30Badger bbl for a Contender Gen 2 - Tell me about it PLEASE

Greetings to all
I am primed and ready to buy a 30Badger bbl but nobody is selling. That means “ have someone make it”. Is this a “stub” job or a MGM or ???. Talked with one barrel maker (unnamed) who said “say what?”.
Who made your bbl and what technical words did you use, etc? I think that I should get a 16 inch bbl so that I can mount a shoulder stock.
I shoot paper, beer cans, steel plates and an occasional crow or ground hog using mid to warm ( not max loads) cast boolits within 150 yards.
Would appreciate your words of wisdom. I am old enough to not want to reinvent the wheel.
Regards
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Some think the 30 Reese and the 30 badger are the same.
I have a Contender 30 Reese and it has a sharp neck angle but not quite as sharp as say a 22 k hornet.
I also have what I call a 30 badger in a stubbed barrel for an H&R.
For the badger you use a 38 special case and a 7.62x25 takrove die to make the shoulder
Top. 30 Reese
Middle. 30 Badger
Bottom 38 special
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7de0455700.jpg
I don’t know what Barrel stub. Twist or any of the barrel info.


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BadgerEdd and I were the originators of the 30 Badger. Edd thought it up and I designed the reamer. I made three different bullet designs and made the molds for it when I was in the business. The reamer was made by Clymer. It was designed to convert a nominal length 38 special, to a 30 Badger, in one sroke using a 30 Mauser/7.62 Tok die. Case capacity is within a couple tenths of the 32-20 and that data can be used. We are only running 35-38 kpsi in H&R stubbed actions. This can be bumped up in stronger actions. In my H&R I'm pushing a 120 grain GC design at just shy of 2,000 fps. A 120 grain PB over 7 grains of AA #7 is a fine mid range load. Any of the fast pistol powders work well for plinking load. Bullets from 100 to 165 grains have been used with 120-130 grains being the sweet spot. All of the rifles and pistols I've seen chambered have had a 1:10 twist.

MGM also makes the "30/221 rimmed" barrels with fast twist to shoot .300Blackout/AAC or .357 magnum brass necked to .30 caliber. Extremely versatile with both subsonic and super sonic loads. The MGM extractor seems to work equally well on rimmed or rimless brass. I have one for my Encore and it is a great shooter with just about anything I feed it.

You clever & talented folks just amaze me. One more thing to add to my wish list.

I guess you could run a 300 blackout reamer in a barrel to the depth of a 38 special case length, cut the recess for the rim and then shorten some 300 blackout dies to load the round

Find a cheap barrel and stub with a good barrel I think is probably the best way to get where you want to be .

You will like the Badger

Jack

When the great obama powder/.22rf shortage was on, I was lucky enough to get a handi with a donor barrel from a 700 Rem 30-06 shortened and rechambered to .30 Badger. With a couple of grains of bullseye or red dot under a 90 gr. bullet, it was functionally a .22. Kids and grandkids love it. The useful life of reformed cases with such loads is 'forever'. 2,333 loads from one pound of powder is also worthy of bragging about.

I have wanted to build a 30 Badger on a Ruger Blackhawk frame. The lack of a spare carbine cylinder is what kept me from doing it. I wanted a convertible, as I have a 357/44 and a 45 Colt necked to 41.

Ken

I forget what the best barrel length is for the badger, but think it's 21 1/2" or close. I know a 30 carbine cylinder has been rechambered to 30 Badger but don't recall the loads.

Gianni,

I don't know about the "best" length, but I can tell you that having seen it shot in lengths from ten inches to (IIRC) close to twenty three, if the chambering is done as designed, it is a very accurate, forgiving cartridge. Especially so with cast in the 120 to 130 grain area.

It really is a neat little cartridge. I liked it so much that we have one for myself and one for my wife,,,,,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pressman

I have wanted to build a 30 Badger on a Ruger Blackhawk frame. The lack of a spare carbine cylinder is what kept me from doing it. I wanted a convertible, as I have a 357/44 and a 45 Colt necked to 41.

Ken

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That, is an outstanding idea. There has been much talk among my compatriots of rebarreling a 38/357 lever action, but as yet, no one has ponied up.

MGM will now make you a 30Badger barrel any length you and your wallet decide is right. They added it to their chamber list several months ago.

As to barrel length, I have found that one gains nothing beyond a 22" barrel. The optimum length seems to be around 20" because one only gains a very few feet per second beyond a 20" barrel. I have one stubbed H&R with a 22 1/2 inch barrel and I can only achieve 10 fps over a 20" barrel. With open sights a 22" barrel gives one a slightly longer sight radius, but to me, it isn't significant at all or necessary. The difference between an 18" barrel in fps is only about 25 fps at best with fast powders that seems to be the most appropriate for the round, so one can vary the length to suit their needs and likes.

Edd

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BentSprings

MGM will now make you a 30Badger barrel any length you and your wallet decide is right. They added it to their chamber list several months ago.

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We can than a fellow Castboolit member for MGM offering the 30 Badger chambering.