Contender barrel with oversize chamber?

[Three44s]

A family friend recently passed away and his Contender and a couple of barrels are up for sale.

The frame interests me greatly and that's a shoe in .............

But I am pondering the .30-30 win in a Super 14" tube.

I think I'd rather wait for a .35 Rem but I have toyed with the idea of the .30-30 in the interim.

But in firing it I see one potential problem ............

............ I see what appears to me to be a significant swelling of the once fired cases just ahead of the case web.

I've loaded for enough years to know trouble when I see that!!!

My question is this:

Do the Contender barrels in general have more room just ahead of the web to improve extraction?

And if so, does this not lead to short case life?

If this just a sloppily made barrel ......... I'll just "collect" my frame out the deal and walk away on the rest of it.

On a happier note, I have have an octagon .222 rem 10" spoken for from another source.

That ought to keep my busy for a while!

Three 44s

[Hickory]

You can send it off to Bellm and have it rechambered.
I had a 357 Maximum done and it's accurate and powerful.
Check out link below.

http://www.bellmtcs.com/FAQ/Why.htm

[leadman]

What loads are you firing in it?

Some loads listed in the manuals will show this expansion in both of my 30-30 barrels. The Contender barrel does not have alot of extra metal around the chamber.

Might try some new factory loads as these always showed normal expansion in my barrels.

[stubshaft]

In answer to your question, T/C does not normally have "extra" room ahead of the web for extraction. If you neck size you should not see any difference in case life. Whether or not the chamber was reamed sloppily may be revealed by pouring a chamber cast and inspecting the leade area of the throat for misalignment.

[Three44s]

Hickory,

You point is well taken and I have looked at that web site a few times ........ I had not seen that particular page of his however ......... thank you.

Leadman,

I was firing factory but they were old and some new ones might be in order.

stubshaft,

I would neck size to lessen the wear on the area just forward of the web.

************************

I have to admit, I had never fired a Contender or ilk before ........... and I have heard stories about some pretty stiff recoil and I have accustomed myself to heavy loads in .44 and .41 mag revolvers ........

........... but the twisting or yaw of the Contender in .30-30 super 14" was not something that I predicted .......... kind of a "little bear"!!! So if I were to keep that barrel, I'd be loading it down for as much work as possible. But, I don't have one red cent in it and my friend's son is just fine with selling the frame to me and the barrels elsewhere. He really sent the .30-30 up so I could shoot the frame with some kind of barrel on it.

Thanks for your help

Three 44s

[Intel6]

Is the swelling on the top when it is fired? look at the position of the head stamp as you close the gun and fire it, where is the swelling?

Years ago due to a powder bridging problem I had an overcharged round while shooting my super 14" 30-30 barrel on my Contender. I started having problems getting the cases out because they were swelling past the case head and making them hard to get out of the gun. What had happend was the chamber bulged right under the scope mount screws 12:00 due to the overcharged round. Looking down the barrel I could see a slight shadow at that position indicating the chamber was bulged because the light reflected differently. I then looked at my frame and saw a slight ripple in the blueing indicating that I had streacehd my frame also.

I sent it to T/C with a letter explaining what happened, that it was my fault, and please send a bill for the cost to fix/replace. I was dumbfounded when I recieved a new frame and barrel with a $0.00 balance due.

[Three44s]

Intel6,

I'll look into cartridge orientation the next time I fire it.

As I can see it runs pretty much around the whole casing with somewhat less expansion on one side but I''ll see.

Thank you for the idea ......... I appreciate it!

Three 44s

[Artful]

You do know it only starts with one barrel then it's a slippery slope to having multiple barrels and even frames...

[Three44s]

I have much experience with that phenomenon!

Namely Savage rifles .... barrels of fun ............

Three 44s