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I loaded up some 357 magnum rounds for my 686. It's the first time I've loaded using W296 powder. I never thought you could put that much powder into a pistol round. Here's some interesting photos showing the firing of the 357 mags from a 1911 platform hg.

http://www.coonaninc.com/news37.php

Haka

296 is a great powder for Heavy Magnum rounds. I have used it ever since I got my Python in 1977. It was design for mag caliber. The price on my bottle/can says $8.95/lb.

296 is one of those powders you need to be very careful with. It has a tendency to have large pressure spikes if you get out of it's very small window. You can only back off 3% from max. The old data books told you to load as specified. Lowering the charge would give you higher pressure, than lower. Requires a magnum primer to ignite it. Also used for 410 shotgun powder.

Cool, I needed one of those until I noticed that with adjustable sights it was $1500.

if you shoot your 686 with some good .357 during the dark you will get some interesting fire works.

I just noticed the banner on the home page for their website: "Looking for your first pistol? This isn't it"

Great!

I just got back from the range, shooting my 357 loads, and the results are positive.
It was a little scary at first, but the 6 different loads all worked well.
125gr Hornady XTP flat point
W296 powder
WSPM Primers
1.590" OAL
18.5gr
19.0gr
19.5gr
20.0gr
21.0gr
21.5gr
The all were very very impressively powerful. I think the talk about ignition spikes is due to
shooters who have shot into squib loads, and blew up their gun, thinking it was a powder spike.
Hodgdon gives the range of 21 to 22 gr, and as you can see, my 18.5gr is way under that.
I also shot a friends 44 magnum S&W 629, and that really kicks like a mule. The sound
concussion coming off both mag rounds is impressive.
Haka

I used to load for a TC Contender in .357 magnum, using 296 powder and a Speer 180 grn FNSP rifle bullet.

NOTE THAT THIS LOAD IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

We would fill the case with 296, brush it off even with the case mouth - then crunch it down with the 180 grain flat-point spitzer.

NOTE THAT THIS LOAD IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

Needless to say, it was an energetic load. - Hot stuff for hunter's pistol silhouette at the time but certainly obsolete by now, as that was over twenty years ago.

I once sat down on the ground with the 10" contender and plinked at a newspaper spread out upon a hillside, 300 yards away. By the third round, I had calculated my Kentucky windage and was hitting the newspaper every time.

We never tried using that gun or its load for hunting. Personally, I would wonder if it could produce enough velocity to get that rifle bullet to expand properly.

It did a great job on steel, though. My brother took second place at Raton with it one time, despite a scope mount malfunction that occurred late in the match.

NOTE THAT THIS LOAD IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

Now days I have a 10" .357 maximum barrel on my contender. The factory loads for the .357 max feel a lot like our old .357 mag silhouette loads. - About the same level of muzzle blast, recoil, etc.

I used to load for a TC Contender in .357 magnum, using 296 powder and a Speer 180 grn FNSP rifle bullet.
We would fill the case with 296, brush it off even with the case mouth - then crunch it down with the 180 grain flat-point spitzer.

125g Horn. XTP W296 powder = 21-22gr. At 21g it is starting to appear like a compressed load. I didn't load at 22gr, but it might be compressed. I just loaded up another 50 rounds @ 20gr, that is plenty of power.
Haka

charlesb wrote:I used to load for a TC Contender in .357 magnum, using 296 powder and a Speer 180 grn FNSP rifle bullet.

NOTE THAT THIS LOAD IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

We would fill the case with 296, brush it off even with the case mouth - then crunch it down with the 180 grain flat-point spitzer.

NOTE THAT THIS LOAD IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

Needless to say, it was an energetic load. - Hot stuff for hunter's pistol silhouette at the time but certainly obsolete by now, as that was over twenty years ago.

I once sat down on the ground with the 10" contender and plinked at a newspaper spread out upon a hillside, 300 yards away. By the third round, I had calculated my Kentucky windage and was hitting the newspaper every time.

We never tried using that gun or its load for hunting. Personally, I would wonder if it could produce enough velocity to get that rifle bullet to expand properly.

It did a great job on steel, though. My brother took second place at Raton with it one time, despite a scope mount malfunction that occurred late in the match.

NOTE THAT THIS LOAD IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

Now days I have a 10" .357 maximum barrel on my contender. The factory loads for the .357 max feel a lot like our old .357 mag silhouette loads. - About the same level of muzzle blast, recoil, etc.

So, do you RECOMMEND THIS LOAD? LOL. Seriously, I wonder what that load would actually weigh.

Yleefox

I've always thought that a lot of flash/flame meant wasted powder. Powder too slow burning for the barrel length. Is that what's happening here?

Haka, how much power do you need to punch a ho;e in a piece of paper? My shooting bud and I have been using a 148 grain8n LHWC with 2.3 grains of Green Dot or Trail Boss, in his Contender 10 inch barrel an his 686, use them in My 50th Anny Blackhawk and my Marlin 1894C, the shoot good and have never failed to pierce the paper.

bearandoldman wrote:Haka, how much power do you need to punch a ho;e in a piece of paper? My shooting bud and I have been using a 148 grain8n LHWC with 2.3 grains of Green Dot or Trail Boss, in his Contender 10 inch barrel an his 686, use them in My 50th Anny Blackhawk and my Marlin 1894C, the shoot good and have never failed to pierce the paper.

S'matter? You don't like joint damage or bruises from the recoil? Pitty pat rounds won't impress the guy you barely know shooting 3 lanes down.

I've tended to use the low end of the loading range for paper punching because it seems that I get a bit better results.

Of course, there is enough of a kid in me to like the flash, bang and recoil of a heavier load, especially when the guy I barely know 3 lanes down is dissing my pitty-pat loads.

Greener, the kid left in you is middle aged t best. Yes, us old guys do not like hurting, the only good part of hurting is when it stops. Those light loads are fun to shoot and the only one I have to impress is me and that is fairly easy.

we all like a big boom every now and again...