Tc Pistol Deer Caliber ??

Not a very clear question (to me), but I’ll take a stab. Since you mixed “deer” in your title with “pistol” and “caliber,” are you the least bit familiar with the technique of maximum point blank range?

I’ll help you a bit. MPBR is a method that takes into account the size of the kill zone and the distance that insures the maximum and minimum arc of a bullet will stay within the kill zone at given distances.

Perhaps this is what you are asking about?

What’s the question now?

What is a good TC handgun cartridge and what is its range?

What do I use?

Is bottleneck OK?

The only handgun hunting I have done was with a 35 Remington XP-100. With a good rest and scope that is good for 150yds and maybe more for someone with more skills than I.

My long range Contender deer caliber is the .375 Win Hy out of a 12" barrel. The Win Hy is a long throated, tight chambered barrel that uses 30-30 brass instead of .375 Win brass, although std .375 Win ammo can be used, it doesn't have the velocity of the Win Hy. At 200 yards I can keep 2.5" groups off the bench. I have a 2-6X scope on the barrel, and that is all I need. I have never shot a deer further that 110 yards with any T/C caliber, but that is because where I hunt you are very lucky to see a deer that far unless it is out in a field.

best deer cartridge for a contender pistol? If that is the question the my answer is 7-30 waters.

30 Herrett, 357 Herrett, 30-30, 7-30 Waters, 223, 222, 357/44 B&D, 7mm IR, 30 TC, just to name some of the TC factory chamberings.

All will take a deer at 200 yards. 222, 223, and 357/44 B&D fizzle out after 200 imho. The others will take one at 300 yards.

357M, 44M, 45C should all be kept to 100 yards or less, imho. 22 Hornet and 22 FB could probably be classified in this category too.

Then you get into custom chamberings. The Contender G1 can handle 52k psi chamberings if the case head is .379" or smaller. Larger case heads need to be kept around 42k psi. My only custom chambering is 6.5 Grendel. But you can get them chambered in all sorts of calibers from SSK, Bulberry, MGM, EAB, etc.

With a 10" barrel I would recommend rounds like 360 Dan Wesson (essentially the same effective range as the 357 Max, less blast and better with Mag ammo for fun shooting), 7 TCU, 30 Herrett. I like my 7 TCU much better than my 30 Herrett for IHMSA, but finding the "right" 7 TCU hunting bullet is much more of a challenge than finding appropriate 30 cal bullets.

Go to a 14" and I would recommend the above stuff and rounds like 7-30, 30-30, 357 Max, 350 Legend, 357 Herrett.

Unless shooting off of bags or equivalent and using a scope, field accuracy will start limiting maximum effective range for most handgun hunters before the rounds above run out of killing power. The 7mm stuff and the 30 cal stuff have less drop and less wind drift than the bigger stuff. This helps with field accuracy.

Use a quality 240 gr. JHP, a scope and an improvised rest and the 44 Magnum is good to 125 yards.

Even better would be one of those soft-tipped Hornady XTP bullets; less drop due to somewhat efficient ballistics.

Past fifty, you’ll need to learn the trajectory though and be able to hold for a bit of bullet drop.

earlthegoat2 said:

What’s the question now?

What is a good TC handgun cartridge and what is its range?

What do I use?

Is bottleneck OK?

The only handgun hunting I have done was with a 35 Remington XP-100. With a good rest and scope that is good for 150yds and maybe more for someone with more skills than I.

Click to expand...

I second this. The 35 Rem is tough to beat. Especially from a 14" barrel. Recommend a low power scope, a rest, and a 200 gr round nose bullet. 150 yds is quite doable.

I've taken deer with both 44 mag and 35 Rem. The 35 easily outshines the 44.

The .44 Magnum in a long barrel T/C is easily more than a 100 yard cartridge. Go look up some dedicated T/C forums and you’ll see what ranges these veteran shooters can do.

I have a 14” T/C Contender in .44 Magnum and it’s sighted dead on at 100 yards. Same distance as my 9.5” Super Redhawk.

