From mikew@hpbs701.boi.hp.com Michael Weiss

I've been using a .357 Maximum barrel on my contender in silhouette matches. I've found that 170 grain Sierra FMJ is a bit too small to reliably take down the rams.

Sierra 180 grain FPJ bullets do a much better job. Even better is the Speer 180 grain FP bullet used in the contender. This is a pointed bullet that is made for the .35 Remington and is sized to .358 but it shoots beautifully out of the .357 Max barrel. I use 23.0 grains of Winchester 296 powder and that yields 1881 fps muzzle velocity. The pointed bullet has a much flatter trajectory than the conventional HP, SP, or FMJ handgun bullet designs.