9mm Contender carbine barrel??

[tejano]

Not that long ago I took delivery of MGM 21" barrel in .32 H&R. On that order I was able to specify the rate of twist that I wanted (1 in 16"). Delivery was delayed for several months, but I did not complain. I am having fun with that barrel, but now as my 64th B.D. is rapidly approaching I am thinking of adding a 9mm barrel. However, MGM has added a note to its website that essentially appears to end a customer's ability to specify the rate of twist. I guess I will find out for certain when I try to place an order.

In any event, my interest in a carbine length 9mm barrel is primarily in shooting 147 gr. jacketed and cast bullets at subsonic levels. Ballistics by the inch for the 9mm indicated that there is no appreciable fps gain after the minimum legal rifle length of 16," but there may be other good reasons for going with a longer barrel. Also, my search on various gun forums for an optimal rate of twist for a 147 gr. bullet has not turned up anything definitive. That is why I turning to the collective wisdom of you guys! What say you regarding rate of twist and barrel length?

[quilbilly]

I have had an 18" 9mm carbine barrel for many years from the TC Custom Shop (now gone). Love it since I finally learned my lesson and quit trying to make it do something it wasn't designed to do, be a mini 357 mag. Since it has the same bore size as a 357, I have used boolits from 110 gr to 155 gr and all performed well if I kept powder charges to a sane level. I eventually settled on the Lee 125 gr. RF plain base sized to 358 driven by 4.6 gr of Unique at an MV of about 1250 FPS.. It shoots quite well out to 150 yards on 6" targets but is at its best out to 80 yards where it keeps groups under 2-1/2" with my ghost ring aperture sight. It is deadly on game up to the size of large coyotes (45#) and probably would be good on mountain lion but I don't hunt them even when they come to the call (just a personal preference but have called them for others). When not hunting with Contender pistols in other calibers, this is my "go to" plinker and varmint rifle for short range hunting locally. It is very inexpensive to shoot compared to recent 22LR prices, 4x as powerful, and I rarely have to chase something I have shot. P.S. I paired it with Choate folding stock for Contenders and it is a great rifle for mountain biking.

[mattw]

Funny you should mention this... I have been considering building a carbine TC in 10mm. 9mm would be a fun little round, I think I would do my 10mm and a 41 mag first... But if the lottery struck or a wish I had one rich relative left me a bunch of cash, I think I would have to build one.

[leftiye]

You might check with J.E.S. and see if they'll rebore a smaller caliber contender barrel.

[tejano]

Checked Ed's Contenders website this morning and by chance they had a TC Custom 18" 9mm barrel in stock. Or, at least they did. It will be on its way to me tomorrow. I remember reading somewhere else that TC used a .357 groove diameter and a 1 in 14" twist for 9mm pistol length barrels. I assume they did they same for carbine barrels.

[John Allen]

I thought of doing the same thing but with a 357 mag barrel. I figured it would be more versatile. You could load a lot of different bullets in the case and still have the use of some high power loads.

[quilbilly]

Checked Ed's Contenders website this morning and by chance they had a TC Custom 18" 9mm barrel in stock. Or, at least they did. It will be on its way to me tomorrow. I remember reading somewhere else that TC used a .357 groove diameter and a 1 in 14" twist for 9mm pistol length barrels. I assume they did they same for carbine barrels. You are quite right. TC used the same bore diameter for either their 9mm or 357 mag/max which allows you to use either 9mm or 357 boolits in that barrel. Both shoot well in mine. My Lee 124 gr RF mold drops at 132 gr and the Lee 150 gr RN drops at 155 gr. I have often wondered if that 125 (131 gr) boolit would work well on small pigs but we don't have any of those around my state but years ago, I used 125 gr 9mm boolits with sabots in my 45 cal muzzleloader for small deer(under 100 lbs. live) and they worked fine at short range (under 50 yards).

[wlc]

Not that long ago I took delivery of MGM 21" barrel in .32 H&R. On that order I was able to specify the rate of twist that I wanted (1 in 16"). Delivery was delayed for several months, but I did not complain. I am having fun with that barrel, but now as my 64th B.D. is rapidly approaching I am thinking of adding a 9mm barrel. However, MGM has added a note to its website that essentially appears to end a customer's ability to specify the rate of twist. I guess I will find out for certain when I try to place an order.

In any event, my interest in a carbine length 9mm barrel is primarily in shooting 147 gr. jacketed and cast bullets at subsonic levels. Ballistics by the inch for the 9mm indicated that there is no appreciable fps gain after the minimum legal rifle length of 16," but there may be other good reasons for going with a longer barrel. Also, my search on various gun forums for an optimal rate of twist for a 147 gr. bullet has not turned up anything definitive. That is why I turning to the collective wisdom of you guys! What say you regarding rate of twist and barrel length?

As to length, personally I would go with the shortest legally allowed (16"). In 9mm you won't gain a thing going with a longer barrel unless you put irons on it and want the longer sight radius. As to twist on the 9mm shooting 147 grainers.....I really don't know. I do have a Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel for my Glock and all I shoot through it are 147gr, both cast and jacketed. I've had no stability issues so far and all I shoot in 9mm is through a suppressor except for load work ups and function/stability checks. If you can call LW they could tell you what twist their barrels are. Should work.

You could also do a search for, IIRC, JBM ballistics calculators. It is an online stability calculator that lets you input different variables and the output is the stability of that particular bullet wgt/velocity.

