Which new Contender barrel?

M

mtnbkr

New member
I want to try a new caliber for my Contender, but I don't know what to select. I have the 30-30 already. I don't want to duplicate calibers I have in other guns (38spec, 357mag, 44mag, .223, 22lr). I also don't want to get a chambering that requires a lot of brass modification to work up loads (the Herrett cartridges, the TCUs, etc).

I'm leaning towards the 22Hornet or 32-20. What else is worth consideration? I reload, so I don't mind picking up another caliber that requires reloading.

It would mainly be for range use, but I might take it into the field if appropriate. Bonus if the caliber works well from 10-12" barrels...

Chris
 
1

10mm man

New member
tc contender barrel

I picked up a .45 colt/.410 shotgun barrel for mine. Interesting combo in a 12 inch barrel. I have the .22 hornet barrel and a .35 remington also.
 
4

44 AMP

Staff
For me, part of the appeal is

Duplicating calibers I have in other guns. I am intentionally trying to get barrels for the Contender to match other guns I have, at least all those that can be done in the Contender frame.

.22LR 10"
.22 Hornet 10"
.222 Remington 10"
.30-30 Winchester 14"
9mm Luger 6"
.357 Mag 10"
.44 Mag 10"
.45 Colt 10"
.45 Colt/.410 10"
.45-70 14"

I still have a few more to get though!;)
 
R

Ranger61

New member
A contender in 22 hornet is a fun gun. I have 2 10" barrels in 22 Hornet and a 22 K hornet. Since you reload I would suggest looking at the 22 K Hornet. Its a better cartridge for reloading because the shoulder gives more positive headspace and you don't get as much case stretch with the K hornet. The increase in volume also gives enough larger capacity you can use a few more powders in the K hornet than in the regular hornet. The 32-20 is interesting but T/C uses a .308 bore for their 32-20 and their 32 H&R mag barrels. I have never gotten good accuracy with .312 bullets which means you will be using the same 308 bullets as with your 30-30. Don't know if you gain much with the 32-20 over the 30-30. :)
 
R

Ranger61

New member
I reread the post about reworking cases. You are right that 30 Herrett and the 357 Herrett are a lot of work but the TCU cartidges are not hard to do. I made up 200 cases for my 6.5mm TCU and using new brass and a tapered expander from Pacific I didn't lose a single case. You just run them through once, load with a 75% load to blow out the case to fit your chamber and thats all! :D
 
M

mtnbkr

New member
Yeah, I noticed that about the 32-20. The 22Hornet and KHornet are attractive and a significant change from what I already have. I like the TCU cartridges. I might have to look more closely at the 6.5TCU since I already have 6.5mm bullets on hand for my 6.5x55.

Chris
 
J

joshua

New member
A 45/70 in a 14" w/ tamer is a must. Lots of fun to shoot!!! :D My is a blast, and I mean it literally. :D. I also have two 223 barrels, 7x30 is a very good hunting round. I'm looking for a .17 Fireball or 21 Fireball as my next purchase. josh
 
M

mikemck

New member
45/70 without the muzzle tamer in 12" is lots of fun to shoot. Don't let ppl scare you, 45/70 is not bad at all. I had ppl telling me they called the 45/70 in a Contender the "face splitter".

.444 Marlin is also lots of fun, but can get a bit painful, as the recoil is quite a bit of slap, instead of a push.

.445 SuperMag is a good one as well, although it's probably the loudest cartridge I ever fired out of my Contender.

All 3 of these are very easy to load for.
 
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