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

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub
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    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
    Follow Me

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  2. #2
    Boolit Bub
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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

    I don’t know what Barrel stub. Twist or any of the barrel info.


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  3. #3
    Boolit Master BABore's Avatar
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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.

  4. #4
    In Remembrance



    curator's Avatar
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    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.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master
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    You clever & talented folks just amaze me. One more thing to add to my wish list.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master
    rockrat's Avatar
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    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

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Jack Stanley's Avatar
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    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
    Buy it cheap and stack it deep , you may need it !

    Black Rifles Matter

  8. #8
    Boolit Master


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    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.

  9. #9
    Banned
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    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

  10. #10
    Moderator Emeritus


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    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.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  11. #11
    Boolit Master

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    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,,,,,
    More "This is what happened when I,,,,," and less "What would happen if I,,,,"

    Last of the original Group Buy Honcho's.

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  12. #12
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pressman View Post
    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
    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.
    More "This is what happened when I,,,,," and less "What would happen if I,,,,"

    Last of the original Group Buy Honcho's.

    "Dueling should have never been made illegal in this country. It settled lots of issues between folks."- Char-Gar

  13. #13
    Boolit Bub
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    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.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master




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    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
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  15. #15
    Boolit Master




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    Quote Originally Posted by BentSprings View Post
    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.
    We can than a fellow Castboolit member for MGM offering the 30 Badger chambering.
    Charter member Michigan liars club!

    "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in Government." -- Thomas Jefferson

    "Consider the clown(s) just one of God's little nettles in the woods, don't let it detract from the beauty. Sooner or latter you are going to run into the nettles regardless of how careful you are."

    Beware of man who types much, but says nothing.

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