For me, my favorite 100 yard+ hunting cartridge is the 7-30 Waters. I have mine sighted in at 100 yards to, which is pretty much the longest shot I will get at a deer in the areas I hunt here in PA.

I shoot the Hornady 180 grain SSP in my 35 Rem. 14 inch barrel at almost 1900 FPS,and a deer at 200 yards is in a world of hurt if I have a decent rest.It's about the best balance of power and range in the Contender unless you get into a wildcat.Plenty of recoil,but an awesome pistol for deer and black bear.I'd try game up to elk at close range with it.

460 s&w is in my opinion one of the best long range pistol cartridges

Steve in PA said:

The .44 Magnum in a long barrel T/C is easily more than a 100 yard cartridge. Go look up some dedicated T/C forums and you’ll see what ranges these veteran shooters can do.

I have a 14” T/C Contender in .44 Magnum and it’s sighted dead on at 100 yards. Same distance as my 9.5” Super Redhawk.

For me, my favorite 100 yard+ hunting cartridge is the 7-30 Waters. I have mine sighted in at 100 yards to, which is pretty much the longest shot I will get at a deer in the areas I hunt here in PA.

Click to expand...

That is an often overlooked aspect of the 44 mag. It shines in long barrels. In the ruger carbines with 18" barrels it really shines; 25% higher velocities and 50% better energy compared to a 6" revolver.

I’d struggle to pick just one! It does matter whether you have a G1 or G2 Contender or an Encore, as the pressure tolerances of each are very different.

There tend to be 3 types of TC/specialty pistol type shooters, and you kind of have to decide which you want to be:

1) The “a pistol is a pistol guys,” which will pick pistol cartridges because pistols are pistols and should shoot pistol cartridges. Hence 44mag, 460, etc. Nothing wrong with this, but cases are still small and velocities and BC’s still low, so the max range remains inhibited. They work, but they’re still more limited than the platform could be.

2) The “powder burn efficiency guys” which are focused (too much) on the fact the barrel is short. These guys pick things like 308win or 358, 7-30 Waters, 30-30, 30 or 357 Herretts, 300blk, 7.62x39, 45-70, 444 or 450 Marlin, etc which have low expansion ratios - which is effective in reducing blast, and does still extend maximum effective range on game, but they still give up some performance.

3) The “drag racers” which are those of us which are performance focused and worry less about blast. We’ll pack an Encore or a bolt action with a huge cartridge and get the most range out of the platform. Big blast and big recoil, but big range. These are things like 6.5 or 6 creed, 300win mag or WSM, etc.

Personally, I’m in group 3, so I’d lean heavily towards a 300wsm or such if I were to only have ONE barrel on a TC.

The 6.5 Thompson/Center Ugalde (6.5TCU) was a fairly popular wildcat in the Contender back in the day. It is basically a .223 case opened up for 6.5 mm bullets. 100 to 130 gr bullets were most often used.

Stay safe.

I've used my Super 14 30/30 for
whitetail with no problems. Plentiful
brass and components, dies are
readily available at a decent price.
It became a rifle with the addition of
a welded extension and a stock some
years back

I was pretty happy with a 14" in .357 Herret. Had a little trouble keeping the rear sight base screws from shearing off......but pretty authoritative to my max of 100 yds.

Super 14, non braked. Aimpoint/clone 30mm w 2moa dot......35 rem.
Won't run an EER anymore. Not for sub 100 yard stuff.
Pachmayr Grippers of course.

I shot my 357 maximum a lot at 200. If I were buying one for deer hunting it would either be 44 magnum or 350 legend. The 44 magnum is certainly not done stretching it’s legs at 50 yards.

.44 Rem mag is pretty stiff in recoil from a T/C, 30-30 is much nicer, should harvest deer just as well.

There are lots of cartridges in a Contender that would make good deer cartridges.

Of the barrels I have, a 10” 357 Mag or a Super 14 7mm Int-Rimmed would be best.

The 7mm Int-Rimmed would be my best choice for the equipment I have on hand.