Will a Contender frame handle the 7x57R cartridge? Going to get a barrel for the round and need to know if I am going to have to go with an Encore frame.
Also, can the 7x57 loading dies be used to load the rimmed round?
swamp
Will a Contender frame handle the 7x57R cartridge? Going to get a barrel for the round and need to know if I am going to have to go with an Encore frame.
Also, can the 7x57 loading dies be used to load the rimmed round?
swamp
Last edited by swamp; 08-03-2022 at 06:07 PM.
There is no problem so great, that it cannot be solved by the proper application of high explosives.
No, and yes.
Cognitive Dissident
The 7x57 is one of the great all time calibers.
Yup, but it'll stretch a Contender frame like there's no tomorrow. The Contender was originally designed with the .22 Hornet and mild pistol calibers in mind.
Cognitive Dissident
Just judging by the SAAMI numbers, the 7-30 Waters would be equally bad, both are 50kpsi cartridges. 44 Magnum less so - SAAMI max is only 36kpsi and the head diameter is fractionally smaller.
Cognitive Dissident
Stretched Contender frames are a real thing.
I know - I bought one before I knew it was a problem. Only realized what I had when it came to setting headspace on the barrels I had scrounged up separately. The more I read up on various forums the better I understood why I had a problem.
That fact alone is why the Encore exists. People insisted on barrelling Contenders for cartridges larger and higher pressure than it was originally intended for, so to satisfy that demand a stronger frame had to be designed.
BTW mine is an early one with the original set trigger that got Warren Center sued. I love that trigger, but you have to understand its' defect, and handle it properly.
'
I also admit that I did not become a Contender addict. That sliding bolt lockup is weak and fussy. American shotgun makers all abandoned it before WW1, with good reason IMHO. If I ever shoot mine again, which is unlikely to age-related handicaps, it will only be with the ,22 K-Hornet barrel.
Cognitive Dissident
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 |