contender what do you think / some advice

[cummins05]

So I bought a gen 1 contender the other day for what i feel is a super fantastic deal.
So your wondering what caliber or calibers and what was included.........well here is the list
1. g1 frame in excellent shape
2. 2 wooden hand grips one thats the large target model and another thats just a standard pistol grip
3. 2 each long gun stocks one wood one black synthetic
all furniture is in near perfect condition.
4. Super 14" 223 mounted with a T/C 2.5x7x scope mounted on the old but new style rail scope mount where you there are 2 tabs on the bottom of the scope for screws for mounting
5. Super 16" 7x30 waters with a cheap simmons scope and a newer style weaver scope mount
6. 10" 32-20 with a T/C scope same as above
7. 30 herret 10" also same T/C scope as above

brass and dies for everything but the 32-20

padded case cut out for it all

all for the low price of 1000 bucks local sale

i would like some input on the odd ball calibers because i am not 100% familiar with them i know the 7x30 and 30 herret both use 30-30 brass and of course i have a very small amount of load data for them so if you care to share anything you know about them any and all help would be greatly apprciated

[kenyerian]

Great deal!! Love to hunt with the contenders. 223 is great for coyotes and smaller varmints and the 7x30 and the 30H will do the job on deer. Plus they are all fun to shoot.

[longranger]

I traded nearly the same set up for a Colt Anaconda in .45 Colt NIB,best deal I ever made. The muzzle blast from the .223 14" barrel will be ferocious be sure you and any one standing close has good ear protection.I am not a fan of T/C anything lots of misaligned scope holes on several barrels,grew tired of scope mounting issues with the T/C barrels.

[Hamish]

The start of a beautiful friendship,,,,,,,,,

What's not to love? As far as "oddball", the Waters and the Herrett are two of the finest silhouette calibers ever conceived.

[Iowa Fox]

Hamish is correct. Those are all great barrels for the Contender. The 223 loaded with the correct powder and carefull handloading will eliminate the muzzle blast and give you superb accuracy. The 32-20 is a sweet cast bullet shooter. The 7-30 W will make a nice little deer rifle with your butt stocks. The 30 Herrett is a winning round with stunning accuracy for silouette.

[Wayne S]

Great deal, one point to check out is the twist in the Herrett, the 1st bbl's that came out had a 1-14 twist, which if you wanted to use it for Texas deer hunts would work really great with the 110 bullets. Also, when looking for dies for the 32-20, make sure that there is a 30 Cal. expander ball with the dies or that the dies are set up for 30-20 as the bbl. should have a .308 bore.
One option, if you don't want to fool with the 30-20, offer it for a trade for a 22 LR w/ the match chamber.

[cummins05]

Great deal, one point to check out is the twist in the Herrett, the 1st bbl's that came out had a 1-14 twist, which if you wanted to use it for Texas deer hunts would work really great with the 110 bullets. Also, when looking for dies for the 32-20, make sure that there is a 30 Cal. expander ball with the dies or that the dies are set up for 30-20 as the bbl. should have a .308 bore.
One option, if you don't want to fool with the 30-20, offer it for a trade for a 22 LR w/ the match chamber.

cant trade anything away just buy new. I knew about the 30 cal part and have a set of dies on the way

[cummins05]

I traded nearly the same set up for a Colt Anaconda in .45 Colt NIB,best deal I ever made. The muzzle blast from the .223 14" barrel will be ferocious be sure you and any one standing close has good ear protection.I am not a fan of T/C anything lots of misaligned scope holes on several barrels,grew tired of scope mounting issues with the T/C barrels.

loaded some 223 this weekend with 4895 and didnt seem to have a problem with muzzle blast and thats a pretty slow burning powder. Accuracy was definetly ecceptable for a prelim load.