I hope that MGM doesn't stop doing custom twist rates. I had them make me a custom 357 MAX barrel for shooting heavy for caliber loads. I got it in a 12 twist instead of the "normal" 16 twist. I had to wait a bit longer cause they had to source the blank, but I am very happy with the barrel.

[exile]

I am considering ordering an MGM Encore barrel in 9mm. So, I have a stupid question. If a 9mm barrel is cut to .357 as you say this T/C custom shop barrel is, then wouldn't factory 9mm loads, JHP reloads, and my cast boolits sized to .356 (which is really all I shoot) just tumble without contacting the rifling? Am I missing something here? Thanks.

exile

[tejano]

I don't know but am going to find out. If my barrel needs .357 or larger bullets (jacketed or cast) then that is what I will feed it. My Beretta 92fs does fine with 110 grain JHP's intended for the 38 special/357 mag. Call MGM and ask what they groove diameter they use on 9 mm barrels.

[tejano]

I just checked MGM's website and it indicates that 9mm barrels are .355." I will wait and see if my incoming barrel is stamped TC Custom or MGM. Either way, I can deal with it.

http://matchgrademachine.com/Chamberings-Available.html

[leadman]

I had a Ruger p89 that had a .3575" bore and it shot factory jacketed ammo alright. My son has it now and he shoots my boolits sized .358" and jacketed .355" with no problems.
I had an 18" 45acp barrel made by VanHorn (one of his good ones) and it was fun but past 200 yards it was like sighting and artillery piece! Another shooter wanted it real bad so I sold it to him.

I have thought od other pistol cartridge carbine barrels but do have an 18" 300 Whisper that shoots such a wide range of boolits at different velocities I don't know if I would shoot another barrel.

[quilbilly]

Over the years in my Contender carbine, I have shot cast boolits, factory 9mm's, and 357-125 gr JHP's and JSP's. Accuracy has been about the same with all strangely enough. Keep in mind I am using iron sights and a large aperture ghost ring so am not asking for pinpoint accuracy, just minute of cottontail at 100 yards. The folding stock costs some accuracy too. Were I to put a scope and a solid stock on it, my results might be different. I just want speed of target acquisition, convenience of carry, and just enough accuracy at a maximum of 150 yards. It is nice to have confidence to be able to buy ammunition anywhere and it will work if for some reason I run out of my cast loads(can't imagine). The biggest issue was my temptation to drive the jacketed too fast which resulted in extreme vertical stringing but I solved that by backing off on loads to 1200 fps.

[tejano]

I don't plan to try to hot rod my 9mm when it gets here. I have a vintage Redfield 6X that will be tried first with a box of factory 147 gr. FMJ for the first outing (hopefully next week). I may try some 125 gr. cast as well. P.S. I already have 2 whisper carbine barrels-- a 300 and a 338.

[3leggedturtle]

I am considering ordering an MGM Encore barrel in 9mm. So, I have a stupid question. If a 9mm barrel is cut to .357 as you say this T/C custom shop barrel is, then wouldn't factory 9mm loads, JHP reloads, and my cast boolits sized to .356 (which is really all I shoot) just tumble without contacting the rifling? Am I missing something here? Thanks.

exile

I had a 16" 9mm T/C barrel. It would group 2" at 100 yards with just about any ammo. Trust me a .355 bullet wont tumble down a .357 or .358 bore. Try to push one down the barrel with a cleaning rod, no your not missing anything. Wished I had kept the barrel at times but was just to light and whippy for me. Also was alot louder than I thought it should be, but I like 18" and longer barrels for my Carbine. Todd/3leg

[wallenba]

Not that long ago I took delivery of MGM 21" barrel in .32 H&R. On that order I was able to specify the rate of twist that I wanted (1 in 16"). Delivery was delayed for several months, but I did not complain. I am having fun with that barrel, but now as my 64th B.D. is rapidly approaching I am thinking of adding a 9mm barrel. However, MGM has added a note to its website that essentially appears to end a customer's ability to specify the rate of twist. I guess I will find out for certain when I try to place an order.

In any event, my interest in a carbine length 9mm barrel is primarily in shooting 147 gr. jacketed and cast bullets at subsonic levels. Ballistics by the inch for the 9mm indicated that there is no appreciable fps gain after the minimum legal rifle length of 16," but there may be other good reasons for going with a longer barrel. Also, my search on various gun forums for an optimal rate of twist for a 147 gr. bullet has not turned up anything definitive. That is why I turning to the collective wisdom of you guys! What say you regarding rate of twist and barrel length?

At first glance it appears on the order form that you can't choose. It states, "standard (we choose)". But, if you click on the check mark, a drop down list appears. You can choose your twist rate. It's just poor web site layout. I too thought that at first.

[tejano]

Last week I was able to shoot the 9mm 18" barrel that I purchased from Ed's Contenders. With factory Winchester 147 FMJ ammo, it grouped into 1 1/2" inches at 50 yards. I also tried a hand load of 4.6 Unique and Black and Blue's 125 gr. CN sized at .357". It did not like this combo. I used a vintage 6X Redfield scope but it looks too long on this carbine so I am going to put a slightly shorter 4X scope on it for its next outing (hopefully next week). Daily visits to a seriously ill friend in the hospital have put a damper on my shooting spirit. To paraphrase an old Willie Nelson song--"you don't when, you never can tell."