Junior1942
08-09-2009, 03:48 PM
I now own a T-C Contender 357 mini-max thicket pistol. The name I invented because that's what it is--a mini 357 maximum. I borrowed a Manson 357 maximum finishing reamer from a member who is now at the top of my good guy list. I reamed the chamber of my new T-C Contender 357 mag 10" octagon barrel out just enough to seat the very first group buy C358-180-RF bullet in the crimping groove. Ready To Load in my acww alloy, it weighs 190 grs. With the bullet hand seated against the reamed lands, it stops with the case rim even with the bottom of the crimping groove. That left a .020" or less jump into the lands when seated with a seating die.
Old COAL = 1.550"; new COAL = 1.615". Added usable case capacity = ~.112 cc. In terms of added powder capacity, that's ~2.0 grs. Yesterday, I pushed the 190 gr bullet to 1734 fps. Pressure signs were normal. Primers were still rounded. That's honking from a 10" barrel! In the interest of safety and the health of my wrist, I will lower the charge of a powder I will not name to get a velocity of 1700 fps. The pistol weighs only 2 1/2 lbs so recoil is substantial.
In the top photo below, left to right, see a 357 mini-max, a 357 magnum, and a C358-180-RF bullet, two of which are seated in the cases to the left.
In the bottom photo, that's me ready for the thickets but in t-shirt and jeans instead of camo. I'm wearing my hunting backpack. My finger points to a quickly accessible spare round which just happened to fit in a loop in the homemade chest strap. I can grab that round and reload the pistol in an estimated 5 seconds. Around my waist, that's an Uncle Mike's pistol belt I've had for years and never liked because it's too hard. It works perfectly as a 10" octagon Contender carrier. The pistol stays in place even while jumping and running and crawling on hands and knees. The front sight ramp catches perfectly on the bottom of the belt. The ammo carrier on the belt holds 12 extra rounds.
The pistol's front sight is a Junior made red fiber optic. The rear sight is a Williams WGRS T/C #009671 with a Williams #070919 green fiber optic ghost ring slide. The red and green dots combo is unbelievably bright and easy to aim.
http://www.castbullet.com/makeit/photos/tc/tc35701t.jpg
http://www.castbullet.com/makeit/photos/tc/tc35710t.jpg
Old COAL = 1.550"; new COAL = 1.615". Added usable case capacity = ~.112 cc. In terms of added powder capacity, that's ~2.0 grs. Yesterday, I pushed the 190 gr bullet to 1734 fps. Pressure signs were normal. Primers were still rounded. That's honking from a 10" barrel! In the interest of safety and the health of my wrist, I will lower the charge of a powder I will not name to get a velocity of 1700 fps. The pistol weighs only 2 1/2 lbs so recoil is substantial.
In the top photo below, left to right, see a 357 mini-max, a 357 magnum, and a C358-180-RF bullet, two of which are seated in the cases to the left.
In the bottom photo, that's me ready for the thickets but in t-shirt and jeans instead of camo. I'm wearing my hunting backpack. My finger points to a quickly accessible spare round which just happened to fit in a loop in the homemade chest strap. I can grab that round and reload the pistol in an estimated 5 seconds. Around my waist, that's an Uncle Mike's pistol belt I've had for years and never liked because it's too hard. It works perfectly as a 10" octagon Contender carrier. The pistol stays in place even while jumping and running and crawling on hands and knees. The front sight ramp catches perfectly on the bottom of the belt. The ammo carrier on the belt holds 12 extra rounds.
The pistol's front sight is a Junior made red fiber optic. The rear sight is a Williams WGRS T/C #009671 with a Williams #070919 green fiber optic ghost ring slide. The red and green dots combo is unbelievably bright and easy to aim.
http://www.castbullet.com/makeit/photos/tc/tc35701t.jpg
http://www.castbullet.com/makeit/photos/tc/tc35710t.jpg