High velocity cartridge for contender pistol

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WestKentucky

WestKentucky

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My current itch that needs scratched is for more contender barrels. I have only one at this point,a 16" 44 mag. My frame is one of the older ones with the panther on the side plate. I want a good long distance barrel for it. I know 223 is a very popular choice as is 30-30. I'm also considering a 300blackout or 357 maximum barrel. Anybody with a contender that can speak to what good calibers there are? I reload so a new set of dies won't hurt me too bad, at least not when I get ready to buy a barrel, I will keep a hundred bucks or so set aside for dies brass and bullets.
 
I think .35 Remington is a popular choice. It is also nice in that you can load it with cheaper .38/.357 projectiles for plinking.
 
I hadn't thought of that. I do load 38/357 so that's a natural choice. I don't know much about 35 rem though so I need to do some reading.
 
I had a .357 Herrett. A .35 Remington would be close without having to form brass.
Kicked like a mule, I traded for a .30-30 barrel for IHMSA.
 
What are you planning to use it for?

.221 Fireball is a screamer if speed is a need.
I really like the 7-30 Waters out of a Contender if you want more power downrange.

If you're interested in the Fireball let me know. I may sell my barrel in that since I don't shoot it much now.
 
Look at 7-30 Waters - Ken Waters thought the
case capacity of the .30-30 Win would be ideal for
120-140 gr. 7mm/.284 bullets with a better
Ballistic Coefficient/ Sectional Desnity than
the .30-30 as well.

Winchester had a small run of side eject Win 94s in 7-30 Waters
Federal offers hunting ammo for it.


Randall
 
I should also add shooting .38/.357 cal bullets at much higher than intended velocities in a .35 can also be used to explode varmints and other targets of opportunity.
 
I don't blame you, the 44 Mag kicks like a mule in the Contender for some reason. I sold my 44 Mag barrel.

I have the 223, 7mmTCU, and the 357 Maximum in the G2 Contender. The 223 and 357 Max are my favorites. The 223 provides cheap, very accurate and fun shooting for the reloader. Very light recoil and if you want a high velocity cartridge, I highly recommend it first.

The 357 Max is a hoot to shoot from 158, 180, and 200 grain bullets with great accuracy too and not abusive at all to the shooter. Leaves the 357 magnum in the dust. Of course it's a reloaders only caliber.

The 300 Blk will leave you wanting...not much to it.

The 35 Rem, 30/30, 7/30 Waters, etc,....will put you at a whole other realm for recoil and not near the velocity of the 223.

Which ever caliber you choose I highly recommend ordering a new barrel exactly like you want from Match Grade Machine. You can get it for what most used barrels are going for now and it will be better quality and built to your specs.
 
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I have a Contender with a .223 and a 30-30 Win barrel. Both are the super 14" barrels.

I have gotten 9/16" groups with the .223 and 11/16" with my 30-30 on a good, still, bright day when I was "ON". (All with MY reloads.) Both will shoot very well indeed.

I've used the .223 for vermin with 50 gr BT's and they are very, very effective. I use 125 gr BT's in the 30-30 for deer. I've taken quite a few from 5 yards up to one at 175 yards! (I know-I know-a complete fluke, BUT it was a 1-shot drop in the tracks deal that I should have NOT pulled the trigger on!)

The 125's gave me plenty of penetration, plenty of expansion and will put a deer DOWN and RIGHT NOW. I hunt in the southern thickets for whitetail only and they are not huge in body size. Usually, 165 pounds is around normal.

I almost always took careful shots at broadside deer and almost always got complete penetration.

Those two barrels and loads have served all my needs. YMMV.
 
I will add a bit here as my conundrum grows. I would like to keep reloading components somewhat interchangeable. I mainly load 270 and 357mag, with some 243 planned. 256 win as well but bullets for any .257 I would consider will be too long for .256 and have so much drag that they are in effect full power squibs. Looking very seriously at the following:
6.8spc (.277 bullets, interchangeable with .270 win)
6.5 Grendel (same as .243 bullets?)
35rem (.357 mag bullets)
.357 max (.357 mag bullets)
And I'm not opposed to 30 cal as there is an incredible assortment of components to pick from.
 
The 357 Maximum is a good choice. I know I like my Max! Lots of fun, but I find it hard to burn much ammo in my contender. It is a slow process taking a shot.
 
I've not had a lot of experience with the Contender, but I shot one chambered for a cartridge known as the .338 Woodswalker, made by J.D. Jones' SKS Industries I believe. It was a very impressive round. I believe he took African game with that combination.

Bob Wright
 
The JDJ cartridges are great for most, but what cartridges I know about are either slow or recoil hammers. About like my 44 or the 45-70 a coworker let me try. No thanks. I don't mind recoil if it's kept to a point where I don't consider possibility of repetitive trauma injuries.
 
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I have a 7mm Int Rimmed in a Super 14 barrel. Shot it in IHMSA Unlimited when the cartridge came out in the eighties. Nice shooter. The 7-30 Waters is a similar round, both being based on the 30-30 case.

Also, the 221 Remington Fireball is a blast. I have a 10" barrel but a Super 14 would give a little extra velocity and recoil would be low.

I also carbine barrels in 221 Remington Fireball and 22 Hornet. Both make nice light varmint rifles.
 
Both of my rifle caliber Contenders were 16". The .30-30 didn't really "kick". It more like "rolled", with no snap at all. Using the Sierra 135 gr. single shot pistol bullet and 36 gr. of BLC-2, the sound always turned heads! That load crono'd at just over 2,300 fps. I loaded only as heavy as the Sierra 168 gr. BTHP, using BLC-2 or W-748, for 1,850 fps. Accuracy was only about 3 MOA.
In .223, I was using the Nosler 50 gr. ballistic tip over 28 gr. of W-748, for an avg. MV of just over 3,000 fps and accuracy of right around 2 MOA.
I would say to go with the .223. you get the fun of high velocity, as you would with .204 Ruger or one of the 17's, but you can load something like the Hornady 60 gr. SP and take small deer or antelope humanely with it.
With the 16" barrel, you can use the carbine stock for the older frame and be legally long enough.
The Contender barrel that really tickled me was a 10" stainless bull barrel in .22LR. I "accidentally" found that it would shoot sub MOA, using standard Winchester silver box ammo.
 
If you get a .223 be aware of the factory T/C barrels, they are 1:14 twist. 55gr is the maximum weight you can shoot accurately and they really shine with anything from 35-52 grainers.
 
If you get a .223 be aware of the factory T/C barrels, they are 1:14 twist.
Click to expand...

I checked with T/C a few years ago and the twist rate was 1:12 for the .223. My T/C .223 barrel is a 1:12 twist.
 
What's your idea of "long range"? I ask because pistol bullets generally have lousy BC's and lose speed like a water through a colander at longer distances. In this case "longer" being anything much over 150 yards.

Oh sure, they'll reach out to 300 and more but you'll find that they have a rather rainbow like trajectory compared to the flatter shooting small calibers with long skinny bullets.

Maybe spend some time with various bullet data on the Hornady external ballistics calculator and look at the drop at the sort of distance you're considering. Then pick something that seems like it's around what you are hoping to achieve. And based on your tolerance for recoil.
 
Long range for me and a contender is 100+ yards. The downloaded 44 can do that, but I want fast and flat. I'm thinking strongly about 204ruger.
 
If I were to get another Contender barrel it would be a 7 X 30 Waters.
I download cast pistol bullets in my 357 Herrett for cheap practice.
 
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