[fryboy]

i think i have all of those barrels save the 32-20 ( it's on the list but not very high ,if a good deal came along i'm sure i'd get it lolz ) having stated that .... the 223 was perhaps my biggest disappointment , to me ,even or perhaps especially with factory loads it was much akin to a overpowered 22 lr in fact i traded away two more that i acquired in other deals , it wasnt until i started casting 22 caliber boolits that it sparked my interest again , i cant explain why but cast vs. jacketed made a whole world of difference to me in this caliber , but please dont get me wrong it was only the shorter versions i didnt care for
the 7-30 is one of the newest i've started casting for ,sadly the rcbs 145 mold's bore riding section is a bit fat for either of my barrels ( hoping however that it works in me 7-08 encore ) with j-words it really thumps !!!
for years my fav barrel was a 30 herret ...until i got it's bigger brother , my best two powder suggestions are both from accurate , aa1680 and 2200 ,i've burned up alot of the latter in it ,both,like most ball powders, seems to prefer the upper loading spectrum's but if you really want to see some muzzle flash stoke it up with some h110 or 296 ( holy mackerel !!) i've had 3 other 30 herrets but they had way long throats , too long to set most projectiles close to the lands ( something i feel helps alot in obtaining good results ) of note most the other tc barrels ( save the 357 herret ) seem to run minimum throat ( if even that )
i have to agree great deal !!! and umm welcome to your next addiction :P

[John Allen]

The start of a beautiful friendship,,,,,,,,,

What's not to love? As far as "oddball", the Waters and the Herrett are two of the finest silhouette calibers ever conceived.

Hamish, I think you mean Strange Addiction. I know I have this problem and there are no pills you can take to fix it!!!

[NVScouter]

I bet you will use the snot out of the .223 and .30 Herrett barrels. That 32-20 will be great once you get brass and chamber figured out. Lots of T/C issues with split brass/chamber dementions and stuff I've heard over the years. The Gen1 frame is nice but careful of adding barrels since the first few generations used a slightly different lock as aposed to the EZ open frames. It will have to be changed.

The 7-30W brass is stupid easy to make but the .30Herret 10" will have you killing everything in site and looking for a .357 Herret barrel. Now if your rifle length with the 16" barrel and shoulder stock is comfortable its a backpackers dream.

[Tar Heel]

You should ditch the 32-20. I would be willing to take it off your hands. It's obsolete and you will hate it. I would be doing you a favor!

[quilbilly]

You are going to love that 32-20. My all time favorite. My 10" 32-20 barrel likes the 110-120 gr boolits right at about 1350 fps.

[Lonegun1894]

I don't have a .32-20 of a 7-30W, so can't speak there, but you'll love the .223 and .30H. Maybe not at first, but once you start playing with different loads and get one your barrel likes, you will love em. The .223 is great for varmints and playing at ranges most people will laugh at you til you start beating them and their rifles. The blast is an issue of powder choice, and is also subjective, so just try things to make yourself and no one else happy. And the .30H, while also good at interesting ranges against paper, is a great deer and hog caliber. Like has been said, check the twist in the .30H. And since this is a casting site, try various boolits, even lighter and heavier than what the books say is "optimum". For example, my 1:14" ROT shoots Lee 150FPGC (actually weigh 161grs as cast in my alloy) into 1.25-1.75" @100yds normally, with the occasional .75", and so far, one .45" group--that I have not been able to repeat, but keeps me chasing it. It stabilized Lee 170s FPs (178gr actual), out to 200yds, but the groups just can't compete with the 150s just yet. And loaded with either the Lee .314" 90gr SWC or Lee soupcan (everything for this barrel gets sized to .311" BTW) with light loads of fast powder, it makes a great small game load.

[Tar Heel]

Here is some video of the 32-20 with 110gr varmint bullets. Like I said...you will hate the darn thing. Don't listen to quibilly....he is misleading you. :kidding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1aFi6JoNC8

You do need to know that the T/C .32-20 barrel is NOT a .311 bore. It is a .308 bore to take advantage of the available .308 jacketed bullets on the market. It will shoot CAST bullets at .312 just fine if you remember to keep the velocity (pressure) reasonable.

[cummins05]

You should ditch the 32-20. I would be willing to take it off your hands. It's obsolete and you will hate it. I would be doing you a favor!

i ac tually really enjoy shooting the 32-20 its a blast

[Pinsnscrews]

http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/

A worthy site to have book marked.

[unclebill]

i am just getting rolling with my 16.25 MGM bull bl in .223rem 1 in 8 twist
using varget and heavy bullets.
getting 1/2 MOA
i havent noticed any muzzle flash
i installed a brake and yes it is loud
but if a person doesnt use hearing protection
he deserves to be deaf.
i have never heard most of my guns go off with an unprotected ear.