Contender, what cartridge do people like for 30 cal?

[Mr_Sheesh]

Just sort of thinking so far, maybe a 30-30? Nothing too hard on my hands as they're getting sore just thinking of a hot .30 in a pistol :P Thanks!

[mcdaniel.mac]

.30-30, the .300 Blackout/Whisper family, the various .32 calibers, and .30 Carbine would all work. Even in a 12" barrel the .30-30 is more than manageable.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Hmm, 300 BO might do it - I am tending to get 14" or 23" (or 21" whatever someone has LOL) barrels, I like the length and I'm a big guy so with a rest it's just fine; I can hold some rifles like they're a pistol (friends' HK 93 for example) so I'll trade some muzzle weight for less recoil (partly because arthritis SUCKS.) .30-30 could be doable though, if I find it too much recoil I know just how to do reduced loads :) Hadn't seen a 300BO Contender barrel, good to know it's an option.

[Shawlerbrook]

30 30 , 30 30AI or a 30 Herrett, but my favorite is the 7x30 Waters.

[gewehrfreund]

I had a 32-20 10" barrel (30-20 really) and it was a good shooter, fun, accurate, and not punishing. You can load it as hot as any 32-20 brass should be loaded with no problems.

[Tatume]

My thirties are 30 Herrett and 309 JDJ. The JDJ cartridge is a fantastic hunting cartridge, but is fierce to shoot. The 30 Herrett is a good hunting cartridge, and is relatively mild. Of the two, the Herrett is the better recreational cartridge. The 30-30 is also an excellent Contender cartridge.

[mattw]

I have a 30 carbine 10" tube for mine, one of the TCA barrels. It is so much fun, but wow it is loud!

[3leggedturtle]

30/30 can load like a 32 auto on up. Strictly plinking and small game 32H&R or 30 Carbine. Todd

[Walks]

.300 Whisper or .32WCF

[MT Gianni]

30-30 in a 14" barrel is great. Mine groups well with 95 gr-180 gr bullets. In a 10" that was the reason for the 30 Herrett.

[ikarus1]

another vote for the .300 AAC blackout. It was designed for short barrels, and has similar power and trajectory to the 7.62x39 and .30-30, in a smaller more efficient package. Also, brass is easily made from .223, about as easy as anything else that necks down from common military brass.

[curator]

Faces with the same dilemma, I opted for a MGM 10" bull barrel chambered for .30-221 Blackout/Whisperer rimmed with a 1 in 8 twist. It shoots anything from 110 to 240 grain boolits with great accuracy. Can also shoot factory .300AAC or my custom brass made from .360DW necked down to .30. The little extra weight in the barrel helps with the "Encore bounce."

[AZ Pete]

30 Herrett


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[TCLouis]

As some have said . . .
14" 30-30
Mild to serious loads and everything in between!
Tons of brass, bullets and BOOLITS available.
Dang near any kind of powder will work, maybe not well, but will work.

[Paper Puncher]

30 Herrett is one of my favorites. Capable of taking deer. Doesn't beat you to death. Good case life. Lots of 30 Herrett barrels made.

Down side wildcat cartridge.

[P Flados]

I have 30 Herrett in 10" & 14" along with a 14" 30-30 for my contender.

At the opposite end of the 30 cal spectrum, I just assembled a 7.25" long "stub tube" 32 S&W / 32 ACP based on a scrap 30-30 rifle barrel. I made up a bunch of custom fit brass (32 ACP length, 32 S&W rim, made from 9 mm range pickup brass) for this gun. I expect to shoot a lot of my "pop gun" loads in this gun. It does not get much cheaper/easier than a 55 gr no lube groove BLL coated 0.312" boolit (made from a 2 cavity mold I made myself) over 2 gr of Titegroup.

Going back to the more typical application, I do not consider either the 30H or 30-30 as "great choices". Any round based on the 30-30 needs to be loaded with max pressures well below the point where you can use a primer to gauge max loads. Lots of reports out there about "streched frames" on contenders from 30-30 based ammo that was pushed too hard. Also, 30-30 brass is not "hard to find" but it is no where near as easy to aquire as 223/5.56.

The 7 tcu is actually better in this regard. It would be on my shopping list if I had not aquired a mini-lathe to enable me to go in a "more interesting" direction.

The contender seems to be able to take any round based on 223 brass loaded up to max military 5.56 ammo pressures. This is due to the smaller chamber diameter. I am pretty sure that one of my cheap scrap 30 cal rifle barrels from Numerich will soon turn into a 14" - 15" stub tube barrel with a case real close to the 7.62x40. This round checks off a bunch of "boxes" that make it likely to be my next contender barrel:


The basic brass (223/5.56) is cheap & plentiful
I just like 30 cal. I allready have lots of molds, sizers and scrap barrels in 30 cal.
The conversion is quick, easy & does not involve any "necking up". Just cut it off at the shoulder and run it through a sizer die.
As previously noted, the case OD is small enough to allow for hot loading without risk of frame stretch.
This round has just a smidgen more case capacity than the 300 BO. It should be able to duplicate near 30-30 rifle performance easier than the 300 BO given this extra capacity (both use the extra allowed pressure to make up for reduced capacity). It is also not trying to be too many things at once, i.e "designed for subs, but can shoot supers" like the 300 BO.
Case capacity should be small enough to allow full power "efficient loads" using faster powders such as H110/WW296
The extractor situation for this category of cases is not great (rimmed is better), but is not terrible. I happen to have a 222 barrel that will probably be called on to provide a "loaner" extractor for the new project.

