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Thread: Thompson center Contender following

  1. #41
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    ShooterAZ's Avatar
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    I have 2 frames and several barrels. I did a lot of Silhouette shooting back in the day when I could still see relatively good. Now most of my barrels wear scopes and are used for informal target shooting and hunting. A few of my barrels will outshoot many rifles I own...Accuracy is the name of the game with the Contender platform. My favorite barrel is the 7x30 Waters, it's a tack driver. My very first time out to the long range Silhouette matches I shot a 36x40 with it. I've also taken many head of big game with it, it's a keeper.

    22LR Match 14"
    223 Remington 14"
    22 Hornet 10"
    357 Mag 10"
    44 Mag 14"
    30-30 Win 12"
    7x30 Waters 14"

    Had a couple that went down the road:
    45-70 Govt
    45 Colt/410

  2. #42
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by 35isit View Post
    Dannyd, I have one of his fine grips.

    Bloodhound, Find a IHMSA silhouette match near you. They should start back next month. Everyone there will be shooting some sort of single shot. Most will be Contenders. I see you are in Texas. There are matches in Sweetwater and New Braunfels. Go here: http://www.ihmsa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=5029

    I do miss IHMSA and Hunters Pistol.

  3. #43
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bloodhound689 View Post
    Wow. Didn't expect so many responses. I guess the Contender is still going strong. I have been watching them on gunbroker and they always have bids.

    I must admit. Out of all the great calibers that have been mentioned I am now intrigued by the .17 Squirrel. Never heard of it. Now I don't know what caliber is next. Maybe whatever falls at a good deal first

    Jimb's 45-70 guys are nuts comment made me laugh. That is what my father had. Never did let me fire it. I was young though. One day maybe

    What I would like to see is a bunch of Contender guys/gals get together at the range. Sorta a meet and greet with some range time.

    They are fun to shoot and don't take long to find out how good you are.

  4. #44
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bloodhound689 View Post
    For those of you that already have 7-30 waters is the 30-30 still worth it? That was the round that drove me to wanting the contender but now that I have the waters it almost seams like not worth getting.
    I have 18 barrels of various calibers and lengths including the 7-30 Waters 14 inch and the 30-30 14 inch and 10 inch. I think the 30-30 is still worth having. My first Contender was a 30-30 Super 14 and it is still a good one. I have many more 30 caliber moulds for casting bullets than 7mm. Until recently with the advent of all the great custom mould makers the 7mm was hard to find good cast bullet designs for. With jacketed bullets it's a wash, both shoot them great. There is also the fact that 30-30 ammo and brass is usually easier to find and you don't have to do any case forming or other extra steps when reloading it.

    The 10 inch octagonal 30-30 barrel I have is a handful with heavy loads and has terrible muzzle blast, but it is accurate. The 30 Herrett is better suited for the 10 inch barrels.

  5. #45
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    When I was deployed this is what I trained with.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  6. #46
    Boolit Master
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    I only have one frame and three barrels, a 21" 223 a 14" bull in 256W and a very early 44mag octogon. I have made inserts for the 44mag barrel in 22lr and 22H that work very well. I'm not sure which is my favorite as they all are fun but the 256 and the 223 are the ones I use most.

  7. #47
    Boolit Buddy
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    daved63 post above mirrors my own experiences. I really like my 7x30 Waters 12" Hunter barrel and 30-30 Super 14 barrel. Lyman 49th Reloading Manual and the Sierra 50th Edition Pistol Manuals have large Contender Loading sections. The Lyman has cast and jacketed load data. Shot a fair amount of Big Bore Revolvers over the years. However when it comes to a 10" Octagon 30-30 with full house jacketed loads, thats a whole other animal. That I would avoid. The 30-30 Super 14 is very manageable and very accurate. Fun, is an afternoon shooting steel targets at 100 yards with a 30-30 S14 loaded with 125-150 gain cast loads @ 1200 fps.
    Rick
    PS I really like my 7x 30 Waters barrel also. The Lyman 287346 is a great shooting bullet.

  8. #48
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    Yeah a few weeks ago I was looking at the 10" octagon 30-30 and realized I would prefer the Super 14 so decided to hold off.

    As far as which one I like better 7-30 Waters or my 7mm TCU. I think I need to put a better scope on the waters before I decide. TCU is dead on and the waters is all over the place. Now I know I have a lot to do with that and I was fireforming but I have read on here that it's accurate even when fireforming.

  9. #49
    Boolit Buddy

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    Quote Originally Posted by dannyd View Post
    When I was deployed this is what I trained with.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    What years were you in? I retired in 2018

  10. #50
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bloodhound689 View Post
    What years were you in? I retired in 2018

    I retired in 95.

