chamber then put the case in and close the action to see just how much of the bullet was in the case ?
Try putting the bullet in backwards, then putting the case in and closeing the action, again,how much of the bullet is in the case ?, Got any 200 gn .357's ??
T/C's chamberings are hit or miss as to finding one with a short throat, which would allow you to seat a bullet and ingrave the rifleings;
Your options ae ;
1. find one MAX case and see if it will chamber w/o a bullet seated[just measuring the chamber
2. Find some serosafe and make a chamber cast to see where in chamber ends and throat begans
 These are the best way to see what your chamber length is [Mag or Max] there are a few off the wall ways that will work if you can't find what you need for # 1. or # 2

[handi243]

best to do a chamber cast to be safe or gt a max brass and see if it will fit but the chamber cast will be best

[Czech_too]

Do a chamber cast first.  Cerrosafe can be obtained thru Brownells or Midway.  It has a low melting point and is re-usable.
Of the two .357 barrels I've owed, each had a different length throat.  This may have been due to one being made prior to the fire and one after.

[Hopalong7]

     I've had three different .357Mag barrels and the chamber was cut long on all of them.  Not long enough for a Max but longer than spec.  Try to chamber a Max case to see as was already stated.  The throat is usually cut pretty deep as well.  My current Mag barrel shoots VERY well, especially with heavy bullets.  I shoot the Lyman 358315 204gr that was designed for the 35 Rem quite a lot. 

[Grumulkin]

Did you really measure the length of the chamber?  Just because the COAL length to touch the rifling with the bullet is the same as that published for the 357 Maximum doesn't mean you have a 357 Maximum chamber.

[bstewrat3]

Sorry. The link I was posting about is censored. I did not notice when I previewed the post. There is a site that talks about the forcing cone arrangement of the factory 357 Mag and Max chambers. If you want to get the bullet into the rifling and not deal with the forcing cone you should have a rechamber done to Max.

[Lager]

I think Im going to do a chamber cast since I dont have any max brass handy. Lets see what that tells me. I want to thank everyone for their imput.. Will let you know how all this works out..
This group is very helpfull and the best out there.

[Gavinator]

 I have a 357 Max, for S&G's I loaded a few 125gr jhp, the fireball photo is now this computer's wallpaper.
Anyway their loaded length was 1.885 - for the crimp, also load a 358315 Lyman at 2.155.
 Sounds like a long (max) chamber to me. Many re-chambers will not be re-blued, clean yours and put a light on it.
 The price on cerro-safe has gone way up, before I paid the new price I'd try slipping a fired max case into the chamber.

[Lager]

Wheew,, this has been an interesting ride.  Come to find out, after more measuring,, I do have a 357 barrel, but its a long chamber. Meaning, the correct brass length is about 3/16 inch longer then Magnum is, but a bit shorter then maximum length.
Come to find out,, this is real common in the 357 and 44 calibers that TC provides us with. Very inconsistent chamber to forcing cone distances.
Instead of spending more money to correctly re chamber this mag barrel to Max specs? I decided to deal with what I have.  Ive increased the OAL length of the Mag to 1.630, useing 2400 powder, im now shooting 5 round groups @ 1.2 inches at 50 yards.
Both 5 round shot groups showed no vertical changes,, both shots strings were horizontal,, looked like a zipper. All due to a well ,vertically supported hand gun, but hand twitch gave me side to side movement.
I think Im on to something here,, just increase the OAL,as long as the boolit is well supported.
Now, I  have to do is think of a way to stabilize the pistol better.