Crimp on Thompson Contender 44 Mag

[flipajig]

Ive tryed jacked pills,cast pills and im haveing problems with accuracy out of a super 14'' contender barrel.(The barrel and scope are good)
Ive tryed different pdr (2400,unique and W231) I want to stay away from
H110 and Mag primers.. my next thought is IMR4227. Or reducing the crimp on my loads. I have been using a heavy roll crimp (I also shoot a SBH and a
Winchester M94 in 44 mag with a Roll crimp.) What i mean is a just enough crimp to build pressure.. Ive got other barrels for my contender so i dont think its me.. any thoughts Thanks...

 

[OrangePwrx9]

case length?

If you're crimping, the round-to-round ballistic uniformity is quite dependent on having uniform case lengths. If they're not uniform, the longer cases will be crimped heavier and have a greater grip on the bullet than shorter cases.

For the Contender, with a moderately fast powder, you don't really need a crimp, so uneven length cases will grip the bullet about the same. OTOH, you'll have to keep the Contender loads seperate from those loaded for the revolver and the rifle.

Might be easier to devote an afternoon to trimming all your .44 mag. cases back to a uniform length and then crimp everything. Then, whatever doesn't work in the Contender can be used in the other guns. Of course, you could crimp un-crimped loads the Contender doesn't like after the fact and then use them in the SBH and 94.
FWIW

 

[Maj Dad]

Since you want to avoid H110, a heavy crimp isn't crucial to proper ignition. As an aside, though, I have never used mag primers with W296/H110 (or 820, the cannister clone). Winchester/Olin didn't recommend it (they did, however, recommend Win Large Pistol primers, which I use), and I have never had a problem with squibs or inconsistent ignition. I do use them for 44s & 357s with Blue Dot and 2400, but that's about all. I never cared for all the trash in the bore from 2400, and prefer 296 for cleaner burning and absolute top velocity and accuracy for hot loads in my pistols (and a Win 92). I load them all, but it's my favorite and if you haven't tried it, I'd recommend a trial at least...

 

[Grumulkin]

Why, pray tell, do you want to avoid H110/Win. 296? That powder would probably give you the best results. Also, you don't need to crimp for a contender.

 

[billybob44]

Why, pray tell, do you want to avoid H110/Win. 296? That powder would probably give you the best results. Also, you don't need to crimp for a contender.

I'm going to differ with you Grumulkin. The contender does not need the crimp for the bullet jump reason, but ALL H110/Win. 296 need a FIRM roll crimp for the pressure build-up needed for complete ignition. It is NOT advisable to shoot ANY (be it .357 or .44Mag.) load with H110/WW 296 without a FIRM roll crimp!!!

 

[Gik-tal]

Just a side note on my 10" contender I tried a bunch of diffrent loads until I tried a 200 grain HP bullets, that made a world of diffrence. For some reason the lighter bullet pushed pushed out with 27.5 grains of W-296 did the trick.