  11. #51
    Boolit Bub
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    Got my first Contender in 1994. 14 in. 7-30 Waters. I had been a reloader for 20 years at that time. But getting that Contender allowed me to focus on the finite details and the impacts they can have on accuracy and performance. I experimented with many different powders, primers, bullets and brass it was crazy but I learned tons! Techniques and processes I still use today in everything I load. Best teaching tool I ever owned! Then I got a 14 in. 35 Remington ... an awesome caliber for the Contender ... and then a 10 in. 44 Mag. They all wear scopes and are very accurate when fed the right food. The problem .... I don't shoot them much anymore. For some reason I have gravitated to old historical US Military rifles. The latest is a 131 year old M1884 Trap Door Springfield and it is fun learning all of its intricacies. Love a challenge. But ... if I could find a 14 in. 7mm TCU barrel in great shape and not half shot out ..... well, I already have the dies and enough components to use up many hours of range time!!!!

  12. #52
    Boolit Buddy wolfwing's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bloodhound689 View Post
    For those of you that already have 7-30 waters is the 30-30 still worth it? That was the round that drove me to wanting the contender but now that I have the waters it almost seams like not worth getting.

    Yes, worth it. The 7-30 is a 20" carbine, the 30-30 is a 10" that I gave the Ackley Improved treatment to.

  13. #53
    Boolit Grand Master
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    .30 Herrett. Superbly accurate. Fine deer slayer.

  14. #54
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    I bought a used 10" 44 Magnum Contender barrel from a buddy of mine a couple of weeks ago. Course it was the start of arctic weather here in Arkansas; so I have not been able to try out any of my pet 44 Special or 44 Magnum loads in it. My Ruger revolvers, GP100 and Ruger BH like .430 Speer swaged 240 grain swc's and air quenched LEE 430 240 swc's sitting on 6.8 grains of Unique. My Rossi R92 likes 44 Magnum loads with .431 240 grain Oregon Trail laser cast swc's sitting on 7 grains of Unique.
    Any opinions on which load to start with when it finally gets about freezing?
    Britons shall never be slaves.

  15. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by JoeJames View Post
    I bought a used 10" 44 Magnum Contender barrel from a buddy of mine a couple of weeks ago. Course it was the start of arctic weather here in Arkansas; so I have not been able to try out any of my pet 44 Special or 44 Magnum loads in it. My Ruger revolvers, GP100 and Ruger BH like .430 Speer swaged 240 grain swc's and air quenched LEE 430 240 swc's sitting on 6.8 grains of Unique. My Rossi R92 likes 44 Magnum loads with .431 240 grain Oregon Trail laser cast swc's sitting on 7 grains of Unique.
    Any opinions on which load to start with when it finally gets about freezing?
    I just started loading 44 as well. Picked me up a Super Redhawk so I'm also interested in everyone's favorite loads. Found a good deal on some Speer 240g cast bullets a month or two ago. Haven't touched them since getting the Contenders

  16. #56
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    I have a 23" 17 HMR, a 10" 41 mag and somewhere a 10" 357. I would like to get an 18" 357 mag, an 18"41 mag and about a 21" 30/30 at some point.

  17. #57
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    TCFAN's Avatar
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    I have been shooting contenders for a long time. I have only 2 of the original frames and 10 pistol barrels in 9 different calibers.My favorite 3 calibers are a 14 inch 22LR with a match chamber scoped with a 12X rifle scope and a 10 inch 30/20 and a 10 inch 22 hornet. All my barrels wear scopes and I enjoy them all.

  18. #58
    Boolit Master

    tward's Avatar
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    The platform is far from dead, just not in the forefront. I’ve got 3 frames . A G1 blued,a blued G2 and a SS G2. As far as barrels
    1. 22 lr Octogon 10 inch
    2. 22 lr Match 10 inch
    3. 22 Hornet Octogon
    4. 221 fireball Octogon
    5. 222 Remington Octogon
    6. 223 Remington rifle
    7. 256 Winchester magnum
    8. 6.5 tcu
    9. 30-30 Winchester rifle
    10. 32-20 Winchester
    11. 357 magnum
    12. 357 maximum
    13. 44 magnum
    14. 45 colt/410 shotgun
    They are a little addictive, but great fun and super accurate.
    Tim

  19. #59
    Boolit Buddy
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    i bought a 14in 41 mag when they were new, since have added a 10in 44mag,a 10in 30-30, a 14in 357 herrett. the 14in 41 mag is scoped and deadly on deer.

  20. #60
    Boolit Master Shawlerbrook's Avatar
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    Very active group of Contender lovers over on Graybeard forum. I still have a G1 handgun with a 10” 22 Hornet barrel. My G2 carbine has 7x30 Waters, 6.8 SPC and a 16” 22 Hornet barrel. The Waters does make the 30 30 redundant. My Hornets put slugs in one big ragged hole at 100 yards.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check