[M-Tecs]

I love the 30/30 in a 14". A buddy has a 10" and it is way louder than my 14".

[Jack Stanley]

The .30 Badger is easy on the hands .

Jack

[MT Chambers]

Well the .30 br. is the most accurate .30 out there, so ends the search.

[uscra112]

.30 Herrett or .30-30, assuming you have a Gen 2 or an Encore. In Gen 1, I would not go past .32-20. I know.

[quilbilly]

Nothing like the 32/20. I acquired my 10" barrel in a trade not knowing for sure what the caliber was. It very quickly became the favorite of all my T/C Contender barrels and the one I take on all my travels for targets of opportunity. My barrel doesn't particularly like hot loads but it loves the Lee 113 gr RFGC at about 1350 fps. It is death on coyotes out to 150 yards if the animal stops long enough for my old eyes to focus.

[GARD72977]

Well the .30 br. is the most accurate .30 out there, so ends the search.

I doubt this ends the search! First off the BR case is usually not chambered in a contender. If the OP is looking for less recoil th 30br may not be the best choice.

When did the 30br take the short barrel accurracy award?

[LIMPINGJ]

30-20, TC’s 32-20 with a .308 bore. Used mine for small game up to turkeys.

[tward]

I just got a 32-20 bbl for my Contender, accurate and fun. Loaded some Hornady Plinkers with 9.0 gr of 2400 mild load but a great boom and fireball! I use Starline brass which I believe has a slightly more robust construction than WW brass. The Speer manual has data developed in a 10” Contender bbl. Have fun. Tim

[Geezer in NH]

30/30 with no having to play with brass to make a less desirable Herret.

30/30 and hand loads covers all the other cartridges IMHO. Just load what bullet and speed you want with readily available brass.

[JSH]

Look for 30-20 data and not 32-20. In my findings of the last close to thirty years(darn that was hard to type) the 30-20 in a MODERN platform will rival the highly touted 30x221. Actually there is not enough to argue over. Stay with slow powders, 4227 and AA9 have given me my best results.

Also I saw no mention of the 357 magnum. What it can do on the TC platforms no slouch.

Look for IHMSA loads for both of these. Most are not what I consider hot. Folks will holler about loads may be shot in older firearms. Well yes they could be in the 30-20, if they were loaded one at a time, darn sure won't feed from a magazine, most will be longer than 32-20 cylinders also.

Same goes for the 357 TC loads. Most OAL's will be long enough they will not function in wheel guns or lever guns,more so if your a real true accuracy nut.
Jeff

[Mr_Sheesh]

I'm still debating what I want to do with it, might talk myself into a 357 instead, if I do .30 I may just throw heavy Boolits downrange slowly and get good at range guesstimation and holdover SWAGing again. Sort of what I'm thinking of a 45-70 for, too. It's quite fun to be able to watch the boolit spin downrange till it hits the target! Death on paper bullseyes :)

[MT Chambers]

I doubt this ends the search! First off the BR case is usually not chambered in a contender. If the OP is looking for less recoil th 30br may not be the best choice.

When did the 30br take the short barrel accurracy award?

The .30 br. is tops in both cast and jacketed benchrest shooting, period, end of search.

[35isit]

I see two cartridges were left out. The .30 Reece and the .30tcu. Both should fit the op's wishes.

[M-Tecs]

The 30 BR is a great chambering, however, its top end pressures are over anything safe in a Contender. It would be a great choice in an Encore.

[MT Chambers]

It's (30br.) accuracy with reduced load cast boolits wins CBA events continually, even in my own cast boolit tournaments featuring only me, it's an easy winner.

[JSH]

As mentioned above the Contender platform does not support the BR case very well. I have seen and held in my hands a couple of factory 7BR barrels for the contender. Warning stamped n the barrel to only use factory ammo, just run down to your local shop and get a box........

I don't think the OP wanted a project, like a wildcat. Thus all the factory suggestions.

[M-Tecs]

As mentioned above the Contender platform does not support the BR case very well. I have seen and held in my hands a couple of factory 7BR barrels for the contender. Warning stamped n the barrel to only use factory ammo, just run down to your local shop and get a box........

I don't think the OP wanted a project, like a wildcat. Thus all the factory suggestions.

That surprises me since the SAAMI spec for the 7mm BR is 52,000 CUP. That is the same as the 243 Winchester. 52,000 CUP correlates to 60,000 PSI http://www.lasc.us/BellmMaxPressureContender.htm

Closest I have seen is a 7 BRM in a eabco https://eabco.com/Reports/7mmBRM.htm


https://www.bullberry.com/custom-contender-barrels

30 BR in Encore only from MGM https://matchgrademachine.com/chambers-list/#30cal

[Mr_Sheesh]

A project is OK, but not seen ANYTHING data wise on a 30 TC/U anywhere really. Could work for me. Used to 7TC/U and 7-30 waters so it's just another TC/U round :p But I'm not in urgent need of more to do right now - More like way overloaded and trying to catch up.